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[PTU][Class] Charlatan; Masters of swindling, deceit, and sleight of hand, the often-charismatic Charlatans manipulate best with the upper hand.
Topic Started: Jun 1 2017, 04:25 AM (444 Views)
Aiseya
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One stop short of lunacy.
[ *  *  *  *  * ]
To start-- I didn't realize until the class was finished that there was already a PTU homebrew called 'Charlatan', but I like the word too much to change it. Also the old one found (here) is very outdated, and overall extremely different! Mine was originally based on TBG’s ‘Gambler’ class found here. I attempted to make it less ‘meta’ and more of an entertainer-swindler!

Art by Pinlin.

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Google Drive View: Seya's PTU 1.05 Charlatan


Posted Image

Charlatan
[PTU 1.05 Homebrew]
‘Fighter’ Class Type



               Active Pokémon Support - **
               Passive Pokémon Support - *
               Trainer Combat - **

               Associated Skills: Guile, Perception, Stealth

Pick a card, any card—but please do ignore that nick in the corner! Masters of swindling, deceit, and sleight of hand, the often-charismatic Charlatans play their foes like a whole different game, often turning gambles and
battles in their favor. If viewers start catching on to a Charlatan’s ruses, clearly they’re not doing it right.

The Charlatan class takes the idea of a deceptive entertainer and runs with it, using loaded dice and prestige to befuddle a crowd or quickly wear down an opponent with manipulation and incredible precision. Charlatans live for being in control, putting on a show, and more than anything else guaranteeing that their ‘gambles’ pay off.

Mechanically, they strive for critical hits and volatile status conditions, using these impressive displays to gain Ruse Points and subsequently drive their successes onward. Ruses are fickle things, however, and once a thread has come loose, the whole act can unravel in a heartbeat. Charlatans find themselves particularly weak to accuracy-targeting moves and abilities, as those tend to disrupt the show!

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Charlatan
[Class][+Speed]
Prerequisites: Novice Guile; Novice Perception or Stealth
Effect: You can gain and spend Ruse Points.

Mechanic - Ruse Points


Hoax
[+Speed]
Prerequisites: Charlatan
1 AP – Standard Action
Target: Your Pokémon
Effect: The target gains the Mold Breaker Ability until the end of the encounter, but the AC on each of its moves is increased by 2 for this duration, as well.

This Is My Game
[Gift] [+Speed]
Prerequisites: Charlatan, Adept Guile
Static
Effect: You gain the Expert Manipulator and Dynamism Edges, and one instance of the Skill Stunt Edge. Your Skill Stunt edge must be applied to Guile, Perception, or Stealth, and is subject to GM approval.

“Luck” Architect
[+Speed]
Prerequisites: Charlatan, Adept Guile, Adept Stealth or Perception
Static
Target: Your Pokémon
Effect: Your Pokémon loses 2 Tutor Points and gains one of Serene Grace or Super Luck. A Pokémon can only learn one of these abilities this way.

Master of Deception
[Gift] [+Speed]
Prerequisites: This Is My Game, Expert Guile
Static
Effect: You gain your choice of Serene Grace or Super Luck. Additionally, spending Ruse Points is now a Free Action (this overrides Accomplice), but can still only be spent on your turn.

Accomplice
[Orders][+Speed]
Prerequisites: “Luck” Architect, Expert Guile, Expert Stealth or Perception
At-Will – Swift Action
Target: Your Pokémon
Your Ruse Points can now be spent on the following effects, at a limit of one effect per round:
     » 1 Ruse Point – Prediction: Before the end of your next turn, if your Pokémon is targeted by an
           attack, it gains +2 Evasion against that attack. This effect may only be applied once per round.
     » 2 Ruse Points – Preparation: Your Pokémon automatically rolls a 14 on one d20 Roll of your
           choice on their next turn. This effect may only be used once per Scene per Pokémon.
     » 3 Ruse Points – Prestige: The next attack your Pokémon makes before the end of your next turn
           automatically hits, is a critical hit, and inflicts your choice of Confused, Infatuated, or Flinched.
           This effect may only be used once per Scene per Pokémon, and this targeted Pokémon can no
           longer benefit from Ruse Points for the remainder of this encounter.

The House Always Wins
[+Speed]
Prerequisites: Five Charlatan Features, Master Guile
Daily x2 – Swift Action
Trigger: You or your Pokémon make an Accuracy Roll or Skill Check
Effect: Add the value of your Guile Rank to the result of the Accuracy Roll or Skill Check. This can be done after rolling, but must be stated before any results of the roll are announced. The new result triggers Effect Ranges and Critical Hit Ranges as if the modified value was the original value of the die. After the roll has been resolved, you lose all current Ruse Points.


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It's my first homebrew, so discussion about balance is more than welcome. It's been approved as-is as a class to use in a game over on PBPf, but I'm still welcoming feedback!

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Paperblade
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Pokémon Trainer
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I really like the idea of this class. It changes your gameplay a fair amount and can be built around. It feels like something I could see fitting in with the other battling style classes. This class has a ton of synergy with Provocateur, which might be a too powerful combination?

Default feat is good. The only thing that I think is weird is that by default ruse points can only be spent as a swift (so you can only get +1 on effect/crit range unless I'm misunderstanding) until you get Master of Deception. Serene Grace/Super Luck don't do much unless you're some sort of combat class (Demoralize doesn't work on manipulate maneuvers, but again there's synergy with Provocateur here since its moves can crit with Demoralize), so that feat feels like a feat tax to make the class run more smoothly.

Hoax should probably be 1 AP - Swift Action, Priority (Limited) to fit with other similar features (such as Stat Embodiment or Style Entrainment). Generally features that grant abilities as a Standard action come with an upside (Duelist's Manual doubles the bonus and Targeted Profiling gives an accuracy bonus). This feat might still be a bit weak since you have no choice in the ability granted (unlike the stat ace and style expert feats) and it comes with a downside

House Always Wins not actually doing anything with Ruse Points is weird, since the optimal way to use it becomes to spend all your Ruse Points first (probably on the 2 point cost of Accomplice or something), since otherwise you just lose them for no benefit. This also makes Master of Deception more of an annoying feat tax since this feat is also a Swift action, causing a clash with ruse point spending. I'd either make it have a prereq of having X number of ruse points to activate and/or have its effect boosted based on how many ruse points are drained. Maybe lower the base benefit (+6/8 to an accuracy check which also factors into effect range is pretty crazy) to half guile but you get +1 per ruse point spent or something?
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Zerodias
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Pokémon Trainer
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On d&d there was a feature of a trickster class that lets you make any roll the DM makes a natural 1, on a twice a day frecuency. This might be a good option for the final feature of the class.
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Dark Shadow
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Reploid
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Zerodias
Jun 2 2017, 01:27 PM
On d&d there was a feature of a trickster class that lets you make any roll the DM makes a natural 1, on a twice a day frecuency. This might be a good option for the final feature of the class.
I know that in 4e, the Great Trickster epic destiny did that, so that might be what you're thinking of. 3/day, you chould tell the DM that a die they just rolled was a 1, with no re-rolls being possible. However... that was also the capstone of the full 30 levels of play. So, make of that what you will, balance-wise.
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