New Tome Base Class: Action Hero

[Apalala]

Idea I toyed with for a few hours. I've no clue how to make a decent table on a forum, so here's a link to the google doc as well.

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfd7zxz_40frp482gm

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ACTION HERO

Playing a Action Hero: Where others rely on brute force or mystical energies, you don't need anything more than your speed, skill, and reckless style. A healthy dose of luck is good too. Lots and lots of luck.

Alignment: Any

Races: Any

Starting Gold: 4d6x10 gp (140 gold)

Starting Age: As Rogue.

Hit Die: d10

Class Skills: The Action Hero’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb(Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int OR Dex), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex) Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skills/Level: 6 + Intelligence Bonus

Level Base
Attack Bonus Fort
Save Ref
Save Will
Save Special
1st +0 +0 +2 +0 That'll Have To Do!, Tadah!
2nd +1 +0 +3 +0 Called Shot 1/min, Natural Talent Lv 1
3rd +2 +1 +3 +1 Missed Me!, Fast Movement 10
4th +3 +1 +4 +1 Called shot 2/min, Natural Talent Lv. 2
5th +3 +1 +4 +1 Never Say Die!, Fast Movement 20
6th +4 +2 +5 +2 Called shot 3/min, Natural Talent Lv. 3
7th +5 +2 +5 +2 Try and Keep Up!, Fast Movement 30
8th +6/+1 +2 +6 +2 Called shot 4/min, Natural Talent Lv. 4
9th +6/+1 +3 +6 +3 Damn Lucky 1/min, Fast Movement 40
10th +7/+2 +3 +7 +3 Called shot 5/min, Natural Talent Lv. 5
11th +8/+3 +3 +7 +3 Bonus Feat, Fast Movement 50
12th +9/+4 +4 +8 +4 Called Shot 6/min, Natural Talent Lv 6
13th +9/+4 +4 +8 +4 Bigger They Are..., Fast Movement 60
14th +10/+5 +4 +9 +4 Called Shot 7/min, Natural Talent Lv 7
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +9 +5 Bright Idea, Fast Movement 70
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Called Shot 8/min, Natural Talent Lv 8
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 Oldest Trick, Fast Movement 80
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +6 Called Shot 9/min, Natural Talent Lv 9, Damn Lucky 2/min
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +6 Devil's Luck, Fast Movement 90
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +6 Called Shot 10/min, Backfire

All of the following are Class Features of the Action Hero class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Action Heroes are proficient with simple weapons, martial weapons, light armor, and medium armor.

That'll have to do! (Ex): Action Heroes are masters of improvisation. As a free action, they may designate any object that weighs up to their light load or less as being another weapon at the DM's descretion so long as they hold onto it. In this way, a chair becomes a mace, a rope becomes a whip, a deck of playing cards become shurikens, etc. While using such improvisational weapons, an Action Hero adds an enhancement bonus to attack/damage rolls equal to 1/4th his class level, rounded up.

Ta-dah! (Ex): Action Heroes can reliably do the unexpected. A natural 20 on any skill check receives a bonus equal to 5+the Action Heroes class level. This includes skill checks in which the Action Hero has the time to take 20.

Called Shot (Ex): At 2nd level, an Action Hero gains the ability to make Called Shots. As a standard action, an Action Hero may target a particular area of a foe. After declaring the target, the Action Hero makes an attack roll opposed by the targets reflex save. An action hero may use this ability once per minute for every two class levels. Valid called shots vary by foe, but the Weakspot called shot is valid at all times.
Weakspot: Deal normal weapon damage, plus 1d6 for every point by which you beat the reflex save.
Eyes: Target is blinded in one eye. If you exceed the reflex save by 5 or more, the target is blinded in all eyes on one particular head. This last until the target receives a DC 15+Class Level heal check OR receives a full 8 hours of rest while at full hp.
Hands: One hand becomes unusable for next five minutes. Spells with somatic components require a concentration check with a DC equal to 15+Class Level.
Ankle: The character becomes flatfooted for the next five minutes.

Natural Talent (Sp): Action Heroes may not rely on magic, but they can still pick up a few tricks, able to occasionally cast a spell through raw talent and dumb luck. At 2nd level, an Action Hero gains the ability to learn spells as a Wizard. However, an Action Hero may only prepare one spell per day. The Action Hero may learn level 2 spells at level 4, level 3 spells at level 6, and so on. Spells cast by the Action Hero have a DC equal to 10+Spell Level+Charisma Modifier and a caster level equal to his character level.

Missed Me! (Ex): At 3rd level, any attack roll against the Action hero fails on a natural roll of 6 or less.

Fast movement (Ex): At 3rd level, an Action Hero gains an enhancement bonus to his speed, as shown on the table. An Action Hero in heavy armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.

Never say die! (Ex): At 5th level, the Action Hero is able to beat the odds with a combination of quick thinking, willpower, and pure luck. An action hero never fails a saving throw with a natural roll of 14 or higher.

Try and Keep Up! (Ex): At 7th level, an Action Heroes innate speed makes it so that he can literally run circles around his foes. As a move action, an Action Hero may create a zone with a radius equal to half his speed. The Action Hero is considered to occupy each square within the zone for all purposes. This allows an Action Hero to flank with himself. While within the zone, an Action Hero never provokes an attack of opportunity and make not make any attacks of opportunity. The zone lasts until the Action Hero leaves it, or it may be ended as an immediate action to place the Action Hero at any point within the zone.

Damn Lucky! (Su): At 9th level, the luck of an Action Hero is enough to make logical men weep. Once per minute, an Action Hero may roll a d10 and either add or subtract the result to the natural roll of a roll just made. In this way, an Action Hero may turn a hit into a miss, a hit into a critical, a save into a failure, etc. An Action Hero may use this ability two times per minute at level 18.

Bonus Feat: At 11th level, the Action Hero gains Lightning Reflexes as a bonus feat. If he already has this feat, he may choose any other feat in its place. Treat his HD as his BAB for the purposes of this feat.

Bigger They Are... (Ex): At 13th level, an Action Hero becomes particularly adept at taking down larger foes. When using the Called Shot: Weakspot, increase the die size by one for every size category difference between the Action Hero and target. A d6 becomes a d8, then d10, to a maximum d12.

Bright Idea (Ex): At 15th level, an Action Hero is capable of pulling off even the most outlandish plans. By spending at least one minute going over the details, an Action Hero may grant himself and his allies the ability to each treat one of their die rolls within the next ten minutes as a 17 as a non-action.

Oldest Trick (Ex): At 17th level, the Action Hero is able to control his innate speed to such a fine degree that even aiming for him can be hazardous. If an attacker misses with a ranged attack against an Action Hero within the zone created by his Try and Keep Up ability, he must reroll the attack against one target of the Action Hero's choice within the zone.

Devil's Luck (Ex): At 19th level, an Action Hero is very, very hard to kill. Natural attack rolls of 10 or less always miss and natural saving throws of 10 or higher always succeed.

Backfire (Ex): At 20th level, the Action Hero's luck can twist that of his foes. Whenever the Action Hero succeeds a saving throw from a hostile target, he may force the origin of the effect to make a saving throw against the same effect. An Action Hero may use this ability once per minute.

[Hicks]

Level 1 sucks. Horribly.

Unless he gets full spellcasting, be a man (or woman, whatever) and slap on full BAB.

Lose all the 1/minute. This isn't 4.fail. None of those abilities at the level gained need to be limited use. At all.

"Hit the Weak Spot for Massive Damage!" heh, cool. Reduce the damage from +1d6 per to +1 per.

What is the maximum spell level when you lear a spell through Natural Talent?

Have Damn lucky be like a the Fighter's Combat Focus, but make it an Immidieate Action.



Bigger they are, becomes +1, +2, +3... instead of die sizes

Devils' luck needs to be reworked. Like Roll 2d20s, take the highest/lowest depending on what's most favorable to the action hero.

[Sunwitch]

I think you need a better idea of how this guy's supposed to be contributing to the party. Pretty much the entire class is made of fluff. That Natural Talent should be usable at will at the very least. If this guy's supposed to be fighting anything, he needs a full BAB. You need to give him class features that actually do something and complement each other in such a way that it can actually take on level-appropriate challenges and lend a hand to the party in a variety of situations. What you have right now is incapable of doing anything meaningful at all. I'm not actually sure what you want this to be, though.

[Apalala]

Level 1 sucks. Horribly.

Unless he gets full spellcasting, be a man (or woman, whatever) and slap on full BAB.

Lose all the 1/minute. This isn't 4.fail. None of those abilities at the level gained need to be limited use. At all.

"Hit the Weak Spot for Massive Damage!" heh, cool. Reduce the damage from +1d6 per to +1 per.

What is the maximum spell level when you lear a spell through Natural Talent?

Have Damn lucky be like a the Fighter's Combat Focus, but make it an Immidieate Action.



Bigger they are, becomes +1, +2, +3... instead of die sizes

Devils' luck needs to be reworked. Like Roll 2d20s, take the highest/lowest depending on what's most favorable to the action hero.

Yeah, looking at it, level 1 does need work. Adding this to it:

Star of the Show (Ex): An Action Hero tends to draw lots attention. This is good for his allies...not so much for himself. At level 1, an Action Hero projects an aura of ten feet/class level. Allies within this aura gain a +1 circumstance bonus to AC and all Saving Throws versus enemies that know the Action Heroes name. This bonus increases by +1 at level 3, and at every four levels after.

As for a full BAB...Trying to balance the class against something like the Genie or Monk, not the Fighter.

The once per minute I'm a little iffy on. Called shots should probably be At-Will past level 8, but something like Damn Lucky, which is a non-action, should have some limits.

The math on Weak Spot is definitely random. The difference between a die roll alone can be up to 19d6. Plus, I suppose it doesn't scale well, staying relatively constant throughout the class's career. Perhaps a static d6 per level, +1 for every every point you beat their reflex save.

The maximum level of Natural Talent is 1 at level 2, 2 at level 4, 3 at level 6, etc.

As for Devil's Luck, I like it just the way it is. Definitely broken, but not so much compared to the other classes in Tome.

[Apalala]

I think you need a better idea of how this guy's supposed to be contributing to the party. Pretty much the entire class is made of fluff. That Natural Talent should be usable at will at the very least. If this guy's supposed to be fighting anything, he needs a full BAB. You need to give him class features that actually do something and complement each other in such a way that it can actually take on level-appropriate challenges and lend a hand to the party in a variety of situations. What you have right now is incapable of doing anything meaningful at all. I'm not actually sure what you want this to be, though.

The idea is for a very fast, very lucky hero. The kinds that star in movies, that will charge through a hail of arrows or bullets and come out untouched. Out of combat, he has a variety of skills. In combat, he tries to draw the attention of other foes towards him, his called shot ability dealing both decent damage and significant debuffs.

As for making Natural Talent at-will...definitely not. Perhaps a 2nd class feature that lets him cast a one low level spell at-will. So that when he can cast 1 4th level spell, he'll be able to cast a 2nd level spell At-Will.

[IGTN]

Please bold your ability names when doing descriptions. That would make the class much easier to scan through.

Moving on to serious critique:
The Genie and Monk both get full BAB.

Also, BAB doesn't do the +11/+6/+1 thing. All iterative attacks are at -5, so it would be +11/+6/+6.

You'll want to make Star's aura not affect the Action Hero. Unlike in 4e, you are your own ally in 3e, not enemy.

Ta-Dah! doesn't do what it's flavor text suggests. If you need a natural 20 for an ability to work, you can't do it reliably.

Missed Me!, likewise, is an awful ability. It doesn't work at all on anything that wouldn't otherwise hit you all the time. Something letting you get Concealment against designated enemies would be better, probably. Likewise with Never Say Die and Devil's Luck. These abilities, basically, cap your enemies' power against you, no matter what level or how specialized they are, which is bad.

Per-minute cooldowns are awful. Save the time-based cooldowns (longer than "every other round") for video games, or maybe one or two at a time per character, and come up with something else.