Hmph.
At any rate, I'm not hear to cry about it. I'm just want some input on this retooling of the Bard I did. I personally really like it...but, y'know, having other people's opinions is a good idea.
The Jack of All Trades (aka the Marshal, the Team Leader, the Red Mage Wannabe, etc.)
Alignment: All alignment restrictions have been removed. Versatility can translate as both rigid study for all contingencies and "picking up bits here and there."
Religion: Varied.
Role: The ultimate generalist and coordinator. The Jack is able to motivate, boss around, and otherwise augment the effectiveness of the party as a whole based on any number of methods. Oftentimes, the Jack is able to coordinate his party so well because he has experienced a bit of everything. As such, he makes a good "second-best" in a variety of fields.
Game Rule Information:
Abilities: The Jack relies extensively on his natural Charisma to guide his spells. Many Jacks also use their Charisma to motivate their teammates; other Jacks rely instead on accumulated Wisdom to devise the best tactics in battle.
Class Skills: As the Bard.
Class Features:
(BAB, Saves: As Bard)
(Hit Die: d8. The Jack will occasionally need to frontline.)
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[br]Level: [br][br]1st Inspire, Lore, Countermotivate, fascinate, inspire courage, Ignore Arcane Spell Failure (5%)[br]2nd Hero's Defense[br]3rd [br]4th Spontaneous Casting[br]5th Bonus Feat[br]6th Ignore Arcane Spell Failure (10%)[br]7th[br]8th[br]9th Bonus Feat[br]10th[br]11th Ignore Arcane Spell Failure (15%)[br]12th[br]13th Bonus Feat[br]14th[br]15th[br]16th Ignore Arcane Spell Failure (20%)[br]17th Bonus Feat[br]18th[br]19th[br]20th Bonus Feat
Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Jack is proficient with the same weapons and armor that the Bard is. Furthermore, the Jack is proficient with Medium armor.
Motivate: This is an expanded version of Bardic Music. It still grants all the Bardic Music abilities of the 3.5 Bard with all the same prerequisites. It now allows the Jack to improve himself and his allies' abilities either through music, fiery speech, or even just a sense of confidence that he instills in others.
In game terms, the Jack may motivate either through force of personality (Charisma) or common sense and carefully-chosen words (Wisdom). He makes the choice at first level, and applies the appropriate ability score modifer to his Perform check. In general, talented singers, skilled musicians, and fiery warriors tend to rely on Charisma and use Perform skills such as Oratory, Singing, or even an instrument group (much like Bardic Music currently works), while more reserved tacticians rely on Wisdom and Perform: Oratory.
Lore: As Bardic Knowledge.
Countermotivate: As Countersong. Jacks can pull apart the power of magic not just through music, but also through the strength and convictions of their words. "Don't listen to him!" and "Focus on the battle!" is often enough for a Jack to stop an enemy's Dominate from affecting his teammate.
Ignore Arcane Spell Failure: At first level, a Jack may ignore 5% arcane spell failure. This amount increases as the Jack gains levels.
Hero's Defense: A Jack may add his Charisma modifier as a bonus to his AC starting at second level. If his Charisma modifier is currently higher than his Jack level, add his Jack level to AC instead. For example, a second-level Jack with a Charisma of 14 adds a +2 bonus to his AC. If his Charisma is 16, he still only adds a +2 bonus, and must become a level 3 Jack before adding his full Charisma bonus.
Spontaneous Casting: Starting at 4th level, a Jack may convert one memorized spell a day into any other learned spell of equal or lower level. He gains one additional daily use of this ability for every four Jack levels. (In game terms, this is a compromise between spontaneous casting and the unfortunately-superior prepared spellcasting)
Bonus Feats: At the levels referenced in the above chart, the Jack learns a bonus feat. This allows the Jack to customize his general style, and to pick up some of the Jack-related feats that would be created for this class. Note that a Jack must still meet the listed prerequisites for any feat in order to take the feat.
Spells per day:
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[br]Level Spells Per Day: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7[br]01 2[br]02 3 1[br]03 3 2[br]04 3 2 1[br]05 4 3 1[br]06 4 3 2[br]07 4 3 3 2[br]08 4 4 3 2[br]09 5 4 3 2 1[br]10 5 4 4 3 2[br]11 5 4 4 3 2 1[br]12 5 5 5 4 3 2[br]13 5 5 5 4 3 2[br]14 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 [br]15 5 5 5 5 4 3 2[br]16 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 [br]17 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 2[br]18 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 [br]19 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 [br]20 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 [br]
Spell Preparation: A Jack learns, prepares, and casts spells in much the same fashion that a Wizard does. Upon reaching 1st level, a Jack must choose to use either Intelligence as his key spellcasting attribute (like a Wizard), or Charisma (like a Sorcerer).
Spell List:
0: All 0-level spells listed in the PHB
1: Alarm, Animate Rope, Bane, Calm Animals, Cause Fear, Charm Animal, Charm Person, Color Spray, Command, Comprehend Languages, Confusion (lesser), Cure Light Wounds, all 1st level 'detect' spells, Disguise Self, Doom, Endure Elements, Enlarge Person, Entangle, Entropic Shield, Erase, Expeditious Retreat, Faerie Fire, Feather Fall, Grease, Hide From Animals, Hold Portal, Hypnotism, Identify, Jump, Mage Armor, Magic Fang, Magic Missile, Magic Mouth, Magic Weapon, Mount, Nystul's Magic Aura, Obscure Object, Obscuring Mist, Produce Flame, Reduce Person, Remove Fear, Silent Image, Sleep, Summon Monster I, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Tenser's Floating Disk, True Strike, Undetectable Alignment, Unseen Servant, Ventriloquism
2: Aid, Align Weapon, Alter Self, Animal Messenger, Animal Trance, Arcane Lock, Augury, Barkskin, all "anibuffs," Blindness/Deafness, Blur, Calm Emotions, Darkness, Daze Monster, Darkvision, Delay Poison, Detect Thoughts, Enthrall, Find Traps, Flame Blade, Flaming Sphere, Fog Cloud, Glitterdust, Gust of Wind, Heroism, Hold Persion, Hypnotic Pattern, Invisibility, Knock, Levitate, Locate Object, Make Whole, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Misdirection, Pyrotechnics, Rage, Resist Energy, Restoration (Lesser), Rope Trick, Scare, Shatter, Silence, Sound Burst, Spider Climb, Status, Suggestion, Summon Monster II, Summon Swarm, Tongues, Whispering Wind
3: Arcane Sight, Blink, Charm Monster, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Confusion, Continual Flame, Create Food and Water, Crushing Despair, Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Deep Slumber, Dispel Magic, Displacement, Explosive Runes, Fear, Fireball, Fire Trap, Fly, Gaseous Form, Geas (lesser), Glibness, Good Hope, Haste, Helping Hand, Illusory Script, Invisibility Sphere, Leomund's Tiny Hut, Lightning Bolt, Magic Fang (Greater), Major Image, Meld Into Stone, Phantom Steed, Protection from Energy, Protection from [alignment], Ray of Exhaustion, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Scrying, Sculpt Sound, Secret Page, See Invisibility, Sepia Snake Sigil, Shrink Item, Slow, Snare, Speak with Animals, Summon Monster III, Water Breathing, Water Walk, Wind Wall
4: Air Walk, Arcane Eye, Bestow Curse, Cure Critical Wounds, Detect Scrying, Dimension Door, Dimensional Lock, Discern Lies, Dominate Person, Hallucinatory Terrain, Hold Monster, Illusory Wall, Invisibility (Greater), Legend Lore, Leomund's Secure Shelter, Locate Creature, Magic Weapon (Greater), Modify Memory, Neutralize Poison, Nondetection, Poison, Rainbow Pattern, Repel Vermin, Restoration, Shadow Conjuration, Shout, Solid Fog, Speak with Plants, Summon Monster IV, Wall of Ice, Zone of Silence
5: Animate Objects, Break Enchantment, Greater Command, Cone of Cold, Control Water, Control Winds, Cure Light Wounds (Mass), Dismissal, Dream, False Vision, Flame Strike, Freedom of Movement, Leomund's Secret Chest, Mirage Arcana, Mislead, Private Sanctum, Nightmare, Overland Flight, Passwall, Seeming, Sending, Shadow Evocation, Shadow Walk, Song of Discord, Suggestion (Mass), Summon Monster V, Symbol of Sleep, Telekinesis, Teleport
6: Analyze Dweomer, Antimagic Field, all "mass anibuffs," Chain Lightning, Charm Monster (Mass), Contingency, Cure Moderate Wounds (Mass), Death Ward, Drawmij's Instant Summons, Eyebite, Find the Path, Geas/Quest, Guards and Wards, Heroes' Feast, Otto's Irresistible Dance, Permanent Image, Plane Shift, Programmed Image, Project Image, Prying Eyes, Scrying (Greater), Shout (Greater), Stone to Flesh, Summon Monster VI, Symbol of Persuasion, Sympathetic Vibration, Veil, Vision
7: Animate Plants, Astral Projection, Banishment, Blade Barrier, Cure Serious Wounds (Mass), Dominate Monster, Ethereal Jaunt, Freedom, Heal, Hold Person (Mass), Horrid Wilting, Insanity, Limited Wish, Mind Blank, Magnificent Mansion, Regenerate, Repulsion, Shadow Conjuration (Greater), Summon Monster VII, Teleport (Greater), True Seeing, Wind Walk
Final design notes and reasons for changes: This guy's much stronger than the Bard, that's for sure. My starting design premise was roughly similar to the Bard's: He should be fantastic at social interaction, and second-best at everything else. You'll find that the Jack of All Trades really is the second-best divin(ish) caster, second-best healer, second-best arcane caster, second-best skill guy, etc. in the group. He's pretty good at buffs, especially those granted from his ability to Motivate. In terms of melee combat, he's certainly tolerable, but won't overshadow any front-line fighter. In terms of versatility, he's unmatched; his ability to spontaneously cast a few spells a day means that the party won't be caught with its pants down very often. It also means that the other party casters don't need to worry quite as much about preparing utility spells, as the Jack should have that covered.
I would also like to discuss why I altered Bardic Music. Quite simply, I find the idea of a guy running around strumming his guitar in a battle to be a bit...odd. I also find the lack of mechanics that define the roll a good leader can make in combat to be a bit annoying. With this, I kill two birds in one stone. Not only can the Jack of All Trades still be a bard, but he can also be a Batman or Captain America, if you will--not the strongest person on the team, but versatile and able to effectively coordinate an attack.
I'll put it this way: Even though the Jack of All Trades isn't as combat-powerful as a Cleric, Druid, Wizard, or Psion, I'd actually consider playing one.