Custom Prestige Class Critique... Balancing help

[Skellig]

Retired War Veteran               
               
Lvl   BAB  Fort Refl  Will   Special
1   +1      2      0      0        War Veteran
2   +2      3      0      0        Awaken Weapon Familiar
3   +3      3      1      1        Veteran's Taunt
4   +4      4      1      1        War Veteran
5   +5      4      2      2        Awaken Weapon Familiar
6   +6      5      2      2        Canny Defense
7   +7      5      3      3        War Veteran
8   +8      6      3      3        Awaken Weapon Familiar
9   +9      6      4      4        Veteran's Aura
10  +10   7      4      4        Combat Veteran Expertise
               
Requirements- BAB +5, Item Familiar (weapon only), Weapon Focus(the item familiar), Combat Reflexes, Must have spent some time in the military, during war time, with at least 10 years spent doing something other than fighting after being released from duty. Ex. Cooking, Farming, etc..               
               
Special Abilities:               
               
War Veteran- At 1st, 4th, and 7th level the veteran can choose a bonus from this list.               
Armor Adjustments- Due to experience on the battlefield you remember how to optimize the fit of your armor causing a unnamed bonus of +1 AC. Must be wearing medium or heavier armor for this bonus to take effect.               
Combat Experience- Years on the battlefield have ingrained into your muscles resulting in a bonus combat feat.               
Calculated Strikes- The scars earned from battles long past remind you of failure resulting in a morale bonus to strike opponents as a +1 bonus to hit and damage.               
               
Awaken Item Familiar-  At 2nd, 5th, and 8th levels the veteran's weapon becomes more aware that its master is wielding it once again. The veteran can choose from the following list of abilities based on Veteran levels + ChA Modifier. The weapon familiar is the only item familiar you can have.               
Less than or equal to 3: Align weapon to your alignment               
4-6: +20 Hardness and HP to the weapon familiar               
7-8: +1 to Attack and Damage ( May only be selected once)               
9: +1 use per day to a spell-like ability of the weapon familiar's.               
10+: +1 to one special ability's DC, of the weapon familiar.               
               
Veteran's Taunt: 1 use per day equal to the veteran's class level halved. Can be used to enhance one attack per round. The target if successfully hit must attack the veteran or provoke an attack of opportunity its next turn. Must have an intelligence score of 6 or higher.               
               
Canny Defense- +Int Modifier to AC

Veteran's Aura- Within' the Veteran's threat range enemies that take 5' steps provoke attacks of opportunity. Withdrawal still provokes attacks of opportunity to the Veteran.               
               
Combat Veteran Expertise- Treat this as the feat Improved Combat Expertise, meaning the veteran can use up to his BAB to fuel the combat expertise feat instead of the normal max of +5. If the Veteran already has this feat then the ratio for Attack Bonus to AC is 1:2 instead of the normal 1:1.               


When I thought of this class I was thinking of some old cook at an inn who finds reason to fight again.


The idea for most of this comes from the Anointed Knight prestige class. The special abilities taunt and aura are taken from the maneuvers Thicket of Blades and Defensive Rebuke from the tome of battle. The Thicket of Blades normally can be attained at a much lower level but I deemed it a bit powerful so its much later in this setup.

[Maat Mons]

It's a melee class that requires taking a -3 penalty to str, dex, and con from old age.  At the very least, I'd give it a rage-type ability that allows you to ignore the aging penalties for the duration. 

I'd also give abilities that allow you to benefit from your increased mental stats. 

As a rule, abilities that add +1 to something are boring. 

[Skellig]

So what your saying is that its underpowered?

[Halinn]

So what your saying is that its underpowered?

Quite so. There's one good ability in the entire class, and that can be gotten much earlier with Thicket of Blades.

[Garryl]

You need to figure out what it is that your class does. Things that you just have (like big numbers, which this class doesn't even get, or a fancy weapon, which you'd have had before entering this class anyways) don't count.

[RobbyPants]

This is more of a flavor thing, but when I think of "war veteran", I think of a guy who's seen it all and has a lot of experience under his belt. He also might be quite lucky. To me, that'd translate into things like:

• Make a check = BAB + Int mod to identify creatures as though using the relevant Knowledge skill.
• Ability to pierce all sorts of exotic defenses (Spell Resistance, Damage Reduction, incorporeal miss chance, possibly Energy Resistance, etc...)
• Some type of save bonus (+Int mod to saves, don't auto-fail on a natural 1, or perhaps a free re-roll and take the second result).
• Some type of offensive schtick (maybe Sneak Attack to represent opportunistic fighting, or some knowledge-based bonus similar to Knowledge Devotion).
• If you're eating old-aged physical penalties, perhaps you can opt to replace Str with Int for attack and damage rolls. Maybe you get Canny Defense (+Int mod to AC, capped at class level). This represents fighting with experience rather than just physical skill. Alternately, you just ignore the old age penalties.

So, this is obviously just my opinion, but that's the sort of thing I'd look at from a class like this.

[sirpercival]

I think it should be a prestige class based on perform, all about drinking ale, telling tall tales, and complaining about when you took an arrow to the knee.

[Skellig]

The facts are this Thicket of Blades can be extremely powerful and moving it back was to balance it. The taunt is in itself really awesome as well. I wanted an old war veteran who wasn't as strong as he used to be but has enough experience in combat to control the direction that melee combat flows and can find openings where others may not see them. And can defend himself with less effort due to muscle memory or experience.

The taunt, combat expertise buff, and the ToB all together make a super powerful melee fighter :S..

The extra buffs to the weapon are also really good...

Not to mention he can also gain extra feats if he so chose... feats maybe long forgotten but remembered when chosen...

SOme of the ideas u all mentioned are good but some are also way too strong imo..

The Canny Defense I liked alot tho XD