Martial Artist (new class)

[szilard]

Over in my blog, I've been talking about my dissatisfaction with the Monk. My solution? Split it into two classes: the martial artist and the ascetic. Build them so that they multiclass well together.

Below are my notes for the martial artist. Comments/suggestions are more than welcome.

HD: d10
BAB: Best
Good Fort and Reflex saves. Poor Will save.
Skills: 4+ Int bonus/level (skill list unfinished, but close to the Monk's)

Weapon Proficiencies: Simple + Monk

Armor Proficiencies: none

Class features by level:

1. Improved Unarmed Strike (bonus feat)
Martial Focus
Focused Strike +1d6
Unarmored AC bonus
2. Martial Flexibility
Focused Fury
3. +5' move
Focused Strike +2d6
4. Focused Mind
Combat Expertise (bonus feat)
5. Focused Strike +3d6
6. Improved Martial Focus
Focused Precision
7. Focused Strike +4d6
Focused Flurry
8. Focused Flesh +1
9. +5' move
Focused Strike +5d6
10. Uncanny Dodge
Bonus Feat
11. Focused Strike +6d6
12. Focused Flesh +2
Superior Martial Focus
13. Focused Strike +7d6
Penetrating Focus
14. Improved Focused Mind
Quick Move
15. Focused Strike +8d6
Bonus Feat
16. +5' move
17. Focused Strike +9d6
18. Improved Focused Flurry
19. Focused Strike +10d6
20. Focused Flesh +3
Bonus Feat

Improved Unarmed Strike
At first level, a Martial Artist gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.

Martial Focus
A Martial Artist may focus her will into physical power. Martial focus is identical in all ways to Psionic Focus, but it does not require a psionic power pool. A Martial Artist qualifies for psionic feats that require the ability to achieve psionic focus.

Focused Strike
At first level, a martial artist who has attained martial focus may expend that focus when making an attack with an unarmed strike or a weapon for which she has weapon focus. If the attack hits, damage is increased by +1d6 points. This bonus damage increases by +1d6 at every odd-numbered class level.

Unarmored AC Bonus
A martial artist adds 1 point of Wisdom bonus (if any) per martial artist class level to her armor class when not wearing armor. This applies even when the martial artist is flat-footed.

Martial Flexibility
At second level, a martial artist may spend a a standard action concentrating upon or otherwise practicing with any weapon. If she is already proficient with that weapon, she is treated as having weapon focus with it. If she is not proficient with that weapon, she gains proficiency with it. These benefits last as long as the martial artist makes at least one attack roll per round.

Focused Fury
A martial artist reduced to one half or fewer of her total hit points may make a concentration check as an immediate action to gain Martial Focus.

Movement Bonus
A martial artist adds 5' to her base move at third, ninth, and sixteenth levels. By expending her martial focus as a swift action, she can double this bonus for one round.

Focused Mind
A martial artist of fourth level or higher may, as an immediate action, make a concentration check in place of a Will save when martially focused. Doing so expends the martial focus.

Bonus Feat
At fifth level, a martial artist gains Combat Expertise as a bonus feat, regardless of whether she otherwise qualifies for it as a feat. Every five levels thereafter, a martial artist may choose one of the following feats as a bonus feat: Blind Fight, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Endurance, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, or Weapon Finesse. She may ignore ability score prerequisites for acquiring these feats, however, if she does not meet these prerequisites she may only use the feat while in martial focus.

Improved Martial Focus
At sixth level, a martial artist may make a concentration check to attain martial focus as a free action as part of either a standard action or movement of 10' or more.

Focused Precision
At sixth level, a martial artist may sacrifice power for precision when making a focused strike. When making a focused strike, a martial artist may, as a swift action, reduce their damage by one or more dice, up to their total focused strike damage pool. For each die sacrificed, the martial artist receives a +2 to her attack roll.

Focused Flesh
A martial artist of eighth level receives a +1 bonus to her natural armor bonus when in martial focus. This improves to +2 at twelfth level and +3 at twentieth level.

Uncanny Dodge
10th level

Superior Martial Focus
At tenth level, a martial artist may attain martial focus as an immediate action by taking a -10 penalty on their concentration check.

Penetrating Focus
At thirteenth level, a martial artist's focused strike becomes capable of penetrating even the toughest of materials. Before rolling damage for a focused strike, a martial artist may sacrifice focused strike damage dice to reduce a target's DR or hardness. Each die so sacrificed reduces the DR or hardness by 5.

Improved Focused Mind
At fourteenth level, using the focused mind ability no longer expends martial focus.

Quick Move
At fourteenth level, the martial artist may as an immediate action take a 5' step to flank an enemy.

Improved Focused Flurry
At eighteenth level, the martial artist may, as a full round action, expend her martial focus and sacrifice a single die of focused strike damage. This enables her to use her focused flurry ability as above, but also provides her with an additional attack at her highest attack bonus.


----

Thoughts?

Comments?

Suggestions?

How do you think this would play?

I realize that they get a lot of stuff, but I tried to give them some limits. Is it too powerful?

-Stuart

 

[szilard]

FYI: some notes on the Ascetic

Combat focus will be on delivering status effects as swift actions through unarmed melee touch attacks or unarmed strikes: stunning, dazing, disarming, tripping, etc. At high levels, this might become a ranged touch attack. Multiclassing will allow an ascetic martial artist to combine these status effects with more powerful unarmed strikes.

The ascetic will get the immunities and most of the supernatural abilities of the monk. Some of these (such as, perhaps, abundant step and self-healing) will be expanded.

The ascetic will use a mechanic compatible with martial focus. While the martial artist emphasizes regaining focus quickly, the ascetic will be better at not losing it in the first place. This will be set up so that the two mechanics work together well when multiclassing.

The result? You can make a pure martial artist, a pure ascetic, or mix the two in varying degrees in order to get a spiritual warrior-monk, a martial artist who is interested in enlightenment, or whatever...

-Stuart

 

[Arkhandus]

First thoughts on the Martial Artist.....

1) They get too many ways to attain martial focus at a moment's notice. Immediate action any time they're at less than half HP, or any time with a Concentration check at -10, or as a free action any time the character takes a move action or attack action.... Basically going to use their martial focus abilities all the time, with very little chance of failure. They won't need to flank like a rogue to do their +Xd6 damage with every single attack....

2) The Concentration check for a Will save is too potent, especially with their martial focus situation (and the fact that it doesn't require that anymore at upper levels). May as well make them immune to all effects with a Will save unless they roll a natural 1. :\ Because that's basically what it does.

3) The penetrating focus is too powerful as well. At 13th level they get +7d6 damage, and by reducing it to 5d6 or 4d6 they can basically ignore the hardness or DR of most anything short of adamantine. They'll easily deal enough damage to shatter doors, castle walls, monsters, weapons, shields, etc.

4) Focused precision is pretty redundant. The class has a full BAB and encourages high Str as a melee class, along with basically having free Weapon Focus in every weapon they're proficient with. If they can't hit anything without using focused precision, the party's in over their heads.

5) Improved focused flurry doesn't make any sense to me. They have no focused flurry ability, just focused fury, which doesn't seem to be the precursor to improved focused flurry. Also, this ability is just plain confusing in its wording. It sounds like they spend a full-round action just to make 2 attacks, each at +7d6 or +8d6 (depending on level) focused strike damage. The class already has the ability to use focused strike with every attack they make, using immediate actions. At least depending on how you interpret stuff. A lot of these class abilities are rather unclear on the specifics of how and when and how often they work.

6) Quick move doesn't say if it counts towards the normal limit of one 5-foot-step per round and only when not taking any other movement in the round. So I dunno when it can or cannot be used.

7) Despite already having a Fighter's basic stats, this class also has higher Reflex saves, skill points, number of class skills, and various offensive class features. The Martial Artist has poor AC but that's about it; they can easily take a few feats or multiclass 1 level into Fighter, at no real expense, to gain heavy armor and tower shield proficiency, and proceed to kick more butt while taking less punishment themselves.

 

[szilard]

First thoughts on the Martial Artist.....

Thanks.

1) They get too many ways to attain martial focus at a moment's notice. Immediate action any time they're at less than half HP, or any time with a Concentration check at -10, or as a free action any time the character takes a move action or attack action.... Basically going to use their martial focus abilities all the time, with very little chance of failure. They won't need to flank like a rogue to do their +Xd6 damage with every single attack....

I've been trying to strike a balance with this. In my initial draft, they were pretty much ineffective every other round. I probably went overboard the other direction.

I like Focused Fury - you aren't going to be using that all the time... and, if you do, you'll be taking a substantial risk. I assume the issue is primarily with Improved Martial Focus and Superior Martial Focus.

Using Improved Martial Focus means you can't make a full attack. Superior Martial Focus (at 10th level), may well be too good. I'll think about it - possibly playing with the economy of swift/immediate actions will help.

2) The Concentration check for a Will save is too potent, especially with their martial focus situation (and the fact that it doesn't require that anymore at upper levels). May as well make them immune to all effects with a Will save unless they roll a natural 1. :\ Because that's basically what it does.

Okay. Going back to the initial version where using it dazes the martial artist for one round.

3) The penetrating focus is too powerful as well. At 13th level they get +7d6 damage, and by reducing it to 5d6 or 4d6 they can basically ignore the hardness or DR of most anything short of adamantine. They'll easily deal enough damage to shatter doors, castle walls, monsters, weapons, shields, etc.

Hmmm... I put this in because the martial artist doesn't get Ki Strike stuff. What if I limited it to unarmed strikes only?

4) Focused precision is pretty redundant. The class has a full BAB and encourages high Str as a melee class, along with basically having free Weapon Focus in every weapon they're proficient with. If they can't hit anything without using focused precision, the party's in over their heads.

Fair enough.

5) Improved focused flurry doesn't make any sense to me. They have no focused flurry ability, just focused fury, which doesn't seem to be the precursor to improved focused flurry. Also, this ability is just plain confusing in its wording. It sounds like they spend a full-round action just to make 2 attacks, each at +7d6 or +8d6 (depending on level) focused strike damage. The class already has the ability to use focused strike with every attack they make, using immediate actions. At least depending on how you interpret stuff. A lot of these class abilities are rather unclear on the specifics of how and when and how often they work.

Oops. The Focused Flurry ability (left out?) lets them expend martial focus and make a full attack - spreading the dice of bonus between their attacks (they need to decide how many dice apply to each attack before the attack roll).

6) Quick move doesn't say if it counts towards the normal limit of one 5-foot-step per round and only when not taking any other movement in the round. So I dunno when it can or cannot be used.

No. It is an additional 5' step, once per round, that must end in a flanking position.

7) Despite already having a Fighter's basic stats, this class also has higher Reflex saves, skill points, number of class skills, and various offensive class features. The Martial Artist has poor AC but that's about it; they can easily take a few feats or multiclass 1 level into Fighter, at no real expense, to gain heavy armor and tower shield proficiency, and proceed to kick more butt while taking less punishment themselves.

I think it is probably better compared to the Ranger or Barbarian.

...but, yes, armor is an issue.

Partial fix: Armor check penalties are multiplied by two and applied to Concentration checks to achieve martial focus.

Also, I'd like to limit some of the other abilities so that they either don't work or are more difficult in armor. I'm not sure how to do so, though.

Thanks again for the feedback. This is what I need.

-Stuart

 

[RigaMortus2]

Check out Hong's Martial Artist class

 

[szilard]

Check out Hong's Martial Artist class

It is interesting... but not really what I'm looking for...

-Stuart