I made up a D&D 3.5 prestige class.

[Spleen]

ENLIGHTENED BLADE

There are many monks, and there are many swordsmen, but few have the perseverance and dedication to the arts of battle to walk both paths at the same time. Some of those that do become enlightened blades, potent warriors that give up some of a monk’s normal training in exchange for the ability to wield a katana with surprising speed and skill, using it to destroy the weapons of their enemies, and gain brief glimpses into the future that they can use to aim their attacks with supernatural precision.

Hit Die: d8
Requirements:
To qualify to become an enlightened blade, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Alignment: Any lawful
Skills: Craft (weaponsmithing) 4 ranks, Jump 8 ranks, Tumble 5 ranks
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Improved Sunder, Power Attack
Special: Flurry of blows ability, evasion ability
Class Skills
The enlightened blade’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

BAB as cleric (+3/4 per level, rounded down). All saves are good.

1st: Steel flurry, enlightened strike 1/day
2nd: Leap Attack, powerful sundering (+1, +1d6)
3rd: Improved evasion
4th: Powerful sundering (+2, +1d6)
5th: Speed bonus (+10 ft.), enlightened strike 2/day
6th: Improved critical, powerful sundering (+3, +2d6)
7th: -
8th: Powerful sundering (+4, +2d6)
9th: Enlightened strike 3/day
10th: Speed bonus (+20 ft.), powerful sundering (+5, +3d6), masterful sunder

Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the enlightened blade prestige class.

Flurry of Blows: Levels in the enlightened blade prestige class stack with monk levels to determine the benefits and penalties associated with a character’s flurry of blows ability.

Steel Flurry (Ex): An enlightened blade of first level or higher has progressed in his abilities as a swordsman to the point where the katana (bastard sword) is considered a special monk weapon for the purpose of his flurry of blows ability. As normal with the flurry of blows ability, an enlightened blade wielding a katana only recieves his Strength bonus to damage, rather than his Strength bonus x 1-1/2, even if he is wielding a weapon in two hands.

Enlightened Strike (Su): At 1st level, an enlightened blade gains the ability to imbue himself with a preternatural awareness of his enemy's defenses. Once per day as a swift action, he can gain the effects of a true strike spell, except that he must make the attack before the start of his next turn or the use of the ability is lost (so he must either attack in the turn he used the supernatural ability or make an attack of opportunity in the course of the next round). An enlightened blade can use this ability an additional time per day at 5th and 9th levels.

Leap Attack (Ex): An enlightened blade of 2nd level or higher gains the Leap Attack feat for free.

Powerful Sundering (Ex): An enlightened blade of 2nd level or higher is a master of damaging objects with his sword. At 2nd level, an enlightened blade gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls made during sunder attempts while using a katana. At every even-numbered level, this bonus increases by 1. This bonus stacks with the bonus from the Improved Sunder feat.
At 2nd level, an enlightened blade deals an extra 1d6 damage to objects (attended and unattended). This extra damage increases to 2d6 at level 6 and 3d6 at level 10. Constructs are not considered objects for the purpose of this ability.

Improved Evasion (Ex): At 3rd level, an enlightened blade gains improved evasion, as the monk ability of the same name.

Speed Bonus (Ex): An enlightened blade of 5th level gains a +10 ft. enhancement bonus to his base land speed that functions when he is wearing no armor or shield, and not carrying a medium or heavy load. At 10th level, the bonus increases to 20 ft. This ability stacks with the monk’s extra speed bonus.

Improved Critical (Ex): At 6th level, an enlightened blade gains the Improved Critical feat for the katana for free.

Masterful Sunder (Ex): At 10th level, an enlightened blade’s ability to destroy objects has improved greatly. Whenever he uses his flurry of blows ability, he gains an extra attack at his highest base attack bonus that must be used to sunder an object held in an opponent’s hand, including weapons, shields, wands, etc. (the bonuses from the powerful sundering ability apply as normal). If the opponent is empty-handed, the enlightened blade receives no extra attack.

Multiclass Note: A monk who takes levels of the enlightened blade prestige class may continue to advance as a monk.


Feel free to provide criticism and the like.
Updated, 11/28 <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"Even if you have lots of hit points, a dagger through the eye is a dagger through the eye."
-Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook v3.5, page 145

"I don't know who's a bigger fool: Him for going, you for following, or me for not leaving you both."
-Demona, Gargoyles (Episode 11: Long Way to Morning)</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=spleeninfinity13>SpleenInfinity13</A]&nbsp; at: 11/28/05 22:43

[The Great Nevareh]

So... if you're a monk and you take this, you lose all of your bonus attacks and you get to use a weapon weaker than your normal punch by that point in time?

I'm not sure you're following the way in which the whole "monks punch stuff a lot" thing works, here. They get bonus attacks for every three base attack bonus as opposed to five and flurry of blows stays exactly the same- extra attack at highest bonus if all attacks are done with a -2 penalty.

If you're going to count anything, remember that a monk only gets bonus attacks as part of their special weapon dealie. In exchange for the ability to sunder as a free action you lose your ability to attack as often AND at the higher levels in which you can do the better damage you lose the bonus to damage that monks get to punching.

Power Attack is a prerequisite for Improved Sunder, isn't it?

"Leap Attack" at level 2 is too good. Even Fighters don't get any feat that they can get at that point in time for free. Either make it a "Sucks to be you" ability where if you already have the ability, oh well you get it again for no bonuses, or make it Leap Attack but better. Same thing for the "Improved Critical-" Putting no limits on a bonus feat is just too ludicrous.

Don't make Weaponsmithing part of the prerequisites unless you're actually going to use it- all you have is sunder stuff and half-monk improvements and nothing that makes the prerequisite of the ranks of weaponsmithing actually necessary for the class in some way, shape, or form.

To make this class actually worth the monk's while, make it so they can choose any single non-Monk weapon with which they can become Enlightened- they must meet the prerequisites in terms of Proficiency and Focus, and instead of "Steel Flurry" make it into something like "Greater Prowess" that enables the weapon to count as one of the specially designated weapons that Monks can use their more favorable number of attacks with. Otherwise this class has "Not worth it in the least" written all over it. To give added incentive, maybe replace "Improved Critical" with "Weapon Specialization."

Also, don't build around the Flurry ability. It's great in Neverwinter Nights when you're fighting a metric asstonne of enemies with relatively low ACs, but in a normal campaign against opponents that are regularly at your challenge level or above, the Flurry ability can hinder more than help. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>

[Archmage144]

Since you can flurry with the weapon (a la a special monk weapon), it's not a downgrade. Using a special monk weapon that's got a high enough enhancement bonus, even at level 20, does more damage on average than being bare-handed, and you can always attack bare-handed if you feel like it since a monk is able to strike with an unarmed attack even if his hands are full. Plus, once you get to 9th level, you have no penalties on your flurry attack. At that point it's just a free extra attack every round, turning the monk into the attack monster they're intended to be. At some point after that, flurry grants you two attacks, giving a high-level monk 5 attacks per round, un-hasted, whenever they make a full attack action. Creating a class designed to give a monk a new flurry option is fine, especially since the theme of this class is obviously "monk with a sword that attacks really quickly." Plus, the d10 damage from a katana (bastard sword) at this level is greater than your unarmed attack damage of d8.

Leap Attack is a feat straight out of Complete Adventurer. Since this is a prestige class, the character should be at least 8th level by this point. The feat itself only has one prereq, which is Power Attack, so a level 3 fighter could have it if he really wanted. In fact, since this class is primarily for monks, they can't take their first level in it until their 9th level, when they have achieved the requisite +6 BAB.

I'm not really sure why the craft is part of the prereqs either. I would suggest replacing it with Tumble or something, especially if you're aiming for the "Crouching Tiger" sword acrobatics feel.

In order to qualify for this class, a monk has to take two feats that he would otherwise never take on the grounds that they're totally useless to him. I dunno how I feel about that, especially when a monk could take exotic weapon proficiency (latajang) and equip himself with a weapon that's equivalent to the double-bladed sword (1d8/1d8 slashing), but also a special monk weapon, and from there he can use two-weapon fighting feats to get bonus off-hand attacks in addition to flurry attacks (yipes).

Whether this class is worth taking or not is a question of opportunity cost. If it doesn't offer new, different, unique, or more interesting options than straight monk, the answer is no. This does not mean "more powerful than straight monk," because if it's truly 100% more powerful than straight monk, it might be overpowered. So, by taking this class as early as possible:

A) You need 4 feats. Two of these feats require BAB +1 and cannot be taken at first level. None of them are monk bonus feats. So you have to take power attack (almost totally worthless at 1st level) and improved sunder ASAP, one after the other, and then pick up the other feats later. The weapon proficiency is totally worthless. Additionally, you don't get enough feats to qualify for the class by 9th level unless you're a human, because you don't get your feat for 9th level until you actually choose a class and gain the level (and you can't pick this one, since you don't meet the prereqs).

B) You must have at least one monk level, or you can't have flurry of blows. If you pick up another class, you can never gain monk levels again, so it's a good assumption that you'll go into this PrC from straight monk.

C) By taking 10 levels of this class, you give up the abilities you gain from monk levels 9-19. Notably, that means giving up improved evasion, spell resistance, a 1/week death attack, free dimension door ability, and ki strike (adamantine). That's a lot to give up, which is why a monk-geared PrC has to be pretty powerful to be even worth considering. Is all that really worth sacrificing to use a sword and get a sundering bonus that won't even be useful against unarmed opponents?

All in all, I'd say the prereqs are too strict and the benefits are too few, so the class is a bit underpowered as it is. I'll think on potential improvements if you want.

Edit: Something I overlooked initially: Nev is using 3.0 monk rules, not 3.5, so he's kinda off the mark on his comments about flurry, because that's not how it works anymore. <p>

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</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=archmage144>Archmage144</A]&nbsp; at: 11/24/05 2:29

[The Great Nevareh]

They changed it from "Extra Unarmed Attack Every 3 Base" to "Flurry all you like, but the rules are otherwise the same for you"?

This is the kind of prestige class I'd expect in terms of a tailor-made- a class made specifically for a specific character done for a specific campaign so it works perfectly and it is just as good (neither better nor worse) as having the normal class levels. All in all, Monk is usually not the best class to offer substitutes for because the class features are just too damn good.

My complaint about Leap Attack and Improved Critical had to do with the option of picking any other feat you might be qualified for if you already had them. Not sure how common that is in 3.5 rules, but in 3.0 it seems rather... excessive.

Here's an interesting thought: Maybe a tenth-level ability would give you the power to perform Sunder attacks against unarmed opponents, reducing their attack bonus instead in the vein of Called Shot from NWN. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>Edited by: The Great Nevareh at: 11/24/05 4:46

[Archmage144]

They changed flurry to "when making the full attack action, you can have an extra attack at your best attack bonus, except that all of your attacks this round take a -2 penalty." It's functionally the same as using two-weapon fighting with two light weapons (your fists). As you gain monk levels, the penalties decrease until they're completely eliminated, and at a point after that you get two attacks. No more extra iterative attacks, you still get an attack every 5 BAB. However, you still get more attacks than a fighter under most circumstances.

There're actually a fair number of monk-specific (or nearly specific) PrCs that offer abilities that might not be as generally uber as what a monk already gets, but they provide alternative benefits that are about as good, especially with some of the feats from Complete Adventurer. A monk that trades some of his other abilities and prowess for arcane spellcasting ability, for example, or a monk that is especially good with improvised weapons.

That offering you another feat is common and the standard for 3.5. If you get a specific feat as a bonus, and you already have it, you can pick another feat as long as you meet the prereqs. <p>

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[Spleen]

Dammit. I remember there being a large number of classes where you got a feat for free or could pick any feat if you already had it, but then I realized (after looking through every class I had) that what I was really thinking of was bloodlines. So, yeah, if you already have Leap Attack or Improved Crit, you get nothing, you lose, good day sir. <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"Even if you have lots of hit points, a dagger through the eye is a dagger through the eye."
-Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook v3.5, page 145

"I don't know who's a bigger fool: Him for going, you for following, or me for not leaving you both."
-Demona, Gargoyles (Episode 11: Long Way to Morning)</p>

[Capntastic]

I would like to know what an Enlightened Blade is, and why someone would become one! :U

This is a thinly veiled excuse to post in this thread to give Spleenix mad proper dues for his Wonka-ing.

[Spleen]

An enlightened blade is a basically a D&D 3.5 Monk that, contrary to normal Monk rules, is highly proficient with the katana (or, in game terms, the bastard sword). It's based partly on the concept that there is absolutely nothing cooler than a Monk with a sword breaking shit in half, except maybe the same Monk having that same sword be on fire (which isn't necessarily disallowed by this class).

Anyway. I'm probably going to decrease the BAB requirement by at least 1, to make it possible to take the class earlier. Likewise, I'm removing Weapon Focus, so all you need is three feats, which anyone with a Strength score of at least 13 can have at level 6.

The Weaponsmithing requirement stays, because several classes (Exotic Weapon Master, Order of the Bow Initiate, and Stonelord, to name a couple) have "needless" crafting requirements - as far as prestige classes are concerned, it seems like weaponcrafting is intended to represent an intimate understanding of the way weapons are put together, above-average ability to keep your weapon in tiptop shape, and the ability to modify your weapon to give it the perfect balance, grip, etc. (all keys to a weapon-based prestige class, like this one). Just because you aren't making Craft checks in the course of having this class doesn't mean you're not using the knowledge inherent in the ability. I may add a small Tumble requirement, per AM's suggestion, probably however many ranks you need to get that bonus while fighting defensively.

If I wanted a weakening ability that can be used against unarmed opponents, I would have put one in. This class still has quite a bit it can do against an unarmed opponent, but it doesn't truly shine unless it's facing an enemy that relies on its weapon. This isn't even the most limiting prestige class, either; the Darkwood Stalker (Prestige class, CW) is quite worthless when facing anything that isn't an Orc.

Brian's point about losing all those nifty Monk abilities is a good one. Maybe I'll put Improved Evasion or a death attack or something in here somewhere.

EDIT: Overhauled. Notice I've also added Evasion as a requirement. This is to make it so you can't take this class without at least 2 levels of Monk. <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"Even if you have lots of hit points, a dagger through the eye is a dagger through the eye."
-Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook v3.5, page 145

"I don't know who's a bigger fool: Him for going, you for following, or me for not leaving you both."
-Demona, Gargoyles (Episode 11: Long Way to Morning)</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=spleeninfinity13>SpleenInfinity13</A]&nbsp; at: 11/25/05 14:45

[Zemyla]

Monk of Brotherhood of Elitist Bastards</p>

[Spleen]

Ah, the monk variants from Unearthed Arcana. I ought to have thought to look through that.

EDIT: Also, just so we're clear, I'm far from done, and anxiously awaiting Brian's suggestions for new abilities. <p>-_-___-___-___-_-

"Even if you have lots of hit points, a dagger through the eye is a dagger through the eye."
-Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook v3.5, page 145

"I don't know who's a bigger fool: Him for going, you for following, or me for not leaving you both."
-Demona, Gargoyles (Episode 11: Long Way to Morning)</p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=spleeninfinity13>SpleenInfinity13</A]&nbsp; at: 11/27/05 12:22

[Nakibe]

To be honest, Spleen, I read this class and am mildly confused as to what it actually MEANS to me as a potential twink... err.. player in a D&D-based campaign. If I had to guess by construction and other people's comments here, I'd assume that it was mostly designed to make a monk that can wield blades with the same deadliness we all attribute to their unarmed attacks.

First and foremost, I hate the monk. Period. Might as well say it. That aside, I just have the same general problem as others have had with the class. Namely, why should I invest in this class aside from pure style concerns? I mean, at this point in the D&D 3.5 ed life cycle, its rather easy for me to get around most multiclassing restrictions and go for a PrC with the sundering capabilities (AND MORE) of this class. The Ascetic "X" feats (where X involves some other base class) allow me to basically ignore all multiclassing restrictions for that class AND related PrCs AND give me an extra special ability in addition to it.

Nevermind that even I find this MORE THAN A TAD overpowered. Eh.

Aside from the Enlightened Strike ability (which is actually pretty damn useful on a combat-oriented class), I just don't see the need for the class as it stands. Granted, I can't duplicate ALL of its utilty... but then I don't have to. For powergaming purposes or even style purposes I'm... really not sure why I should go here. *shrugs*

That aside, hm. The BAB requirement COULD be bumped down 1 since this IS supposed to be mostly a Monk-based entry class. I can ALMOST see why you have the weaponcrafting requirement. ALMOST being the problem, but only a minor one. Knowing how to BUILD a weapon would certainly help you understand how to sunder it.

Class skills are good. ARGH another Monk class with no bad saves, but eh. >:P You COULD move Improved Critical down to the 7th level just because it looks a tad lonely down there, but it isn't necessary, and may harm the balance slightly. Hm. The main reasons to get this class are specifically the Sunder and Enlightened Strike abilities. Also some credit on the timing of this class. I mean, you are eligible to take it JUST BEFORE Monk Unarmed damages overtake it. Combine with the fact that the potential monk is able to add weapon qualities to their Magical Katana continues to balance out their damage-dealing aspects, or so I'd think. If you want to go the +5 route, the damage is consistent with normal Monk damage through 20th level, and away from that, well, you get various advantages from weapon abilities.

And when all else fails you can still drop your Katana and pummel the target into submission.

After looking at everything, I realize that the only NOTABLE ability lategame ends up being the Sundering tree. Enlightened Strike is INTERESTING, but only in certain cases useful. After all, lets not forget that the Monk has approximately AVERAGE BAB for any given level, continued upon entry to this class. Unless your monk is regularly going to fight targets that have 10 AC more than your BAB, there's not a huge huge benefit from the ability. On a Rogue class this would be a tad more reasonable to me, ESPECIALLY because they are technically 5 BAB behind the average at 20th level, meaning that against an AVERAGE opponent of their CR, they will miss 25% more often than a monk, and 50% more often than a fighter type. Or somewhere in that range. Either way you look at it, though, the main ability here is the Sundering set. And I BELIEVE I could twink up something of comparable worth.

Because I re-read Brian's post above? Why WOULD a Monk take EWP : Katana/Bastard Sword anyway? Unless they specifically WANT this class, they get ZERO benefit from being able to wield a Katana, since their greatest abilities are still denied any benefit. Power Attack has uses, though, and let us not forget that the Monk gets an AC bonus that offsets their inability to wear most armors to a small extent. Still not the best of feats for them, but still the gateway to other things that ARE. Improved Sunder kind of speaks for itself here, as it IS pretty much THE entry feat of choice for this class as it is currently constructed. You CAN'T say you want this class and NOT have that feat, really.

I'd almost want to break the standard and say that the sunder abilities SHOULD work on Constructs just because I'm fickle and also because I feel that this class needs a little more...

But eh, I mainly just want to know what EXACTLY this class is supposed to be doing in the context that you want to use it in, as that makes ALL the difference. I mean, if I'm going to be cutting several doors in twain I suppose I should carry a katana instead of fists of iron, but hey.

Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=nakibe>Nakibe</A] at: 11/29/05 3:03

[Zemyla]

Shou Disciple is better. :{

Also: Is Brotherhood of Elitist Bastards</p>Edited by: Zemyla&nbsp; at: 11/29/05 23:12

[The Great Nevareh]

I think the idea here is Wire-Fu with sweet swords as opposed to Wire-Fu with punches that break diamond.

I still think Weapon Specialization (Bastard Sword) is a good class feature to throw in, just because it's about being a different kind of whirlwind of death. Weapon spec is pretty good and non-fighters don't get it without really special circumstances- it would be an additional draw to the class.

That and it, like so few other things, stacks with other versions of itself and pretty much everything else. <p>[---------------------------]
"There is great disorder under Heaven, and the situation is excellent."
-Mao Tse-Tung

"I eat the talking bees because I am George Washington Christ"
-From "Bob the Ball"</p>