The Armorer

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TrickyNikki
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The Armorer

Post by TrickyNikki »

Hey all, please let me know what you think of my first publication, the Armorer class!

https://basicfantasy.org/showcase.cgi?sid=201
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Last edited by TrickyNikki on Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:18 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Dimirag
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Re: The Armorer

Post by Dimirag »

The OGL needs to be corrected as it starts with
Barbarians: A Basic Fantasy Supplement
It seems the text uses a lot of double spaces.

Why the name Armorer? The class doesn't seem to specialize in armor use...

It gets too many benefits and no drawbacks for an initial 100xp more cost.

I don't understand the "first weapon specialization table", is there a second table?
Are they specialize in every weapon? Fighters get points/slots in order to specialize, and this is so they can get some special benefit compared with sub-fighters.

I really don't like the ability to give every shield bearer free specialization.
At 14th level, the Armorer adds +4 for to his own shield bonus and his shield brothers if he is preforming this maneuver. At 17th level, this increases to +5 and finally an entire attack negation at 20th level.

The bonus is instead of the one from specialization? Or is cumulative?
Does "An entire attack negation" means negating just one attack per use?
This ability can be used X times per day, where X is your Constitution modifier (Minimum +1).
"This ability can be used an amount of times per day equal to the Armorer's Constitution Bonus" sound better.
This ability counts as an action? Can be used before or after being attacked? What's its duration?

Why the increase in speed? I guess is to reach allies faster and protect them, it needs an explanation.
Crowd control is one of the most important aspects of a great Armorer. At 7th level, they are able to protect any ally within 30 feet of them with + X AC, where X is the AC granted by your own shield
That ability does not speak to me as a kind of "crowd control" and the ability seems to have too much reach.
"At 7th level Armorers are able to protect one target up to 3 feet away by giving it an AC bonus equal to the one granted by his shield." Seem a little better.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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TrickyNikki
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Re: The Armorer

Post by TrickyNikki »

Hey there, thank you so much for so many notes :) I tried to address most of them in the new version. Here are my answers for things I didn't address:

Why is it called Armorer?: Honestly, I just could not think of a better name, if you have an idea for a cooler name, I'd love to hear it. I was thinking Shieldbearer but maybe that's a little on the nose?

XP and Drawbacks - I bumped it up to 2200 XP, I'm not sure if that's enough. I am struggling to see that they should have a 2500 XP start as they are nowhere near as good as a Magic-User for example, so not sure. Let me know what you think :)

"First Weapon Specialization" - that's honestly my bad, I use a rule for multiple weapon specialization in my own game where PCs can go and do training, so I should have edited that out for the forum.


Let me know if you have any other ideas/critique :)
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Dimirag
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Re: The Armorer

Post by Dimirag »

TrickyNikki wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 8:56 am Why is it called Armorer?: Honestly, I just could not think of a better name, if you have an idea for a cooler name, I'd love to hear it. I was thinking Shieldbearer but maybe that's a little on the nose?
Defender, Guardian, Protector, those kind of names come to my mind when thinking of this kind of character.

NOTE: I'm comparing the class against a fighter w/Weapon Specialization, if the class assumes other houserules are used on core fighters it should be noted on the file.

Ability Requirement: Use Constitution 13 and you won't have to use the "minimum +1" on some special abilities, or use "Constitution bonus +1" instead on those special abilities.
Members of this class may wear any armor and use any weapon
I don't like this, if the character specialize in shield it should not be able to use 2 handed weapons or at least suffer a penalty if he fights w/out a shield due to their focused training.

Stunning Bash: "They use their Weapon Specialization table when it comes to bonuses, regardless of what specialization it actually is".
Unless you say that the class can get some sort of "dual" weapon specialization where the bonus goes to both the chosen weapon and the shield just say that they specialize in shield use and get the table benefits.
If they get Weapon Specialization it should be at a lower rate (or higher cost) than for a core fighter.
The WS table use Ranks, but the class does not tell how those ranks are acquired.

Increase Movement Speed should come after the Specialization Table I would give them a flat bonus only when moving to protect others.

Shield wall, I still don't like the whole giving a bonus to near people, and it does not says for how long the bonus last.
"Shield Wall: At 14th level Armorers are able to further improve their defense while standing side by side with other shield wielding characters (of any class but must match the shield type). Those inside this "turtle/wall" formation (including the Armorer) increase their AC by 1 point (2 points at level 17).
At 20th level the Armorer, when in this formation, can convert in a single day up to his Constitution modifier successful attacks (minimum 1 attack) against him (that targets his AC) into a miss" May be a better way of putting it.

The header on the second pages says "Barbarians".
For some reason I can copy any bold text.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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TrickyNikki
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Re: The Armorer

Post by TrickyNikki »

Hey,

I took your ideas and implemented most of them cause they seemed like great additions! I left the movement the way it is because I like the idea of them being able to move better in combat :)

Let me know if there's anything else, and thank you for the time you spent on looking over my class :)
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Dimirag
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Re: The Armorer

Post by Dimirag »

Unlike other fighter sub-classes, the Armorer get the following abilities.
Should be "the Armorer gets the following abilities."

The weapon specialization needs clearing. What specializations rules are assumed to be used on other sub-classes. Such rules should be included as an appendix as to not required extra supplements.
Note that is the rules used are the ones from the Combat Supplement only core fighters are allowed to freely specialize, sub-fighters may get a similar but slower and weapon-fixed variant.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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TrickyNikki
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Re: The Armorer

Post by TrickyNikki »

Hey Dimirag,

Thanks :) Hot fix with these ammendments implemented!
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Dimirag
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Re: The Armorer

Post by Dimirag »

As the weapons specialization needs to be modified as the class says, I thought it would be best to simply put it on the modified form for ease of reading, then other thoughts came to mind, so I took the liberty to make an R5.
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BF-Armorer-R5.odt
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Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
Drawing portfolio: https://www.instagram.com/m.serena_dimirag/
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TrickyNikki
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Re: The Armorer

Post by TrickyNikki »

Hey Dimitrag,

Wow awesome! The formatting looks real nice, thank you :) I added two minor changes. I gave the class their last (6th) rank at level 20 because it rounds the class up nicely and I don't think there is much harm done getting a little extra on the last level :)
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BF-Armorer-Supplement-r6.odt
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BF-Armorer-Supplement-r6.pdf
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