The Dragoon (Squeejee)

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Squeejee
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The Dragoon (Squeejee)

Post by Squeejee »

I'm new here, but I've been looking for a forum like this - and a place to throw my attempts at homebrew around with people I don't know irl. If you're wondering, I've been playing DnD for about a year and this is the first class I've made myself, so judge critically if you would~

Oh, I haven't quite hammered out all of the details for the latter half of the class features, so for now every ability from Dragonheart on is just an idea.

The Dragoon[/COLOR]
A Final Fantasy Classic Revisited[/COLOR]

Preface
My Goals Creating This Class

a) To create a balanced class.
b) To represent a kind of mean between the dragoon variants presented in the Final Fantasy series.
c) To offer something usable beyond merely combat and door smashing - but specializing in exactly that.
d) To create a Jump ability that scales with class level.
e) To encourage (but not require) Spears and heavy armor.
f) To offer optional rules for GMs to have at their disposal - these will be in red.[/COLOR]
g) To explain my intentions clearly, so you can see what I'm trying to do before commenting.[/COLOR]
h) To provide adequate examples in order to avoid confusion with my intent towards each of this class' abilities.[/COLOR]

FAIR WARNING: The use of this class requires a fair bit of simple math - you don't have to know trig, but if you can't handle adding, subtracting and multiplying numbers on the fly, then this probably isn't a good class choice for you.

Also, as a means to demonstrate the class' balance with respect to other class choices, I will be utilizing a fair bit of math myself: I will assume non-twinky settings for all characters, and be making assumptions that they are without magical items - though this will likely not be the case. Comparisons will be made on the same assumptions - this is to isolate the strengths of the class from whit is possible through aggressive use of the Magic Item Compendium, because that can break any character build (whether this is a problem or a good skill for your players to have, I leave up to you).

Oh, and I know that the custom Jump skill on this forum is infinitely cooler than the crappy on in the PhB, but this class is built with the original skill description in mind. Maybe it would still work just as well on that one, but I haven't checked it out yet.

The Class Table
Everything in a Nutshell

Jump 8 ranks ; Tumble 4 Ranks ; BaB +3 ; Any 2 feats from the Fighter bonus feat list ; At the GM's option, there may be a society or knightly order that prospective Dragoon must join before she can take this prestige class[/COLOR]

These requirements are in place so that any reasonable Martial character can aspire to this class as early as 6th level - the more-or-less standard for taking your prestige class. Because campaign worlds differ, I've made the "Member of the Dragoon Knighthood" idea optional. Also, being a dragoon never really struck me as something you could start out as, but rather an advanced skillset you earn - hence, it's a prestige class.[/COLOR]

((Sorry if this is a bit hard to read))[/COLOR]
Level // BAB // Fort // Ref // Will // Special
1 // +1 // +2 // +2 // +0 // Unencumbered Jump
2 // +2 // +3 // +3 // +0 // Jump (Utility)
3 // +3 // +3 // +3 // +1 // Armored Speed I
4 // +4 // +4 // +4 // +1 // Standing Leap
5 // +5 // +4 // +4 // +1 // Jump (Attack)
6 // +6 // +5 // +5 // +2 // Dragonheart
7 // +7 // +5 // +5 // +2 // Super Jump
8 // +8 // +6 // +6 // +2 // Armored Speed II
9 // +9 // +6 // +6 // +3 // High Jump
10 // +10 // +7 // +7 // +3 // Master Jump

The BAB and Fort save should be obvious - this is a Fighter prestige class. But Ref? Well, a Dragoon has spent enough time jumping from place to place by now that it is second nature to them to leap out of trouble, hence a reflex save. If they were a fighter for five levels beforehand, their reflex will still be 3 behind what a rogue (with a rogue's prestige class) looks at for dodging, and they lack evasion and other cool dodge-y things.[/COLOR]

Skills: Climb (Str) ; Craft (Int) ; Handle Animal (Cha) ; Intimidate (Cha) ; Jump (Str) ; Ride (Dex) ; Swim (Str) ; and Tumble (Dex) - Skill Points per level: 2 + Int Modifier - Hit Die: 1d10[/INDENT]

Fighter skills, plus tumble - because a Dragoon uses that sort of thing more often. However, you're still taking half your armor penalty to Tumble checks, and you'll have to sacrifice learning one of your already-there abilities to max out Tumble right away, or upgrade your Int.[/COLOR]

Class Abilities
Here They Are, Explained

Unencumbered Jump: The Dragoon ignores her Armor Check Penalty for Jump checks, and halves said penalty for Tumble checks. Note that this ability does not affect penalty resultant from speed loss, but see Armored Speed, below.

This is pretty self-explanatory, but a Human with -5 Armor check penalty (from Masterwork Full Plate) and a Jump check penalty (from reduced speed) of -6 goes from a -11 to Jump checks to a -6. Assuming he has +4 from Str, +1 from Dex (The armor's upper limit), and max ranks in Jump and Tumble, his skill modifiers will become +9 and +9 (remember that DnD rounds against the player's favor), respectively.[/COLOR]

The first step on my "Jump Progression" is the Dragoon fully taking advantage of her existing ability to jump. Because Jumping and tumbling are similar skills (they are Synergistic, after all), tumble gets a partial benefit.[/COLOR]

Dragoon's Jump (Utility): The Dragoon's penultimate ability is her skill in leaping to fantastic heights, and using that momentum to add to her spear damage. She may now multiply the jump distance achieved by any long or high Jump check by her Dragoon class level. Activating this ability is a free action, simply part of your jump check - however, because of the intense focus required to perform such a leap, the Dragoon cannot defend herself properly for a moment and provokes an attack of opportunity the instant before she begins jumping - if she takes damage from this attack, she loses her Dragoon's Jump entirely (but may make another attempt next round, if desired). This ability also exerts much in the way of energy, and as such should only be used once every ((1d6+4)-Con bonus) rounds, minimum 1. In a pinch, the Dragoon may Dragoon's Jump a second time before this time limit is over: but she ends the violating jump fatigued until she can get half an hour of uninterrupted rest. In addition to the normal penalties for fatigue, a Dragoon cannot perform her special jumps while under this condition.

There is always a chance the Dragoon will land directly on another creature - in this case, treat the Dragoon as a 200 lb falling object, and deal falling damage to her based on the distance she fell from the highest point in her jump to the creature she hit. Finally, if the creature is the same size or smaller than her, it is knocked prone in its square, and the dragoon falls prone in an adjacent square, selected at random by the grenade like weapons scatter rules.

No matter what heights the Dragoon reaches with her jump, she is never subject to fall damage when using this ability, UNLESS the square she is landing in is lower than the one she started in. In this case, the Dragoon suffers fall damage as if falling the difference between the two squares - she may make a tumble check as normal to reduce this damage.

When performing a high jump with this ability, the Dragoon uses the distance chart for a long jump to determine the height reached - so, she jumps five feet for every 5 on the roll, rather than 1 foot for every 4 on it. Normal jumps are not effected by this rule.

If the dragoon makes a jump that takes multiple turns to complete, each round she is in the air she counts as charging: -2 to AC. However, she is also creating a kind of motion blur as she goes, so any ranged attacks targeting her incur a 30% miss chance to concealment. Also, any threatened squares she moves through on a turn after the first does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

A level 5 Fgt, level 2 Drg Human with maximum ranks in Jump and synergy from Tumble, and has a running start. Her total bonus is +10, so the shortest jump she can make is 10 feet - and the longest 30 feet. She can make this jump long or high - but remember that you require 5 feet of vertical clearance for every 10 feet long you jump. Similarly, a Dragoon could move 5 feet laterally for every 10 feet of height achieved, but she cannot change her direction mid-jump (yet!).

Here it is, what you've all been waiting for: but you are not a Dragoon yet! As the prospective Dragoon has only just tapped her own potential, she cannot yet aim her jumps precisely enough to attack an enemy during them - though it is entirely plausible that she may make this jump as part of a normal charge. Because of the low ceilings that DnD characters often find themselves under, I've made the jump ability apply to either long or high jumps evenly - and the adventuring applications of the aptly named Jump (Utility) are endless. Leap above the treeline, find your way out of the forest. Hop across a seemingly hopeless chasm, pull the lever that lowers the bridge (after fighting the guards, of course). Make scaling the mountain infinitely easier (even carry your friends up it).

The limitations represent that brief pause you usually see before the jump happens, but are overcome by (gasp!) skillful application of the Tumble skill! Tumble out, long Jump away - instant 40-feet-or-so (at level 2) clearance between you and your enemy (assuming you have an escape vector, of course). Of course, I didn't want players jumping every turn, so I introduced a limiting factor: fatigue. A Dragoon who invests in a high Con can jump a number of times per battle, but as it's not a primary stat, many prospective dragoons will lack this ability.

Armored Speed I: The Dragoon ignores fully half of her speed reduction (and gains a lessened Jump check penalty) from wearing medium or heavy armors, but not from being encumbered.

A human that normally has 30 feet of movement and is reduced to 20 by armor will, after acquiring this ability, have 25 feet of movement instead. Also, the -6 Jump check penalty (for being 10 feet under thier normal speed) is reduced to half its value, to -3.[/COLOR]

This represents, again, the Dragoon becoming better at jumping - and also their increased stride even while fully armored (no doubt that, by now, even their normal "running speed" involves quite a few short hops). Encumbrance is not affected by this level of ability, because an encumbrance penalty not only represents weight, but also the awkwardness of carrying several large objects (or many small objects, as the case may be). The jump skill description is unclear on the penalty for 5 ft. increments, so I merely assumed the logical and halved the -6 to a -3. By this point, your Dragoon will still have a better jump in light or no armor, but it is becoming increasingly advantageous to just use your class-given Heavy armor proficiencies.[/COLOR]

Standing Leap: When performing a jump, the Dragoon now always counts as having a running start.

A human dragoon stands before a 50 ft wall, and is currently under fire from the crossbowmen atop it. They are pretty accurate, and the Dragoon knows that in order to best them in combat she must do what she does best - and leaps straight up the wall to meet them in battle with her spear. Being a 5 Fgt / 4 Drg, her skill bonus is +16 (12 ranks + 2 tumble synergy - 3 speed + 5 Str Score) and she takes 10 on the check, for a result of 26 - 25 feet of vertical clearance. Multiplied by her dragoon level, that's 100 feet of jump - more than enough to take her to the top, even when she opts to jump lower than rolled, so that she can proceed to destroy the somewhat dumbstruck solders on top of it. [/COLOR]

In pretty much every Final Fantasy game, the dragoon doesn't run up the enemy and jump into the air - they jump into the air and fall towards the enemy! This ability represents the Dragoon's jump getting better, and is a great setup for Jump (Attack), which they get next level.[/COLOR]

Jump (Attack): The penultimate ability of the dragoon is turning their fantastic leap into an attack, which they can do upon learning this ability. From this level onward, the Dragoon may choose to end any of her Dragoon's Jumps with a charge attack. This attack incurs the normal modifiers for a charge, in addition to a few other bonuses.

For one, the Dragoon adds damage to the attack, based on fall damage as if the target had fallen from the highest point of the Dragoon's Jump into their square - so, if the highest point of the Dragoon's Jump is 100 feet high and her target is at 0 feet AGL, the damage she adds to her attack would be 10d6. This damage is bludgeoning damage, and is only dealt if the dragoon connects with her weapon attack.

If the Dragoon's weapon is a piercing reach weapon - hafted, not flexible as a spike chain is - then the weapon's damage is dealt as if it were a critical hit - thus a x2 weapon deals double damage, a x3 weapon deals triple damage, etc. If the attack turns out to be a critical hit, the critical damage multiplier is added a second time in the manner described by the player's handbook (so a x2 becomes a x3, a x3 becomes a x5, and so on).

The Dragoon also adds +1 to her effective strength bonus for the attack for every die if falling damage she adds - thus, +10 to the damage and attack roll if she is adding 10d6.

The charge damage way be improved through the use of feats - such as leap attack and powerful charge - where applicable. Other abilities can also be used, as a Paladin/Dragoon with the Charging Smite optional feature. These feats only apply to the weapon's damage, not the falling damage.

Sneak attack damage, or other precision-based abilities, cannot be applied to the Jump attack - the flying leap is simply too reckless an attack.

The dragoon's speed through the air during a Dragoon jump increases from double their land speed to triple it.

Finally, if the Dragoon's attack is interrupted at the end of their jump, as by a readied action that hits and deals damage (it's a charge, so you can set weapons against it), she may still attempt her attack (assuming she is conscious).

The Dragoon faces down a purple worm. She is currently 11th level, and her and her party have been wearing down the worm for some time now. The time is right to end this fight.

She first tumbles out of the worm's threatened area, which succeeds. Then, as a second move action, she performs a high jump - activating her Dragoon's Jump ability in the process.

Her total jump modifier is +18 (+5 STR, +14 Skill, +2 Synergy, -3 Speed), and she takes 10 on the jump itself for a result of 28. 25 feet of vertical clearance translates to 125 feet of jump after her class level is multiplied in, which means she'll be adding 12d6 of falling damage to her attack.

First she has to travel through the air - she's moving a total of 250 feet vertically (125 up, 125 down), and so she can declare up to 50 feet of horizontal movement (1/4 of 250, rounded down to the nearest 5-foot increment) before the jump, essentially designating her target square. She chooses a square 10 feet away from the purple worm (her lance's reach) as her landing zone, and calculates that it will take 4 turns for her to land (movement speed x 3 = 75, and she has 250 feet to move).

Broken down completely, she moves 25 feet on the first turn (as she used a move action to tumble out of the threatened area), and then 75 feet on every subsequent turn - 25, 100, 175, 250. She therefore spends the first turn tumbling and starting the jump, two turns doing nothing but moving through the air, and the fourth turn she makes her attack.

So she jumps, and 4 turns later, lands. On the landing turn, she makes her attack roll: 11 BAB + 2 bonus for charging + 12 effective STR bonus + 1 weapon focus, for a +26 to hit (before taking into account her weapon, which is probably magical by now). It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that she'll hit (fumbles can ruin your day pretty quickly), so she rolls damage as well: 3d8 (weapon's crit damage) + 12d6 (falling damage) + 12 (effective STR). If we assume she rolls average, she'll deal 67 damage total. If she had spent those 4 turns attacking as normal, she would have dealt 36 damage on average, assuming every single attack of hers hit (a pretty big assumption). Remember that my examples assume no magic items - if she has the right ones, she could eviscerate her target by an even greater margin.

Well, here we go: the attack. It takes a good while to get here, but I think it really well represents the elite power of the Dragoon. Basically, I wanted to make the Dragoon's Jump (Attack) an improved charge attack that is used in the air rather than on land - but deals enough extra damage to make it worthwhile over just standing and attacking for the rounds you are "out of it". As an extension of the Dragoon's existing jump ability, it is subject to the same restrictions - I don't want to simply double the dragoon's damage capability without some level of restriction.

Dragonheart - In Final Fantasy Tactics, this ability would bring your Dragoon back from KO status - so I'm thinking an effect similar to the "Close Wounds" spell, that takes effect one round after a dragoon is knocked below 0 HP (and can save them from dying, after this 6-second delay) and brings them back into the fight. An enemy who knows what is about to happen could prevent it by coup de grace -ing the unconscious dragoon.

Super Jump - The dragoon's speed through the air increases to x4, and in some way it becomes more effective - I'm thinking an AOE stunning effect could fit here, or being able to use a second weapon attack after the main Jump (Attack).

Armored Speed II - The dragoon now fully ignores her heavy armor penalties for movement.

High Jump - The Dragoon gains the ability to perform an action at the apex of her jump, and then continue as if it were a normal jump - she might fire a ranged weapon of some kind, or utilize her ingenuity to do something i can't predict.

Also, the dragoon gains the ability to shift her "target square" in mid-jump by shifting her momentum to match, say, a moving opponent. She would still be restrained by the limits of her initial jump, but she could pull back her horizontal movement or stretch it out as needed instead of playing a "guessing game" with her opponents on every jump where they might try to get out of the way. Pending play testing, I might make this addition part of Jump (Attack) to keep it from being to easily rendered ineffective.

Master Jump - After performing a Jump (Attack), the master jump allows for a second jump immediately afterward, or maybe some kind of secondary explosion effect the round after the jump would be cool. I don't think it's been rendered in one of the games, but it sure sounds like a Final Fantasy move :P
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Maxus
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Post by Maxus »

I took a stab at it a while back. The thread's somewhere here, but it's also on the D&D wikis

http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Dragoon_ ... e_Class%29

For my money, though, your bit on Jump is overly involved. Less bookkeeping is a good thing.

And, yes, there is a Double Jump ability. It shows up in a few of the games (like the GBA remake of FF4, as a special item/ability for Kain.)
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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CatharzGodfoot
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Post by CatharzGodfoot »

For all that trouble I'd just buy wings of flight and a magic lance. Maybe pick up the Leap Attack feat.

That said, it's an interesting concept. I like Dragonheart, and t's something that you could build on (think iron heart surge). The extra falling damage contingent of the attack hitting should probably be of the type that the weapon deals. If it was instead a reflex half save separate from the weapon, then I'd understand bludgeoning.

You could draw some inspiration from the Diablo II barbarian, which is supposed to take on a similar role. Things like stunning from the leap and whirlwind attack.

I'd still probably go with the wings of flight + lance for simplicity's sake, but that's personal preference.
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Hicks
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Post by Hicks »

Here, please take this, so my eyes don't bleed.
  • LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
    1+1+2+2+0Unencumbered Jump
    2+2+3+3+0Jump (Utility)
    3+3+3+3+1Armored Speed I
    4+4+4+4+1Standing Leap
    5+5+4+4+1Jump (Attack)
    6+6+5+5+2Dragonheart
    7+7+5+5+2Super Jump
    8+8+6+6+2Armored Speed II
    9+9+6+6+3High Jump
    10+10+7+7+3Master Jump


Dragoons should do their basic dragoon jump + stab attack at 1st level, otherwise you are not a dragoon, you are a guy who stands there and full-attacks a fool because you are not a moron. You expect people, at level 6, to charge fools instead of full attacking, right? You gotta give them incentive to do that. Hell, if you just gave them the leap attack feat out of the Complete Adventurer at Dragoon Level 1 (which they would qualify for anyway) they could at least do something.

A 10th level Dragoon has 15 character levels and need to do stuff that level 15 characters do, or they gotta sit down and STFUNOOB! Level 15 characters cast 8th level spells Period (.) like scintillating pattern, symbol of insanity,or prismatic wall, or do something else equivalent to those things. A properly built Barbarian/Fighter/Frenzied Beserker (15) can pull 4 touch attacks that each deal over 200 damage on a 10' jumping charge. Yes that means that if your 10th level ability added a hundred damage[/u] on every "jumping" charge it would still be underpowered.

EDIT: Welcome to the den.
Last edited by Hicks on Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:28 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Ice9
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Post by Ice9 »

Some initial observations, overall balance aside:
1) It takes too long to be unencumbered by armor - a smart Dragoon will probably end up wearing a Mithral Shirt for the majority of their levels, and thus go for a high Dex, probably avoiding heavy armor entirely. If you want them wearing heavy armor, they should be negating the Jump penalties to it from the 1st level of Dragoon.

2) Jump (Attack) takes too long to reach - for the first four levels, a Dragoon will be very similar to any other melee type.

3) Jump doesn't need to provoke an AoO - foes already get one for you leaving the square on your way up.

4) The whole "frozen in the air multiple rounds" thing is problematic. Yes, that is an iconic part of the FF Dragoon, but you need to actually make it worthwhile. Right now, making a short enough Jump to land in the same round you started is always better.

Suggestion: Base "rounds in the air" on the ability, not on the distance travelled. So a Basic Jump happens in the same round you jump, and does whatever amount of damage. A High Jump lands on the following round, and is significantly more devastating - 2x - 3x the damage and knockdown, at least. A Super Jump lands on the 2nd round after jumping, and is very devastating: 3x-5x the damage and stunning, maybe. And when I say "2x the damage", that's including base damage, power attack, whatever - not just height-based damage.
Last edited by Ice9 on Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Ice9
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Post by Ice9 »

Now, the balance. There are two levels you could balance the class to, offhand:

1) Competently Built Melee-Type
Compare your class to an effective Fighter/Barbarian and make sure it isn't worse. This won't make it balanced against everything, but at least it won't be unplayably ineffective. Right now, the Dragoon needs some changes to reach this level.

2) The Monsters
This is the level that Tome classes are ideally balanced against - being able to hold your own against a monster of your level. Rogues and some spellcasters are also at this level. The Dragoon is far short of this level right now, but at least it has mobility, so it could potentially get there with a significant overhaul.


At the moment, the big issue is that a jump will often require multiple rounds of set up (moving away to avoid AoOs, then one or more rounds of jumping), and even if the foe doesn't move and cause you to miss, you'll end up doing less damage than if you'd stayed and attacked.
Last edited by Ice9 on Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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