Punk

Punk

A Base Class for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Punks are students of the streets: part unloved urchins, part acrobats, and part heralds of things to come. They are most at home in the hustle and bustle of major metropolises where the power of the “Spirit of Civilization” can be strongest felt. They are chosen from among the countless huddled masses who possess a certain skill set to champion the causes of Spirit of Civilization. The Spirit is a formed entity made from the concepts of progress, change, industry, discovery, and community. Their chosen few, the punks, are typically destitute and fighting a battle they cannot possibly hope to win alone. Some start out as beggars, drunks, or vagrants; while others are given the power as young orphans or disenfranchised youths. Regardless of where they come from, they always have a touch of destiny about them after their interaction with the Spirit of Civilization. They find themselves in the middle of social unrest, wars, power struggles, criminal enterprises, and many other things they would not typically be inclined to just serendipitously find themselves in the middle of. There are hundreds of these agents in the world, and the Spirit of Civilization guides them, pulling cosmic strings behind the scenes to bring about its own ends.

There is a second kind of punk. These are the the ones who train to become one, making themselves the perfect candidate for the Spirit of Civilization to manipulate. These are typically found in quasi-religious orders in large (mostly human) cities. Externally, they look like vagrant camps, but they are actually skilled warriors fighting for revolution and social change in the world.

Hit Dice: D10.

Role: Punks are extremely adept and unconventional fighters. The way they fight has a desperation to it akin to an enraged barbarian but with a creative and opportunistic nature not unlike a rogue. Unlike both of those classes, however, punks can move in unique and interesting ways as part of their typical combat style. They are aerial acrobatic specialists, and as such, punks favor hooked swords, whips, and other weapons that can be used to aid in their acrobatic movement styles.

On the flip-side, punks have supernatural abilities related to their connection to the Spirit of Civilization. As avatars of this inherently chaos-aligned, universal, metaphysical force, they possess chaotic supernatural abilities designed to hinder their foes.

These two aspects combine to make them oddball, acrobatic, front line combatants that specialize in debilitating their opponents.

Alignment: Any chaotic

Starting Wealth: 1d6 × 10 gp (average 35 gp.). In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

## Class Skills

The class’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table #-1: Punk

## Class Features

The following are the class features of the punk.

## Weapon and Armor Proficiencies

The punk is proficient with all simple weapons, hooked axe, shang gou, whips, all one-handed firearms, and light armor (not medium, heavy, or with any shields).

## Countercultural Hero (Ex):

Given the vagrant beginnings of the punk and the punk’s countercultural mission, he gains an aura of chaos. The power of the punk’s aura of chaos (see the detect chaos spell) is equal to his punk level.

### Sidebar: How Far Do You Fall Per Round?

Because there is no “rules as written” definitive answer to how far a character falls in a given round, we will define it for the purpose of this class. If we apply a bit of physics to the question, the answer is about 575 feet for the first round he falls. The second round and every round thereafter, he falls 1,050 feet. The numbers are rounded for the sake of ease of use.

## Gravity Gain (Ex):

At 1st level, the punk gains a circumstance bonus to his melee damage rolls based on how far above his enemy he is. The punk may only make an attack delivered after falling or jumping from a higher surface. He converts any falling damage he would normally take to additional damage on a single attack roll.

For every 10 feet the punk has fallen, he does an additional +1d6 damage. He may only roll a number of d6 dice equal to half his punk level (minimum of 1). For every additional 10 feet that a punk would fall he gains a +1 bonus on the damage roll for falls up to 200 feet. There is no further increase for falls above 200 feet. In addition, the punk of 3rd level or higher never takes falling damage from heights 10 feet per punk level or lower.

### Example:

The 4th level punk falls 30 feet and would normally take 3d6 damage. If he hits with his long sword, he would deal 1d8 (from his longsword) + 2d6 (from rolled falling damage) + 1 (from the extra falling damage) + his Strength modifier. Remember, the maximum fall damage a creature can take is 20d6.

## Cityscape Runner (Ex):

At 2nd level, the punk gains a competence bonus on any Acrobatics checks and on Survival checks in urban environments equal to 1/2 his punk level.

## Chaotic Beats (Sp):

At 2nd level, the punk gains the ability to use ghost sound as a spell-like ability at will so long as he uses it to produces music he finds appealing. He uses his punk level as his character level.

## Aerial Antics (Su):

At 3rd level, each time the punk successfully scores a hit with a melee attack against an opponent, he has the option to launch himself 5 feet into the air after the attack. If this moves the punk outside of the reach of his weapon, his attack ends.

## Lifestyle Choices:

At 3rd level, the punk’s lifestyle is affected by the training he has embarked upon. By allowing a little more of the Spirit of Civilization into to his heart, the Spirit rewards the punk with supernatural gifts. At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, the punk gains a lifestyle choice from the list below.

* Holding (Su): The punk gains access to an nondimensional space hidden in his palm (or other easily accessible point of his body). The punk must be at least 7th level before he can select this lifestyle choice. This supernatural effect functions as a bag of holding I. At 11th level, this functions as a bag of holding II, a bag of holding III at 15th, and a bag of holding IV at 19th. The punk can attempt to Sleight of Hand objects into this nondimensional space rather easily. He gains a +4 circumstance bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to place objects in or withdraw them from his internal bag of holding. The bag of holding simply looks like a small healed-over scar or a inconspicuous tattoo.
* Junkyard Dog: The punk gains the Improvised Weapon Mastery feat as a bonus feat. In addition, if a punk with this lifestyle choice confirms a critical hit with an improvised weapon, he may chose to give the improvised weapon the broken condition and deal an additional 1d6 damage per 2 punk levels (minimum 1d6). In order to do this, the improvised weapon he is attempting to break must have a hardness of 5 or less.
* No Future: When the punk attacks a lawful outsider, lawfully aligned dragon, or lawfully aligned divine spellcaster, he gains a bonus on damage rolls against them equal to his Charisma modifier. This bonus is a sacred bonus if the punk is of a good alignment and a profane bonus if he is of evil alignment. If the punk is of neutral alignment, he may select what kind of bonus this is. Once this choice has been made once, it may not be changed in the future.
* Profane Curse (Sp): The punk’s scathing insults and cutting words do more than hurt his target’s ego. On a successful Intimidate check against a creature, the punk also inflicts the effects of bestow curse on the target. The punk may add this extra effect a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier. The punk uses his punk level as his character level. The punk must be at least 7th level in order to select this lifestyle choice.
* Riot: The punk gains the Improved Unarmed Strike feat as a bonus feat. In addition, he uses the unarmed damage for a creature one size category larger when determining the damage his unarmed strikes and natural attacks deal.
* Running Man: The punk gains the Fleet feat as a bonus feat (increasing his speed by +5 feet). In addition, he may move up to 5 feet as a swift action without provoking attacks of opportunity.
* Scumbag: The punk gains the Improved Dirty Trick feat as a bonus feat. In addition, the duration of a dirty trick pulled by the punk is increased by +2 rounds. A punk must be at least 7th level in order to select this lifestyle choice.
* Self-Destruction (Ex): The punk can end a non-magical mind-altering effect that is currently affecting him as a swift action by choosing to take 1d8+2 of self-inflicted non-lethal damage. If the effect is magical in nature, he may grant himself a second save as a swift action by inflicting that damage. This damage cannot be reduced or mitigated in any way because it is voluntarily done.
* Skatepark Hero (Su): The punk gains a mode of magical transportation. This manifests itself as something at the feet of the punk. It could be a board of light upon which he rides like a skateboard, a sparking light that allows him to glide across the ground like rollerblades, or even a magical longboard that glides across the waves as if it had a motor on it (in an aquatic setting). This allows the punk to move at a +10 foot movement speed. The object must not be motorized, must roll or slide, be of simple construction (not necessarily part of the time period), and require no hands to utilize.
* Street Cred (Su): The punk gains a circumstance bonus on Intimidate checks equal to 1/2 his punk level while in urban environments or against creatures of his same race. Creatures gain a bonus on Knowledge (local) checks to identify a punk with street cred equal to 1/2 his punk level. This has no effect if the punk is disguised.
* Tag (Su): As a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity, the punk may make a breath attack that blankets a 30 foot cone in aerosolized paint or ink. The paint comes to rest in such a way that it forms a personal logo, statement, or other icon that is self-identifying. The image created may be rather complex. Creatures within the area of this attack must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 punk level + Dexterity modifier) or are blinded until they take a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity to clear their eyes of the material. A creature may make a Knowledge (local) check with a DC equal to 25 - the punk’s level to identify the tag as the punk’s.

## Devil City Parkour (Ex):

At 4th level, as part of a move action, the punk can redirect his movement off a solid object that can support his weight (a wall, a refuse bin, a tree, etc) and continue the rest of his movement in a straight line (up, diagonal, etc). The punk must have at least 5 feet of movement before contacting the object in question.

### Example:

The punk is 10 feet from a wall. He has a move speed of 40 feet. He can move 10 feet, until he gets to the wall, and then travel the remainder of his movement speed (30 feet) straight upwards. He can also move at an angle if he wishes.

## Stunt (Ex):

At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the punk learns how to execute one of the following stunts or other aerial acrobatic maneuver while he is in the air. Any time the punk gains jumps or otherwise moves 5 feet upward, he can benefit from one stunt he knows how to perform. The punk can only benefit from one stunt at a time and never gain a benefit from this class feature more than once per turn.

* Charge: The punk may charge vertically so long as he begins his turn on the ground. He may count falling straight down as if he was charging if he wishes.
* Dive: The punk may target the ground where he lands with a melee attack that automatically hits. If he deals damage equal to or greater than the hardness of the surface he lands on, he can dig a hole 5 feet deep as part of the action of landing. This impact crater can be used to provide him with cover or the like.
* Dive Roll: The punk gains a +4 dodge bonus to his AC against attacks until the end of his turn.
* Falcon Swoop: For the purpose of the gravity gain feature, falcon swoop doubles the distance the punk is considered to have fallen.
* Impact: All creatures adjacent to the square in which the punk lands must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 punk level + Dexterity modifier) or be knocked prone.
* Hurricane: If the punk uses a gravity gain attack and used this stunt, he can give up his extra damage and instead make one melee attack at his highest base attack bonus against each opponent within reach of the square he lands in. He must make a separate attack roll against each opponent.
* Meteor: The punk gains a circumstance bonus on attack rolls equal to 1/4th his punk level.

## No Fear (Ex):

At 5th level, the punk does not provoke attacks of opportunities when performing combat maneuvers if he succeeds on a DC 15 Will save. He must make this Will save every time he would provoke an attack of opportunity. At 9th level, this also applies to attacks of opportunity provoked from the punk’s movement but with a DC 20. Additionally, at 9th level, the punk automatically passes his no fear checks for attacks of opportunities provoked by combat maneuvers.

## Skyhook (Sp):

At 5th level, the punk can use glide as a spell-like ability at will using his punk level as his caster level.

## Freestyle (Su):

At 6th level, the punk gains a +10 foot bonus to his base land speed. At 10th level and every 4 levels thereafter, this bonus to his land speed increases by +5 feet to a maximum of +25 feet at 18th level.

## Extreme Acrobatics (Ex):

By 6th level, the punk has become uniquely attuned with his urban environment and can execute moves of pure amazement. He may perform certain combat maneuvers, listed below, in new and innovative ways. He selects one benefit from this class feature at 6th level and a new one every 4 levels thereafter.

* Bullrush: On a successful bush rush attempt, the punk may move his opponent upwards rather than straight back.
* Charge\*: The punk who targets a creature with a vertical charge (see the charge stunt) automatically confirms any critical hits delivered as part of the charge.
* Launch: The punk can attempt to make a combat maneuver against a creature after moving 10 feet. If he does so, he gains an additional 10 feet of vertical height off the creature he targeted with this ability. The also allows the punk to use his devil city parkour off creatures he launches off of by making a combat maneuver check as part of the move action he uses to use his devil city parkour. Using this ability provokes an attack of opportunity.
* Overrun: Creatures cannot move out of the punk’s way when he attempts an overrun if the punk has moved at least 20 feet prior to attempting the maneuver. Additionally, the punk may attempt to overrun a creature who is two size categories larger than himself.
* Reposition: The punk can move a creature into an area that is inherently dangerous if he exceeds its CMD by at least 10. If he attempts to reposition a creature into a dangerous square and fails to exceed the creature’s CMB by 10, the punk may chose another non-dangerous square.

* This is not a combat maneuver, but is gained as a result of this class feature.

## Springboard (Su):

At 6th level, the punk can take a move action to propel himself 5 feet per punk level straight up in the air.

## Stall (Ex):

At 8th level, if the punk ends his movement in the air at the end of his turn, he remains in the air until the start of his next turn.

## Improved Aerial Antics (Ex):

At 13th level, the punk who launches himself 5 feet in the air with his aerial antics class feature can move the creature 5 feet into the air as well. This may not occur more than once per turn. At 17th level, he may do this twice per turn.

## Improved Devil City Parkour (Ex):

At 17th level, when the punk uses his devil city parkour class feature, any additional movement granted by the redirected movement is doubled.

### Example:

The punk is 10 feet from a wall. He has a move speed of 40 feet. He can move 10 feet, until he gets to the wall, and then travel the remainder of his movement speed (30 feet) x2 straight upwards. This means he can move 60 feet straight upward after hitting the wall. He can also move at an angle if he wishes.

## Freefall (Ex):

At 20th level, the punk becomes a legend of the streets in his own right. No one, from the lowest street beggar to the highest king can hold him back. He gains the ability to act as if he was constantly under the effects of freedom of movement, and when attacking a creature of the lawful alignment with his gravity gain class feature, he always is considered to have fallen from at least 100 feet.

## Section 15 OGL Copyright Declaration:

•System Reference Document. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and

Dave Arneson.

• Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Copyright 2009, Paizo Inc.; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.

• The Book of Experimental Might. Copyright 2008, Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved.

• Tome of Horrors. Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene, with Clark Peterson, Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, Lance

Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR.

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Player’s Guide. © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Combat. © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Brian J. Cortijo,

Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Richard A. Hunt, Colin McComb, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Patrick Renie, Sean K Reynolds, and Russ Taylor.

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic. © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Tim Hitchcock, Colin McComb, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson,

Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Russ Taylor.

• Gonzo © 2014, Little Red Goblin Games LLC; Author:Scott Gladstein, Thomas Lee Hornyak Jr, Christos Gurd, Dayton Johnson, Caleb Alysworth, and Jeremiah Zerby