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## [Class] The Chieftain

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IGTN
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### [Class] The Chieftain

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Post by IGTN » Sat Aug 01, 2009 6:51 pm

Chieftain
Chieftains are powerful leaders of their tribes, leading their people into battle against the enemies of their tribes.
Good Chieftains lead their people to defend the honor of their tribe and take new frontiers from the forces of darkness, while Evil Chieftains lead hordes to destroy the lands of the civilized. Cynical observers might note that the two are actually exactly the same thing.
Chieftains often come from the same races as Barbarians and Spirit Shamans. Their alignment tendencies depend on the alignment system used. If alignment only indicates side, their alignment tendencies match those of Barbarians (generally toward Chaos), while if it indicates a level of organization they tend toward Law.
A Chieftain's combat tactics mostly focus on directing their subordinates to control enemies and wear them down.
Chieftains rely primarily on their Charisma ability score for leadership abilities, although they must maintain their physical abilities to be able to lead their forces in combat.
Hit Die: d10
BAB: 4/4
Good Saves: Fort, Will
Skill Points: 4 + Int
Starting Age: Moderate
Starting Gold: 5d4x10 GP (125 GP)
Level Ability
1 Inspiring Blow, Hard Rest, Tribal Guard
2 Command, Honor Guard
3 Augury, Inspire Rage, Quick Aid
4 Improved Inspiring Blow
5 Lineage, Spiritual Message
6 Chain of Command, Courage of the Ancestors
7 Monstrous Guard, Protective Aura
8 Divination
9 Defensive Choice
10 Khan
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Chieftain is proficient with all light armors, nonmetal medium armors except the Elaborate Gown, and with shields (but not Great Shields). He is also proficient with all simple and martial weapons. He has no restrictions keeping him from using other armors if he gains proficiency in them from another source, such as an exploit.
Inspiring Blow (ex): When the Chieftain makes a successful melee attack against an enemy, all of the Chieftain's allies with line of sight to the Chieftain gain a +2 Competence bonus to hit that same enemy until the beginning of the Chieftain's next turn. Additionally, their Tribal Guard members may immediately repeat their saving throws against Fear effects on them. Success indicates that the effect immediately ends.
Hard Rest (ex): A Chieftain can inspire the members of their tribe to rest harder. If the Chieftain is with them, their Tribal Guard, Followers, Cohort, and Apprentices can all recover one hit point per level of the Chieftain with one minute's rest. The Chieftain must also rest for this to have any benefit.
Tribal Guard: A Chieftain, even at first level (where they are often more properly a subchief, or an heir apparent) has a bodyguard of their tribe's warriors. This takes the form of one Warrior of the Chieftain's race, plus an additional Warrior if the Chieftain has a Charisma score of at least 12. They are one level lower than the Chieftain's Character level, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5. Both warriors use the same stat block. Casualties among the Tribal Guard may be replaced between adventures or if the PCs are able to rest in friendly territory during an adventure. Tribal Guard members start with basic equipment. The Chieftain may pay money to buy better (Masterwork or Magical) equipment to lend them.
If the Chieftain is knocked unconcious, the Tribal Guard becomes Shaken unless within 10' of him. If he is killed, they become Frightened unless they are able to retrieve the body and it is not retrieved, in which case they immediately move to retrieve the body and run away with it.
If the Chieftain is of a half-breed race, his Tribal Guard may be warriors of either parent race, or of his own race. They must still both use the same stat block (and so both be the same race).
Command: A Chieftain gains the Command feat as a bonus feat at 2nd level. If he already has the Command feat, he may instead gain any other [Leadership] feat.
Honor Guard: A Chieftain of second level gains an Honor Guard. Their Tribal Guard increases to one person, plus a number of people equal to the Chieftain's Charisma modifier. The Chieftain may also have some of their honor guard be Adepts instead of Warriors. All Adepts use the same stat block. If there are no Adepts, the Chieftain may create a second stat block for some of the Warriors.
Augury (sp): A Chieftain of 3rd level has learned to consult with the spirits. He may cast Augury, once per day, as the spell, with a caster level equal to his class level.
Inspire Rage (ex): A Chieftain of 3rd level can inspire their warriors to almost be like Barbarians. As a swift action, they may cause all Warriors in their Honor Guard to enter a rage and gain a +1 Morale bonus to hit and weapon damage, and become immune to fear. If neither the Chieftain nor any member of his Honor Guard attacks an enemy or is attacked by an enemy for three rounds, the rage ends. Additionally, any warrior who is unconcious for three or more rounds leaves the rage.
The Warriors in the Chieftain's Honor Guard gain Fast Healing 1 when not raging. Even at positive hit points, however, any warrior who leaves a rage due to unconciousness remains unconcious until roused.
Members of the Chieftain's Honor Guard also take one and a half times the normal number of negative HP to die (-15 in default rules)
Quick Aid (ex): A Chieftain of 3rd level may Aid Another in melee combat as a swift action.
Improved Inspiring Blow (ex): When a Chieftain of 4th level or higher makes a successful inspiring blow, their allies gain the bonus against all enemies of the same type as the creature hit. They also can add the Chieftain's level to their weapon damage rolls against those enemies, and to damage rolls of Adepts' Elemental Attack. These are all Competence bonuses. Additionally, if an Adept in the Chieftain's Honor Guard would gain a bonus to hit from this ability against a creature, the creature takes an equal penalty to its saving throw against the Adept's Elemental Attack.
Lineage: At 5th level, a Chieftain attracts a student, or takes a student from their family or tribe, gaining Mentor as a bonus feat. If they would also gain Mentor from another source, or already have it, they may take a second apprentice to further expand their lineage.
Spiritual Message (sp): A Chieftain of 5th level may summon a Spirit Messenger once per day, plus once per day per level beyond fifth. The Spirit Messenger knows (although it won't tell) the locations of planar portals to many planes of existence, and can cast Greater Teleport (self only) at will. It will carry a spoken message of up to 50 words, or a written letter of up to 10 pages, to anyone on the same plane of existence or any other plane of existence that it should know how to get to (any plane except demiplanes and those it is plot-critical that communication to fails), and will return with a reply if one is immediately ready. No magic items except scrolls and potions may be sent.
Chain of Command (ex): A Chieftain of 6th level is able to delegate command in case of emergency. Their Honor Guard no longer suffers fear if anything bad happens to the Chieftain. Instead, the next link on the Chain of Command present at the scene gains the abilities Inspiring Blow, Improved Inspiring Blow, Inspire Rage, and Hard Rest. If the Chain of Command is completely depleted, the Honor Guard suffers fear as usual.
The Chain of Command goes as follows:
Chieftain, Chieftain's Cohort, Chieftain's Apprentice(s), Chieftain's followers above 1st level, in descending order by level.
The abilities are delegated along the Chain of Command until the Chieftain is restored to activity.
Courage of the Ancestors (ex): The Chieftain's Honor Guard and their subordinate Chain of Command, along with all allies within 10' of the Chieftain, are immune to fear, provided the Chieftain is at least 6th level.
Monstrous Guard: A Chieftain of 7th level or higher has run out of advancement room for his Honor Guard. He may substitute monsters four CRs or more lower than his character level (taking [Awesome] subtypes into account, and not allowing puzzle monsters or monsters with complicated rules that make them difficult to group) for members of his Honor Guard. He may only have two kinds of monsters, and all monsters of the same kind use the same stat block.
If the monsters have an Intelligence score of 3 or less, the Chieftain must have at least as many ranks in Handle Animal as their CR to lead them. They may only have one mental ability score (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) higher than the Chieftain.
The Monsters rage like Warriors do as long as their Base Attack Bonus is no lower than their CR - 1.
Protective Aura: A Chieftain of 7th level or higher projects an aura out to 60'. All cohorts, followers, apprentices, members of his Honor Guard, and other creatures that the Chieftain has command of due to a character ability, such as summoned creatures, within that aura count as having as many hit dice as the Chieftain for purposes of effects that have target limitations by hit dice.
Divination (sp): A Chieftain of 8th level can use Divination instead of Augury. He may use this ability twice per day.
Defensive Choice: A Chieftain of 9th level may choose one of the following defensive abilities:
Devotion (su): The Chieftain inspires such devotion among his subordinates that when he is subjected to a hostile targeted effect, a non-targeted subordinate of the Chieftain's choice within 30' and line of effect to the Chieftain chooses to take the effect for him, becoming its target in lieu of the Chieftain. The Chieftain must choose to allow a subordinate to do this before saving throws or damage are rolled.
Deflection (su): The Chieftain's ruthlessness and mercilessness allows him to redirect targeted effects onto his subordinates. When he is subjected to a hostile targeted effect, he may redirect the effect off himself onto a subordinate within 30'. The Subordinate taking the redirected effect must not have been targeted by the effect. The Chieftain must choose to use this ability before saving throws or damage are rolled.
Subordinates, for purposes of these abilities, include anyone who would have abilities delegated by Chain of Command, and the Chieftain's Honor Guard.
The Chieftain may change his choice between these two abilities between adventures.
Khan: A Chieftain of 10th level gains the title of Khan. Any abilities that use the Chieftain's class level now use the Chieftain's character level instead.
"No, you can't burn the inn down. It's made of solid fire."
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IGTN
  Knight-Baron
  Posts: 729
  Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 4:13 am

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Post by IGTN » Sat Aug 01, 2009 6:51 pm

Sample Chieftain:
Grugrik is a half-orc born into an orcish tribe to the sister of the tribe's shaman and a disguised Druid. His uncle saw the child's mental agility even as his peers would mercilessly pound him with thier fists for his physical weakness, and thought to train him in the ways of the tribe's magic. When he refused to learn magic, his uncle savagely beat him, and beat him again every time he stumbled in his lessons. After a year, he gave up, and saw about trying to use the child to advance his station, taking him along when he went to advise the chieftain. Grugrik caught on very quickly, and learned to speak loudly enough to make his voice heard even as a child and to understand the business of the tribe. When he was twelve, he pointed out an obvious elven ambush that the war leaders had missed, saving many of the tribe's best warriors from being sent to their deaths, slaying dozens of elves, and winning the tribe a haul of magic items.
By the time he was 17, he had become a valued advisor to the Chieftain, and sent to lead raids as the chieftain's eyes and ears.

Sub-Chief Grugrik, Level 1:
Half-Orc Chieftain 1
Background: Apprenticed
STR 14
DEX 10
CON 13
INT 10
WIS 12
CHA 16
Skills: Handle Animal, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival at max ranks
Spot +5
Feat: Elusive Target
Equipment:
Battleaxe, Large Shield, Animal Spirit Armor, 10 javelins
---
Spot +5, Listen +1
Languages: Common and Orcish
Initiative +0
AC 18 (Touch 12, Flat-footed 16)
Hit Points: 11
Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +3
Melee Battleaxe +3 (1d8+2, crit x3), Inspiring Blow, +2d6 damage on charge
Ranged Javelin +1 (1d6+2)
Tribal Guard (2):
Orc Warrior 1
STR 17
DEX 11
CON 12
INT 6
WIS 8
CHA 7
Skills: Handle Animal, Ride, Spot, Survival
Spot +4
Equipment: Greataxe, Greatclub, Hide Armor, 10 javelins
---
Spot +4, Listen +1
Language: Orcish
Initiative: +0
AC 13 (Touch 10, Flat-footed 13)
Hit Points: 9
Fort +3, Ref +0, Will -1
Melee Greataxe +5 (1d12+4, crit x3)
Melee Greatclub +5 (1d10+4)
Ranged Javelin +3 (1d6+4)

While on a raid over the years, Grugrik stole a spellbook from a slain enemy mage. Drawing on his early training, he was able to understand some of the diagrams of the basics of it, even though the book was written in Draconic script. When he showed it to his old master, the old shaman quickly stole it from him and kept it for himself. After waiting for his uncle to translate it, he gathered his honor guard and took the complete notes back. From those notes, he was able to learn the basics of the darkest necromantic rituals.
When the Chieftain discovered Grugrik's necromancy, he demanded that Grugrik give him command of the undead, but Grugrik refused. In the resulting fight, the previous chief contracted ghoul fever and died of it. Grugrik destroyed the resulting ghoul in a one-on-one fight.
Chief Grugrik, Level 5
Feats: Elusive Target, Command (B, new), A Feast Unknown (new), Mentor (B, New)
Ability increase: Charisma 17. Age: Probably about 20-ish
Equipment: Magic Animal Spirit Armor, Dragonscale Shield, Magic Battleaxe, Club, MW Composite Longbow, a bunch of arrows, 3 Tanglefoot Bags, 3 Acid, 3 Alchemist's Fire, Cloak of Resistance.
---
Spot +9, Listen +1
Languages: Common and Orcish
Initiative: +0
AC: 20 (Touch 12, Flat-footed 18)
Hit Points: 37
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +6
Melee adds Improved Inspiring Blow (Allies +2 Circumstance to hit same type of target, +5 to damage, same type of target takes -2 Circumstance to saves against Adepts' Elemental Attack) and 2d6 damage on charge.
Melee: Battleaxe +8 (1d8+3, crit x3)
Melee: Club +7 (1d6+2)
Ranged: MW Composite Longbow +6 (1d8+2, crit x3)
Ranged: Alchemical +5 touch
Swift: Inspire Rage
Swift: Quick Aid
--
Honor Guard Warrior (3):
Orc Warrior 4 (Ability Increase: STR 18)
Spot +7, Listen +1
Language: Orcish
Initiative: +0
AC: 14 (Touch 10, Flat-footed 14) (wears Animal Spirit armor)
Hit Points: 30
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +0
Melee: Masterwork Greataxe +11 (1d12+6, crit x3)
Melee: Greatclub +10 (1d10+6)
Ranged: Javelin +6 (1d6+4)
Ranged: Acid +6 touch (1d6) (3 uses)
--
Honor Guard Adept (1):
Half-Orc Adept 4
STR 10
DEX 10
CON 12
INT 11
WIS 14
CHA 9
Skills: Alchemy, Knowledge (Religion)
Equipment: Adepts don't use equipment. Quarterstaff, Magic Clothes, Tanglefoot Bag, 3 Alchemist's Fire
---
Spot +2, Listen +2
Languages: Orcish
Initiative: +0
AC: 14
Hit Points: 25
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +8
Grants +2 Deflection AC and +2 Resistance saves (+1 to Grugrik because of his cloak) to allies within 10' (included in above stats).
Spell-like: Cold Blast 1d8+2 Cold damage, target's choice save for half DC 14, failed save slows for 10 rounds
Spell-like: Negative Energy Blast 1d8+2 Negative Energy damage, target's choice save for half DC 14, failed save Frightens for one round
Ranged Alchemical +2 touch
Melee Quarterstaff +2 (1d6 damage)
--
Maldrissa
Maldrissa is a human girl of about 15, second daughter of a human baron who won his position by beetraying his lord to Grugrik's orcs. Her father arranged a marriage between Maldrissa and Grugrik to secure their alliance. Grugrik's shamans have been teaching her magic, and she has taken well to learning summoning spells.
Background: Apprenticed
Human Summoner 1
STR 8
DEX 13
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 11
CHA 16
Skills: Concentration, Diplomacy, Hide, Knowledge (Arcana, The Planes), Spellcraft
Concentration +6, Hide +5
Feats: Apprentice, Improved Initiative
Equipment: Magic Clothes, Quarterstaff, Light Crossbow, a bunch of bolts, Tanglefoot Bag, 2 Acid, Alchemist's Fire
Usual Summoned Cohort: Medium Fiendish Monstrous Centipede
---
Spot +0, Listen +0
Languages: Common, Orcish
Initiative: +5
AC: 13
Hit Points: 8
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +2
Spellcasting: Summoner. Full-round action (Summoning) spells are casts as Standard Actions. Casts 5/4 spells per day at DC 13 + level.
Ranged: Light Crossbow +1 (1d8, crit 19-20)
Ranged: Alchemical +1 touch
Melee: Quarterstaff -1 (1d6)
----
Also three Ghasts (as Monster Manual, but also with Javelins: +5 to hit, 1d6+3 damage).
Group Tactics: Divide into two clumps: Adept, Maldrissa (if present. Level 1 summoners aren't much use), and her Summoned Cohort stay back, guarded usually by one Warrior and two Ghouls, all benefiting from Adept's aura. Warrior throws javelins. Other Warriors and Ghoul charge into melee, lead by Grugrik. Maldrissa, if present, summons monsters into melee or casts Grease/Caltrops to cut off enemy approaches if not threatened, or summons to guard herself if threatened. Adept's priorities: tekken juggle enemies that threaten the ranged group, slow everything, tekken juggle secondary targets out of melee.
Advancing Grugrik:
Grugrik takes Mounted Combat at level 6 and Wrappings of the Ages at level 9.
His Cohort is a half-orc Assassin
He puts his 8th-level ability increase in Charisma, giving him an extra Monstrous Guard and Undead from each feat.
At level 10 his Ghasts are replaced with Slaughter Wights (LM) or Spawn of Kyuss (MM2)
His mummies at level 10 are Bone Drinkers (MM3) or other appropriate undead.
Guards by level:
6: 3 warriors, Adept (level 5)
7: Same as 6
8: 3 Minotaurs, Gargoyles, or Harpies, two Adepts
9: 3 Green Hags, 2 Minotaurs, Gargoyles, or Harpies
10: 3 Annis Hags, 2 Ettins
When he reaches level 9, Maldrissa ceases to be an apprentice, and Grugrik gains an apprentice Orc Barbarian. Maldrissa trades her Apprentice feat for Mentor, and gains an apprentice Elementalist. She may also part ways with Grugrik at that point.
Last edited by IGTN on Sat Aug 01, 2009 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"No, you can't burn the inn down. It's made of solid fire."
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Akula
  Knight-Baron
  Posts: 960
  Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:06 am
  Location: Oakland CA

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Post by Akula » Sun Aug 02, 2009 6:37 am

Khan is not a real ability. Making people take a level to get just it really sucks. And why not just use Marshall. It does most of this stuff. This seems like an NPC class.
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