The Savager (Nine Swords Barb/Ranger/Scout)

[bkdubs123]

(Because why wasn't there one in the first place...) In my games this class replaces the Barbarian, Ranger, and Scout. It offers an alternative for trapfinding to a modified Factotum which replaces the Rogue. In my games the stances progression for Crusaders and Warblades is fixed so that you get a new stance when you could get a higher level one (like this progression). However, I don't want the class to judged based on these houserules alone. If it seems overpowered or too strong of a dip class, I'd like to hear why. Thx!

The Savager

"Monsters? I know monsters. Girillons, Bulettes, Pyrohydras. All the same to me. Kill or be killed. Got it? Stick with me kid, I'll get you through this," - Rejarr, Wilderness Guide and Savager.

The Fluffy Stuff

Born into cruel and unforgiving lands, Savagers learn from a young age to take what they can and give nothing back. They grew up in wild places, raised by wild creatures, and learned to survive the way nature intended - by being the fittest. Savagers often make their way into more civilized countries, either because of the exploration and imperialism of powerful outside nations, or because of the adventurous streak that leads the Savagers themselves on. Civilians can only look on with fear and wonder, but more "cultured" types often regard Savagers as primitive, slow, and dangerous. This can cause Savagers to get angry and show their true animal side, or to resolve to prove their more noble instincts and their cunning. They are remarkably adept allies, especially in harsh landscapes, and they show their enemies the skills they honed in their youth - their resourcefulness, their persistence, and their mercilessness.

Making a Savager

A Savager is an animalistic force of nature, a wrecking ball in combat that can not be pinned down or stopped. Before being provoked they may prefer to hunt foes, tracking them for hours, but put them into a situation in which they must fight to survive, and fight they shall. Savagers meet foes head on, crashing through rough terrain to charge and hack enemies to pieces.

Abilities: While it seem immediately obvious that Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are a Savager's most important scores, players should not forget Intelligence or Wisdom either. Intelligence will give them more skill points to use with their impressive array which can be spent to diversify or to buy skill tricks which, especially movement based tricks, can be of great use in battle. Wisdom will increase a Savager's low Will save and many of his class skills at the same time.

Alignment: Savagers can be of any alignment, but lean away from lawful, especially if they emerge from a loosely governed tribe. However, it is unfair for "civilized folk" to assume that there are no structured tribal structures, or even wilderness cities that a Savager may have once called home. Some places, ruled by Druids or great tribal warriors, exist in the wild which have very intelligently devised laws, and intricate systems of government, even walled settlements. Savagers and their tribal brethren are more than capable of "taming" the wilds in which they grew up.

Races: Savagers are made up of members of all races all over. Most tribes are strictly comprised of a single race, but some of the more settled Savager lands are known to be home to several races. Dwarf Savagers live in mountainous, arctic lands, troubled with frozen monsoons, Frost Giants, and the rare Remorraz. Elf Savagers live in wild jungles and shadowy forests, often xenophobic, and expert hunters and archers. Human Savagers can be found subsiding most anywhere, and often establish settlements which house more than simply humans.

Starting Gold: 5d4x10 (125gp)
Starting Age: As Barbarian.

Playing a Savager

You are well equipped to competently deal with a number of foes at once and get better at it as you gain levels. You tend to pick a target and bring it down quickly, letting no obstacle get between you and your wrath. However, Savagers must be careful. With only a d8 hit dice their hitpoints can be carved away quickly. Adrenaline will kick in when a Savager's taken a beating, making him even more dangerous as he fights with every fiber of his being to stay alive. Use maneuvers that play to your strengths. Stay mobile, and hit hard. Tiger Claw and Shadow Hand will make you harder to pin down, and Stone Dragon and White Raven will enable you to charge through foes unabated to put the damage where you want it.

As a Savager you adventure to prove yourself against the grandeur of nature's fury, and to prove to your friends that you aren't a mindless barbarian. You utilize great cunning and awareness to navigate unkind terrain, and you fly into bloodthirsty rage to overcome your enemies. You tend toward having a more practical approach to life, regarding most faith and other high-minded philosophy as unimportant. This isn't to say you are incapable of such high-mindedness though, and it would be a mistake to insinuate that there are no Savagers that take a more spiritual approach, but don't expect to be able to tell one from the other in the middle of a bloody struggle.

HD: d8

Saves: Good Fort/Ref, Poor Will

LV  Base Atk Bonus    Class Features                         Man. Known  Man. Ready  Stances
1.   +1               Adrenaline, Dire Charge, Trapfinding       3           3          1
2.   +2               Uncanny Dodge, Camouflage                  4           3          1
3.   +3               Skirmish +1d6                              5           3          1
4.   +4               Trackless Step                             5           4          1
5.   +5               Improved Uncanny Dodge                     6           4          2
6.   +6/+1            Skirmish +1d6/+1                           6           4          2
7.   +7/+2            Flawless Stride                            7           4          2
8.   +8/+3            Unstoppable Charge                         7           4          2
9.   +9/+4            Skirmish +2d6/+1                           8           4          3
10.  +10/+5           Mighty Adrenaline                          8           5          3
11.  +11/+6/+1        Hidden Stride                              9           5          3
12.  +12/+7/+2        Skirmish +2d6/+2                           9           5          3
13.  +13/+8/+3                                                   10          5          4
14.  +14/+9/+4        Hide in Plain Sight                        10          5          4
15.  +15/+10/+5       Skirmish +3d6/+2                           11          6          4
16.  +16/+11/+6/+1    Savage Charge                              11          6          4
17.  +17/+12/+7/+2                                               12          6          5
18.  +18/+13/+8/+3    Skirmish +3d6/+3                           12          6          5
19.  +19/+14/+9/+4    Free Movement                              13          6          5
20.  +20/+15/+10/+5   Supreme Adrenaline                         13          7          5

Class Skills (6+Int per level): Balance, Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Perception, Ride, Search, Stealth, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope

Proficiencies: All simple weapons, light armor, no shields.

Maneuvers (Ex): You begin your career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw, and White Raven. Whenever you are dealt damage, and are under the effects of your Adrenaline class feature (see below), you recover a single maneuver. You can also spend a swift action, at any time, to recover a single maneuver. During any turn in which you recover a maneuver you can't use the recovered maneuver.

Adrenaline (Ex): As long as a Savager is at or below 50% of his maximum hitpoints*, and hostile creatures are within his line of sight, he gains a +1 circumstance bonus to melee attack rolls, a +3 circumstance bonus to melee damage rolls, a +2 circumstance bonus to AC, a +2 circumstance bonus to Will saves, a +10 bonus to his base land speed, and Fast Healing 1. At 10th level these bonuses improve to +2 to melee attacks and +6 to melee damage, +4 to AC, +4 to Will saves, +20 to base land speed, and Fast Healing 3. At 20th level these bonuses improve again to +4 to melee attacks and + 12 to melee damage, +6 to AC, +6 to Will saves, +30 to base land speed, and Fast Healing 5.

*(multiclass Savagers, for the purposes of Adrenaline only, consider their maximum hitpoints to be equal to the sum of hitpoints gained from Savager class levels plus 1/2 the sum of hitpoints gained from non-Savager class levels)

Dire Charge (Ex): By using a swift action before a charge you gain a +30ft bonus to your movement speed and a +2 bonus to the attack roll, but receive a -1 penalty to AC and saving throws until the start of your next turn (in addition to the standard bonuses and penalties).

Trapfinding (Ex): As Rogue.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): As Barbarian.

Camouflage (Ex): As Ranger.

Skirmish (Ex): As Scout.

Trackless Step: As Druid.

Flawless Stride (Ex): As Scout.

Unstoppable Charge (Ex): Whenever you charge a foe you may make an extra attack at any time during the charge at your highest attack bonus -5, against any foe you move within reach of during the movement (this includes the original target of the charge). Additionally, you may charge through occupied spaces, attempting to overrun any creature between you and the foe you choose to charge.

Hidden Stride (Ex): When you hide or move silently, creatures with blindsense, blindsight, scent, or tremorsense must make a Perception check to notice you, just as normal creatures would make Perception checks to detect you. You cannot hide in plain sight unless you have that ability as a class feature.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): As Ranger.

Savage Charge (Ex): Whenever you charge a foe you may make a second extra attack at any time during the movement at your highest attack bonus -5. Additionally, any foes you hit during the charge, are subject to a free bull rush attempt on your part. Finally, you may make a single 90 degree turn at any point during your charge.

Free Movement (Ex): As Scout.

[RobbyPants]

Awesome!

My ToB-fu isn't what it should be, so I can't really compare it to the other martial adepts, but I love the idea.  I'm glad you did this.

If we can get this class reasonably balanced at tier 3, I'll probably want to include it in my project (with your permission, giving you credit, of course).

Edit:
Just to clarify: the recovery mechanic is if you are under the effect of your adrenaline ability or if you use a swift action?  Or is this if you are under your adrenaline ability and you use a swift action?

[bkdubs123]

I'm glad that you're glad 

Ah, yes, I clarified it so that it makes more sense. I word things really weird sometimes... You can spend a swift action whenever you want to recover a maneuver. You also recover one whenever you are dealt damage and in adrenaline mode.

EDIT: Oh, and I certainly don't mind having this included in any rebalancing project. That's why I'm doing these things after all. This is intended to replace all three of Barbarian, Ranger, and Scout. For my purposes I consider it balanced right where I want it. If you think it needs changing, let me know and I can give suggestions on how to balance it for your purposes.

[RobbyPants]

I'll have to be careful of what actually gets replaced.  I remember my first stance on the warblade replacing the fighter.  Some people thought it was a very intuitive fix, and others hated the idea.  I'm sure the idea of this class replacing any other will have similar reactions.

Personally, I can see this as replacing the ranger and scout.  I'm not sure it'd fully replace the barbarian, but I can see the idea.  Hopefully you'll get some more feedback soon.

[bkdubs123]

Yeah, I can see the replacement problem in your campaign. It's not a problem for my players, and it's only intended to replace those in my games of course.

I'd like to get more feedback too!

Oh, I edited the recovery as per the suggestion of Djinn and Tonic over at GitP. It now is less abusable and more balanced against the Warblade's recovery, while still being a unique recovery.

[SiggyDevil]

I like the wording for Adrenaline (Fast Healing). The effect recovers HP only when the owner's HP is less than 50%, rather than stating "recovers up to 50% of maximum HP".
Little detail, but anyways..

Be careful with frontloading. This class would be a delicious 2-3 level grab for warrior builds, but I suspect not many players would endure the rest.
Try to keep the Good Stuff until a little later.

[bkdubs123]

Consider this in a world where Barbarians and Fighters and Rangers don't exist. Where Warblades, Crusaders, Champions (my alt-pally I posted), and Sinfire's Hexblade are the only warrior classes available. Does it seem like too much of a dip class then, or does it seem okay?

[SiggyDevil]

Well, it's not the interclass balance I'm concerned with (since yes, the maneuver-users can heal each round too, in some ways) but rather that taking a single level or sometimes 2 are really all a CharOpper would want before moving on to their desired build.

[bkdubs123]

That's what I mean though. Given Warblade, Crusader, Hexblade, etc, does it seem as attractive a charop option? I'm not sure. Is there a crazy gain from the first 3 levels that a Crusader or Warblade would love to get for instance?

[Hallack]

Consider this in a world where Barbarians and Fighters and Rangers don't exist. Where Warblades, Crusaders, Champions (my alt-pally I posted), and Sinfire's Hexblade are the only warrior classes available. Does it seem like too much of a dip class then, or does it seem okay?

You might want to put this caveat in the OP to clarify when it is being used.

I am unfamiliar with sinfire's Hexblade but this class hands down beats out most the others it is looking to replace.

2 good saves
Full BAB
Tons of powerful and useful Class abilities (often WAY earlier than other classes get them)
Maneuver progressions pretty much on Par with what of a Warblade. (and good disciplines too)
Lots of Skills

It seems pretty much like playing a Gestalt.  I love the flavor (about my favorite type to play). 
My first inclination is that it is too much but I'm not sure of that, especially since seems to be for a OP type game.  I guess so long as none of those others classes are along it should not be too much of a problem.  Though would certainly go a long ways to replacing the rogue too and it is not on the list.

[Hallack]

That's what I mean though. Given Warblade, Crusader, Hexblade, etc, does it seem as attractive a charop option? I'm not sure. Is there a crazy gain from the first 3 levels that a Crusader or Warblade would love to get for instance?

Actually I think it would make an AWESOME Warblade dip (or vice versa).
Many like to take a two level multi anyways to delay second stances and this option would allow the following:
Full BAB progression
A LOT more maneuvers including some from Setting Sun and Shadow hand
Improved Uncanny Dodge at level 4!!
Heck and it only costs one IL

Also, looking at the Dire Charge I would remove the stacking with standard Charge modifiers.  It is plenty good on it's own.  Stacking them just make them that much more of a charging power attacking wet dream (okay, at least moderate boost).

[Stratovarius]

Just to point out, the way recovery is written allows you to use maneuvers during the recovery round, so you can chain two maneuvers over and over again, like, say, White Raven Tactics.

[bkdubs123]

Warblade can already do the exact same thing. This doesn't let you use recovered maneuvers during any turn in which you have recovered a maneuver.

Now then, if I switched Camouflage and Flawless Stride would that help some with the dip. I'm not thoroughly convinced that this is better than either of the Warblade or Crusader. More arguments might convince me. As far as the dip thing is concerned I don't want that either, so if it is too convincing of a dip I need to find a way to fix that.

Oh, and added a couple notes to the OP.

[Stratovarius]

Warblade is actually full attack then a single manoeuvre then full attack again. I happen to think your implementation is better.

[bkdubs123]

Right, I meant that the Warblade can spam White Raven Tactics just as easily.

[Hallack]

The built in potential for iterative skirmish attacks due to swift action moves and such are quite nices as well, especially if one can get the Adrenaline boost at the same time.

[bkdubs123]

I won't deny that the iterative skirmish is awesome, it's a unifying piece to the class build. But that hardly encourages dipping. However, if you are suggesting that the skirmish makes it overpowered, lets here some arguments.

[dman11235]

This allows you to use a maneuvers in the same round that you recover a maneuver.  No other class does that.  Warblade is a swift action followed by a standard action, and you may not initiate maneuvers at all.

My initial thoughts on this is that it's overpowered.  You gain almost full skirmish progression, full maneuvers, a rage substitute (that's not all that hot anyways, since it requires you to be at half health and the bonuses aren't great), and most of the rest of the scout class.  This isn't as bad as that one class I saw a while ago that was full scout with full ranger minus spells tagged on it, but I'd consider changing out features.  Also maybe making the skirmish every 3 levels instead.  So at level 3 it's 1d6, and every 6 levels after (9, 15) it goes up, and at level 6 (and 12 and 18) you gain +1 AC while meeting the reqs.  Right now it's just a scouts progression, basically.  2 levels behind is not much.

Also make the recovery mechanic better.  Right now it sucks.  You must be at 50% or lower health and be hit, or spend a swift action and that's it, so the first one is stupid, and the second one is too good.

[Hallack]

However, if you are suggesting that the skirmish makes it overpowered, lets here some arguments.

Nah, won't argue that as it is to dependent upon your setting, gameplay, and level of optimization.  For example with the absence of Rangers, Scouts, Rogues, and maybe barbarians those classes won't be crying foul at being underpowered relative to other characters in play. And there really probably would not be any problems with dynamics between casters and this class.  There may or may not be with ToB and other classes depending on the variables I mention above.  

I'm not going to tell you what is right because I do not know your game.  I only intend to point out areas to consider in light of what you are seeking to accomplish.

[bkdubs123]

This allows you to use a maneuvers in the same round that you recover a maneuver.  No other class does that.  Warblade is a swift action followed by a standard action, and you may not initiate maneuvers at all.

Yes. No other class recovers all of their manevuers with a single swift action either? What makes it inherently wrong?

My initial thoughts on this is that it's overpowered.  You gain almost full skirmish progression, full maneuvers, a rage substitute (that's not all that hot anyways, since it requires you to be at half health and the bonuses aren't great), and most of the rest of the scout class.  This isn't as bad as that one class I saw a while ago that was full scout with full ranger minus spells tagged on it, but I'd consider changing out features.  Also maybe making the skirmish every 3 levels instead.  So at level 3 it's 1d6, and every 6 levels after (9, 15) it goes up, and at level 6 (and 12 and 18) you gain +1 AC while meeting the reqs.  Right now it's just a scouts progression, basically.  2 levels behind is not much.

Okay, and with Ranger Swift Hunters running around I don't see a huge problem simply folding the ranger and scout into the same class. The rage substitute is, IMO, pretty damned awesome when you get it. Yeah, you can't activate it whenever you want, but then again why would you be able to just fly into a rage for no reason? That's also why the bonuses, which you consider not that great, are so high? Should I increase the Adrenaline bonuses? You'd consider changing out features - so, which then? I am certainly considering lowering the Skirmish progression, that's the easiest thing to do.

Also make the recovery mechanic better.  Right now it sucks.  You must be at 50% or lower health and be hit, or spend a swift action and that's it, so the first one is stupid, and the second one is too good.

Again, what makes the first one stupid, and what makes the second one too good?