Class: Unfettered
The Unfettered
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| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | AC Bonus | Speed Bonus | Sneak Attack | Max Token Pool | Maneuvers Known | Max Maneuver Level |
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | +1 | Style Choice | +0 | +5 ft. | +0d6 | 1 | 2 | 1st |
| 2 | +1 | +0 | +3 | +2 | Evasion | +1 | +10 ft. | +0d6 | 2 | 3 | 1st |
| 3 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +2 | Uncanny Dodge | +2 | +10 ft. | +0d6 | 3 | 5 | 2nd |
| 4 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +2 | +3 | +10 ft. | +1d6 | 3 | 6 | 2nd | |
| 5 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +3 | +3 | +15 ft. | +1d6 | 4 | 8 | 3rd | |
| 6 | +4 | +2 | +5 | +3 | Parry | +4 | +15 ft. | +1d6 | 5 | 9 | 3rd |
| 7 | +5 | +2 | +5 | +4 | +5 | +15 ft. | +1d6 | 6 | 11 | 4th | |
| 8 | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +4 | +6 | +20 ft. | +2d6 | 6 | 12 | 4th | |
| 9 | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +4 | +6 | +20 ft. | +2d6 | 7 | 14 | 5th | |
| 10 | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +5 | Unfettered Talent | +7 | +20 ft. | +2d6 | 8 | 15 | 5th |
| 11 | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +5 | +8 | +25 ft. | +2d6 | 9 | 17 | 6th | |
| 12 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +6 | Unfettered Talent | +9 | +25 ft. | +3d6 | 9 | 18 | 6th |
| 13 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +6 | +9 | +25 ft. | +3d6 | 10 | 20 | 7th | |
| 14 | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +6 | Unfettered Talent | +10 | +30 ft. | +3d6 | 11 | 21 | 7th |
| 15 | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +7 | +11 | +30 ft. | +3d6 | 12 | 23 | 8th | |
| 16 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +7 | Unfettered Talent | +12 | +30 ft. | +4d6 | 12 | 24 | 8th |
| 17 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +8 | +12 | +35 ft. | +4d6 | 13 | 26 | 9th | |
| 18 | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +8 | Unfettered Talent | +13 | +35 ft. | +4d6 | 14 | 27 | 9th |
| 19 | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +8 | +14 | +35 ft. | +4d6 | 15 | 29 | 9th | |
| 20 | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +9 | Unfettered Talent | +15 | +40 ft. | +5d6 | 15 | 30 | 9th |
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), 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 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 add your Charisma modifier to the maximum size of your panache token pool.
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.
