Ego Warrior (D&D class)

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Unofficial rules compendium

There are times when a great warrior decides to move on, when a samurai grows tired of serving his lord or a barbarian decides that grace and style is as important as rage. Some warriors strive for personal perfection and honor without regard to what is expected of them. And some people just like to show off. These are all reasons to elevate yourself to the ego warrior class.

This is a free spirit that has taken her fate into her own hands and decided to forge her own way in the world. She ignores the strictures of society, religion and other expectations in favor of her own pride and honor. Relying on her own strength and abilities, she will stand or fall as she can, unfettered by any bonds.

An ego warrior is proud and free, governed by nothing but her honor, responsible for nothing but the whole free world around her. Abandoning old ties and sins, striking out on her own, ego warriors wander the land in search of adventure. A chaotic bunch, they seldom use the same title. An individual ego warrior might be known as a mendicant warrior, warrior princess, lone ranger, wandering monk, errant knight, spirit quester, or ronin, and they all embark on a personal quest to prove something, though they often do not know what.

Anyone with the right mindset who has developed her individual fighting style can become an ego warrior. There is no society or guild to gain admittance to and you do not need to be trained by another. Instead, you select this path for yourself and strike out on your own. An ego warrior needs a wide range of previous experience to prepare her for the choice of prestige class, but these can not be quantified as simple restrictions. Most of it is part of the chaotic alignment restriction.

Some ego warriors take the class to escape from something in their past, as a break with their old selves and bold statement that they will not repeat the mistakes they committed before. It is a way for those who failed in positions of responsibility to try and redeem themselves as individuals. Sadly, not all such dedications are successful, or even sincere.

Any race and either sex qualifies, though dwarfs, gnomes and half-orcs are uncommon, to say the least. Fighters and barbarians are the most likely candidates, but ex-monks, rangers, sorcerers, and bards are not uncommon.

Ego warriors fight, and fight well. Their style is lithe and acrobatic, their attacks powerful and stylish. While most claim not to be vain, they all have a distinctive style of their own, and benefit from the hesitation and doubt this creates in their opponents. In order to use their fighting advantages, the ego warrior must maintain her own distinctive style. What this entails varies from ego to ego, and is by no means formalized into a strict code, but for game purposes all styles must include the following:

• Be Yourself: You style must be individualistic, distinctive and something you made up yourself. Decide on a set of weapons and other gear, and don't change it lightly.
• Be Lithe. Wear only light or no armor and don't use a shield other than the buckler. Don't be encumbered. You can use heavier armor if it has been modified to allow free movement (like medium mithral armor).
• Be Stylish: Dress distinctively. Never use a visor or mask to hide your face or otherwise conceal your identity in a fight unless you have an established secret identity that you use repeatedly and which is recognizable.
• Be Brazen: Use shouts, jests, taunts and flashy displays. An ego warrior should not fight silently.
• Be Flexible: To be able to make gestures and perform tricks you must have one hand free. You can use a buckler, two weapons and even wield one-handed weapons in two hands, but not use a two-handed weapon, small shield, large shield, or tower shield.
• Be Sportsmanlike: Your opponents must have some chance to get at you. Using any sort of invulnerability, long-range weapons or ambush tactics bend this restriction but are not absolutely prohibited. The ego warrior may use ambush, ganging up, or trickery against superior forces, but much prefers a fair one-on-one melee.

Ego warriors also have a personal sense of honor. She keeps her word and the spirit of any agreement, and will take responsibility for her own actions. She enjoys testing herself, and needs to maintain her style at all times. The ego warrior is a wanderer and a seeker. She can have a home she returns to, but she will not stay there for long. Time between adventures is spent exploring the world and her destiny. She will not bind herself to duties or a schedule, and cannot accept an office or have holdings, with all the responsibility this brings. Large fortunes or heavy equipment likewise restricts this free lifestyle, so the ego warrior cannot own more gear or wealth than she can comfortably take along on her travels – which preferably includes a healthy stash of gems, jewelry and magic items. She may gather followers and cohorts, but only for specific missions. She can be a member of an adventuring party of equals as long as there is no group charter or contract binding her for the long haul.

If an ego warrior settles down, stops being chaotic or abandons her fighting style, she can no longer advance in the class, but keeps all her class abilities as long as she adheres to her fighting style.

Requirements

To qualify as an ego warrior, the character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +7

Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Iron Will

Skills: Intimidate: 8 ranks, Jump: 8 ranks, Tumble: 4 ranks.

Alignment: Chaotic (chaotic good, chaotic neutral, chaotic evil)

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+1	+0	+2	+2	Fighting panache
2	+2	+0	+3	+3	Warrior trick
3	+3	+1	+3	+3	Bonus Feat
4	+4	+1	+4	+4	Warrior trick
5	+5	+1	+4	+4	Bonus Feat
6	+6	+2	+5	+5	Warrior trick
7	+7	+2	+5	+5	Bonus Feat
8	+8	+2	+6	+6	Warrior trick
9	+9	+3	+6	+6	Bonus Feat
10	+10	+3	+7	+7	Warrior trick

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ego warrior prestige class.

Hit Die: d8

Class Skills

Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex).

Skill points at each level: 4 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Ego warriors are proficient with all simple and martial melee weapons as well as light armor but not with shields.

Fighting Panache

The ego warrior fights with style and grace, keeping foes of balance with unexpected moves and stunning displays. The ego warrior may add her Charisma bonus as a morale bonus to her effective dexterity bonus when calculating armor class while fighting according to her fighting style. You lose this bonus when you would normally lose your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and the highest effective Dexterity bonus you can add to your Armor Class is limited by the armor you wear.

The armor class bonus from of Fighting Panache does not stack with other with other abilities that let you add an ability bonus to armor class, such as the monk’s AC Bonus or the Duelist’s Canny Defense.

Bonus Feats

You gain one of the following feats, ignoring prerequisites. Note that you can take feats for which Combat Expertise is a prerequisite because of your Fighting Panache class ability. These feats are bonus feats to the ego warrior : Blind Fighting, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Combat, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse.

Warrior Tricks

As you advance in levels, you learn certain tricks of the trade. At each even level, you learn one trick. You may only pick each trick once, and may only use these tricks in combat if fighting according to your fighting style (se above).

1. Center of Attention (ex): You relish being at the center of things. Opponents gain no bonus to attack rolls when they flank you. You are still susceptible to sneak attacks when flanked.
2. Evasion (ex): If you make a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, you instead take no damage.
3. Fast Movement (ex): You have a speed faster than the norm for your race by +10 feet. This does not stack with the barbarian ability of the same name.
4. Heroic Leap (ex): The ego warrior can use flips and leaps to move, combining tumbling and jumping. This gives a +5 bonus on Tumble checks and Jump checks. After a tumble that ends on the other side of your opponent (in a flanking position relative to where you started) and triggers no attack of opportunity you are considered to be flanking this opponent until his next action, regardless of where your allies are standing.
5. Final Fury (ex): When staggered or dying, you become enraged. You may continue to make actions as normal, and receive a +8 rage bonus to Strength. You still bleed and die as normal.
6. Opening the Defense (ex): For each attack you manage to hit with and inflict damage in the current round, any later attacks against that specific opponent in the same round receives a +1 bonus to both hit and damage. This damage stacks if you manage to land several attacks against the same opponent in the same round – two previously successful attacks give +2, and so on.
7. Self Reliance (ex): Your free spirit gives you an inner strength second to none. Whenever you fail a Will Saving throw, you may at some later point make another Will Saving throw to throw off the effects of the first failed save. You can only try this once per day, and must wait at least a round to do it. It is obvious if you succeed, so you cannot trick somebody to think that she is still affected, but you can wait until an opportune moment to take your second saving throw.
8. Steady Hand (ex): When wielding a weapon for which you have Weapon Focus, you get a +4 bonus to avoid getting disarmed, having your weapon sundered, and on saving throws to avoid losing your weapon.
9. Warrior Moves (ex): You can still use your Dexterity modifier to armor class when not fully mobile, such as when climbing or balancing, but not when caught flat-footed. Your effective Dexterity is not reduced when you are entangled. Foes do not receive a bonus to strike you in melee when you are prone, but ranged attacks against you still suffer the normal penalty.
10. Warrior Yell (ex): The ego warrior has chosen her own distinctive battle shout, which she can use as a move action or as a swift action with a charge. This lets you use the demoralize opponent action of the Intimidate skill and affect all opponents within 10 ft. This is a fear, sonic, mind-affecting power.