In short - a bard with a selection of divine spells and the ability to absorb negative status effects from party members; with higher levels, stronger effects can be absorbed.
My most popular NPC in this topic has a new sorcerer kit, but it's tailored for a beholder, so I don't see it work for the playable races.
Generally, I'd like to see race specific kits - and not just one stereotype per race. A cleric kit per race would be nice and since there isn't a stereotypical cleric race, this would offer an interesting option, along with the classics - elven arcane archer or bladesinger, halfling thief, gnome mage, half-orc fighter, dwarven tank.
I was thinking of a fighter kit in a "300" or spartan style, immune to fear, can't wear armour, but shields, bracers, boots, cloaks, belts and helmets are ok. May not use any two-handed weapons except spear.
They should have the ability to put 3 proficiency points into sword and shield style with unique additional benefits from each point: eg large AC bonuses, possibly an increased crit chance to bring it into line with the other fighting styles, and maybe increased weapon speed.
They should also get a phalanx ability similar, I suppose, to defensive spin gaining them an AC bonus that increases with experience, though it should only slow rather than immobilise them, and it should have long time limit with the ability to be switched off much like shapeshifting.
They could even have an additional ability of extra AC or immune to charm if wearing a cloak... Any cloak! Just the presence of a cloak increases their pride and inspires them due to the symbolic nature a cloak has amongst their order.
Thoughts or opinions? Not fantasy based but the idea appeals to me :-)
@AoghasDubh , I would personally argue that such a kit would be very immersion breaking and contrary to the feel of Baldur's Gate. Furthermore, this extreme degree of specificity would make the kit almost cruelly streamlined, somewhat similar to how people feel about the Wizard Slayer: a player can already make a spear-wielding warrior with high charisma, or give them a cloak that boosts charisma for that matter . Mainly, however, I would have to say that because it is incoherent with D&D, it's probably not feasible as an addition.
I felt like compatibility with the dnd universe would be an issue.
I just like the idea of a highly defensive class; where that defence is based around the astute use of a shield rather than covering your entire body with heavy and cumbersome armour.
It could fill a niche in game, that of a shield bearer as any melee character worth their salt will dual wield or use 2 handed weapons, shields are often cast aside especially in TOB. Along with this, the sword and shield fighting style isn't at all useful in its current state. In the long term you are far better spending the points in dual wielding even if you use a shield as the cost benefit analysis isn't worth it. At least with the points dual wielding you have an opportunity to drop the shield for another weapon should you wish!
I can imagine sending this warrior to close off a doorway or other narrow opening, allowing arrows and spells to fly past him into the horde of troops he's holding back! :-)
I think Kensai is a bigger stretch for the D&D world
Going along with the phalanx idea, how about something like "gives damage reduction and AC to all adjacent party members and makes them immune to backstab"? And the AC/damage reduction you receive yourself is based on how many party members are next to you. It could be a short duration ability, or it could be something you activate like bard song with the downside of it making you immobile.
Or a counterattack ability? Every time someone misses you in melee while it's activated, you get to swing at them for free. I seem to remember a lot of scenes in 300 where a guy would block with his shield and then strike back.
Some extra shield-based abilities would be cool as well.
Anything you can come up with, especially if it's based on a real world culture, up to the middle ages, is perfectly acceptable in BG, since it's based in Faerun.
The old empires are literally cultures ripped from our world during the classical period and dumped into a Faerun, and have kept their cultures largely unchanged (aside from making use of magical items and spell-casters exist). Chessenta is based on classical greece, Mulhorond on Egypt, several others.
I completely accept that Faerun is modelled upon the cultures of history, I just can't remember any region or location for which the Grecian military model was used - more specifically, the idea of the Phalanx.
@Eudaemonium don't knock it, I've got a Kurosawa boxed set on order. Seven Samurai, Hidden Castle, the whole works.
Mind you, samurai are far closer to pure fighters than any other class currently ingame. They wore the best available armour and used the best available weapons (with a backup if needed). None of this "unencumbered" or "dedicated to a single weapon" nonsense.
And thus my sneaking suspicion that Kara-Tur is less based on Japan and more based on Western perceptions of Japan as filtered through Kurosawa and Martial Arts movies (even though a lot of them are Chinese). XD
Probably overpowered, but it'd be awesome to see the bladesinger kit. It's been forever since I played tabletop, but I think it was from the book of elves. It was a fighter/mage kit, centered around a blade in one hand and spellcasting with the other. They had an AC bonus, due to moving through the battlefield in dance like motions.
If I recall correctly (since I'm no expert on Forgotten Realms lore by any means), Kara-Tur is a region with several countries, of which two are based on Japan. So it is much more appropriate to say Kara-Tur is based on East Asia than it is to say it is based on Japan.
Hexblade as an appropriately 'evil' Bard kit would be cool, as would the Bladesinger as a distinctly elven, single-weapon fighting style Bard kit. Similarly to the Hexblade, perhaps a Cleric of Beshaba would be a neat kit to employ? Anyone else feel like casting Greater Malison as a special ability once per day on their divine casters? I dooooo!
The issue with Bladesinger is that, rather infamously, it has zero mechanical downsides, only RP ones. I'm not sure how that would integrate well with BG, where obviously all the RP options are already set.
The issue with Bladesinger is that, rather infamously, it has zero mechanical downsides, only RP ones. I'm not sure how that would integrate well with BG, where obviously all the RP options are already set.
Restrict it to the least popular sprite, with the ugliest, most clashing colors that can't be changed. AND SUDDENLY BALANCE.
Bladesingers can't use shields, 2hd weapons, or dual-wield.
Could only be proficient in a single 1hded sword (typically a longsword to take advantage of their racial bonus). They gain no other weapon proficiencies.
They couldn't wear armor greater then studded leather, except for elven chainmail.
And while they could cast spells while wearing light armors, doing so increased the cast time of their spells by +2. Robes and Elven chainmail had no penalty, as normal.
And their ac bonus only applies vs melee attacks.
Their only actual bonuses are that they can cast while wearing light armor, gain a ac bonus vs melee, and get +1 hit/damage with their chosen weapon. And are specialized in single weapon style at creation.
They also get a bonus that reduces the penalty for combat maneuvers...but they aren't implemented so it would do nothing.
I would suggest Grey Guard for a paladin Kit but we have plenty as is...Oh well I can always play a chaotic good paladin in PnP
Though seriously, I would love to see expanded barbarian kits, maybe something that focuses on a different rage style. Like, for example, instead of adding to your stats at the cost of AC you can have a barbarian kit that flows with battle in his rage, Improving his AC but not providing any stat benefits. Or one that focuses only on damage reduction. Such as, for each level he goes up he gains 2% damage reduction and when he rages he gains another 20%.
I'd like to see a melee-focused ranger kit. Since people love to play Drizzt-clones anyway, giving them a kit devoted to dual-wielding in light armor seems like a good idea. That's been one of the main ranger builds in DnD for a while now, but none of the current ranger kits really cater to it.
I would suggest Grey Guard for a paladin Kit but we have plenty as is...Oh well I can always play a chaotic good paladin in PnP
Though seriously, I would love to see expanded barbarian kits, maybe something that focuses on a different rage style. Like, for example, instead of adding to your stats at the cost of AC you can have a barbarian kit that flows with battle in his rage, Improving his AC but not providing any stat benefits. Or one that focuses only on damage reduction. Such as, for each level he goes up he gains 2% damage reduction and when he rages he gains another 20%.
I am all for supporting barbarian kits, and alternate rage ideas are a good way of doing something different. I'd be interested in a rage ability that adds to Dex instead of Con and adds more movement speed or even an extra attack per round.
Advantages: *+2 AC with shield *Immune to charm, hold and domination
...or something.
How about...
Disadvantages: *May not wear any armor
Advantages: *+ scaling AC with shield (+1 with buckler, +2 with small shield, +3 with medium shield, +4 with large shield) *Gains two slots in Sword and Shield style for free *Immune to charm, hold and domination *At 3rd level, you gain a scaling bonus vs. breath weapon depending on your shield (+1 with small shield, +2 with medium shield, +3 with large shield) *At 5th level, you are better able to interpose your shield against incoming damage. As long as you have a medium or large shield equipped, you gain 5% resistance to all forms of damage other than poison (missile, piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, fire, cold, electricity, acid, magic). At level 15 this improves to 10%, and at level 25 this improves to 15%.
What's this thing about "Hellenic warriors" not wearing armour? They certainly did. They may or may not have worn clothing under the armour, but that's a whole other thing entirely. If I recall correctly, the standard gear (provided they weren't just levied peasants, of course) consisted of a helmet, breastplate (that may or may not have thigh-protection attached to it), and shin-protection, and a shield, obviously. Additional pieces would get added, changed, or subtracted again as time went by, but the above was pretty much the bare minimum of soldiers in the Hellenic sphere throughout the Classic ages.
In short, real Spartan soldiers looked nothing like in 300. In fact, at the Battle of Thermopylae (at which they weren't 300 either, but at least 1500 - of which in addition to the ~300 Spartans, ~400 was Theban and ~700 were Thespian) the Greeks were decidedly better armoured and equipped than the Persian infantry, which is basically the whole reason they managed to hold for as long as they did to begin with.
So they could have no body armour, leather armour or bronze plate.
It would add flavour to have them wear no armour, or you could restrict them to leather (inc studded) or Plate, meaning that Chain, Splint and Full plate would be disallowed based on the restriction to the phalanx movements the hoplite bases their abilities on
The emphasis on Plate rather than Full Plate would also give more value to The Plate +3 found in the game!!
Edit: I've just looked it up and "The Practical Defence" even looks as though its made from bronze!
Indeed. There was a recent topic about this. Most Ancient Greek soldiers provided their own gear so there was a degree of variability, but shield, helmet and spear were just the bare minimum. Greaves and breastplates were fairly common, as were padded or leather armour elements.
Comments
In short - a bard with a selection of divine spells and the ability to absorb negative status effects from party members; with higher levels, stronger effects can be absorbed.
My most popular NPC in this topic has a new sorcerer kit, but it's tailored for a beholder, so I don't see it work for the playable races.
Generally, I'd like to see race specific kits - and not just one stereotype per race. A cleric kit per race would be nice and since there isn't a stereotypical cleric race, this would offer an interesting option, along with the classics - elven arcane archer or bladesinger, halfling thief, gnome mage, half-orc fighter, dwarven tank.
They should have the ability to put 3 proficiency points into sword and shield style with unique additional benefits from each point: eg large AC bonuses, possibly an increased crit chance to bring it into line with the other fighting styles, and maybe increased weapon speed.
They should also get a phalanx ability similar, I suppose, to defensive spin gaining them an AC bonus that increases with experience, though it should only slow rather than immobilise them, and it should have long time limit with the ability to be switched off much like shapeshifting.
They could even have an additional ability of extra AC or immune to charm if wearing a cloak... Any cloak! Just the presence of a cloak increases their pride and inspires them due to the symbolic nature a cloak has amongst their order.
Thoughts or opinions? Not fantasy based but the idea appeals to me :-)
I just like the idea of a highly defensive class; where that defence is based around the astute use of a shield rather than covering your entire body with heavy and cumbersome armour.
It could fill a niche in game, that of a shield bearer as any melee character worth their salt will dual wield or use 2 handed weapons, shields are often cast aside especially in TOB. Along with this, the sword and shield fighting style isn't at all useful in its current state. In the long term you are far better spending the points in dual wielding even if you use a shield as the cost benefit analysis isn't worth it. At least with the points dual wielding you have an opportunity to drop the shield for another weapon should you wish!
I can imagine sending this warrior to close off a doorway or other narrow opening, allowing arrows and spells to fly past him into the horde of troops he's holding back! :-)
Going along with the phalanx idea, how about something like "gives damage reduction and AC to all adjacent party members and makes them immune to backstab"? And the AC/damage reduction you receive yourself is based on how many party members are next to you. It could be a short duration ability, or it could be something you activate like bard song with the downside of it making you immobile.
Or a counterattack ability? Every time someone misses you in melee while it's activated, you get to swing at them for free. I seem to remember a lot of scenes in 300 where a guy would block with his shield and then strike back.
Some extra shield-based abilities would be cool as well.
The old empires are literally cultures ripped from our world during the classical period and dumped into a Faerun, and have kept their cultures largely unchanged (aside from making use of magical items and spell-casters exist). Chessenta is based on classical greece, Mulhorond on Egypt, several others.
The kensai is from Kara-tur, as is the monk.
Mind you, samurai are far closer to pure fighters than any other class currently ingame. They wore the best available armour and used the best available weapons (with a backup if needed). None of this "unencumbered" or "dedicated to a single weapon" nonsense.
Similarly to the Hexblade, perhaps a Cleric of Beshaba would be a neat kit to employ? Anyone else feel like casting Greater Malison as a special ability once per day on their divine casters? I dooooo!
Bladesingers can't use shields, 2hd weapons, or dual-wield.
Could only be proficient in a single 1hded sword (typically a longsword to take advantage of their racial bonus). They gain no other weapon proficiencies.
They couldn't wear armor greater then studded leather, except for elven chainmail.
And while they could cast spells while wearing light armors, doing so increased the cast time of their spells by +2. Robes and Elven chainmail had no penalty, as normal.
And their ac bonus only applies vs melee attacks.
Their only actual bonuses are that they can cast while wearing light armor, gain a ac bonus vs melee, and get +1 hit/damage with their chosen weapon. And are specialized in single weapon style at creation.
They also get a bonus that reduces the penalty for combat maneuvers...but they aren't implemented so it would do nothing.
Though seriously, I would love to see expanded barbarian kits, maybe something that focuses on a different rage style. Like, for example, instead of adding to your stats at the cost of AC you can have a barbarian kit that flows with battle in his rage, Improving his AC but not providing any stat benefits. Or one that focuses only on damage reduction. Such as, for each level he goes up he gains 2% damage reduction and when he rages he gains another 20%.
It's like a cleric sorcerer.
Disadvantage: No ranged weapons, reduced physical melee damage.
Disadvantages:
*May not wear any armour
Advantages:
*+2 AC with shield
*Immune to charm, hold and domination
...or something.
Disadvantages:
*May not wear any armor
Advantages:
*+ scaling AC with shield (+1 with buckler, +2 with small shield, +3 with medium shield, +4 with large shield)
*Gains two slots in Sword and Shield style for free
*Immune to charm, hold and domination
*At 3rd level, you gain a scaling bonus vs. breath weapon depending on your shield (+1 with small shield, +2 with medium shield, +3 with large shield)
*At 5th level, you are better able to interpose your shield against incoming damage. As long as you have a medium or large shield equipped, you gain 5% resistance to all forms of damage other than poison (missile, piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, fire, cold, electricity, acid, magic). At level 15 this improves to 10%, and at level 25 this improves to 15%.
In short, real Spartan soldiers looked nothing like in 300. In fact, at the Battle of Thermopylae (at which they weren't 300 either, but at least 1500 - of which in addition to the ~300 Spartans, ~400 was Theban and ~700 were Thespian) the Greeks were decidedly better armoured and equipped than the Persian infantry, which is basically the whole reason they managed to hold for as long as they did to begin with.
So they could have no body armour, leather armour or bronze plate.
It would add flavour to have them wear no armour, or you could restrict them to leather (inc studded) or Plate, meaning that Chain, Splint and Full plate would be disallowed based on the restriction to the phalanx movements the hoplite bases their abilities on
The emphasis on Plate rather than Full Plate would also give more value to The Plate +3 found in the game!!
Edit: I've just looked it up and "The Practical Defence" even looks as though its made from bronze!