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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LazarusLong42" data-source="post: 741324" data-attributes="member: 9620">OK, some quick discussion of this class.First, motivation.  I created this class for a rogue/fighter who was very much specializing in fighting with his rapier.  However, it quickly became obvious that taking the Weaponmaster class almost required a dedicated fighter (it takes seven feats).  So, this class was created as a roguish variant.  However, it's difficult to take it as a pure rogue.  Boiled down:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A pure Rogue can take the PrC at 8th level (human) or 10th level (non-human).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A pure fighter with Int 18 can take the class at 8th level (human) or 9th level (non-human).  This is because most of the skills are CC to a fighter.  And let's face it, a pure fighter with higher than 14 Int is rare.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A multiclassed rogue/fighter can take the PrC at 8th level, whether human or not, and will not have dedicated his entire complement of skills and/or feats to getting the PrC.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A munchkin could take the PrC at 5th level if his first four levels were Rogue, Fighter, Fighter, Bard.  This might be a bit ridiculous though. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></li> </ul>On the special abilities:  The Strikemaster is specifically honed to focus on critical hits.  However, he has to get a bit more than that.The Dextrous Strike ability is the equivalent of a +1 to damage at each step, but is based on the character's Dex--that is, the character must have an 18 Dex to take advantage of it to its fullest.  Though high Dex is not required to obtain the requirements for the class, this ability only becomes useful with a high Dex.The Cheap Shot ability just needed an ability to go along with a cool name. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />The Know Thyself ability needs a bit of rewriting, but for clarification, here's how the action would go:(1)  DM rolls a critical against the Strikemaster.(2)  DM rolls damage as if the hit were non-critical.(3)  Strikemaster rolls a Ref save against the damage number from (2).(4)  If Strikemaster succeeds at the save, he takes the damage rolled in (2).  Otherwise, the DM rolls the extra damage that comes with the critical, and the Strikemaster takes the total damage.On balance:Compared to taking 10 Fighter levels, the character trades a high BAB, one hit die level, and five feats for 2 skill points per level, sneak attack ability (3d6), and about 5 feat-equivalent abilities.(That's 1 for Dex Strike [+2 to hit is equivalent to Weapon Specialization]; 2 for Smarter not Harder [+2 critical range is (approximately) equivalent to Improved Critical]; 1 for Cheap Shot; and 1 for Know Thyself [vaguely equivalent to the Rogue's Defensive Roll])Compared to taking 10 Rogue levels, the character trades 4 skill points per level, sneak attack (2d6 less), uncanny dodge against traps, and 3-4 feat-equivalent abilities (granted at Rogue lvl 10, 13, 16, 19) for a higher hit die and 5 feat-equivalent abilities.All right... any thoughts from the crowd?  At this point, given the character's early development, I'm likely not going to take the PrC, but I figured I'd post it here to see what people thought.  And of course so you'll all have it to use in your own campaigns <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />LL</blockquote>

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