Heroic Aspirant (3.5e Alternate Class Feature)

Author: Leziad (talk) Date Created: 20th November 2023 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Heroic Aspirant

While most skalds are traveling warrior-poets and historians, the heroic aspirant are usually young and foolish glory seekers. These individuals, emboldened by the stories of great heroes and invincible warriors, seek to write their own stories rather than record the stories of others. While most of them are doomed to a violent death, then being forgotten, a few are aiming to be forever the subjects of songs. While many heroic aspirants can still be inspiring leaders, they have a strong focus on their own combat abilities. This increase in martial might come at the cost of their abilities to inspire allies and their spellcasting, but reward them with access to powerful maneuvers.

Class: Skald

Level: 1st-19th

Replaces: Scribe Scroll, Inspired Rage, Rage Power (3rd, 9th, 12th, 17th), Lore Master

Benefit: An heroic aspirant gains the following class feature.

Limited Spellcasting: The skald has one fewer spell per day of each spell level he can cast. If this would reduce his spells per day to 0, he may only cast bonus spells that he received of that level due to a high Charisma score.

Maneuvers: A heroic aspirant is capable of initiating maneuvers using maneuver known, maneuver readied, stance known and max maneuver level outlined in the Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression. An heroic aspirant chooses her maneuvers known from the Golden Lion, Piercing Thunder, Primal Fury, Scarlet Throne and Thrashing Dragon. If she does not have those discipline skills as class skills, she gains them as such. She recovers a single maneuver whenever she starts her raging song, and at the end of every round she maintains it. Alternatively she may recover a single maneuver as a standard action.

A heroic aspirant’s initiation modifier is Charisma, and each heroic aspirant level is counted as a full initiator level

This ability replaces the rage powers gained at 3rd, 9th, 12th and 18th.

Inspire Legend (Su): The heroic aspirant does not inspire rage in allies, instead she can draw strength from her upcoming legendary exploits. When she activates this raging song she gains a +1 competence bonus on attack and damage rolls and a +1 morale bonus on saving throws. At 6th, 12th, and 18th levels, these bonuses increase by 1. She also gains the benefits of any rage power she has. This raging song does not require either audible components or visual components, but has a 20% chance of failing if the heroic aspirant is under a fear-effect or any negative morale effect. Starting this performance is a move action, until level 13th where it becomes a swift action.

At 8th level, the heroic aspirant’s own song starts to take shape, and she can add audible components to this raging song. If she does she also grants half the competence and morale bonus granted by this song to all allies who can hear her. At 16th level her legendary exploits allow her to grant her allies the full competence and morale bonus.

This ability replaces inspired rage.

Martial Supremacy: A heroic aspirant eschews magical writing to instead focus on forging her own personal legend, and let other skalds write about it. She gain Weapon Focus as a bonus feat. At 7th level she gains a bonus feat that she qualifies for, it must be selected from a list of combat feats. She gains another of such feat at 13th level and 19th level.

This ability replaces scribe scroll and lore master.

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