Weapon Kin PRC for critique

[Tormenet]

Weapon Kin

(It came up in my campaign that we might need to bond a PC to a weapon. This is my vision for my homebrew. The weapon has magic bonuses, features of a familiar, and gives access to domain powers. Frank opinions are very welcome.)

Among the Present Reality’s craftsmen are a few whose skills rise to such heights that they actually impart a spark of their souls into their creations. Using a powerful ceremony certain persons can unite their soul with that contained within their weapon, creating a new individual consciousness. Until the weapon is destroyed or its bearer is killed the two share a powerful link.
Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become a Weapon Kin, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Abilities: Min 12 Intelligence and Wisdom.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Feat: Bonded Item (Arcana Unearthed)
Special: Perform a ceremony involving at least a masterwork weapon. The ceremony costs 1,000 gold and 2,500 Experience Points.

Class Skills
The Weapon Kin’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex).

Skill points at each level: 8 + Int Modifier

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: None gained, none restricted.
BAB: As Fighter
Saves: As Bard
Special: Lvl 1- Bonded Weapon


Bonded Weapon Advancement
Weapon Kin Level
1- Weapon Bonus +1, Weapon Intelligence 6, Alertness, Improved Evasion, Speak with Weapon, Weapon Domain Access Level 1,2
2- Weapon Intelligence 7, Weapon Domain Access Level 3
3- Weapon Bonus +2, Weapon Intelligence 8, Weapon Domain Access Level 4
4- Weapon Intelligence 9, Weapon Domain Access Level 5
5- Weapon Intelligence 10, Spell Resistance, Weapon Domain Access Level 6
6- Weapon Bonus +3, Weapon Intelligence 11
7- Weapon Intelligence 12, Weapon Domain Access Level 7
8- Weapon Bonus +4, Weapon Intelligence 13,
9- Weapon Intelligence 14, Weapon Domain Access Level 8
10- Weapon Bonus +5, Weapon Intelligence 15

Alertness (Ex): The presence of the bonded weapon sharpens its master’s senses. While the weapon is within arms reach, the master gains the Alertness feat (PH pg. 89) (Familiar PH pg. 52)

Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a Weapon Kin holding her bonded weapon takes no damage if she makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails. (Familiar PH pg. 52)

Speak with Weapon (Ex): If the Weapon Kin is 5th level or higher, a weapon and the Weapon Kin can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help. (Familiar PH pg. 52)

Spell Resistance (Ex): If the Weapon Kin is 5th level or higher, the weapon grants spell resistance equal to the Weapon Kin’s total level + 5. To affect the Weapon Kin with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the spell resistance. (Familiar PH pg. 52)

Weapon Domain Access (Su): At the time of bonding the Weapon Kin selects two domains for the weapon from those listed on pgs. 185-189 of the Player’s Handbook. A Weapon Kin can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain. The domain gives the bonded weapon access to a domain spell one time per day at each spell level it can access, from 1st on up, but not the granted power. (Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells PH pg. 32)


Lost Weapons: The Weapon Kin and their weapon share a powerful bond. The Weapon Kin is always aware of the direction and approximate distance between her weapon and her. In the hands of any other creature the weapon functions as a +1 magic weapon.

Destroyed Weapons: If the weapon is somehow destroyed then the Weapon Kin must begin again with a new weapon. The character retains her levels in Weapon Kin but the new weapon starts its advancement from the Weapon Kin’s current level.

Smart Weapons: A weapon’s consciousness is the result of the union of two souls, the weapon’s creator and whoever performs the bonding ceremony. Because of this the possibility exists that the weapon’s goals will not be those of the bearer. If the weapon becomes more Intelligent than the Weapon Kin the two must make opposed Intelligence checks each time the character levels. The winner of the check dictates the characters actions. This cannot happen if the character created the weapon.

Thanks to Kephri of Shadowcraft Studios for his incredibly useful Class Construction Engine- http://www.dndadventure.com/html/articles_errata.html file titled 3E class creation.)

 

[Tormenet]

Bump.

Got an e-mail saying the name sucks, easy to fix. Other comments are very welcome.

Tormenet

 

[MarauderX]

I haven't read all of the way through Arcana Unearthed, so the weapon bonding seems a bit weird to me. I'm not sure if getting the bonded weapon would be an advantage over other classes, as the PrC works against two-weapon fighters or those that would change weapons for different circumstances (i.e. bond to a greatsword, then decide to switch to a flail to gain the trip advantage).

A sundered weapon would render the class much weaker, as alertness, domain spells, evasion, etc. are lost until the ceremony is performed again (at the expense of another 2500 XP - ouch). Or throw in a pickpocket to steal the weapon/familiar then sunder it.

Now instead of sunder, use the much easier disarm to render this class weaker. Throw a buffed(Bull's Str) barbarian at this PrC and have him yank the weapon from the weaker weapon kin's hands, and instantly the kin has lost all of those nice abilities. The weapon kin will spend time groping after her weapon than fighting. It's a constant weakness that doesn't go away, as the weapon kin keeps sinking ability points into Int to keep up with the smart weapon, and if out-smarted the weapon becomes a curse instead of an aid.

The base damage of the weapon stays the same, and only the bonuses add any advantage to using it in combat. I suppose it would be good if you picked to bond to a ranged weapon, as it won't be used in melee except in extreme cases. It would be a good PrC for a ranged character that won't be wading into melee where it might be broken by accident (1's do happen...), but with only the meager spell advantage of domains, the PrC won't be an advantage for casters.

IMO, an archer fighter or ranger could look to this PrC for flavor, but with the necessity to have a broad range of abilities could be too limiting. All in all it's a nice PrC for flavor, but unless the weapon can be used to close the special combat gaps of disarm and sunder it will be weak.

Hope that was frank enough for you!

 

[SinisterMinister]

Wow, Marauder -- you sure sound like a guy who rolls lots of 1s

Don't know which is the chicken and which is the egg, but my guess is that Corey's envisioning this for Asad with his master's staff. A 2-handed weapon would be much harder to disarm, and if one of the features of the weapon were an increased hardness to minimize the chance of sunder maybe that could assuage your concerns.

And for a guy who's been carrying a manhole cover through the Sind Killers for the past few weeks, I'm sure you could find a way to keep a staff away from people with malicious intent.

I will say, Tormenet, that Tariq would welcome the opportunity to develop such a relationship with his flail -- the better to kill Ghinn with.

 

[MarauderX]

Wow, Marauder -- you sure sound like a guy who rolls lots of 1s

You have seen only the tip of the iceberg so far... players love me as a DM 'cause baddies never seem to have luck with my rolls.

Anyway, I was thinking of Asad too, and with his Str=14 it would eventually get risky when in melee. I think Asad is against bonding with material weapons, since he is himself a living weapon. And by this time he could use either the staff or hubcap he dug up.
Asad has plans for his feats at 9th level: Grappling Block - turns an opponents successful attack into a disarm. Oh yeah, could be some good stuff.

 

[Felix]

[candid]

Fighter's BAB
2 good saves
8 sp/level
d8 HD
Damn good class skill list. (Why are some of those on there?) Knowledge(arcane) and Tumble?

I got this far and thought that the class' special abilities need to be on the weaker side for this to be balanced.

Weapon Domain... you give the player 8 quickened spells. After all, it's the weapon who casts the spells so it's not like the player has to waste an action to cast them. These spells go up to 8th level. That isn't shabby.

Alertness... a free but defined feat. Not as powerful as a Fighter Feat, but isn't shabby either considering what else you get at that level.

Improved Evasion... you're giving a 6th level melee character that which takes a rogue at least 10 levels to get? Way too powerful.

Spell Resistance... Not as strong as a monk's (lvl+10), but this guy gets it 3 levels earlier. Too strong.

Lost & Destroyed weapons... if this is (Ex) then not even anti-magic field can hide this damn weapon. And if it's destroyed, the PC is out what... 1000gp and 2,500xp. That's peanuts. And the new weapon is just as strong as the old one. This actually was a bit unclear... do they get all of the abilities automatically, or do they miss out on the 3rd level domain spell and only get a 4th level domain spell if the new weapon comes in at PrC level 3? Either way, there is easy recovery from a destroyed weapon.


Smart Weapons... the Ego checks designed in the DMG under Intellegent Weapons is a much more elegant way to deal with the issue of control. It also pisses players off to not be able to act like they want to for a whole level. You'll see a lot of PCs taking Craft: Weapon and this little problem will go away completely. This is either way too harsh or too little of a drawback... What will end up happening is it will become too little of a drawback.

---
Conclusion

This PrC takes the motto "Put all your eggs in one basket, and GUARD THAT BASKET" to its final form. All of the PrC abilities derrive from having the weapon in hand. When the PC doesn't have the weapon, he loses almost all of his combat effectiveness, with the exception of being the most powerful base class (HD+skills+saves+etc.).

I would not want to run this PrC as a DM or a player.
Why not DM?
--The tactics to remove a PC's uber weapon are plentiful and effective. There is no reason why every combat every intelligent baddie would not seek to nick the weapon. But if I did that, I would be crushing a PC... because of the flaws in a PrC that I allowed... and nobody likes to be a meanine all the time (maybe I'm wrong about you ). So I don't have my intelligent NPCs go after the weapon to exploit the glaringly obvious weakness of the class. So I lose verisimillitude in my game, and that is important to me.
Why not a player?
--I like gritty games. I don't like kid gloves. I don't want to be run by a cushy DM (and you arn't, that's why I liked your game. ) But I also don't like being made weak everytime I drop my weapon, it's taken from me, or it's busted up. This PrC's weapon is a sign saying "To Render Useless, Take This". There are too many ways to attack me that I can't defend against without completely neglecting my offensive capabilities.

What changes would I make? Make the PrC designed around being badass with a type of weapon (longsword, q-staff,...). Give him Weapon Spec, Gr. Weap Focus, Gr. Weap Spec, Imp Crit, and those kinds of feats so that the PC isn't totally out of luck when his bonded sword is buggered. Then power down the abilities you give the sword. You could turn it into a weapon-ish familiar or paladin's mount or animal companion. Familiars et al are designed to be a) cool, and b) utility. Don't make the sword too powerful... make the sword useful. Abilities like Discern Lies for a Lawful weapon, or a bonus to Bluff for a Chaotic weapon will make the weapon less attractive for NPC's to destroy or remove, it will reduce the combat utility of the weapon and dependance of the PC upon the weapon. Do that, and change the (HD, BAB, saves, skills) stuff to something less ridiculously powerful, and you've got yourself something I'd look at to play.

Oh, one last thing. This PrC as written has no purpose. It just says "there are guys out there who kick butt with a weapon that is part of them. they have these abilities..." Dragon Disciples serve a purpose; they want to become one, and so further the goals of dragonkind. Loremasters are the arcanists that love books, and if you're looking for research, go to these guys. Blackguards command evil armies against the forces of Good. Weapon Kin... kick butt with swords? So does a paladin. So does a Fighter. So does a Ranger (using 2 swords!). Answer the question "what sets this PrC apart when it comes to filling a unique role in the world" and you will have a PrC that is flavorly equal to your Wearers of Black.

[/candid]

Good start though!

[EDIT]: Grammar & all that noise.

 

[Tormenet]

Great stuff. Thanks. Pulling out the old drawing board.