Arcane Drummer (3.5e Prestige Class)

The Arcane Drummer

There are many bards in the world. They play Lutes, Guitars, Bagpipes and etc. However, there are many bards (In particular drummers) who feel that sitting at the back making all the other party members feel nice is the "wussy" approach to music. These people then channeled all their arcane magic from being a bard into making the loudest and most disruptive noise they could, leaving enemies deaf, disrupted, and with broken bones from the sheer loudness of the drumming.

Prerequisites

Alignment: Any Neutral or Chaotic

Feats: Weapon Focus: Drumsticks. (See below for drumstick statistics)

Skills: Perform (Drum kit) 8.

Spells: Must be able to cast level 2 arcane spells spontaneously and have the Bardic Music class feature.

Table: The Arcane Drummer

Hit Die: d4|-

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+0	+0	+1	+0	Use Snare Drum, Disrupt, Use Drum kit, Create Earplugs.
2	+1	+1	+2	+1
3	+1	+1	+3	+1	Use Bass Drum
4	+2	+2	+4	+2	Use High Hat
5	+2	+2	+5	+2	Deafening Smash
6	+3	+3	+6	+3
7	+3	+3	+7	+3	Use Toms
8	+4	+4	+8	+4	Use Ground Tom
9	+4	+4	+9	+4
10	+5/+0	+5	+10	+5	Sonic Shatter
Class Skills (6+ Int modifier per level) Appraise (int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Gather information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Cha) and Speak Language (N/A).

Class Features

All the following are class features of the Arcane Drummer:

Expert Drumsticks (Ex)

When using drumsticks, an arcane drummer does not take any penalty from having an offhand weapon.

Use Snare Drum (Su)

At level 1, an arcane drummer can focus all his energy on playing a simple arcane beat on a snare drum. The save DC for the Disrupt ability when using a snare drum is 13. It deals 2d4 sonic damage (DC 17 fortitude negates, DC 15 reflex half) with the Sonic Shatter ability and has a save DC of 16 for the deafening smash ability. The range of a snare drum is 40ft x the users strength bonus.

Disrupt (Su)

From 1st level onwards, an Arcane Drummer can decrease a group of enemies' (see Use Drum kit) attack bonus by the arcane drummers strength modifier and the users level in Arcane Drummer. At 3rd level this ability also affects the enemies AC, and at 5th level the drummer can add his dexterity modifier to decreasing the enemies abilities, and also decreases their damage. The effects only stack once (So it can be used twice). This effect lasts 5 rounds after the arcane drummer has stopped drumming.

Use Drum kit (Su)

An arcane drummer uses his drums to be detrimental to a large group of enemies. As a full round action an arcane drummer can channel all his arcane abilities into playing his drums. In a single round, an arcane drummer counts as using each of the drums he has set up at least once, and each time he plays each one he uses all the supernatural drumming abilities he has at least once. Each supernatural drumming ability uses a circle centered on the user, affecting all people (Except those with the drummers signature arcane earplugs) in the circle.

Create Earplugs (Sp)

Once per day, an arcane drummer can focus his energy on creating a pair of his signature earplugs, made of pure energy. This takes 1 minute. Anyone wearing a pair of those earplugs is unaffected by any of the detrimental affects listed here. However, this effect only works for protecting themselves against the particular Arcane Drummer who created the earplugs.

Use Bass Drum (Su)

At level 3, an arcane drummer can focus all his energy on playing a simple arcane beat on a bass drum. The save DC for the Disrupt ability when using a bass drum is 15. It deals 2d6 sonic damage (DC 19 fortitude negates) with the Sonic Shatter ability and has a save DC of 18 for the deafening smash ability. The range of a bass drum is 50ft x the users strength bonus.

Use High Hat (Su)

At level 4, an arcane drummer can focus all his energy on playing a simple arcane beat on a high hat. The save DC for the Disrupt ability when using a high hat is 13. It deals 1d8 sonic damage (DC 19 fortitude negates, DC 17 reflex half) with the Sonic Shatter ability and has a save DC of 16 for the deafening smash ability. The range of a high hat is 30ft x the users strength bonus.

Deafening smash (Su)

At level 5, an arcane drummer can use the deafening smash ability every time he hits a drum. On a failed fortitude save (The DC listed on each particular drum), the affected enemies eardrums pop and they take 1d6 points of piercing damage, and is considered permanently deafened (But can be removed by a Remove Deafness spell or Lesser Restoration.) If the character is already deaf they do not take the piercing damage.

Use Toms (Su)

At level 7, an arcane drummer can focus all his energy on playing a simple arcane beat on both toms. The save DC for the Disrupt ability when using toms is 13. They deals 1d6 sonic damage (DC 17 fortitude negates) with the Sonic Shatter ability and has a save DC of 16 for the deafening smash ability. The range of a pair of toms is 50ft x the users strength bonus. The Toms count as 2 separate drums for the purpose of damage and etc.

Use Ground Tom. (Su)

At level 8, an arcane drummer can focus all his energy on playing a simple arcane beat on a ground tom. The save DC for the Disrupt ability when using a ground tom is 20. It deals 2d10 sonic damage (DC 25 fortitude negates, DC 20 reflex half) with the Sonic Shatter ability and has a save DC of 25 for the deafening smash ability. The range of a ground tom is 60ft x the users strength bonus.

Sonic shatter. (Su)

At level 10, an arcane drummer can smash his drums so hard that it actually deals damage to all the enemies within the area of effect. The damage is equal to what it says on each individual drum ability + the arcane drummers strength modifier + his dexterity modifier. The range is different on each drum.

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Drumming Weapons

Although Drumsticks are usually used to play drums, they can also be used as dual wielding melee weapons. (Except the greatstick, which is a two handed weapon.)

Simple Weapons	Cost	DMG (S)	DMG (M)	Critical	Range	Weight	Type
Light Melee Weapons
7A Plastic top Drumstick	30gp	1d2	1d3	x2	-	1/2 lb.	Bludgeoning
7A Wooden top Drumstick	30gp	1d3	1d4	x2	-	1 lb.	Bludgeoning
7A Metal Drumstick	100 gp	1d4	1d8	x3	-	5 lb.	Bludgeoning
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Greatstick	50gp	1d6	1d8	19-20/x2	-	4 lb.	Bludgeoning
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