PRC Suggestion: Man-at-Arms

[Luke Danger]

This was inspired by the fact that a lot of combat groups/Houses have been forming in EfU:A recently, and I thought a semi-presiteige class that is (somewhat) custimizable may be wise. The basic backround is that the PRC is for those who are the grunts of any noble house (Example, House Sharborneth). This isn't a prestige class as more of a semi-prestige class, sort of to show how a char has evolved in service to say, House sharborneth.

Description:
Men-at-Arms, the grunts of any army. It is not exactly a prestigous position, but being a skilled Man-at-Arms who can fight in a group is a valuble addition to any military force. Men-At-Arms are often trained to use several weapons, typically a ranged and a melee one, the type oft determined by the leader of the force the Men-at-Arms are part of.  As they become more experianced, Men-at-Arms tend to develop some new abilities, even rallying their fellow Men-at-Arms towards battle. There is only one thing all Men-at-Arms share, they are trained in martial combat to fight and (most likely) die for their lord/leader, no matter what.

HD: d10
BAB Progression: same as fighter
Skill Points: 3 per level+ INT
Class Skills: Discipline, Heal, Craft Weapon/Armor/Traps, Ride, Parry, Lore, Listen

Requirements:
Special: Must of joined a organization that has some form of nobility or the upper crust of society as a leader, including, but not limited to, a Guild Leader with considerable influence, or the Lord of a noble House.
Special: If they leave their Lords service in any way, shape, or form, they cannot gain levels at Man-at-Arms until they either rejoin their lord, or serve a new Lord over a period of time (determined by the DM's, but ideally the more levels in Man-at-Arms, the longer it takes)
Base Attack: 4
Skills: Discipline: at least 4
Feats: Weapon Focus in at least one weapon (Mechanical), but must have WF for all weapons that the leader of the House/military force determines (RP).
Example of WF Requirements: House Montezzi requires all Men-at-Arms to be able to use a Longsword and Longbow with competence. Gnomes and Halflings, due to the fact of their size, are allowed to know shortswords and shortbows instead, or master the Longsword and Shortbow.

Level 1: As a new recruit, all Men-at-Arms are given at the least a crash course in basic combat technquies.
Feats: Skill Focus: Discipline, Power Attack, Cleave, Expertise

Level 2: As they continue their service and training, Men-at-Arms learn a few more tricks from their experiance, and their training's toll finally comes through, making them slightly harder to kill. Making it to this milestone bodes well for the Man-at-Arms, but not always.
Feats: Bonus fighter feat, Toughness, Knockdown

Level 3: At this stage, a Man-at-Arms is a 'veteran' Man-at-Arms, having learned more. They aren't exactly leaders, but are expected to, at this point, be able to take on greater challanges in the name of their cause. Ideally, they'd be a Corporal or equivelent in their battlegroup by now, but it isn't always the case.
Feats: Greater Skill Focus: Discipline, Great Cleave

Level 4: If a Man-at-Arms has reached this stage, he has most likely survived many conflicts for his leige lord. As a veteran, the Man-at-Arms now is experianced and capable of fighting foes of much greater ferocity with much more effective technquies of previously learned combat abilities.
Feats: Improved Knockdown, Improved Expertise, Improved Power Attack

Level 5: At this stage, the Man-at-Arms has become a hardened fighter, fighting battles for his leige lord and is a true veteran. He is well known amongst his fellow brothers in arms, and can rally them, breifly, to fight harder. However, his hard training and discipline is catching up to him, and has left him somewhat scarred, and somewhat worse off in social situations, especially civilian ones. Ideally, by this point a Man-at-Arms would of been a Sergeant or the equivelent in their battlegroup, but this is not always the case.
Feats: Rallying Cry, Called Shot, Bonus Fighter Feat
Atribute Penalty: -1 CHA (stays even if the level is lost, but if they regain the level, they do not take another -1 CHA)


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The 'idealy' ranks was done in the heirarchy of the Sanctuary watch, listed below:
   Sherrif
   Lieutenant
   Sergeant
   -Corporal
   -Private

Feel free to discuss, this is only an idea, and I wasn't sure how to balance it best so it's not as bad as some PRC's are to get, but isn't as powerful as the others, while still keeping to the theme of combat ability over other things. Perhaps this could be used for NPC's such as the Sharborneth Men-at-Arms?

[DeputyCool]

I hate to break it to you, Luke, but this PRC is basically a fighter with like, 3 times the progression speed.

It recieves basically every fighter feat, at no penalty, very quickly!

Unlikely to be implemented in it's current form.

[Caddies]

Its not very prestigious, either; which sort of defies the point of a PRC!

[Luke Danger]

That's alright DC, I was just getting the idea out, since I'm not exactly brilliant with balance at times, so perhaps tone it down a bit? I'll edit it later and see if it's more acceptable. I was just going for a rough idea, to be tweaked. And obviously it needs considerible tweaking, which I'll do later (as I have to log for the night at this time).

[DeputyCool]

Caddies also touched on a good point. A PRC is designed to help fill a very specific character niche, that is not otherwise portrayed with the already existing classes.

This seems like a Fighter works just fine.

[Luke Danger]

Alright, fine by me, I was thinking that it'd be suitable for RP, but I can see caddies point.


I think that if the PRC was to really work, it needed feats that made them valuble in a team. Scrap this suggestion then.