Dieharder (3.5e Prestige Class)

Dieharder

“	Thud thud thud, three flaming arrows strike the barbarians chest. "Is that all you got" he says as he spits up part of his lung.	”
—Groba, Human Barbarian, Stories of the Tribe, a verbal history.

In the high winter lands of Somrak the barbarian tribes which lived there were in peace with the land, a dragon named Melvixraxis, an elderly red wyrm, moved into the mountain chain nearby and began spreading his spawns, small dragon-men, to harass and capitulate the tribes. It would have worked had it not been for their leader Rov. Rov and his tribe came down from the deepest peeks to teach the 'lesser' tribes the secrets his warriors had learned, and so the secrets of the Dieharder did spread. Rumors say that Rov was a rival silver dragon, others say an emissary of Kord, regardless, the Dieharder barbarians were easily able to over take the spawn, and while many were lost in the combat with the dragon they did eventually defeat the beast.

Becoming a Dieharder

A Dieharder is usually a barbarian, fighter, monk, paladin or cleric, all of which meet the fort save requirement, however the skill requirement makes a fighter, barbarian and monk take cross class skills, the cleric and paladin have the easiest time entering this PrC.

Entry Requirements

Skills:	Heal 4 ranks.
Feats:	Endurance, Diehard.
Saves:	Base Fort save +5.

Table: The Dieharder

Hit Die: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+1	+0	+0	Dieharder
2nd	+2	+1	+1	+0
3rd	+3	+2	+1	+0	Bonus Feat
4th	+4	+2	+2	+1
5th	+5	+3	+2	+1	Diehardest
Class Skills ( 2 + Int modifier per level) Concentration, Craft, Heal, Jump, Ride, Profession.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Dieharder.

Dieharder (Ex): This ability allows your Diehard feat to continue to function (disabled status) until you are at -19 hp, however from -10 to -19 you may only make a single move action or a single action, the list of available single actions that don't cause damage as per regular Diehard, is drastically limited.

Bonus Feat (Ex): As a fighter.

Diehardest (Ex): This ability allows your Diehard feat to function (disabled status) all the way to -29 hp, at -10 to -19 your Diehard functions as described under Dieharder, however from -20 to -29 it allows you to take only a 5 foot step or drink a potion (or similar action, ask your DM) any other action kills the Dieharder.

Ex-Dieharder

The Dieharder is an exercise in toughness, it walks all walks of life, both great warlords of evil and good, law, chaos, and neutrality and walked as a Dieharder, once the road is taken the lessons learned are not forgotten easily.

Campaign Information

Playing a Dieharder

Combat: In the front, with a shield or a 2-handed weapon, taking hits and making his presence known.

Advancement: Many classes either return to their base class, some like the monk however find other base classes as the best choice, the Dieharder is very flexible and fits into many character builds.

Resources: The Dieharder class has no set organization, many military schools offer Dieharder lessons, some however do not and would eagerly hire those knowledgeable about their profession.

Dieharder in the World

“	So there I was, twenty jungle dwarves with throwing axe in hand, I said "oh no, I better cover my knees", let's just say I still got both my legs.	”
—Brodie, Half-Orc Paladin or Kord, Weapon shop banter, Orc selling axes.

In any adventuring group, as the lummox in front, or the trained soldier taking blows for his allies

NPC Reactions: Adventuring parties look for Dieharders if in your campaign they are popular, if not they are either regarded with respect as an excellent combatant if they are good, or a dangerous foe if they are evil, as state the Dieharder can be anything to anyone.

Dieharder Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge: History, or Knowledge: Warfare can research the Dieharder to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Warfare

DC	Result
11	Dieharders can act if severely wounded, they use this to their advantage.
16	While wounded beyond the norm a Dieharder is winded and has limited actions.
21	A Dieharder's capability in combat is not magical, its brought on through training, the best way to fight it is at range or with a combatant of equal skill.
26	The Dieharder is weak willed, even those of strong mind are dulled by the years of abuse from Dieharder training.

History

DC	Result
11	Dieharders can act if severely wounded, they use this to their advantage.
16	While wounded beyond the norm a Dieharder is winded and has limited actions.
21	A Dieharder's capability in combat is not magical, its brought on through training, the best way to fight it is at range or with a combatant of equal skill.
26	The knowledge of the Dieharder was created by a dwarf demigod named Marrain. Marrain taught these lessons to his children, the day they mastered the skill he died and ascended.

Dieharder in the Game

They are the Tank, Improved Initiative is a good choice so you can get positioned, also setting up early flanking for rogues, bluff and intimidate are excellent cross class skills to make enemies attack you or think your more wounded then you are (remember ham it when you RP those bluffs, your DM might give a bonus if its good...or funny)

Adaptation: This class could have its power come from magic, a ritual for an entry requirement instead of the Fort save and change the abilities from EX to SU possibly. Or even as part of genetics, instead of a ritual an experiment, still requiring the Fort +5 so the subject lives.

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