Slap around my prestige class

[DanMcS]

This class seems to have come out really powerful. I've revised it down once already, how does it look? Should maybe be a d10 hit points. Hmm.

Imperial Minotaur

Elite soldiers, blessed by the god of strength, take on his traits and become giants among men, and eventually, minotaurs. I wanted to revise the minotaur myth, that the minotaur was a curse as punishment, into one where the curse is a boon at first.

Prereqs:
BAB +6
Stats Str & Con 17
Feats Track, Endurance

HD d12

Skill points 4 + Int bonus
Class skills: Climb, Intimidate, Intuit Direction, Jump, Listen, Search Spot, Swim, Wilderness Lore

Fort: Fast
Ref, Will: Slow

Level, BAB, Special
1 +0 AC +1 natural
2 +1 Scent
3 +2 Horns
4 +3 AC +2 natural
5 +3 Size (+2 str and con)
6 +4 Natural Cunning
7 +5 AC +3 natural
8 +6 Transformation (1)
9 +6 Size (1 category increase)
10 +7 Transformation (2)

AC: Gains the minotaur's tough hide over the class.
Scent: Gains the scent ability of the minotaur.
Horns: 1d6 + 1/2 str bonus gore, up to 1d8 when large sized
Size: By 5th level, the Imperial has bulked up, gaining a +2 to Str and Con.
By 9th level, he has fully increased to large size, gaining an additional +6 strength, +2 con, +2 natural AC (stacks with the other 3 points), takes -2 Dex, and the Large size penalities to attack and AC (-1).

Natural cunning: As a minotaur, immune to the maze spell, and doesn't get lost in normal mazes, twisting canyons, etc.

Transformation: At 8th level, the Imperial gets hair, and his feet start to harden into hooves. By 10th level, he is completely a minotaur. His type becomes Monstrous Humanoid, his alignment shifts to chaotic, and he often loses what military use he had before as he becomes more feral over the years.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Actually, I think the overall power level is good. I'm wary of the skill list, one of the best in the game, but that may not be too much of an issue.

Here are the changes I'd make:

I would move the Con bonus to 4th level, move the natural armor +2 to 7th level, and natural armor +3 to 10th level. (This makes the last level worthwhile -- it's quite weak now.)

I'd drop the skill points to 2 or the HD to d10. The class skills are amazing, but perhaps moving the HD closer to the minotaur's d8 is a better way to nudge the class down.

 

[MarauderX]

Smack down... maybe not.

I agree with CRGreathouse about the skills, as I think that everyone adds more skill points than necessary, but it seems like a well rounded out PrC. I would compare it closely to the spider-like PrC in Song & Silence (don't have my books here) and would detail the changes more.

The +6 Str seems a bit much, perhaps only +4. I know some players would pick this PrC just for the ability bonuses, so I would add some negatives to the Int and/or Cha to match the Con & Str pluses.

 

[DanMcS]

The +8 str and +4 con (total) are from the transition to large size from medium. It is pretty high, that's why I dropped the BAB progression to +7 total instead of +10.

Hmm, maybe I should yank a bit more out of the minotaur MM entry and drop 2 from int and charisma with the transformation.

The skill list is a combo of the minotaur skills in the MM and the fighter skill list. Anyone got a better method to create a skill list for a class? Probably should be only 2+ int bonus skill points, and maybe just use the monster skill list (intimidate, jump, listen, search, spot).

 

[S'mon]

I agree the skills should be 2+Int, and use the Minotaur list instead of the Fighter list, not as well as. Otherwise seems powerful but not unbalanced for a high-magic game. I think the d12 hd is justifiable for this class, and the lower BAB progression evens it out.