Xiaolong Brawler (3.5e Class)
Xiaolong Brawler
The Xiaolong Brawler is a fighter at heart. She takes on all opposition head on in a win or lose competition of strength and endurance. Often sacrificing her own safety she will take a hit in order to deal out punishment in as close and personal a matter as possible; with her fists. Often thrill seekers and extremely self-reliant they typically care little for settling down nor for those who can't handle their odd personalities. Unlike the monk these brawlers typically do not follow a uniform code, preferring a carefree, options open, lifestyle. Setting themselves apart from others by their refusal to conform entirely to societal expectations and prefer to do their own thing they usually are loners or form a small friend group whom they bond with very closely.
Making a Xiaolong Brawler
With her name literally meaning "Little Dragon" the Xiaolong Brawler lives up to her title both in temperament and ferocity in combat. The Xiaolong brawler is a heavy hitting unarmed combatant and simultaneously very self-reliant in the field. While she excels at taking on physical threats she is so reliant on her bodily strengths she often falls short against mental or magical assaults. With her tough body and aggressive counter-attacks the Xiaolong brawler is most dangerous right in the middle of the fight taking on as many foes at once as possible and absorbing the damage into themselves rather than their fellow combatants. She can turn the damage she receives into powerful counter attacks as well as sacrifice her own defensive power for even more offensive power when she needs it by taping into the latent energy stored in her soul which can then manifest itself as Dragon Fire.
Abilities: Strength and Fortitude are most important so they can take and deal the damage associated with this fighting style. Dexterity is the next most important ability as it allows her to minimize the damage she takes more often.
Races: Humans are most common but any can work.
Alignment: Any but tend toward neutral or chaotic.
Starting Gold: 3d10x8 gp (120 gp).
Starting Age: Moderate as Fighter.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Special | Unarmed Damage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | ||||
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +2 | +0 | Unarmed Strike, Bonus Fighter Feats | 1d6 |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Fisticuffs | 1d6 |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Glutton for Punishment+1, Reckless Offense | 1d6 |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Eye for an Eye | 1d8 |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +4 | +1 | Improved Fisticuffs, Bonus Fighter Feats | 1d8 |
| 6th | +6/+1 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Frenzy | 1d8 |
| 7th | +7/+2 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Glutton for Punishment+2 | 1d8 |
| 8th | +8/+3 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Improved Reckless Offense | 1d10 |
| 9th | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +3 | Improved Eye for an Eye, Bonus Fighter Feats | 1d10 |
| 10th | +10/+5 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Awesome Blow, Dragon Fists 1/Day | 1d10 |
| 11th | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Glutton for Punishment+3 | 1d10 |
| 12th | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +8 | +4 | Improved Frenzy | 2d6 |
| 13th | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +8 | +4 | Greater Fisticuffs, Bonus Fighter Feats | 2d6 |
| 14th | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +9 | +4 | Greater Reckless Offense, Dragon Fists 2/Day | 2d6 |
| 15th | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +9 | +5 | Glutton for Punishment+4 | 2d6 |
| 16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +10 | +5 | Improved Awesome Blow | 2d8 |
| 17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +10 | +5 | Dragon Fists 3/Day, Bonus Fighter Feats | 2d8 |
| 18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +11 | +6 | Indestructible | 2d8 |
| 19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +11 | +6 | Glutton for Punishment+5 | 2d8 |
| 20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +12 | +6 | Dragon's Fury 1/Day, Dragon Fists 4/Day | 2d10 |
Class Skills (3 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level)
Autohypnosis(Wis), Balance(Dex), Climb(Str), Craft(Int), Heal(Wis) Intimidate(Cha), Jump(Str), Profession(Wis), Survival(Wis), Swim(Str).
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Xiaolong Brawlers are proficient with simple weapons, light armor, and medium armor.
Unarmed Strike: The Xiaolong Brawler receives the Improved Unarmed Strike feat even if she does not meet the base requirements.
Bonus Fighter Feats: On first level and every 4 levels thereafter the Xiaolong Brawler may choose a bonus feat from the Bonus Fighter Feats selection. She must meet the prerequisites for any feat she chooses in this manner.
Fisticuffs: Being a specialist in unarmed combat the Xiaolong brawler is more capable of landing an unarmed attack than her peers. The Brawler receives the Two-Weapon Fighting feat even if she doesn't meet the base requirements. At 5th level she receives the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat even if she doesn't meet the base requirements. And at 13th level she receives the Greater Two-Weapon Fighting feat even if she doesn't meet the base requirements.
Glutton for Punishment: The Xiaolong Brawler often takes lots of punishment in battle and this has toughened her body far beyond that of a normal person. She may consider her constitution modifier as 1 point higher for the purpose of calculating maximum health and saves. This bonus increases by 1 point on the 7th, 11th, 15th, 19th levels each.
Reckless Offense: The Xiaolong Brawler cares little for her own safety and is willing to sacrifice her own safety for a chance to hit her opponents harder. At the beginning of her round she may reduce her AC and Reflex Save by an amount up to but not exceeding her Dexterity modifier and gain an insight bonus to attack roles and damage equal to the reduced AC. These bonuses may never exceed her Base Attack Bonus. This ability may not be used if she is deprived of her dexterity bonus for any reason nor if she is at or below 0 hit points.
Improved Reckless Offense: At 8th level this ability is now limited by her armor bonus+dexterity modifier (and Base Attack Bonus).
Greater Reckless Offense: At 14th level this ability is only limited by her her total Armor Class (and Base Attack Bonus).
Eye for an Eye: After countless battles of being beaten repeatedly the Xiaolong Brawler has become tough enough to ignore lesser hits so that she can hit back at every opportunity available. After receiving damage from a source within melee range and succeeding a fortitude save (DC=damage taken) the Xiaolong Brawler may make an Attack of Opportunity Against the source of damage.
Improved Eye for an Eye: At 9th level she has become so experienced and practiced at this technique that she can even make an Attack of Opportunity made through this ability and suffer no attack penalty from being an Attack of Opportunity.
Frenzy: Upon receiving or giving a critical threat the Xiaolong Brawler may go into a frenzy. For a number of rounds equal to her fortitude modifier (minimum 1) she receives +2 strength and +20 movement speed. After which for 1d4 rounds she is fatigued and receives -10 movement speed. At the end of a frenzy the Brawler may take 1 point of constitution damage to maintain the effect for an additional round. If she maintains a frenzy in this manner she is not fatigued upon the end of her frenzy but as soon as the frenzy ends, or she is made unable to fight for any reason she becomes exhausted. In addition, maintaining the effects of a frenzy beyond its normal duration put enormous strain on the Brawler physically and mentally. If the frenzy is maintained through the expenditure of constitution points for 3 rounds or more the Xiaolong Brawler must make a will save (DC=10+number of extra rounds in a frenzy) at the beginning of each round she is still in a frenzy or become confused.
Improved Frenzy: At 12th level the bonuses increase to +4 strength and +30 movement speed.
Greater Frenzy: At 20th level the bonus' increase to +6 strength and +40 movement speed.
Awesome Blow: The Xiaolong Brawler has grown so adept at enhancing the power of her blows that she can send smaller foes flying with the strength of her punches. She may receive the Awesome Blow feat even if she doesn't meet the base requirements. Unless she meets the base requirements of this feat the Xiaolong Brawler may only use this feat while her attacks are augmented with either a Frenzy or her Dragon Fists ability.
Improved Awesome Blow: At 16th level she becomes so practiced at this technique she can use this feat even on targets of the same size as her.
Dragon Fists(SU): Upon reaching 10th level she has learned to tap into her inner fire so effectively she can then manifest it as physical flames that augment the power of her attacks. Once per day the Xiaolong Brawler can increase the damage of her attacks by 1/2 her Base Attack Bonus in fire damage for a number of rounds equal to her constitution modifier. This ability can be used once more per day at 14th, 17th, and 20th levels each.
Indestructible(EX):: Due to the immense strain she puts on her body so frequently the Xiaolong Brawler has developed to ability to ignore the damage of some attacks and still hit back just as hard. On either a successful reflex or fortitude save (DC = Damage taken) the Xiaolong Brawler may choose to take half damage and upon succeeding both saves no damage instead of taking half damage. She may still make an attack of opportunity with Eye for an Eye if she has an attack of opportunity remaining. If she is below 0 hit points she need only succeed a fortitude save to take no damage if she is capable of making such a save while in such a condition. This ability cannot be used in concurrence with Reckless Offense.
Dragon's Fury(SU): At last, after much training and combat experience the Xiaolong Brawler has learned to tap into the full potential of her inner fire. Once per day the Xiaolong Brawler may trigger a frenzy without requiring a critical threat and increase the damage of her attacks by an amount of fire damage equal to her Base Attack Bonus for the remaining duration of that frenzy and indestructible automatically succeeds for the remainder of the round this ability is activated. This bonus cannot be stacked with Dragon Fists or a normal Frenzy but it can be used to maintain the effect of an already active frenzy in place of taking ability damage.
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