[The Paladin Project] The Blessed Armsman - a Pal/Ftr PrC (revised 31/5)

[FireLance]

Hi all, I would be grateful for your comments on the following PrC:

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BLESSED ARMSMAN

The blessed armsman is a doughty warrior in the front lines of the war against evil. His training focuses on combat ability, in particular, those that are continuously active instead of those that are usable only a limited number of times per day, so that he is always ready to face the threat of evil.

Requirements:
Alignment: Lawful Good.
Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Knowledge (religion): 8 ranks.
Proficiency: Proficient in all armor (light, medium, heavy) and deity's favored weapon.
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Iron Will (or Divine Grace special ability), Weapon Focus (deity's favored weapon).
Special: In campaigns where the multiclassing restrictions on paladins are enforced, the character must be able to gain levels in the paladin class.

Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills: The blessed armsman's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The blessed armsman is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons and all armor and shields.

Lvl. BAB . Fort Ref. Will. Special
1 .. +1 .. +2 . +0 . +0 .. Blessing of Might, Blessing of Purification
2 .. +2 .. +3 . +0 . +0 .. Blessing of Defence +1
3 .. +3 .. +3 . +1 . +1 .. Blessing of Companionship
4 .. +4 .. +4 . +1 . +1 .. Blessing of Accuracy +1
5 .. +5 .. +4 . +1 . +1 .. Blessing of Consecration
6 .. +6 .. +5 . +2 . +2 .. Blessing of Power
7 .. +7 .. +5 . +2 . +2 .. Blessing of Defence +2
8 .. +8 .. +6 . +2 . +2 .. Blessing of Guidance
9 .. +9 .. +6 . +3 . +3 .. Blessing of Accuracy +2
10 . +10 . +7 . +3 . +3 .. Blessing of Precision

Blessing of Might (Su): A blessed armsman with the ability to Smite Evil may choose to trade in all his uses of the Smite Evil ability for a +1 bonus to melee damage rolls against evil opponents per use of the Smite Evil ability traded in. This bonus lasts until the blessed armsman’s ability to Smite Evil is renewed. The blessed armsman has to make this choice when his ability to Smite Evil is renewed, and must trade in all his uses of the ability.

Blessing of Purification (Su): A blessed armsman with the ability to Remove Disease may choose to trade in all his uses of the Remove Disease ability to generate an aura of purification. Every creature within 10 feet of the blessed armsman (including himself) gains a bonus to saving throws against disease equal to the number of uses of Remove Disease traded in + 1. For example, a blessed armsman who trades in two uses of Remove Disease grants a +3 bonus to saving throws against disease and poison to all creatures within 10 feet. This bonus lasts until the blessed armsman's ability to Remove Disease is renewed. The blessed armsman has to make this choice when his ability to Remove Disease is renewed, and must trade in all his uses of the ability.

Blessing of Defence (Su): At 2nd level, the blessed armsman gains a +1 bonus to armor class against evil opponents. This bonus increases to +2 at 7th level.

Blessing of Companionship: If the blessed armsman has a special mount, his levels of blessed armsman stack with the levels of any class that grants him a special mount. For example, the special mount of a Paladin 5/Blessed Armsman 3 has the abilities of a special mount of a 8th-level paladin.

Blessing of Accuracy (Su): At 4th level, the blessed armsman gains a +1 bonus to melee attack rolls against evil opponents when he uses his deity’s favored weapon. This bonus increases to +2 at 9th level.

Blessing of Consecration (Su): At 5th level, a blessed armsman with the ability to Turn Undead may choose to trade in all his uses of the Turn Undead ability to generate an aura of consecration. This duplicates the effects of the Consecrate spell, except that the effect is centered on and moves with the blessed armsman, and it lasts until the blessed armsman’s ability to Turn Undead is renewed. The blessed armsman has to make this choice when his ability to Turn Undead is renewed, and must trade in all his uses of the ability.

Blessing of Power (Su): At 6th level, the blessed armsman gains a +2 bonus to melee damage rolls against evil opponents when he uses his deity’s favored weapon. In addition, his weapon penetrates damage reduction as if it was a Good weapon.

Blessing of Guidance (Su): At 8th level, the blessed armsman gains a bonus equal to his Charisma bonus to rolls to confirm critical hits against evil opponents when he uses his deity’s favored weapon.

Blessing of Precision (Su): At10th level, the blessed armsman doubles his threat range against evil opponents when he uses his deity’s favored weapon. This stacks with the Improved Critical feat, the Keen Edge spell or Keen weapon special ability, and is not considered a magic effect related to critical hits for the purpose of the Bless Weapon spell. As with all doublings, two doublings equal a triple and so on.

Code of Conduct: A blessed armsman has a code of conduct identical to that of the paladin.

Associates: Like a paladin, a blessed armsman may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, but will never knowingly associate with evil characters. He will not continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code, and may only hire henchmen or accept followers who are lawful good.

Ex-Blessed Armsmen: A blessed armsman who ceases to be lawful good, who willfully commits an evil act, or who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all special abilities and spells, including bonus feats. He also may not progress in levels as a blessed armsman. He regains his abilities if he atones for his violations, as appropriate.

Multiclassing: A paladin who gains levels in blessed armsman may continue advancing as a paladin. In campaigns where the multiclassing restrictions on paladins are enforced, a blessed armsman who gains levels in a class other than paladin or blessed armsman may no longer advance in either class.

EDIT: Deleted some prerequisites and added note on multiclassing.
EDIT (31/5): Major revision to the PrC.

 

[Noldor Elf]

I kinda like it, but few thing about it:

As the PrC is best suited for Paladin, most of requirements are unnecessary. I would suggest Weapon Focus: Any or Favored weapon of deity and one or two other feats in addition (Iron Will, Extra Turning)

You should add the clause, that Paladin who gains levels as The Blessed Armsman can continue advancing as Paladin

 

[FireLance]

Thanks for your feedback, Noldor Elf!

I kinda like it, but few thing about it:

As the PrC is best suited for Paladin, most of requirements are unnecessary. I would suggest Weapon Focus: Any or Favored weapon of deity and one or two other feats in addition (Iron Will, Extra Turning)

The armour and shield proficiency feats were there for a reason: I wanted to make this PrC easily accessible only to the more combat-capable classes. However, I suppose I could delete the medium and light armour proficiencies.

I made the feat requirements general as I didn't want to pigeonhole the PrC into any specific fighting style. Hence, I just required two feats devoted to combat. Also, since I wanted a Paladin of any race to be able to take the PrC at 6th character level, I could not have more than two prerequisite feats.

You should add the clause, that Paladin who gains levels as The Blessed Armsman can continue advancing as Paladin

You are right, I can't believe I forgot this! Thank you for reminding me!

 

[Derrick Reeves]

Needs work.

It's a rare Paladin character who wouldn't take, say, Power Attack (for Divine Might) and Weapon Focus by 3rd level - the feat requirement is meaningless.

The armour proficiencies I'm ambivalent about - I don't think it likely that a non-warrior class would take levels in this PrC, and you can disincentivise that sort of behaviour by removing the Armsman's own armour proficiencies. (In other words: remove the prerequisites for heavy armour and shields, and remove the proficiences for the same.)

As for Martial Weapons, do you have a clear image of these guys in your head? Maybe requiring a particular proficiency would be more appropriate, or two/three from a list of three to five. (Likely, such a list would be something like: any Lance, Longbow or Shortbow, Longsword, any Pick, Warhammer.)

I have no idea what you mean by "trade in" for the abilities. If you mean that it works like a Divine Feat, then the standard lingo is "expend one of his daily uses of XXXX". Even so, I think that the abilities where you're looking to do this would be better as standard abilities. Frex. Blessing of Might would add 1 point of Holy damage to weapon damage dealt to evil foes.

I suggest that the Sacred Blessing ability use the Loremaster mechanic (say, Blessed Armsman level + Wisdom/Charisma bonus?). This does require giving the abilities a hierarchal order.

Looking over everything, it seems rather overpowered. Let's say your character is a Fighter with one of those obnoxious FRCS feats that allows him to take Knowledge (Religion) as a class skill. On attaining 6th level, this PrC is a no-brainer - he gets to keep his bonus feats (when he wants them), and gets added abilities. Further, he is all but forced to take the prerequisites! Unless every fighter and his dog is supposed to be a Blessed Armsman, I think you need to review the prerequisites and abilities granted.

 

[FireLance]

Derrick, thanks for your comments.

Needs work.

It's a rare Paladin character who wouldn't take, say, Power Attack (for Divine Might) and Weapon Focus by 3rd level - the feat requirement is meaningless.

The armour proficiencies I'm ambivalent about - I don't think it likely that a non-warrior class would take levels in this PrC, and you can disincentivise that sort of behaviour by removing the Armsman's own armour proficiencies. (In other words: remove the prerequisites for heavy armour and shields, and remove the proficiences for the same.)

As for Martial Weapons, do you have a clear image of these guys in your head? Maybe requiring a particular proficiency would be more appropriate, or two/three from a list of three to five. (Likely, such a list would be something like: any Lance, Longbow or Shortbow, Longsword, any Pick, Warhammer.)

Agreed, most Paladins would take fighter-type feats when they can. This PrC is meant to be fairly easy for Paladins to qualify for, more difficult for the other combat-oriented classes, and much harder for the classes that tend to stay out of melee.

As mentioned in a previous post, I did not want to pigeonhole this PrC into any specific fighting style (or weapon), but before you could take levels in this class, you have to have some experience in combat.

I have no idea what you mean by "trade in" for the abilities. If you mean that it works like a Divine Feat, then the standard lingo is "expend one of his daily uses of XXXX". Even so, I think that the abilities where you're looking to do this would be better as standard abilities. Frex. Blessing of Might would add 1 point of Holy damage to weapon damage dealt to evil foes.

This class is designed to give more options to characters who already have Paladin abilities. If a Blessed Armsman with Paladin levels does not want to Smite Evil, Turn Undead or Remove Disease a limited number of times per day or per week, he can give up all his uses of his ability for the day or week in order to gain a smaller bonus usable constantly.

I suggest that the Sacred Blessing ability use the Loremaster mechanic (say, Blessed Armsman level + Wisdom/Charisma bonus?). This does require giving the abilities a hierarchal order.

This PrC was originally concieved as a Fighter multiclass option for the Paladin. A Paladin could, in theory, take levels in this PrC, gain a bonus Fighter feat every other level, and go back to taking levels in Paladin. However, I thought that would be dull and flavourless, so I added a few special abilities.

Looking over everything, it seems rather overpowered. Let's say your character is a Fighter with one of those obnoxious FRCS feats that allows him to take Knowledge (Religion) as a class skill. On attaining 6th level, this PrC is a no-brainer - he gets to keep his bonus feats (when he wants them), and gets added abilities. Further, he is all but forced to take the prerequisites! Unless every fighter and his dog is supposed to be a Blessed Armsman, I think you need to review the prerequisites and abilities granted.

I agree that this PrC is more powerful than a straight Paladin/Fighter multiclass. What I have tried to do is balance it out against the power of a pure-class Paladin. The pure-class Paladin increases his turning level, his ability to Smite Evil and Lay on Hands, his Special Mount gets more powerful and he gets spells. On the other hand, the Blessed Armsman gets five Sacred Blessings, new ways to use his existing Paladin abilities, and a +2 bonus to hit evil opponents. My sense is, the pure Paladin would be more effective when facing a single, powerful evil opponent, while the Blessed Armsman is more useful against greater numbers of less powerful foes.

A character with no paladin levels who becomes a Blessed Armsman gains only small benefits (+2 to hit evil opponents, plus some Sacred Blessings), and is required to follow the Paladin's code or loses all abilities, including bonus feats. I suppose a devout, Lawful Good fighter could take levels in this PrC, but he might be better off taking levels as a Paladin first.

If you have managed to make it this far, thanks for giving me the opportunity to explain a bit more about my PrC!

 

[Derrick Reeves]

How does the failure to obey the Paladinic code strip a Blessed Armsman of his bonus feats? I'm not sure I understand this one from a roleplaying point of view.

Even so, your assertion that a devout Lawful Good Fighter might be better off being a Paladin is dubious, particularly in this case. You're allowing for Charisma to receive the good old MinMax "dump", so a good stat can be freed up for use in Str/Con/Dex/Wis/Int. Given that, the 'small' extra abilities are a marvellous boost when the trade-off is so small.

A more "tight" progression, and some thought about what this class means for a Fighter, is needed.

 

[FireLance]

How does the failure to obey the Paladinic code strip a Blessed Armsman of his bonus feats? I'm not sure I understand this one from a roleplaying point of view.

Well, I see the Blessed Armsman's bonus feats as divine gifts - something along the lines of the bonus feats that a cleric gets for having certain domains (Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus for the War domain, for example). Just as a Cleric loses access to these feats if he does not follow his alignment and the precepts of his god or philosophy, the Blessed Armsman loses access to these feats if he fails to follow the Paladin's code of conduct.

Even so, your assertion that a devout Lawful Good Fighter might be better off being a Paladin is dubious, particularly in this case. You're allowing for Charisma to receive the good old MinMax "dump", so a good stat can be freed up for use in Str/Con/Dex/Wis/Int. Given that, the 'small' extra abilities are a marvellous boost when the trade-off is so small.

A Fighter without Paladin levels wouldn't have much need for Charisma and could "dump" it anyway. A Fighter without Paladin levels who takes levels in Blessed Armsman also does not gain much. He gains +2 to hit versus evil, and two of the sacred blessings give him +1 to AC and +2 to damage. He cannot gain any of the other benefits unless he takes levels in Paladin. Without access to Smite Evil, he gains no benefit from Blessing of Might, for example. It may be a personal estimate, but I think that being required to follow the Paladin's code (and losing the benefits if he does not) is sufficient trade-off for the abilities.

A more "tight" progression, and some thought about what this class means for a Fighter, is needed.

This PrC is slanted towards Paladins. However, from a role-playing perspective, it could also be a truly "prestige" class for an experienced, devout Fighter. Perhaps he does not have the Charisma to become an effective Paladin. However, if devotes himself to religious studies, and swears to abide by the same Code as a Paladin, he gains something extra in addition to his regular abilities.

 

[Technik4]

Overall I like the concept. My problem is that it lacks "prestige" in that almost any 5th level paladin can take the class. It's not appealing to a certain niche of paladins, and it only appeals to fighter/paladins in so much as it gives bonus feat progression similair to a fighter.

I know you don't want to limit the scope of the prc by defining it by a certain weapon, but I feel this class needs a group of weapons or the assumption that one-such weapon will be used (the deity's favored). The easiest way for me to describe this may be to "create" the prc as I would, take from it what you will.

Requirements:
Alignment: Lawful Good
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Knowledge (religion): 5 ranks.
Feats: Martial Weapon Proficiency*, Weapon Focus* , Weapon Specialization*, Iron Will.
*- These feats must be taken with your deity's favored weapon.

[This change places greater emphasis on who the player is worshipping. Blessed Armsman will therefore be found more among gods of war or those with strong favored weapons, which is pretty much how it should be. Additionally, it makes it a valid choice for a martial cleric. I dropped the armor and shield requirement as I dont see a reason you can't have a ranger blessed armsman worshipping a god of hunting. Naturally, these characters would miss out on some important benefits of the class, but 3e is about options, why not let them?]

Special: In campaigns where the multiclassing restrictions on paladins are enforced, the character must be able to gain levels in the paladin class.

Hit Die: d10.
Class Skills: The blessed armsman's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The blessed armsman does not gain any proficiencies.

Paladin Abilities: The blessed armsman has the turn undead, lay on hands, and special mount properties as his blessed armsman level plus his paladin and/or cleric levels. If he does not have any paladin and/or cleric levels, he does not gain these abilities.

[Most prcs are tending towards not giving out free armor and weapon profs. The reason is sometimes it was abusable, and it is pretty redundant. I think its more concise to say that paladin (and cleric) progression of some abilities stack, as it was handled in OA for monks. ]

Lvl. BAB . Fort Ref. Will. Special
1 .. +1 .. +2 . +0 . +0 .. Blessing of Might +1, Code of Conduct
2 .. +2 .. +3 . +0 . +0 .. Divine Skill
3 .. +3 .. +3 . +1 . +1 .. Blessing of Accuracy +1
4 .. +4 .. +4 . +1 . +1 ..
5 .. +5 .. +4 . +1 . +1 .. Aura of Consecration
6 .. +6 .. +5 . +2 . +2 .. Divine Skill
7 .. +7 .. +5 . +2 . +2 .. Blessing of Might +2
8 .. +8 .. +6 . +2 . +2 ..
9 .. +9 .. +6 . +3 . +3 .. Blessing of Accuracy +2
10 . +10 . +7 . +3 . +3 .. Holy Blessing

Code of Conduct: A blessed armsman has a code of conduct identical to that of the paladin.

Blessing of Might (Su): This blessing confers a +1 divine bonus to damage against anything with an alignment of evil. This ability only functions with your Deity's Favored Weapon. If you have Smite Evil uses you may choose to exchange them all for a commensurate bonus to this blessing. For instance, if you had 2 smite evil uses a day, add +2 to your blessing of might. This decision can only be made at an appointed time which is holy to your god, and you must have had at least 4 hours rest prior.

[It required Smite Evil uses, indicating a minimum of 2 paladin levels to get anything out of it. I have based this ability on the assumption that 3.5 paladins will get additional smites, but altered it to give anyone in the class some benefit. I also quantified it, making it a divine bonus.]


Divine Skill: The blessed armsman gains a feat from the fighter's list of bonus feats. Additionally he may choose Extra Turning or any feat with the [Divine] descriptor.


[Many of the abilities here were subsumed when I kept the progression for paladins, and the aura of purification was a little clunky (it provided bonuses to disease and poison, while remove disease cannot do anything with poison). Furthermore, I predict the 3.5 paladin will not have increased remove diseases per week. It now functions as a bonus feat, which is what I guess most would have used it for anyway. Blessing of Power was too powerful, Blessing of Defence too weak (limited expertise, against evil), and I used both of those abilities in the final ability.]


Blessing of Accuracy (Su): This blessing confers a +1 divine bonus to hit against anything with an alignment of evil. This ability only functions with your Deity's Favored Weapon. At level 7 a blessed armsman with the Divine Grace ability may exchange his charisma bonus from saving throws to this blessing. This decision can only be made at an appointed time which is holy to your god, and you must have had at least 4 hours rest prior.


[This is a dubious change. One may think it is too powerful, but traditionally a paladin is strong because of his saves and defenses which a fighter doesn't have. It is further limited as it only applies against evil (and only with your deity's favored weapon).]


Aura of Consecration (Su): At 5th level, a blessed armsman with the ability to Turn Undead may choose to trade in all his uses of the Turn Undead ability to generate an aura of consecration. This duplicates the effects of the Consecrate spell, except that the effect is centered on and moves with the blessed armsman, and it lasts until the blessed armsman's ability to Turn Undead is renewed. If a blessed armsman trades in 10 or more uses, the aura extends to a radius of 10 ft per blessed armsman level plus paladin and/or cleric spellcasting levels. This decision can only be made at an appointed time which is holy to your god, and you must have had at least 4 hours rest prior.

[I like this ability, I just made it consistent with when the other abilities may be swapped.]

Holy Blessing: The pinnacle of devotion to your deity you are bestowed with a special ability of your choosing.

Aura of Courage (Su): This ability is exactly as the Paladin ability. If a blessed armsman already has Aura of Courage and chooses this ability the range extends to 20 feet and allies are immune to fear.

Divine Prowess (Su): A blessed armsman with this ability may manipulate his offensive skill into defensive skill. He may exchange his bonus from Blessing of Might into a divine armor class bonus. He may also exchange his bonus from Blessing of Accuracy into a divine saving throw bonus. Exchanging these is a free action that must be performed on the Blessed Armsman's turn.

Divine Sight (Su): A blessed armsman gains the ability to Detect Evil, Magic, Poison, and Undead at will. These abilities function as if cast by a cleric of the blessed armsman's level plus his paladin and/or cleric levels. A blessed armsman who already has the ability to detect evil at will may choose one other aspect of alignment to detect (as he can already detect evil). Additionally, the blessed armsman gets a +2 bonus against mind-affecting spells and spell-like abilities.


[In this ability I combined a couple of the weaker abilities and improved them. Any of these are nice, and they all represent the hard work it takes going to level 10 in a prestige class.


Associates : Like a paladin, a blessed armsman may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, but will never knowingly associate with evil characters. He will not continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code, and may only hire henchmen or accept followers who are lawful good.

Ex-Blessed Armsmen: A blessed armsman who ceases to be lawful good, who willfully commits an evil act, or who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all special abilities and spells, including bonus feats. He also may not progress in levels as a blessed armsman. He regains his abilities if he atones for his violations, as appropriate.

Multiclassing: A paladin who gains levels in blessed armsman may continue advancing as a paladin. In campaigns where the multiclassing restrictions on paladins are enforced, a blessed armsman who gains levels in a class other than paladin or blessed armsman may no longer advance in either class.



I have altered this class perhaps too far from what it began as. This class will appeal to fighter/paladins or fighter/clerics, or possibly fighter/rangers. Straight paladins can never enter this class, as it requires Weapon Spec, which is a large change.

In the final analysis I gave less feats than a fighter would receive. The "cost" for a fighter is very high, the code of conduct, alignment, and restriction on weapon are all very tough. For the paladin the cost is different, its a reduction in spell use and more importantly, the paladin is 4 levels behind a single-classed paladin because he had to get Weapon Spec.

I hope this helped, it took me a while and I'm not sure if its too powerful, but there it is.

Technik

 

[reapersaurus]

I don't think either is too powerful.

 

[FireLance]

Thanks to everyone for the input so far. I have made major changes to the class as a result. It still has attraction for a Paladin who wants to focus on fighting instead of spells, but the flexibility to choose abilities and gain fighter feats has been withdrawn.

The prerequisites are also more stringent, requiring Combat Reflexes and Weapon Focus in the deity's favored weapon instead of the previous requirement of any two feats from the Fighter's list of bonus feat. Iron Will is also a prerequisite, but in order to make it easy for Paladins to qualify, Divine Grace may be substituted. The effects of both are the same anyway - you are more resistant to Will saves.

Paladins taking this PrC become more effective in an actual physical fight against evil, but give up better spells, and increased Lay on Hands ability. They also give up Smite Evil, Remove Disease and Turn Undead progression, but this is compensated for.

Pure-class fighters taking this PrC gain special abilities at roughly the same rate that they would have gained feats. The special abilities are better than most fighter feats, but are only effective against evil opponents and go away in an anti-magic field.

The last two abilities may seem rather powerful, but Blessing of Guidance is actually not as good as a permanent Bless Weapon (1st-level Paladin spell) effect and Blessing of Precision is about as powerful as the Weapon Master's Ki Critical ability.

As always, inputs and comments are welcome.