Arkhandus
First Post
Well, the Superior Spiked Chain doesn't lose its barbs after every use, it's after 5 hits that it runs out of extra barbs to break off in the wounds. It's an ability that you use yourself, to modify your spiked chain, and it only costs you 10 gp of work to replace the extra barbs after they broke off in victims' wounds. Once you hit an opponent 5 times in the course of one or two rounds of full-attacks, it won't be too shabby that they're taking 5 extra damage per round from bleeding. Sure, it isn't awesome, but it doesn't suck either.
And the class gets Superior Weapon Focus, Superior Weapon Specialization, Chain Bind, Extra Lash, and Deflect Attacks, all of which are useful (Chain Bind and Deflect Attacks especially). Scare is also handy, though only useable once per day (and despite its name, it duplicates the Fear spell, not the lower level Scare).
Swinging Attack isn't bad, it's a special form of charge that gets the added benefits of +3d6 damage and catching the opponent flat-footed. Extra Lash isn't that unclear; you just deal +1d6 damage with each spiked chain attack during a full-attack action.
Sure, a few levels provide abilities that are rarely going to be used, but it's not like that's the majority of levels, and it's not like someone's going to hold a knife to your throat and demand you take every single level in the prestige class. Double Chain is useless, admittedly. Nobody's going to force you to use Chain Armor or Chain Mastery just because you gain them (assuming you take that many levels; you could always just stop at 4th or 7th-level, if you just wanted to get Superior Weapon Focus/Specialization, Chain Bind, Deflect Attacks, and Extra Lash. You could always move on to Weapon Master after that, or something else.
Which reminds me; Weapon Master isn't a bad PrC for this either, I think. Not great perhaps, but not too shabby either. Hmm.....
And the class gets Superior Weapon Focus, Superior Weapon Specialization, Chain Bind, Extra Lash, and Deflect Attacks, all of which are useful (Chain Bind and Deflect Attacks especially). Scare is also handy, though only useable once per day (and despite its name, it duplicates the Fear spell, not the lower level Scare).
Swinging Attack isn't bad, it's a special form of charge that gets the added benefits of +3d6 damage and catching the opponent flat-footed. Extra Lash isn't that unclear; you just deal +1d6 damage with each spiked chain attack during a full-attack action.
Sure, a few levels provide abilities that are rarely going to be used, but it's not like that's the majority of levels, and it's not like someone's going to hold a knife to your throat and demand you take every single level in the prestige class. Double Chain is useless, admittedly. Nobody's going to force you to use Chain Armor or Chain Mastery just because you gain them (assuming you take that many levels; you could always just stop at 4th or 7th-level, if you just wanted to get Superior Weapon Focus/Specialization, Chain Bind, Deflect Attacks, and Extra Lash. You could always move on to Weapon Master after that, or something else.
Which reminds me; Weapon Master isn't a bad PrC for this either, I think. Not great perhaps, but not too shabby either. Hmm.....
