New PrC: Red Knight

MarauderX

Explorer
I put this PrC together as a cross between the "Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom"(Sword & Fist), "Warmaster"(Sword & Fist), and the Ranger class. The idea was to get a leader that could be on the outskirts of a Kingdom and track down foes with a posse in tow. What would you change?


Order of the Red Knights

The Red Knights are servants of the Kingdom that take it upon themselves to patrol the less civilized areas of the realm. Their cause is to keep the Kingdom united and remove any internal threats to the Kingdom and its people as well as protect borderlands from external marauding attackers. As much of the Kingdom’s outskirts is still rather wild, this task can be overwhelming at times.

All Red Knights wear a long red sash that typically drapes over their left shoulder and sags down to at least their waist. The sash is non-magical, although many in the Kingdom think otherwise, and it represents a duty the wearer takes upon himself to look after the citizens of the Kingdom. Some have enchanted their sash with magical powers, and others wear matching red dress to stand out in crowds or the wilderness. The Red Knights have already gained legendary status among most towns and cities, and numerous tales are told about evil creatures being foiled once a red sash was in sight.

Red Knights do not tout their position, nor do their often-times thankless heroics fill them with pride; they view themselves as a servant of good, defending those less fortunate and protecting the Kingdom and its people as a means to preserve good for the future. Many are asked to be leaders in a town, but having no love of politics they limit themselves to rallying and leading local militias to put an end to minor threats.

To become a Red Knight, a sworn oath of service must be made to the King and accepted by him in person. The oath will be denied if the requirements are not met or if the person is only accepting the blessing as an honorary role. This has been tradition since the Order was founded with the first King as the various good-aligned fraternities combined to form this one Order.

Hit Die: d10

Requirements
To qualify to become a Red Knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Lawful Good or Neutral Good
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Race: Dwarf, elf, half-elf, human.
Gather Information: 4 ranks
Wilderness Lore: 4 ranks
Ride: 2 Ranks
Special: Swear an oath of service to the King and be accepted by the King.

Class Skills
A Red Knight’s class skills are Animal Empathy, Climb, Concentration, Disable Device, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intuit Direction, Jump, Knowledge (All), Listen, Move Silently, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope and Wilderness Lore.

Skill points at each level: 4 + Int Modifier

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: None gained, none restricted.
BAB: As Fighter
Saves: As Cleric

Defensive Blow: Whenever a Red Knight is engaged in melee combat where the Knight seeks to protect a creature who is weaker than himself (fewer HD or total levels) or who is helpless, the Red Knight gains the listed bonus to his initiative and attack rolls. (Modified Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom prestige class ability from Sword and Fist)

Detect Evil: Once per day per level a Red Knight can detect evil as a spell-like ability, duplicating the effects of the spell. (Modified Paladin class ability)

Best Effort: A Red Knight often needs a greater amount of focus. At 2nd level a Red Knight gains a bonus to any one Red Knight class skill check he makes, once per day. This ability must be declared before the skill check is made. (Modified Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom prestige class ability from Sword and Fist)

Track: A Red Knight gains the ability to track, as per the feat. (Ranger class feature)

Shining Beacon: The Red Knight is the embodiment of hope and inspiration. All his allies gain a +2 morale bonus on saves versus fear affects when they are within sight of a Red Knight. If the Knight is held, unconscious, or otherwise rendered helpless, his allies lose this bonus. (Modified Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom prestige class ability from Sword and Fist)

Dual Strike: As the feat, a Red Knight learns the ability to work with others as a team against foes. (Feat from Sword and Fist)

Direct Troops: As a full round action, a Red Knight can give compelling directions. A +2 competence bonus is applied on either attacks or skill checks to all allies within 30 feet. This lasts 1 round per level. (Modified Warmaster prestige class ability from Sword and Fist)

Supreme Mobility: The Red Knight gains a +4 dodge bonus to his AC against attacks of opportunity provoked by moving into or out of a threatened area. Note: A condition that makes you lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) also makes you lose this ability. (Modified Master Samurai prestige class ability from Sword and Fist)

Rally Troops: The presence of a Red Knight is enough to grant any allies within 30 feet a second saving throw fear and charm effects that they have already succumbed to. Even if they fail the second saving throw, and fear effects are less severe: panicked characters are only frightened, frightened characters are only shaken, and shaken characters are unaffected. (Modified Warmaster prestige class ability from Sword and Fist)

Implacable Hunt (Su): Beginning at 10th level, if a Red Knight wounds a target and the target escapes, the Red Knight always knows the direction in which his target lies and the approximate distance between him and his target. This ability only works if the Red Knight and his target are on the same plane of existence. Implacable hunt can be used against a number of different targets equal to the character’s Red Knight levels. The Knight decides what targets they wish to hunt, but once the link is severed the target must again be wounded to re-establish the connection. (Modified from Defenders of the Faith)


Table 1: Red Knights
Level......BAB.......Fort......Reflex......Will......Special
1............+1.........+2.........+0...........+2.......Defensive Blow +1, Detect Evil
2............+2.........+3.........+0...........+3.......Best Effort +1, Track
3............+3.........+3.........+1...........+3.......Defensive Blow +2, Shining Beacon
4............+4.........+4.........+1...........+4.......Best Effort +2, Dual Strike
5............+5.........+4.........+1...........+4.......Defensive Blow +3, Direct Troops
6............+6.........+5.........+2...........+5.......Best Effort +3
7............+7.........+5.........+2...........+5.......Defensive Blow +4, Supreme Mobility
8............+8.........+6.........+2...........+6.......Best Effort +4
9............+9.........+6.........+3...........+6.......Defensive Blow +5, Rally Troops
10........+10.........+7.........+3...........+7.......Best Effort +5, Implacable Hunt
 

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First thought:

d10 hit die, fighter BAB, 2 good saves, and 4 skill pts/level, together with the many class features you throw in, makes this PrC overpowered methinks.

Maybe you should drop the skill points to a more fighterly 2/level and/or drop down to one good save.
 


Thanks for the suggestions, and I am glad to take off the Supreme Mobility feat, as it just didn't jive with the rest. I used the Class Builders Guide using points to get the PrC, and had points left to burn so I decided on the extra feats.

I dropped the good saves down to one and kept the BAB and d10 HD. Here is a replacement chart:
Table 1: Red Knights
Level......BAB.......Fort......Reflex......Will......Special
1............+1.........+0.........+0...........+2.......Defensive Blow +1, Detect Evil
2............+2.........+0.........+0...........+3.......Best Effort +1
3............+3.........+1.........+1...........+3.......Defensive Blow +2, Shining Beacon
4............+4.........+1.........+1...........+4.......Best Effort +2, Dual Strike
5............+5.........+1.........+1...........+4.......Defensive Blow +3
6............+6.........+2.........+2...........+5.......Best Effort +3, Direct Troops
7............+7.........+2.........+2...........+5.......Defensive Blow +4
8............+8.........+2.........+2...........+6.......Best Effort +4, Rally Troops
9............+9.........+3.........+3...........+6.......Defensive Blow +5
10........+10.........+3.........+3...........+7.......Best Effort +5, Implacable Hunt
 

I agree with the skills being reduced to 2 per level

Also Defensive Blow shouldn't change your initiative. Nothing should change your init except readied/delayed actions once combat begins.
 

Mahali said:
I agree with the skills being reduced to 2 per level

Also Defensive Blow shouldn't change your initiative. Nothing should change your init except readied/delayed actions once combat begins.

Actually, that's directly from 'Sword & Fist' and has been brought down in power. It also depends on how your run your game, such as do you roll initiative every round or just the first then go in order. The attack bonus is the major bonus with this ability IMO, as it stacks with an already impressive BAB.

The idea is that these Knights would roam from town to town and when the need arose he would lead a small group of militia about the country side to deal with a threat. She will need to take the lead in various situations in the wild, where simple warriors are being used to back up the Red Knights in a fight. The Knight needs to be able to track an enemy and lead the group to it/them as well as protect those warriors from being harmed in a deadly fight once the baddie is encountered.

Bringing down the skill points to 2+Int would undermine the idea of having 'Best Effort'. It goes against the three main skills that are required for the class and prevents the PrC from being good at the skills he is supposed to be a master of. Bringing them down is also counter-intuitive IMO as the PrC requires 3 class skills, which is the toughest of aspest of getting the PrC (besides the King acceptance thing).

As the PrC stands with the changes I made (reflected in the second table posted here) the point-buy total comes out to be 150, compared to the suggested 225 for other PrCs. So I think if anything I should at the least add another feat to the PrC to have it be on par with the 'Black Guard' or other similiar PrCs.

Thanks for your help so far, keep it coming!
 


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