[A New Pie] High Roller - The NEW Hawtness

[Morgenstern]

   Since creating the Ninja base class seemed to work out well as a test for slicing into the new pie (http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=6692.0), I thought I'd use the same approach again: pick a single character I've enjoyed watching or playing in other media, build a class specifically for that character, then see if it can fulfill the needs of a more general archetype. In the case of the Ninja that was 100% Rikimaru from Tenchu, and gee isn't it nice that most ninja work that way more or less .

   My roommate is a bit more traditionalist in the sense that he insisted that if I started another base class I needed 2-4 fictional characters that it definitely models. That's certainly worked out well as a sanity check. Identifying other characters that this next class could model was key to finalizing what is one of the most bizarre class skill lists in recent mememory.

   So, in the spirit of making things I'd like to play, and making them work the way they appear in their native media, I present the New Pie version of the High Roller... shaken, not stirred.

HIGH ROLLER
   Flashy and charming, the High Roller is a wizard with advanced gizmos and high speed action. An adrenaline junky of the most talented sort, he is the perfect weapon to point at any convoluted scheme - he’ll drill through it with all the boyish glee of a summer blockbuster movie and he always gets the girl along the way.
   In your campaign, a High Roller could be…
•   A world renowned anti-spy who leaves a trail of wrecked vehicles and vanquished masterminds in his wake
•   A playboy weapons designer with a recently revitalized conscience
•   A wild-man extreme sports blogger recruited by the government
•   A no-nonsense international courier who never looks in the package.

   Party Role: Specialist. The High Roller puts the finest hardware to the test, leveraging tools and luck to get the job done... and making it look good the whole time.

Class Features
   Favored Attributes: Precision while avoiding any dump stats
   Class Skills: Competition, Deception, Expertise, Focus, Impress, Mischief, Parley, Profession, Stealth & Vigilance
   Skill Points: 6 + Guile modifier
   Morale: 9 + Determination modifier per level
   Starting Weapon Proficiencies: 4 + Precision modifier

Core Ability
   New Hawtness: Its not enough for the toys to be new... They also need to be shiney. Once per adventure as a free action, you may temporarily grant youself and your teammates the Favored Gear feat until the end of the adventure.

Class Abilities
   Man of Action: At Level 1, your Expertise and Impress are flawless.
   (Each time you fail a check with a flawless skill and don’t suffer an error, you still succeed as long as the check DC (or your opponent’s check result) is equal to or less than your Class Level + 20. If several grades of success are possible, you achieve only the lowest possible positive result.
   If you gain the same flawless skill from two or more classes, add together your Class Level in all of those classes when determining the minimum result.)

   More than Luck: At Level 2, once per scene you may re-roll any single attack check, skill check, or save after learning the outcome. You may do so even if the result is an error, with the decision to do so coming before opponents may spend action dice to confirm a critical failure.
   At Level 11 you may use this ability twice per scene, but no more than once on any single roll.
   At Level 19 you may use this ability thrice per scene, but no more than once on any single roll.

   Bonus Feat: At Levels 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 you gain an additional Chance or Gear feat.

   Playboy I: At Level 4, you gain the Comely feat (page 107).
   Playboy II: At Level 12, you gain the Elegant feat (page 107).
   Playboy III: At Level 20, you gain the Enchanting feat (page 107).

   The Hand You are Dealt: At Levels 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18, you may choose one of the following abilities. Each of these abilities may be chosen only once.

•   Always Ready: You may always act during surprise rounds.
•   Break the Mold: You gain 1 field and add a skill of your choice to your High Roller class skill list.
•   Charm School: Once per adventure, you may spend 1 hour practicing to gain 1 temporary Style feat of your choice until the end of the current adventure.
•   Dogged Pursuit: You gain a second attribute bonus to Pursuit and Maneuver checks equal to your Determination modifier.
•   Expert: You become an expert with 1 High Roller class skill.
   (Taking 10 with this skill doesn’t take twice as long and taking 20 takes only 10 times as long.)
•   Improvised Toolbox: Choose 1 kit (page 159). You’re always considered to have this kit when making an associated skill check.
•   Perfectionist: Your Precision rises by 1.
•   Poetry in Motion: You gain a second attribute bonus to Pursuit and Maneuver checks equal to your Grace modifier.
•   Rough Riding: Your vehicle or mount ignores speed penalties from terrain (page 371).

   Excellence: At Levels 8 and 12, your highest attribute rises by 1.

   That’s Impossible: Helicopters can’t really do that, can they?!!?! At Level 10, once per session you may set the result of a Maneuver check to 50 instead of rolling.
   At Level 20 you may use this ability twice per session.

   Nobody Does it Better: At Level 14, each time you roll an action die, you may re-roll it once. If you have an ability that allows you to roll multiple action dice when you spend a single action die, you must re-roll all of those dice together when using this ability.

Table 2.2: The High Roller
Level   BAB   Fort   Ref   Will    Def   Init   Lifestyle   Legend   Abilities
1     +0     +0   +1   +1   +1     +0   +2     +1     Man of Action; Jacks or Better
2     +1     +0   +2   +2   +1     +0   +3     +2     More than Luck 1/scene
3     +2     +1   +2   +2   +2     +1   +3     +3     Bonus Feat
4     +3     +1   +2   +2   +2     +1   +4     +3     Playboy (Comely)
5     +3     +1   +3   +3   +3     +1   +4     +4     Bonus Feat
6     +4     +2   +3   +3   +4     +2   +5     +5     The Hand you are Dealt
7     +5     +2   +4   +4   +4     +2   +5     +6     Bonus Feat
8     +6     +2   +4   +4   +5     +2   +6     +6     Excellence
9     +6     +3   +4   +4   +5     +3   +6     +7     Bonus Feat; The Hand you are Dealt
10   +7     +3   +5   +5   +6     +3   +7     +8     That’s Impossible 1/session
11   +8     +3   +5   +5   +7     +3   +7     +9     Bonus Feat; More than Luck 2/scene
12   +9     +4   +6   +6   +7     +4   +8     +9     Playboy (Elegant); The Hand you are Dealt
13   +9     +4   +6   +6   +8     +4   +8     +10   Bonus Feat
14   +10   +4   +6   +6   +8     +4   +9     +11   Nobody Does it Better
15   +11   +5   +7   +7   +9     +5   +9     +12   Bonus Feat; The Hand you are Dealt
16   +12   +5   +7   +7   +10   +5   +10   +12   Excellence
17   +12   +5   +8   +8   +10   +5   +10   +13   Bonus Feat
18   +13   +6   +8   +8   +11   +6   +11   +14   The Hand you are Dealt
19   +14   +6   +8   +8   +11   +6   +11   +15   Bonus Feat; More than Luck 3/scene
20   +15   +6   +9   +9   +12   +6   +12   +15   Playboy (Enchanting); That’s Impossible 2/session

[Mister Andersen]

Does JoB make your AD explode?
For NDIB, what about: "In addition to the standard result, your action dice also explode on any result less than or equal to your Precision modifier"?
Also, why specify a 2nd attribute bonus instead of an unnamed bonus equal to that second named attribute ?

[Morgenstern]

Does JoB make your AD explode?

No. Because a) its replacing final results which are after expploding dice and b) no character I know of has d5 action dice .

For NDIB, what about: "In addition to the standard result, your action dice also explode on any result less than or equal to your Precision modifier"?

Ick. We already have enough trouble with nigh-infintely exploding dice. That would be almost certain to go there. The core ability is more than adequate to avoide a single crapily low roll.

Also, why specify a 2nd attribute bonus instead of an unnamed bonus equal to that second named attribute?

Because flat bonus effects without names are ridiculously powerful when you start getting interactions across the system. Dogged Pursuit and Poetry in Motion are specifically intended to not stack with each other. Naming the bonus was a simpler solution than what I wrote the first time- a long string of text saying if you have both choose one per roll. They give you two different ways to put other attributes to work in a chase, but adding three modifiers to those checks...? nuh-uh.

[Blankbeard]

   Since creating the Ninja base class seemed to work out well as a test for slicing into the new pie (http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=6692.0), I thought I'd use the same approach again: pick a single character I've enjoyed watching or playing in other media, build a class specifically for that character, then see if it can fulfill the needs of a more general archetype. In the case of the Ninja that was 100% Rikimaru from Tenchu, and gee isn't it nice that most ninja work that way more or less .

   My roommate is a bit more traditionalist in the sense that he insisted that if I started another base class I needed 2-4 fictional characters that it definitely models. That's certainly worked out well as a sanity check. Identifying other characters that this next class could model was key to finalizing what is one of the most bizarre class skill lists in recent mememory.

   So, in the spirit of making things I'd like to play, and making them work the way they appear in their native media, I present the New Pie version of the High Roller... shaken, not stirred.

HIGH ROLLER

Hey, I know this guy.

   Flashy and charming, the High Roller is a wizard with advanced gizmos and high speed action. An adrenaline junky of the most talented sort, he is the perfect weapon to point at any convoluted scheme - he’ll drill through it with all the boyish glee of a summer blockbuster movie and he always gets the girl along the way.
   In your campaign, a High Roller could be…
•   A world renowned anti-spy who leaves a trail of wrecked vehicles and vanquished masterminds in his wake
•   A playboy weapons designer with a recently revitalized conscience
•   A wild-man extreme sports blogger recruited by the government
•   A no-nonsense international courier who never looks in the package.

Or maybe I don't.  Although I seem to recognize the people on that list.

   Party Role: Specialist. The High Roller puts the finest hardware to the test, leveraging tools and luck to get the job done... and making it look good the whole time.

Class Features
   Favored Attributes: Precision, supported by some Determination, Fitness, or Guile
   Class Skills: Competition, Expertise, Focus, Impress, Mischief, Parley, Profession, & Vigilance
   Skill Points: 4 + Guile modifier
   Morale: 12 + Determination modifier per level

This is certainly not what I would have expected!  Thoughts on why you went with high morale low skill?  I'm not saying it's wrong and I can almost see it with RDJ's Stark.

   Starting Weapon Proficiencies: 5 + Precision modifier

Core Ability
   Jacks or Better: You may set the final result of each action die you roll including modifiers to 5 after rolling.

Class Abilities
   Man of Action: At Level 1, your Expertise and Impress are flawless.
   (Each time you fail a check with a flawless skill and don’t suffer an error, you still succeed as long as the check DC (or your opponent’s check result) is equal to or less than your Class Level + 20. If several grades of success are possible, you achieve only the lowest possible positive result.
   If you gain the same flawless skill from two or more classes, add together your Class Level in all of those classes when determining the minimum result.)

Do you consider flawless to be a tool for relieving skill point pressure?  Aside from its obvious use of course.

   More than Luck: At Level 2, once per scene you may re-roll any single attack check, skill check, or save. You may do so even if the result is an error, with the decision to do so coming before opponents may spend action dice to confirm a critical failure.
   At Level 11 you may use this ability twice per scene, but no more than once on any single roll.
   At Level 19 you may use this ability thrice per scene, but no more than once on any single roll.

   Bonus Feat: At Levels 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 you gain an additional Chance or Gear feat.

Good.  There are enough interesting feats that I really dislike not having bonus feats.

   Playboy I: At Level 4, you gain the Comely feat (page 107).
   Playboy II: At Level 12, you gain the Elegant feat (page 107).
   Playboy III: At Level 20, you gain the Enchanting feat (page 107).

Like.  Grace boost on the feats?  As much as I'd love more skill points, Grace seems more appropriate.

   The Hand You are Dealt: At Levels 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18, you may choose one of the following abilities. Each of these abilities may be chosen only once.

•   Always Ready: You may always act during surprise rounds.
•   Break the Mold: You gain 1 field and add a skill of your choice to your High Roller class skill list.

But but but! Skill points!   Moving benefits between the attributes really ups the tension between them which is a good thing.  It's not so simple to just say "I want more skill points so...."  That field is mighty attractive for certain character types.

•   Charm School: Once per adventure, you may spend 1 hour practicing to gain 1 temporary Style feat of your choice until the end of the current adventure.
•   Dogged Pursuit: You gain a second attribute bonus to Pursuit and Maneuver checks equal to your Determination modifier.
•   Expert: You become an expert with 1 High Roller class skill.
   (Taking 10 with this skill doesn’t take twice as long and taking 20 takes only 10 times as long.)
•   Improvised Toolbox: Choose 1 kit (page 159). You’re always considered to have this kit when making an associated skill check.

Heh.  In a cave!  With a box of scraps! 

•   Perfectionist: Your Precision rises by 1.
•   Poetry in Motion: You gain a second attribute bonus to Pursuit and Maneuver checks equal to your Grace modifier.
•   Rough Riding: Your vehicle or mount ignores speed penalties from terrain (page 371).

   Excellence: At Levels 8 and 12, your highest attribute rises by 1.

   That’s Impossible: Helicopters can’t really do that, can they?!!?! At Level 10, once per session you may set the result of a Maneuver check to 50 instead of rolling.
   At Level 20 you may use this ability twice per session.

   Nobody Does it Better: At Level 14, each time you roll an action die, you may re-roll it once. If you have an ability that allows you to roll multiple action dice when you spend a single action die, you must re-roll all of those dice together when using this ability.

Table 2.2: The High Roller
Level   BAB   Fort   Ref   Will    Def   Init   Lifestyle   Legend   Abilities
1     +0     +0   +1   +1   +1     +0   +2     +1     Man of Action; Jacks or Better
2     +1     +0   +2   +2   +1     +0   +3     +2     More than Luck 1/scene
3     +2     +1   +2   +2   +2     +1   +3     +3     Bonus Feat
4     +3     +1   +2   +2   +2     +1   +4     +3     Playboy (Comely)
5     +3     +1   +3   +3   +3     +1   +4     +4     Bonus Feat
6     +4     +2   +3   +3   +4     +2   +5     +5     The Hand you are Dealt
7     +5     +2   +4   +4   +4     +2   +5     +6     Bonus Feat
8     +6     +2   +4   +4   +5     +2   +6     +6     Excellence
9     +6     +3   +4   +4   +5     +3   +6     +7     Bonus Feat; The Hand you are Dealt
10   +7     +3   +5   +5   +6     +3   +7     +8     That’s Impossible 1/session
11   +8     +3   +5   +5   +7     +3   +7     +9     Bonus Feat; More than Luck 2/scene
12   +9     +4   +6   +6   +7     +4   +8     +9     Playboy (Elegant); The Hand you are Dealt
13   +9     +4   +6   +6   +8     +4   +8     +10   Bonus Feat
14   +10   +4   +6   +6   +8     +4   +9     +11   Nobody Does it Better
15   +11   +5   +7   +7   +9     +5   +9     +12   Bonus Feat; The Hand you are Dealt
16   +12   +5   +7   +7   +10   +5   +10   +12   Excellence
17   +12   +5   +8   +8   +10   +5   +10   +13   Bonus Feat
18   +13   +6   +8   +8   +11   +6   +11   +14   The Hand you are Dealt
19   +14   +6   +8   +8   +11   +6   +11   +15   Bonus Feat; More than Luck 3/scene
20   +15   +6   +9   +9   +12   +6   +12   +15   Playboy (Enchanting); That’s Impossible 2/session

Good deal.  I was remembering the High Roller as a James Bond spy type (I may have been wrong) so this is a surprise.

[Morgenstern]

HIGH ROLLER

Hey, I know this guy.

Indeed you do - he's just being a bit more honest about his modus operandi.

•   A world renowned anti-spy who leaves a trail of wrecked vehicles and vanquished masterminds in his wake
•   A playboy weapons designer with a recently revitalized conscience
•   A wild-man extreme sports blogger recruited by the government
•   A no-nonsense international courier who never looks in the package.

Or maybe I don't.  Although I seem to recognize the people on that list.

James Bond, Tony Stark, Tripple X, The Transporter.

All. The. Same. Class.

They do chase scenes. They get the girl. They have their own little quirks beyond that, but that is the core premise here.

  Class Skills: Competition, Expertise, Focus, Impress, Mischief, Parley, Profession, & Vigilance

This is certainly not what I would have expected!  Thoughts on why you went with high morale low skill?  I'm not saying it's wrong and I can almost see it with RDJ's Stark.

For all of them I see loading up on Expertise and Impress. Some (but not full) points into Vigilance. Put the other skill points where the mood takes you. 12 or more Guile will be pleasant, but not strictly required. With a tightly focused skills profile they get to do the other thing that all blockbuster heroes do - get the snot stomped out of them and keep on keeping on via a bucket o' morale.

  Man of Action: At Level 1, your Expertise and Impress are flawless.

Do you consider flawless to be a tool for relieving skill point pressure?  Aside from its obvious use of course.

Nope. Its got your back while you're doin' stuff and doin' the inevitable Bond girl. Seduction is sooo an Impress thing .

  Playboy I: At Level 4, you gain the Comely feat (page 107).
   Playboy II: At Level 12, you gain the Elegant feat (page 107).
   Playboy III: At Level 20, you gain the Enchanting feat (page 107).

Like.  Grace boost on the feats?  As much as I'd love more skill points, Grace seems more appropriate.

My expectation is they'll bump Grace, yes. Its those Daniel Craig-class baby blues and RDJ's strangely appealing smartassery, to go.

  The Hand You are Dealt: At Levels 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18, you may choose one of the following abilities. Each of these abilities may be chosen only once.

•   Break the Mold: You gain 1 field and add a skill of your choice to your High Roller class skill list.

But but but! Skill points!  Moving benefits between the attributes really ups the tension between them which is a good thing.  It's not so simple to just say "I want more skill points so...."  That field is mighty attractive for certain character types.

It closes any gaps a single example of the breed might have .

•   Improvised Toolbox: Choose 1 kit (page 159). You’re always considered to have this kit when making an associated skill check.

Heh.  In a cave!  With a box of scraps!

Bingo!

Good deal.  I was remembering the High Roller as a James Bond spy type (I may have been wrong) so this is a surprise.

It is a James Bond guy . Bond is a super-spy NOT an intelligence agent. He almost never uses a disguise. He gives his own name. He basically smashes his way in or roughs up an enemy agent and hunts for clues (he does get VIgilance), then calls the home office to ask what they mean. The odds of him getting behind the wheel of something and doing less than a quarter million dollars of property damage are abyssmally low... Acting, Investigate, and even Stealth are largely superfluous to him (he always gets caught, pretty much like he planned it that way). What he is (noticably moreso than the others) is a LIAR. Load up that Parley and get too it!

[Gentry]

While I can dig it, my principal concern is that this guy could, by his very presence, choke off the flow of action dice at the table. He can potentially start with a huge wad of his own via the free chance feats, but it's quite conceivable that he's unlikely to be awarded another one by many GMs. I know that's not an issue that can be dealt with mechanically, but I also know there's a certain hesitation on the part of many GMs to award *more* action dice to the die-rapist, making the RP "bar" higher for this style of character.

I don't deny that sweet-hot role-playing can get around this (and should), but in notes accompanying this class it might be noted that being awarded extra dice may be tougher unless you've got great quip timing.

[Morgenstern]

Hmm. An intersting concern. It makes me think I can do better with the core ability slot, and may reverse the relationship between Chance and Style feats (Gear and Style on the spine, selectable ability to get a single floating Chance). I'd like them to have burst-competence, but I can see not scaring the GM out of their wits with it.

[Sletchman]

I think Gentry is on to something - I played in a once off and there was a Sage / Priest AD abuser in the group.  We didn't get a single Action Die - not a single person in the whole group.  This isn't a GM who forgets to hand them out or anything either - and he even said it was because of the wanton AD abuse of one player.  This class has the potential to make many GMs react in the same way due to the massive quantity of Chance feats a player would likely have.  Just putting that out there.

Also, you should seriously consider giving Jacks or Better more explanation - I know there will be arguments about it's interaction with d6 AD's and Lady Luck's Smile.

[Gentry]

I've seen the same thing as Sletch. To be fair, however (and this may be getting too meta for this thread), there's a strange and interesting dynamic that opens up when the GC is afraid to hand out action dice. It's almost a game of action-die chicken that develops by about halfway to 2/3 through a session, when the GCs dice are getting low and he knows there's still stuff he's going to need to make happen. I've seen tables play specifically to get the GC to overspend on his own dice to either force him to give out more, or force him to accept running a weaker boss in a final encounter. It's a strange behavior, but it's out there. Of course, either way the High Roller can take credit--either "I use my action dice to make this baddie cry like a girl", or "this villain just can't keep up with my awesome".

[Blankbeard]

We need more style feats for that to work.  The High Roller will get 3 specific +9 choices.  There are only 14 style feats.  Yes, he can take gear feats but then again, we need more gear feats too.

If it makes the class more acceptable, go ahead and switch em, but we're going to need more feats.

[Bill Whitmore]

I think Gentry is on to something - I played in a once off and there was a Sage / Priest AD abuser in the group.  We didn't get a single Action Die - not a single person in the whole group.  This isn't a GM who forgets to hand them out or anything either - and he even said it was because of the wanton AD abuse of one player.  This class has the potential to make many GMs react in the same way due to the massive quantity of Chance feats a player would likely have.

I know I'm guilty of this.  I had a character in my game who abused the hell out of action dice and after seeing several low teen rolls blow into 50+ totals after spending one action die, I just stopped giving them out altogether.  Now that they are level 6 and most of the action dice, and all of the ones I hand out, would be d6s it probably wouldn't be so bad, but I am still pretty gun shy about passing them out.

[Morgenstern]

...How depressing.

Those benefits don't materialize out of the ether. The player gave up more reliable tools to get those moments of cool, and at the end of the day beating a roll by 1 or 37 still generally just means they succeed.

Ah well, it is what it is. I'll tweak accordingly.

CHANCE FEATS
   Kick it up a Notch
   It's long past time we got this party started...
   Prerequisites: Player Character ONLY
   Benefit: At the top of every hour, real-time, if the GM has not given you an action die in the last hour, you gain 1 now. At the bottom of every hour, real-time, if the GM has not given one of your teammates an action die in the last hour, you gain 1 now. Neither of these events causes the GM to receive an action die.

[Bill Whitmore]

...How depressing.

Those benefits don't materialize out of the ether. The player gave up more reliable tools to get those moments of cool, and at the end of the day beating a roll by 1 or 37 still generally just means they succeed.

Unless of course the Sage just adds the damage to any critical hit damage rolls.  Then watch as 12 damage gets added on average to any wound damage inflicted.  There's been quite a few fights that ended anti-climatically with this which has unfortunately prompted me to feel the need to add 3-4 levels of tough to anything that needs to live longer than 1 round.

Ah well, it is what it is. I'll tweak accordingly.

CHANCE FEATS
   Kick it up a Notch
   It's long past time we got this party started...
   Prerequisites: Player Character ONLY
   Benefit: At the top of every hour, real-time, if the GM has not given you an action die in the last hour, you gain 1 now. At the bottom of every hour, real-time, if the GM has not given one of your teammates an action die in the last hour, you gain 1 now. Neither of these events causes the GM to receive an action die.

Not a fan of this nor have I ever been a fan of game effects using real world timers.  Currently, the "per session" timer is one of my least favorite things about Master Craft and a semi-hourly timer strikes me as just a tiny bit better.

[Blankbeard]

Chance Nazi (2 AD)
"No feat for you!"
The universe simply doesn't bend that far.  No character may have more than three chance feats.  If you gain an additional chance feat, you instead gain one from any other tree which you qualify for.

I'll admit that my players don't tend to look for combos like this (weapon styles, sure) so I haven't really seen much in the way of chance feat abuse so this isn't an issue for me.

Unless of course the Sage just adds the damage to any critical hit damage rolls.  Then watch as 12 damage gets added on average to any wound damage inflicted.  There's been quite a few fights that ended anti-climatically with this which has unfortunately prompted me to feel the need to add 3-4 levels of tough to anything that needs to live longer than 1 round.

I think you'd get more mileage for your XP out of a combination of most deadly (the soldier ability) and monstrous defense.

Maybe the players need to be reminded that abusing the system isn't worth it because you as GM can always build a bigger monster than they can.  Put Treacherous and Most Deadly on a bunch of your standard NPC's and let them know you can send them to the Table of Ouch every three rounds if you want to.  Crit the boss?  Oh, sorry, drop your crit range by four and he's immune to sneak attack damage.  Hope you brought a lunch.  Did I mention he regenerates?  Throw a boss at them with splitter and a really nasty attack.

I think there's a difference between building a character who exploits mechanics to make fun or interesting effects and one who exploits mechanics to lord it over the other players and the GM.  The latter is a social problem that can't really be solved inside the game.

[Mister Andersen]

And people were poo-pooing me when I said SC3 should insist that everyone gets a new action die at the start of every scene