Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
As I stated in the survivor thread, I finally realized that the whole core prc thing just doesn’t work well for DS. Worse yet, I’ve recently got the feeling that it somehow detracts from DS as I worked on converting the rest of the series. Therefor, I’ve converted the Brute, Kestral, and Survivor over to normal prcs for Dark Sun use. The original versions are still available on request. As always, comments are welcome.
[SIZE=3]Brute (prestige class)[/size]
Taking advantage of his natural strength, a brute hones his body into perfect machine, capable of extraordinary feats of physical power. Developing their strength in such as a fashion leads many brutes to become powerful, if unsubtle, hand-to-hand combatants, but not all brutes are hard core fighters. Some chose this class more for the physical strengthening involved than the opportunity to beat the crap out of people, but these are rare. Half-giants and mul are natural brutes, with exceptional talent and strength, while dwarves also find the brute class rewards their tenacity. Humans make exceptionally skillful and versatile brutes as well.
Hit Die: d8.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Brute, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Skills: Intimidate 4 ranks
Feats: Endurance, Power Attack
Table 3-x: The Brute<br />Level Atk Fort Ref Will Special<br />1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Extreme Effort, Unarmed Combat<br />2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Bonus Ability Point<br />3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Bonus Feat<br />4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Bonus Ability Point<br />5 +5 +4 +1 +1 Bonus Feat
Brute Unarmed Damage<br />Level Damage<br />1 1d3<br />2 1d4<br />3 1d4<br />4 1d6<br />5 1d6
Class Skills
Brutes have the following skills as class skills: Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill points per level: 2 + Intelligence bonus
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Brute prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency:[/b] Brutes are proficient in all simple weapons and all light armors. They are not proficient in shields of any sort.
Unarmed Combat: Brutes are skilled in unarmed combat, and receive Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. Also, their unarmed damage increases as they gains class levels, as shown on table 3-x.
Extreme Effort: The brute can push himself beyond his normal limits. Once per day, he can add a morale bonus equal to his class level to his Strength score for either a single round or a number of rounds equal to the brute’s Constitution score, at his option. The Strength bonus given by extreme effort does not affect the brute’s melee attack rolls or damage rolls, but applies to grapple checks and all other applications of Strength. After the effort is over, the brute is fatigued for a number of rounds equal to the duration of the effort, although if extreme effort is used only for one round no fatigue occurs.
Bonus Ability Point: At 2nd level, the brute’s emphasis on physical training enables him to increase his Strength by one point. The brute receives an additional bonus Strength point at 4th level.
Bonus Feats: At 3rd level, a brute can choose a bonus feat from the following list: Combat Reflexes, Cleave (Great Cleave), Clever Wrestling, Close Quarters Fighting, Diehard, Dirty Fighting, Earth’s Embrace, Extended Effort, Extra Effort, Great Fortitude, Impromptu Arsenal, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical, Improved Grapple, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Stunning Fist, Toughness, Weapon Focus. The character must meet the prerequisites for any feat that he selects. A brute receives an additional bonus feat at 5th level.
Related Feats
Dirty Fighting [General, Combat]
You can use the brutal and effective fighting tactics of the back alleys and the untamed wilds.
Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +1, Bluff or Intimidate 2 ranks
Benefits: You can make a Bluff or Intimidate check against an opponent to do extra damage in melee combat. Make a Bluff check (or an Intimidate check at a –2 penalty) in conjunction with a melee attack roll. If the attack roll is successful and the opponent fails a Will save against the DC set by your Bluff or Intimidate check, you inflict +1d4 additional points of damage. Dirty fighting is only effective against living humanoid (including monstrous humanoid) creatures with a discernable anatomy. The benefits of this feat can only be used once per round.
Special: This feat can be used in conjunction with a Feint action. If you successfully feint before attempting to use dirty fighting you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to your Bluff or Intimidate check.
Conversion Note: In my version of the Dark Sun setting, this version of the Dirty Fighting feat takes precedence over the version presented in Sword & Fist.
Extended Effort [General]
You can push your limits longer than ever before.
Prerequisites: Constitution 13 or higher, Desperate Effort or Extreme Effort class feature
Benefits: When using your effort class feature add your Constitution modifier to the number of rounds the ability lasts. If you have more than one effort style class feature, you must chose which one this feat applies to.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times, applying its effects to a different effort style class feature each time.
Extra Effort [General]
You can push your limits more often than normal.
Prerequisites: Desperate Effort or Extreme Effort class feature
Benefits: Your can use your effort class feature an additional two times per day. If you have more than one effort style class feature, you must chose which one this feat applies to.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times, and its benefits stack.
Impromptu Arsenal [General, Combat]
You are familiar with the use of everyday objects as weaponry.
Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +2
Benefits: You only suffer a –2 penalty to attack rolls made using improvised weapons.
Normal: Attack rolls made using improvised weapons suffer a –4 penalty.
Originally posted by jon_oracle_of_athas:
Incidentally, the brute name has been abandoned in the new version of DS 3.5 Core Rules to be released shortly.
Originally posted by Sysane:
And will now be called the “savage” .
Just kidding 
Originally posted by Pennarin:
I prefer “swiner” myself 
Originally posted by kalthandrix:
How about the Hack’em Master or it that under copyright!
Originally posted by jon_oracle_of_athas:
It will be called a barbarian.
Originally posted by gilliard_derosan:
But… but… thats just barbaric.
hehehe. But you know… it has… finesse, it has style. Yes, I think calling the DS version of the barbarian a barbarian is an eloquent decision /duck
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
:cartman: Sweet! Don’t get me wrong, I love the fluff text though.
Originally posted by kalthandrix:
Are you sure?
I think it would be sweet to see a horde of Hack’em Masters charging and yelling “HACK’EM! Hack’em! Hack’em!”
I like it so much that you don’t even have to pay me for the idea but I will take a bit of your cookie 
PS -Sorry for the crazy-> long day and small hot room crunching numbers and pushing paper!
Originally posted by jon_oracle_of_athas:
As opposed to a bunch of barbarians running around screaming “BAR! BAR! BAR!” hoping to get lucky?
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
Are so sure you don’t mean college students? 
Originally posted by kalthandrix:
If they were college students, they would have this ability [quote]Rave
Stay up all night partying with no penilties due to fatigue. After the college student uses this ability they must spend the next 12 hours resting to recover, no save allowed.[/quote]
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
Kinda sounds like something a PrC would give 
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
for the redo
Originally posted by ruhl-than_sage:
I would suggest adding Power Attack to the list of feats required so that you can remove the strength score requirement.
Your Unarmed Attack chart is off, unless you made it for a halfling . It should start at 1d4 I would have it run like this:
1st 1d4
2nd 1d4
3rd 1d6
4th 1d6
5th 1d8
Also, you might consider dropping the Physical Intimidation ability and removing Unarmed Strike as a Prerequisite, then placing Unarmed Strike where Physical Intimidation is. The reason I say this is that I would wager most DMs already allow characters to use their strength scores to intimidate in the right sorts of situations, actually I’ve never met a DM who hasn’t. And if the situation isn’t appropriate for you to be able to use intimidate in that way, you shouldn’t be able to anyway. That also, keeps the prerequisite feats at 2 if you add power attack to the list.
Considering the bonuses to strength recieved by the class and their good BAB, I don’t think this ability should be applicable to normal combat situations. That is, I don’t think you should be able to use this like a Barabarian Rage to temporarily increase your hit and damage in combat. I would recommend that you limit this ability to various feats of strength and to grappling. For instances: lifting/moving heavy objects, breaking down doors and breaking other objects, and grappling or escaping from a grapple. If you decide to change the ability this way, you might also consider the option of allowing the bonus to be added for 1 round without causing fatigue and extending the duration that it can be used for normally to say 3 rounds + con modifier (like a Barbariab rage) or even as much as 1 minute.
I would make a list of Bonus feats specifically for the PrC, I don’t think all the Fighter bonus feats are appropriate.
The whole Power Attack tree, Diehard, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical, Improved Grapple, Stunning Fist, Toughness, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and the Greater versions of any of these seem appropriate. The Combat Expertise, Dodge, and Archery Trees definately do not.
Originally posted by nytcrawlr:
No offense to Brax, but it’s about freaking time, heh.
:bounce:
Originally posted by nytcrawlr:
Oh, the fluff rules handsdown, but that doesn’t neccessary require a name change.
The Brute name to me is like Star Wars Episodes 1 & 2, at first I like them both, but then as time dragged on I saw how horrible they really were. Not saying the name was all that horrible, just too damn cheesy for my tastes.
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
Done.
The reason I went the way I did is to show they basically receive no bonus to unarmed damage at 1st level.
Agreed, note that I’ll change the fringer’s extreme effort to desperate effort in order to separate the two abilities.
[quote]I would make a list of Bonus feats specifically for the PrC, I don’t think all the Fighter bonus feats are appropriate.
The whole Power Attack tree, Diehard, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical, Improved Grapple, Stunning Fist, Toughness, Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and the Greater versions of any of these seem appropriate. The Combat Expertise, Dodge, and Archery Trees definately do not.[/quote]
:steal:
Originally posted by ruhl-than_sage:
I normal medium creature with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat has does 1d4 points of damage with their unarmed strike. A monk who gets an increased amount of damage dealing ability at 1st level does 1d6 points of damage. 1d3 points of damage is how much a halfling with the feat would do, hence my comment. So, if you have the unarmed damage set at 1d3 at 1st level, you are actually reducing the characters unarmed strike damage from what it would normally be with the feat.
Originally posted by Pennarin:
Sage, don’t kill me, but what does this phrase mean?
Originally posted by ruhl-than_sage:
:heehee I meant: A medium creature with the Unarmed Strike feat normally deals 1d4 points of damage with thier unarmed attacks.
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
Unless there’s some errata along the way I missed, Improved Unarmed Combat doesn’t increase your unarmed damage (1d2 for a small humanoid, 1s3 for a medium one). Maybe you’re thinking of the Martial Arts feat from the Star Wars RPG (which does exactly what you’re describing) or some house rule?
Originally posted by ruhl-than_sage:
Sory, I guess I hadn’t realized that rule had changed.
Originally posted by kalthandrix:
I think the name should be changed to Hack’em Masters
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
No prob 
Originally posted by brun01:
Khaine,
The link for your site in your sig isn’t working…
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
[quote]Khaine,
The link for your site in your sig isn’t working…[/quote]
OK, got it running again. Thanks! (I would never have caught it )
Originally posted by kalthandrix:
Khaine check your e-mail- about crystalite PrC.
Originally posted by Pennarin:
Cool site Khaine! Some talent you got there for making simple websites look good…
Originally posted by ruhl-than_sage:
Very nice website brun01. , now all I have to do is learn Portugese
Originally posted by brun01:
Hehe, thanks! We work very hard on it.
The bad news is it’s a lot harder than english… but easier than japanese.
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
Thanks! (I forget sometimes )
Originally posted by zombiegleemax:
Thanks Penn! Now if I could just get my butt in gear and get more material on there
Originally posted by ruhl-than_sage:
[quote]Hehe, thanks! We work very hard on it.
The bad news is it’s a lot harder than english… but easier than japanese.[/quote]
Thats good, I know a little Japanese. Enough to get around and read signs. If its easier than that, its easier than what I’ve already tried to learn