Savage template to replace Barbarian (Rev)

[Jens]

A while ago, I posted a Savage template to replace the Barbarian class and allow other classes to be uncivilized as well. I have revised it somewhat and will appreciate any comments:

Savage Template [this replaces the Barbarian class]

Main Idea: Any class can be savage, not only fighters. Shamans are savage clerics or druids, witchdoctors are savage adepts or sorcerers, etc.

Creating a Savage creature

'Savage' is a template that can be added to any corporeal non-monstrous humanoid of non-lawful alignment (referred to hereafter as the “base creature”). A savage who becomes lawful loses all benefits from the template.

The Savage template is ECL +0; it does not add any equivalent character levels. A Savage creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Special Attacks: Same as the base creature.

Special Qualities: A savage creature retains all special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following ones:

Illiteracy: Savages do not automatically know how to read or write. A savage must pay 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write any language he is able to speak.

Spell limitation: A spellcasting savage’s spellcasting ability is reduced by one daily spell of each level. If this results in “0” daily spells of a level, the savage can only cast spells of that level if he has a bonus spell of that level.

Technologically inept: A savage is unaccustomed to and will typically distrust technical devices as complicated as crossbows or clockworks, and will only use them if absolutely necessary. He suffers a –4 penalty to any checks when using such devices, regardless of any proficiency or skill he might possess.

Proficiencies: Savage creatures with any weapon proficiency at all are automatically proficient with the handaxe. A savage creature cannot gain heavy armor proficiency as a class benefit. He can only get it by taking the feat. Savage druids may use axes, bows, and spears without breaking any oaths, but do not get any of these as additional weapon proficiencies.

Saves: Same as the base creature.

Abilities: Modifiers from the base creature are as follows: Constitution +2, Intelligence –2.

Skills: The skills intimidate, intuit direction, and wilderness lore are always considered class skills to a savage.

At each level, a savage spending at least half his skill points among the skills animal empathy, balance, climb, handle animal, intimidate, intuit direction, jump, listen, ride, swim, and wilderness lore, gets a +2 bonus to a skill of his choice from the same list in which he has at least 3 ranks. The bonus may be assigned to the same skill more than once, but no more than once per 3 full ranks in the skill.

A savage’s maximum ranks with the skills alchemy, appraise, craft (any technical), decipher script, diplomacy, forgery, gather information, knowledge (all), open lock, scry, speak language, spellcraft, and use magic device are 2 lower than normal for his class and level. This means that he cannot have no more than 2 in-class ranks and no cross-class ranks in these skills at first level.

Savage Feats: A savage creature has access to the savage-exclusive feats fast movement, rage, greater rage, uncanny dodge, and damage reduction. Savages gaining martial (fighter) bonus feats may spend those feats on savage feats. In fact, they must spend at least half (round down) of their bonus feats on savage feats. (For example, a savage fighter must have spent at least 1 by 2nd level, 2 by 6th level, 3 by 10th level, etc.)

Starting wealth: A savage creature only receives half normal starting gold for his class.

Becoming Civilized: A savage who is literate may become civilized. When doing so, he immediately loses all advantages (constitution +2, extra class skills, skill bonuses, free handaxe proficiency, use of and access to savage feats, etc.) of being savage. He suffers the disadvantages (intelligence -2, illiteracy, reduced maximum skill ranks, reduced spellcasting, technological ineptitude, etc.) of being savage until he has been civilized for as long [levels or years?] as he has been savage. A civilized savage can go back to being savage. To do so, he takes on the disadvantages immediately, but does not get the advantages until he has been savage longer than civilized.

Savage Feats, only available to savages

Fast Movement [Savage General, Savage Fighter Feat]
You are quick on your feet.
Prerequisite: Savage Template
Benefit: You gain +10’ speed when wearing no heavier than medium armor, as the barbarian ability. This feat may be taken only once.

Savage Rage [Savage General, Savage Fighter Feat]
You can use your anger as a weapon against your enemies.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, BAB +1.
Benefit: You gain the ability to rage once per day as the barbarian ability. To gain more daily rages, take the Extra Rage feat.

Uncanny Dodge [Savage General, Savage Fighter Feat]
You react immediately to danger.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, BAB +2.
Benefit: You do not lose your dexterity bonus to armor class, as the barbarian ability. If your BAB is at least +5, you also gain the ability not to be flanked, as the barbarian ability.

Uncanny Dodge (Traps) [Savage General, Savage Fighter Feat]
You can anticipate nasty surprises.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, Level 10.
Benefit: You get a +1 bonus to your saving throws vs. traps, as the barbarian ability. This ability improves by +1 for every full 3 levels above 10. This bonus does not stack with a similar bonus gained as a class ability such as the rogue's.

Damage Reduction [Savage General, Savage Fighter Feat]
You are resistant to physical damage.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, Savage Rage, BAB +12 or more.
Benefit: You gain Damage Reduction 1 as the barbarian ability. This feat stacks with itself and may be taken more than once with the BAB requirement increasing by +3 each time.

Greater Rage [Savage General, Savage Fighter Feat]
Your raging fury is truly fearsome.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, Savage Rage, Extra Rage, BAB +15.
Benefit: Your bonuses while raging increase to +6 Strength, +6 Constitution, and +3 morale bonus to Will Saves. The -2 AC penalty remains. If you have taken Extra Rage at least twice and you BAB is at least +20, you are also no longer winded after raging.

Extra ideas for Savage feats:

Spell Resistance [Savage General]
You are resistant to magic.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, Base Fortitude save +6
Benefit: You gain a Spell Resistance of 10 + half your character level. This does not stack with SR from other sources.

Elemental Resistance [Savage General]
You are resistant to elemental damage.
Prerequisite: Savage Template, Level 6 or higher. [or Base Fortitude save +6 or more]
Benefit: You gain either Resistance 5 to one type of elemental damage or Resistance 1 to all elemental damage. This feat may be taken more than once and stacks with itself. The level prerequisite increases by 3 each time it is taken. [or Fortitude save requirement increasing by +2 each time]

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

If you're going to go with this, don't make the Barbarian class abilities feats-- have the character gain them automatically as per Barbarian class level. The disadvantages you give them compensate for this, roughly. I would do away with the skill bonus for the wild skills, as making them class skills for any class should be sufficient.

I would also reccomend removing the Spellcasting limitation-- already, being unable to read limits their usage of magic items and makes a Savage Wizard impossible. The Spellcasting limitation just cripples a Savage Cleric or Sorceror.

The ability modifiers don't make sense. People from savage cultures are not less intelligent than more civilized folk-- merely less educated. Their Intelligence should remain intact (especially since they can't use it as a casting stat). With that in mind, the Constitution modifier is unbalanced unless this is an ECL +1 template.

You could suggest increasing each Hit Die from class levels by one, so that Sorcerors get d6, Clerics d10, and Fighters d12.

I would also remove the ability to become civilized after starting as savage.

 

[Xarlen]

I agree with the above poster fully.

However, one more thing: why non-monstrous humanoids? I would think a Minotaur would be a Prime canidate for a Savage.

And then there's giants, undead, abberations... The list is endless.

 

[Jens]

Korimyr, thanks for your post. I will try to make a version that meets your comments, because I have thought about similar things. There are a couple of things I think are important to the template:
1. A (reasonably optimized) Savage Fighter should be very similar to a Barbarian. This is to make the template balanced as ECL +0 and to make it compatible.
2. Taking the template should change the character, not simply increase the its power. Savage spellcasters in particular should be more martial/tough and less powerful as spellcasters. If they are not hurt in some significant way, the extra HPs etc is simply too good.
3. I think it should be possible to drop the template, but it should not be a net advantage to start as savage and then become civilized. It would simply be *wrong* if a savage fighter/wizard/whatever who becomes civilized is better than one who has been civilized all along.

However, there are a couple of points where I think you're wrong:
- If I gave the Barbarian abilities as free extra abilities, the template would be greatly overpowered. Try compare a fighter (or a character of any other class) with Fast Movement, Rage, Uncanny Dodge and DR to one without.
- Since illiteracy only costs 2 skill points to get rid of, I don't think it is very difficult to make a Savage Wizard.
- The Spellcasting Limitation does not affect spellcasters evenly. Sorcerers (and clerics with their domain slots) are hurt little (since they have many daily castings to begin with) and PrC spellcasters are hurt a lot (since they have few daily castings) since going from 2 to 1 is worse than going from 6 to 5. Actually, I don't think it affects Sorcerers much at all, I am much more concerned with how it affects Bards .

Other than the Barbarian's special abilities, the main effect of the template should be HPs and skills. If the template was changed to increase HD and give bonus skill points (instead of Con increase and skill bonuses), my main concern is that the template would be difficult to remove. Also, skill bonuses allow a savage to be better at some things than a non-savage (for example, a Savage Ranger can be a better tracker than a non-savage Ranger), and he simply loses that edge if he becomes civilized.

But if it was not possible to lose the template, some of these concerns go away. But I really do want to keep it


Xarlen, regarding Minotaurs and other monstrous humanoids:

I consider those races (+ most giants and abberations) to have something like the template included already and hence it would be excessive to add it once more. Generally, they already have high Con, low Int, are described as ferocious etc. Even Orcs give me some concerns... Low-level characters should not wish to come close to Raging Savage Orc Warriors (MM orcs with template added and Rage instead of Alertness: Att +5, Dam d12+6, AC 12, HPs 6, Will +1... Ouch!)
... For those races, a 'Civilized' template would probably be more appropriate.

 

[Khorod]

Cool idea. I was recently thinking about how I'd make a Savage Sorcerer without a new class...
I never did like the idea of the Barbarian as a class anyway.

Instead of reducing spell slots per day, maybe making the base spell DC 8 instead of 10. This would make it easier to deal with the math, and would represent the less refined potentcy of the Savage spellcaster. Also, it is possible for a Savage Spellcaster to negate this penalty with Spell Focus.

Also, you might make a +2 insight bonus to Wisdom skills and a -2 insight penalty to Intelligence skills, representing the savage's refined instincts and his lack of training in logic, book learning, and so on.

This both gives them an edge and establishes that adventuring savages are leaving their way of life behind. Also, I think a standard ranger should surpass a Savage sorcerer in Wilderness Lore within a couple levels anyhow.