Valorous Lieutenant [PrC]

[sirpercival]

My next attempt at homebrew after Primal Soul: the Valorous Lieutenant, a martial adept PrC focused on White Raven and inspire courage.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!


Valorous Lieutenant

Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Martial Lore 6 ranks, Knowledge (history) 4 ranks, Perform 6 ranks
Feats: Blade Meditation (White Raven), Song of the White Raven
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least 3 White Raven maneuvers, one of which must be at least 2nd level
Special: Inspire Courage.

HD: d10
BAB: Full
Saves: Good Fort & Will, poor Reflex

Skills: The Valorous Lieutenant's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (history) (Int), Profession (Wis), Martial Lore (Int), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill points per level: 4 + Int

	Maneuvers	Maneuvers	Stances
Lv	Known	Readied	Known	Special
1	1	0	0	Bolstering stance, inspire courage
2	0	0	0	Once more into the breach 1/day
3	1	0	0	Mettle
4	0	0	1	--
5	0	1	0	Relentless stance
6	1	0	0	Once more into the breach 2/day
7	0	0	1	--
8	0	0	0	Zealous stance
9	1	0	0	Iron resolve
10	0	1	0	Badge of valor, once more into the breach 3/day

Maneuvers: At 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, you gain one new maneuver known from the White Raven discipline.  You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it.  You add your full Valorous Lieutenant levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.  At 5th and 10th level, you gain an additional maneuver readied.

Stances: At 4th and 7th level, you learn a new martial stance from the White Raven discipline.  You must meet a stance's prerequisite to learn it.

Inspire courage: Valorous Lieutenant levels stack with all other classes that grant inspire courage for the purposes of determining the number of uses per day and the bonus granted.  Valorous Lieutenant levels count as bard levels for the purposes of the Song of the White Raven feat.

Bolstering stance: While you are in a White Raven stance, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of a bolstering stance.  This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, and you can stop using bolstering stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action.
   While you use this ability, whenever you or an ally within 60 feet of you makes a save against a fear or compulsion effect, they may roll twice and take the better result.

Once more into the breach (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, once per day as a swift action you may expend one of your readied maneuvers and one of your daily uses of inspire courage to make a DC 10 Perform check.  You may grant an ally an additional action which takes place immediately; the type of action depends on the result of the Perform check, as shown below.  You may choose to grant a lesser action instead.  If you fail the check, your swift action, maneuver, and use of inspire courage are wasted.  You can use this ability an additional time per day at 6th and 10th level.

Perform check result	Type of action
0 - 10	No action
11-20	Swift action
21-30	Move action
31-40	Standard action
41+	Full-round action

Mettle (Ex): At 3rd level, you can resist magical and unusual attacks with great willpower of fortitude. If you make a successful Will or Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as a spell with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial), you instead completely negate the effect. You do not gain the benefit of this ability when unconscious or sleeping.

Relentless stance: Beginning at 5th level, while you are in a White Raven stance, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of relentless stance.  This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, and you can stop using bolstering stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action.
   While you use this ability, you and all allies within 60 feet of you gain damage reduction 5/--.

Zealous stance: When you reach 8th level, while you are in a White Raven stance, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of a zealous stance.  This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, and you can stop using bolstering stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action.
   While you use this ability, you and all allies within 60 feet of you gain a morale bonus to saves equal to your Charisma modifier.

Iron resolve: At 9th level, you become immune to fear and compulsion effects while in a White Raven stance.

Badge of valor (Ex): Once per day beginning at 10th level, if you or an ally within 60 feet of you is affected by an attack, spell, or effect that would reduce them to 0 or fewer hit points, you may expend two readied maneuvers and two daily uses of inspire courage as an immediate action to allow them to ignore that damage.

[sirpercival]

Should I change it so Inspire Courage and SotWR are prereqs?

[Garryl]

Maneuvers: At 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, you gain one knew maneuver known from the White Raven discipline.

Typo. Should be "new".

Once more into the breach (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, once per day as a swift action you may expend one of your readied maneuvers and one of your daily uses of inspire courage to make a Perform check.  You may grant an ally an additional action which takes place immediately; the type of action depends on the result of the Perform check, as shown below.  If you fail the check, your swift action, maneuver, and use of inspire courage are wasted.  You can use this ability an additional time per day at 6th and 10th level.

Perform check result	Type of action
0 - 10	No action
11-20	Swift action
21-30	Move action
31-40	Standard action
41+	Full-round action

The check has no DC, so you cannot fail it. The reference to failing the check and the consequences thereof is thus irrelevant.
Might be nice to let the ally use the action of a lesser result than you rolled (ex: gaining a swift instead of a move action on a result of 21-30).

Relentless stance: Beginning at 5th level, while you are in a White Raven stance, you can forgo its normal benefit as a swift action to gain the effect of relentless stance.  This ability lasts as long as you would maintain the stance, and you can stop using bolstering stance and resume gaining the normal benefit of the stance as a swift action.
   While you use this ability, whenever you or any ally within 60 feet of you is successfully hit with a melee attack, they gain damage reduction 5/-- for one round.

Why not just grant DR 5/- or DR 5/ranged straight up? It's less bookkeeping that way, since it works against melee attacks both ways, but you don't need to keep track of when the last attack hit when dealing with ranged attacks.

Badge of valor (Ex): Once per day beginning at 10th level, if you or an ally within 60 feet of you is affected by an attack, spell, or effect that would reduce them to 0 or fewer hit points, you may expend two readied maneuvers and two daily uses of inspire courage as an immediate action to allow them to ignore that damage.  You may only use this ability while in a White Raven, bolstering, relentless or zealous stance.

Any reason this requires being in a WR or class stance? Once More Into the Breach doesn't require it.

[sirpercival]

Agreed with all points, shall be edited.

Would it be better with the IC and Song of the White Raven as prereqs instead of granting them in the class?  Then I would also adjust the other prereqs to account for the required multiclassing.

[ariasderros]

NECRO!

Two points:
(1)

Maneuvers: At 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, you gain one new maneuver known from the White Raven discipline.  You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it.  You add your full Valorous Lieutenant levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.  At 5th and 10th level, you gain an additional maneuver readied per day.

On the part I bold'ed, there is no need to have "per day" there, and would actually raise questions as to whether you could only ready them once per day.

(2)

Iron resolve: At 9th level, you become immune to fear and compulsion effects while in a White Raven, bolstering, relentless, or zealous stance.

Just to note, when you are in one of the "class stances", you are already in a White Raven stance. Just like the classes in the book, you have it written as forgoing the normal effect of the stance. Thus, while you are, for all intents and purposes, in a new stance, technically you are still in the same White Raven stance you were in, just with a different effect. Which is good, what with the importance of Song of the White Raven for the Lieutenant.

[sirpercival]

Thanks, I will fix.  Interesting to you?

[ariasderros]

Interesting to you?

I have played 6 Bards, and 3 Crusaders.
This class is pure, concentrated, love to me. 

[sirpercival]

Interesting to you?

I have played 6 Bards, and 3 Crusaders.
This class is pure, concentrated, love to me. 

  Yay!

To plug more of my work, you should check out the Wardancer class that I'll be posting in a few minutes.