Revision as of 03:49, 27 June 2013

Unfettered

Aeowyn, iconic unfettered

"I'll take speed and grace over brute strength and toughness anyday."

The unfettered's approach to combat is, at first glance, unorthodox: lightly armored and lightly armed, she appears to be more at home amidst rogues or nobles than front-line fighters. Once the fray is joined, however, she demonstrates very quickly that her place is assured: through unmatched mobility, a willingness to take risks, and a generally infuriating playful attitude towards combat, she engages and disengages her foes with an almost distant feeling.

Unfettered are combatants focused on somewhat unusual methods that ultimately allow them to gain the upper hand on more "traditional" fighters.

This class is the "paper" component in the RPS melee theory. Thus, an unfettered should be able to defeat an equal-level and equal-geared defender, while be beaten by an equal einhander. This is accomplished through extreme mobility options, denying defenders the ability to attack them, while harrying them.

Game Rule Information

Unfettered have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: None.

Force Resistances: None.

Abilities: Unfettered require different ability scores, dependent upon their focus. Speed unfettered rely upon Dexterity; grace unfettered rely upon Intelligence; and panache unfettered rely on Charisma. Ultimately, all three of these abilities are important to an unfettered.

Hit Die: d8.

Class Skills: The unfettered's class skills are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Initiative (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Martial Lore (Int), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Per), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Age: Simple.

Starting Gold: 4d4 x 10gp.

Favored By: None.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the unfettered.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An unfettered is proficient with all simple and martial melee weapons, simple ranged weapons, and light armor. She is proficient with bucklers, but no other shields.

AC Bonus: The unfettered gains the listed bonus as a dodge bonus to AC. The unfettered only benefits from this dodge bonus while unarmored or wearing light armor, and using no heavier shield than a buckler.

Speed Bonus: The unfettered gains the listed bonus as a bonus to her movement speed. An unfettered in armor heavier than light or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed.

Sneak Attack: The unfettered has the sneak attack ability, with the listed dice as bonus damage. While an unfettered does not have any bonus damage dice prior to fourth level, she benefits from abilities that key off of making a sneak attack, even if she adds no dice to her damage for doing so.

Style Choice: At first level, the unfettered selects her choice of styles with which to approach the general unfettered theory of combat. Choose from one of the abilities below.

• Speed: You focus on movement and mobility, never letting yourself get tied down. You can add your Dexterity modifier to attack and damage rolls when wielding a one-handed melee weapon, and your access to maneuvers is keyed off of your Dexterity. You add your Dexterity modifier to the maximum size of your speed token pool.
• Grace: You focus on gracefulness and cunning, knowing just where to put yourself each moment. You can add your Intelligence modifier to attack and damage rolls when wielding a one-handed melee weapon, and your access to maneuvers is keyed off of your Intelligence. You can add your Intelligence modifier to your AC, in place of your Dexterity modifier (which is still lost in situations where you would have lost your Dex mod). You add your Intelligence modifier to the maximum size of your grace token pool.
• Panache: You focus on "buckling your swash" and playfulness, keeping your enemies on their toes with taunts and bravado. You can add your Charisma modifier to attack and damage rolls when wielding a one-handed melee weapon, and your access to maneuvers is keyed off of your Charisma. You can add your Charisma modifier to your AC, in place of your Dexterity modifier (which is still lost in situations where you would have lost your Dex mod). You add your Charisma modifier to the maximum size of your panache token pool.

Speed Token Pool: One aspect - and for some, the most important - of your combat style is being fleet of foot. Whenever you move at least ten feet, you gain a speed token at the end of that action. If you move more than ten feet, you gain an additional token for each ten feet moved, to a maximum of your Dexterity modifier or one-half your initiator level, whichever is lower (min 1). In addition, whenever you take movement on someone else's turn, you gain a speed token, regardless of the distance.

Grace Token Pool: Agility is one thing, but maintaining fluid motion on the battlefield is entirely another. Grace is a measurement of your ability to put yourself in the right place at the right time. Whenever a creature attacks you and misses, if the result of the attack roll was higher than your flat-footed AC, you gain a number of grace tokens after that action equal to the amount by which you were missed, to a maximum of your Intelligence modifier or one-half your initiator level, whichever is lower (min 1). In addition, whenever you take an action that causes an attack to miss you (be it a maneuver, your parry ability, or some other ability), you gain a grace token if one such token was not spent on the action.

Panache Token Pool: Causing on-lookers to say "wow!" as you perform acrobatics in combat is one way to put your opponent off their guard, or use your presence of personality to confound your foes, is one way to win the day. Whenever you use a Strength-, Dexterity-, or Charisma-based skill in combat, with a DC of at least 10 + your initiator level (if the check is opposed, your opponent must have HD at least equal to your level), you gain a panache token for every point by which you exceed the check's DC, to a maximum of your Charisma modifier or one-half your initiator level, whichever is lower (min 1). In addition, whenever you use a special combat option (such as trip, disarm, or the like), and are successful, or make an attack for which you can apply your sneak attack damage, you gain a panache token.

Unfettered Talent: At 10th level, every two levels thereafter, the unfettered's ability to manipulate combat to her advantage improves. Choose one of the abilities below.

• Agile: Whenever you gain at least one grace token, you gain an additional one, to the normal maximum possible. You can take this talent multiple times; its effect stacks.
  • Fly Like A Butterfly: Increase your dodge bonus to AC by +1. You can take this talent multiple times; its effect stacks. (Prerequisites: Agile)
    • Sting Like A Bee: On your turn, as a free action, you may convert a number of grace tokens up to your Intelligence modifier into any combination of speed tokens and panache tokens. (Prerequisites: Agile, Fly Like A Butterfly)
  • Grace Specialization: The maximum grace tokens you can gain at once is now limited by your Intelligence modifier or your initiator level, whichever is lower. (Prerequisites: Agile)
• Mobile: Whenever you gain at least one speed token, you gain an additional one, to the normal maximum possible. You can take this talent multiple times; its effect stacks.
  • Fleet of Foot: Increase your speed bonus by +5 feet. You can take this talent multiple times; its effect stacks. (Prerequisites: Mobile)
    • Can't Touch This: On your turn, as a free action, you may convert a number of speed tokens up to your Intelligence modifier into any combination of grace tokens and panache tokens. (Prerequisites: Mobile, Fleet of Foot)
  • Speed Specialization: The maximum speed tokens you can gain at once is now limited by your Dexterity modifier or your initiator level, whichever is lower. (Prerequisites: Mobile)
• Presence: Whenever you gain at least one panache token, you gain an additional one, to the normal maximum possible. You can take this talent multiple times; its effect stacks.
  • Dirty Fighting: Increase your sneak attack damage by +1d6. You can take this talent multiple times; its effect stacks. (Prerequisite: Presence)
    • Dirty Dancing: On your turn, as a free action, you may convert a number of panache tokens up to your Intelligence modifier into any combination of grace tokens and speed tokens. (Prerequisites: Presence, Dirty Fighting)
  • Panache Specialization: The maximum panache tokens you can gain at once is now limited by your Dexterity modifier or your initiator level, whichever is lower. (Prerequisites: Presence)
• Feat: An unfettered may take a bonus feat in place of a talent.

Design Notes

This, uh... this is the last class in the triad that began with the development of the melee class theory, a few years back. The unfettered has never been written in the style intended/implied by the system, and since the standardization of melee class mechanics, unfettered have - more than ever - required an update.

And by update, I mean a write-up.

First, though, we have to figure out what this thing does. That's always the fun part. Since this class is a fundamental building block of other classes, as well as being a cornerstone of how melee combat is balanced, the unfettered's balance is very, very crucially important. Without it, there will never actually be any balance in the melee classes (defender v. einhander, defender wins).

So... how do we accomplish this.

I like the idea of tokens. But that's too similar to the defender. Slots are cool, but that's the einhander's bag. Honestly, we're out of options here: it's got to be one or the other, or an entirely new resource (AoOs, anybody? Karateka design is still awesome).

How do you win a fight without focusing on weapons or armor? This is a lot more complicated than it sounds, and responding to that question with "speed" is, I think, missing the point. The unfettered needs more - a lot more - to even begin having a chance to survive, much less thrive and actually serve its purpose (beating the defender).

At the moment... I am envisioning a multiple-resource system. That is, there are multiple things that the unfettered does, and thus has different resources associated with them. Think of this kinda... kinda like the akashic, which has the three different categories of things to deal with. Unfettered would have three different token types, and their maneuvers would require certain ones. More awesome maneuvers would require combinations of tokens.

After all, the purpose of tokens and token gain is intended to enforce a particular playstyle. By giving unfettered multiple token types they need to worry about, so long as the token gain methods are synergistic in some fashion, we can enforce the idea that they move all over the place.

...yes. The more I write this idea, the more I think I really, really like it.

The token types...

• Speed: These tokens represent movement, getting around the field quickly and also reacting quickly. You gain these through movement. These are the IH harrier-inspired abilities.
• Grace: These tokens represent avoidance, either through parrying or dodging attacks, and generally being a PITA for people to deal with. You gain these through defense. These are the original unfettered parry abilities.
• Panache: These tokens represent style, either screwing with your opponent through taunts, or doing things like swinging from chandeliers. The hardest and riskiest tokens to gain, you generally gain them through skill use in combat. These are... abilities that fill out their maneuver list, I guess.

This is interesting, because the unfettered is starting to reflect the third token pool type: the "many cups" model. I think this was subconscious. Also, I like threes. Yay.