Shadow warrior PrC

[hong]

Because you can never have too many ninjas. This is a more balanced (as in offense/defense/flexibility) warrior ninja, as opposed to a sniper ninja or an assassin ninja. Coming soon will hairdresser ninja, policeman ninja and chef ninja.


REQUIREMENTS

Base Attack Bonus: +6.
Skills: Hide 9 ranks, Move Silently 9 ranks.
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack.
Other: Evasion class ability.


CLASS STATISTICS

Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points/Level: 4 + Int modifier.

BAB: as fighter (level x1)
Saves: good Fort, Ref
Specials:
1 Darkness 3/day, Blind-Fight
2 Sneak attack +1d6
3 Darkvision, blindsense
4 Grasping darkness
5 Elusive body
6 Sneak attack +2d6, blindsight
7 Improved evasion
8 Shadow jump (80 ft)
9 Shadow swarm, improved blindsight
10 Sneak attack +3d6, weapon of shadow


SPECIAL ABILITIES

All the following are special abilities of the shadow warrior.

Weapon and armour proficiency: The shadow warrior is proficient with all simple and martial weapons. He is proficient in the use of light armour, but not shields.

Darkness (Sp): At 1st level, the shadow warrior learns the rudiments of controlling the essence of shadow. He can create darkness 3 times per day.

Blind-Fight (Ex): The shadow warrior gains Blind-Fight as a bonus feat, if he doesn't have it already.

Sneak Attack (Ex): This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name. The extra damage is +1d6 at 2nd level, and +1d6 for every four levels after that. If the shadow warrior gets sneak attack damage from another source (such as rogue levels), the bonuses to damage stack.

Darkvision (Ex): At 3rd level, the shadow warrior gains darkvision to a range of 60 feet.

Blindsense (Ex): At 3rd level, the shadow warrior can perceive the locations of those around him, without the need for sight. He gains the blindsense extraordinary ability as described in the DMG, with a range of 60 feet.

Elusive Body (Su): At 5th level, the shadow warrior can evade the blows of his enemies with supernatural ease. Attacks against him are subject to a 50% concealment miss chance, as per the spell displacement. The shadow warrior can use this power for up to 10 rounds per day, and the duration need not be consecutive rounds. Activating and deactivating this power takes no time in itself, but the shadow warrior can only do it during his action, not in response to somebody else's action.

Grasping Darkness (Sp): At 4th level, the shadow warrior's power over shadowstuff is such that he can give it corporeal form, sending it to grapple and constrict his enemies. This duplicates the effect of black tentacles, and is usable once per day. The shadow warrior's caster level for the purpose of figuring the effects of this ability is equal to 5 + his levels in this prestige class.

Blindsight (Ex): At 5th level, the shadow warrior is fully at home even in magical darkness, gaining the blindsight ability. His blindsight has a range of 30 feet.

Improved Evasion (Ex): At 7th level, the shadow warrior's evasion ability improves. He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a dragon's breath weapon or a fireball, but henceforth she only takes only half damage on a failed save.

Shadow Swarm (Su): At 9th level, the shadow warrior can summon 2d4 shadows once per day (see the MM for the shadow's statistics). The shadows cannot be turned, rebuked, or commanded by any third party, and are unswervingly loyal to their summoner. The duration of the summoning is one minute, although the shadow warrior can dismiss them at any time. Unlike normal shadows, summoned shadows cannot create spawn.

Improved Blindsight (Ex): At 9th level, the range of the shadow warrior's blindsight increases to 60 feet.

Weapon of Shadow (Su): At 10th level, the shadow warrior can make a melee attack as an incorporeal touch attack, bypassing armour and natural armour bonuses to AC, and any hardness and DR his target may have. (Force effects and ghost touch armour are not bypassed.) On a successful attack when using this ability, the shadow warrior deals damage as for a normal attack, except he substitutes his Charisma bonus (if any) for his Strength bonus to damage. His Charisma bonus is not multiplied by 1/2 or 1-1/2 for off-hand or two-handed weapons, respectively. The shadow warrior can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma bonus (if any), and no more than once per round.


Comments?

 

[Xiryc]

A couple things:

1. The plural of Ninja IS Ninja.
2. Isn't giving Darkvision AND Blindsense a little redunant at the same level? Also, you should make some benefit if the character taking the class already has Blind-Fight.
3. 50% concealment? That's a little too strong.
4. Incorporeal touch attacks do not ingore Natural Armor. Also, you should make it usuable equal to the PrC level plus Charisma. So it would be ten plus Charisma. It's not overpowered, so more uses shouldn't be a big deal. Heck, you could start this ability at a lower level in the class, so the benefit grows. Just don't put it earlier than third level.

Other than that, it seems pretty fair. I like the way you scaled down the sneak attack bonuses to add the shadow powers.

 

[Shayuri]

2. Isn't giving Darkvision AND Blindsense a little redunant at the same level? Also, you should make some benefit if the character taking the class already has Blind-Fight.

-- That's not -necessarily- true... Blindsense doesn't negate the concealment for an unseen foe, so Darkvision still has some utility. On the other hand, you might consider putting Blindsense in a bit later.

Personally, I would make Blind Fight a prereq for the PrC, rather than a granted power. It seems more in flavor that way.

3. 50% concealment? That's a little too strong.

-- Again, I don't know if I agree. Since you can't qualify for this class before level 6 (and realistically even higher), that means you can't get that feature before a -minimum- of level 9 (and again, I'd expect 12-13 to be more realistic). 50% concealment tactics are not uncommon by those levels.

4. Incorporeal touch attacks do not ingore Natural Armor. Also, you should make it usuable equal to the PrC level plus Charisma. So it would be ten plus Charisma. It's not overpowered, so more uses shouldn't be a big deal. Heck, you could start this ability at a lower level in the class, so the benefit grows. Just don't put it earlier than third level.

-- Actually, incorporeal touches do ignore natural armor. You're probably thinking of Brilliant Energy. I'm thinking that the incorporeal touch should be made precisely as if by an incorporeal creature...which is to say, no effective Str score, hit bonus is Dex modifier, etc... Just be sure to clarify little issues like that.

My own feeling about the class is that it's a bit power-heavy...which isn't necessarily a bad thing, of course. Ninja are always cool. But I'm thinking the BAB perhaps should stick to the medium cleric/rogue advancement, to reflect that you're mainly training in these neato shadow powers.

I'm also thinking that some of the cooler abilities, like the Elusive Body, Weapon of Shadow, Grasping Shadow...that those should be usable only in areas where there are shadows present.

Consider too the idea that Grasping Shadow, instead of being treated as Black Tentacles, might be treated as a Shadow Conjuration OF Black Tentacles...and so there's a Will save to detect it's shadowy nature, and then the percent chance to avoid it. Seems more in-theme that way.

Finally...I'm a bit iffy about the Blindsight. Maybe move Blindsense to where Blindsight is now, then make the Improved Blindsight into Improved Blindsense? I only say it cuz Blindsight is pretty shucky-darn pa'arful, and this class already has a lot of goodies.

Something to consider anyway.

 

[hong]

4. Incorporeal touch attacks do not ingore Natural Armor. Also, you should make it usuable equal to the PrC level plus Charisma. So it would be ten plus Charisma. It's not overpowered, so more uses shouldn't be a big deal. Heck, you could start this ability at a lower level in the class, so the benefit grows. Just don't put it earlier than third level.

Actually I'd think it's more useful than it looks. What you do is wait until the last attack in a round of full attacks, and then use it. The last iterative attack is at a big penalty and usually has a good chance of missing.

Finally...I'm a bit iffy about the Blindsight. Maybe move Blindsense to where Blindsight is now, then make the Improved Blindsight into Improved Blindsense? I only say it cuz Blindsight is pretty shucky-darn pa'arful, and this class already has a lot of goodies.

Good idea.

 

[Arkhandus]

"and chef ninja."

Heheh, that would be so cool.....think about it
'Ginsu Chiji-Kiri Kung Fui : Toss ingrediants into the air in a flurry of ninja action, and karate-chop into perfect sushi meal with mad ginsu skillz.'

Random weird thought....

 

[Arkhandus]

On a more serious note though, my opinion..... I think it's a pretty cool PrC too, just a little bit more powerful than it maybe should be... I agree with what Shayuri said, for one thing. Make Blind-Fight a prerequisite feat for the class; human rogues could still achieve the class by 7th-level, others would just need a single level of fighter and a few cross-class point expenditures to do the same. Also, maybe add Knowledge (Arcana): 5 ranks as a prerequisite, or Knowledge (the Planes) perhaps, for that mystical knowledge component.

Leave the Base Attack Bonus equivalant to level, it makes sense for the class. For class abilities, I would give Blindsense at 1st or 2nd level in the class, since it isn't quite as useful as Darkvision and represents a more basic familiarity with the darkness. Remove Improved Blindsight at 9th-level, and leave Weapon Of Shadow at 3+Cha mod uses per day, since the class is already pretty powerful. Maybe remove Shadow Jump 80 ft. and then shift Shadow Swarm and Weapon Of Shadow down one level each. The class would still be powerful, but not quite too powerful. Elusive Body is fine as-is, since it really just duplicates the Displacement spell for the most part, and by that same level, a wizard could easily cast Displacement with similar duration. Though maybe as the others said, perhaps make all the magical abilities require dim lighting or nearby shadows to function.

 

[hong]

I like the idea of having some of the abilities only function in areas of shadows. It strikes me as being a bit tricky to adjudicate in practice, though.

Oh well, I'll go think about it some more.

 

[hong]

Now on the web page:

http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/shadow_warrior.htm

I've turned it into a martial arts school and prestige class, with the attendant frills, but it's still basically the same.

And here's the requisite link to RealUltimatePower.net.