UltimaGabe
First Post
Hey, everyone. I recently acquired the Leadership feat for my Lawful Neutral Cleric, after an adventure where everyone in the party died at least once. He decided he needed a bodyguard, so I made his cohort a Lawful Neutral Fighter. I thought about it for a while, and I decided to make him a Spiked Chain user- and, better yet, I decided to give him the Master of Chains prestige class from Sword & Fist. But, as I started making the character up and giving him his abilities, I looked at the PrC, and I decided it needed a lot of work for it to A- make sense, and B- be 3.5 compatible. I brought it up to my DM (who's been playing the game for longer than I've been alive), and we decided to work it out. Here's how the class normally progresses, and what we did with it:
Level
1- Scare (Use the Fear spell as a Supernatural ability 1/day). We decided this wasn't all that great, so we switched it out for the Chain Armor ability normally gotten at level 5.
2- Climb Fighting (No loss of Dex bonus while climbing a rope or chain, and ou can use chains to give you a +2 Dodge bonus while climbing.) This seemed fine, and we kept it.
3- Superior Weapon Focus (Additional +1 to attack rolls, stacks with Weapon Focus). This was fine. He got it about the same level you can get Greater Weapon Focus, so that was fine.
4- Chain Bind (by taking a full-round action, you can use a chain and a lock to bind the target, as if attacking with a net, but the DC to break is 30, and to escape is 25). This seemed fine.
5- Chain Armor (by wrapping yourself in chains, you can provide yourself with a +5 Armor bonus to AC, with a -2 Armor Check Penalty, no max Dex bonus, and a 30% Arcane spell failure), and Double Chain (you can use a spiked chain as a double weapon rather than a reach weapon). The Double Chain ability is fine, but we put the Chain Armor ability at 1st level instead, and at this level you get Improved Chain Armor- it's the same thing, but it has no Armor Check Penalty. I'm gonna talk to my DM about possibly making it a bit better.
6- Extra Lash (when taking a Full Attack, you deal +1d6 extra damage with a spiked chain, as you're hitting the target with extra slack in the chain), Deflect attacks (by taking a move-equivalent action, you can provide yourself with a +4 deflection bonus to AC for 1 round against a chosen 180-degree arc). The Extra Lash ability is good, but the Deflect Attacks ability reminded me too much of the 3e Shield- so I decided to change it similarly. In 3e, Shield gave you a +8 bonus against a 180-degree arc- and in 3.5, it only gives you a +4, but it applies to all directions. My idea was to make this Deflect Attacks ability apply to all directions, but make it a +2 bonus instead- but my DM said to go ahead and keep it at +4, since you still have to use a move-equivalent action to keep it up.
7- Superior Weapon Specialization (you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with a Spiked Chain, stacking with Weapon Specialization). This is also fine, and you can get it at the same level as you'd normally get Improved Weapon Specialization.
8- Superior Spiked Chain (by paying 25 gp, you can have your spiked chain modified so that it leaves cruel barbs in opponents after it strikes, causing them to bleed for 1 point of damage per round until they are magically healed or bandaged normally. This adjustment lasts 5 attacks, after which it must be re-adjusted for 10 gp. This only functions in the hands of an 8th-level Master of Chains, regardless of how it is modified. In anyone else's hands it is simply a normal spiked chain.). We thought about this one, and decided two things- 1. It shouldn't be something you constantly have to have re-done, it should just be a permanent thing, and 2. we decided that it doesn't need to be physically modified at all- whenever an 8th-level Master of Chains picks up a spiked chain, it simply sprouts wicked barbs that cause bleeding wounds. I think that's a much simpler and logical improvement.
9- Swinging Attack (As a full-round action, by wrapping the end of his chain around an overhead object- something that can support his weight- he can swing at any opponent within 10 feet. That opponent is treated as flat-footed, and the Master of Chains gainsa +2 bonus on the attack roll and +3d6 damage on this single attack). I'm not quite sure what we're gonna do with this one. Although it's a neat ability, and could definitely be useful, it just doesn't quite seem like it fits the class or power level (after all, by 9th level of the Prestige Class, you'd think he'd gain the ability to do all sorts of weird stuff with a chain, not simply swing on a chandelier or something). Any suggestions?
10- Chain Master (a 10th-level Master of Chains can animate a chain of up to 50 feet for 10 rounds, three times a day, plus once per point of charisma bonus. This is identical to the Animate Rope spell, but with a chain instead). Again, I'm not quite sure what to do with this one. Again, it's a neat ability, but doesn't sound like a good ability to a 15th-level character to be getting, considering all you can do is animate a chain and make it move for you. (I've looked at the spell, and if you could somehow make the chains attack for you, I'd be fine with it- but as it follows the spell, all you can do is make it knot up so you can climb it or something.) But by 15th-level (the minimum level to be a 10th-level Master of Chains), gaining something that could easily be duplicated (and then some) by a 3rd-level spell, I just don't think it's good at all. So unless there were huge changes made to the animated chain's abilities, this ability is good as useless. My DM said possibly allowing a Master of Chains to gain an extra 5 feet of reach while using a Spiked Chain- which is a decent idea, for now- but I just think there could be something better.
Any suggestions?
Level
1- Scare (Use the Fear spell as a Supernatural ability 1/day). We decided this wasn't all that great, so we switched it out for the Chain Armor ability normally gotten at level 5.
2- Climb Fighting (No loss of Dex bonus while climbing a rope or chain, and ou can use chains to give you a +2 Dodge bonus while climbing.) This seemed fine, and we kept it.
3- Superior Weapon Focus (Additional +1 to attack rolls, stacks with Weapon Focus). This was fine. He got it about the same level you can get Greater Weapon Focus, so that was fine.
4- Chain Bind (by taking a full-round action, you can use a chain and a lock to bind the target, as if attacking with a net, but the DC to break is 30, and to escape is 25). This seemed fine.
5- Chain Armor (by wrapping yourself in chains, you can provide yourself with a +5 Armor bonus to AC, with a -2 Armor Check Penalty, no max Dex bonus, and a 30% Arcane spell failure), and Double Chain (you can use a spiked chain as a double weapon rather than a reach weapon). The Double Chain ability is fine, but we put the Chain Armor ability at 1st level instead, and at this level you get Improved Chain Armor- it's the same thing, but it has no Armor Check Penalty. I'm gonna talk to my DM about possibly making it a bit better.
6- Extra Lash (when taking a Full Attack, you deal +1d6 extra damage with a spiked chain, as you're hitting the target with extra slack in the chain), Deflect attacks (by taking a move-equivalent action, you can provide yourself with a +4 deflection bonus to AC for 1 round against a chosen 180-degree arc). The Extra Lash ability is good, but the Deflect Attacks ability reminded me too much of the 3e Shield- so I decided to change it similarly. In 3e, Shield gave you a +8 bonus against a 180-degree arc- and in 3.5, it only gives you a +4, but it applies to all directions. My idea was to make this Deflect Attacks ability apply to all directions, but make it a +2 bonus instead- but my DM said to go ahead and keep it at +4, since you still have to use a move-equivalent action to keep it up.
7- Superior Weapon Specialization (you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with a Spiked Chain, stacking with Weapon Specialization). This is also fine, and you can get it at the same level as you'd normally get Improved Weapon Specialization.
8- Superior Spiked Chain (by paying 25 gp, you can have your spiked chain modified so that it leaves cruel barbs in opponents after it strikes, causing them to bleed for 1 point of damage per round until they are magically healed or bandaged normally. This adjustment lasts 5 attacks, after which it must be re-adjusted for 10 gp. This only functions in the hands of an 8th-level Master of Chains, regardless of how it is modified. In anyone else's hands it is simply a normal spiked chain.). We thought about this one, and decided two things- 1. It shouldn't be something you constantly have to have re-done, it should just be a permanent thing, and 2. we decided that it doesn't need to be physically modified at all- whenever an 8th-level Master of Chains picks up a spiked chain, it simply sprouts wicked barbs that cause bleeding wounds. I think that's a much simpler and logical improvement.
9- Swinging Attack (As a full-round action, by wrapping the end of his chain around an overhead object- something that can support his weight- he can swing at any opponent within 10 feet. That opponent is treated as flat-footed, and the Master of Chains gainsa +2 bonus on the attack roll and +3d6 damage on this single attack). I'm not quite sure what we're gonna do with this one. Although it's a neat ability, and could definitely be useful, it just doesn't quite seem like it fits the class or power level (after all, by 9th level of the Prestige Class, you'd think he'd gain the ability to do all sorts of weird stuff with a chain, not simply swing on a chandelier or something). Any suggestions?
10- Chain Master (a 10th-level Master of Chains can animate a chain of up to 50 feet for 10 rounds, three times a day, plus once per point of charisma bonus. This is identical to the Animate Rope spell, but with a chain instead). Again, I'm not quite sure what to do with this one. Again, it's a neat ability, but doesn't sound like a good ability to a 15th-level character to be getting, considering all you can do is animate a chain and make it move for you. (I've looked at the spell, and if you could somehow make the chains attack for you, I'd be fine with it- but as it follows the spell, all you can do is make it knot up so you can climb it or something.) But by 15th-level (the minimum level to be a 10th-level Master of Chains), gaining something that could easily be duplicated (and then some) by a 3rd-level spell, I just don't think it's good at all. So unless there were huge changes made to the animated chain's abilities, this ability is good as useless. My DM said possibly allowing a Master of Chains to gain an extra 5 feet of reach while using a Spiked Chain- which is a decent idea, for now- but I just think there could be something better.
Any suggestions?
