Prestige Classes

WAR HULK

Against the marshaled forces of the enemy army, the war hulk stands tall, confident in his power against lesser soldiers. And why not? He is a creature of great size and talent who is specifically trained to shock and awe opposing massed troops. A hulk indeed, he knows how to spread his mighty blows across a wide area, creating carnage on the battlefield. While a single opponent might evade this massive attack, a massed unit of terrified soldiers are meat on the pounding block.

Drawn most often from more intelligent individuals among the various giant kinds, war hulks are trained to fight by similarly large tutors. Other than being big, a war hulk must come to the training already knowing how to fight. Thus, the martial classes, such as fighter, ranger, paladin, and barbarian, are most often promoted into this prestige class—although many giants meet the requirements with no class levels at all.

When an NPC war hulk is spied at the head of an army, the event is too significant to call it merely an omen. Instead, it is a clear sign of deadly peril.

Hit Die: d12.

Requirements

To qualify to become a war hulk, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +5.

Feats: Cleave.

Special: Must be Large or larger.

Class Skills

The war hulk's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), and Jump (Str).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.


Table: The War Hulk

Level Base
Attack Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
Special
1st +0 +2 +0 +0 No time to think, ability boost (Str +2)
2nd +0 +3 +0 +0 Great swing, ability boost (Str +2)
3rd +0 +3 +1 +1 Mighty rock throwing, ability boost (Str +2)
4th +0 +4 +1 +1 Mighty swing, ability boost (Str +2)
5th +0 +4 +1 +1 Ability boost (Str +2)
6th +0 +5 +2 +2 Sweeping boulder, ability boost (Str +2)
7th +0 +5 +2 +2 Ability boost (Str +2)
8th +0 +6 +2 +2 Massive sweeping boulder, Toughness, ability boost (Str +2)
9th +0 +6 +3 +3 Ability boost (Str +2), Toughness
10th +0 +7 +3 +3 Massive swing, Toughness, ability boost (Str +2)
Class Features

All of the following are class features of the war hulk prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: War hulks gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Ability Boost (Ex): As a war hulk gains levels in this prestige class, his Strength score increases as noted in Table 1–12: The War Hulk. These increases stack.

No Time to Think (Ex): A character with levels in the war hulk prestige class is considered to have 0 ranks in all Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based skills (whether or not he has bought ranks in them previously). The only exception is the Intimidate skill, which works normally.

Great Swing (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a war hulk is able to make a great, sweeping swing with a melee weapon. As a full-round action, the war hulk can choose three squares adjacent to one another (he must threaten all of them). His attack applies to all creatures in those squares. Make one attack roll and apply that roll as an attack against each defender. If the war hulk uses a special attack (such as disarm, trip, or sunder), this special attack affects only the first target; the other creatures are attacked normally.

Walls and similar obstacles can block a great swing. Start with one square that the war hulk threatens. Each successive square chosen must be adjacent to the previous square and have line of effect from that square. Two squares separated by a wall, for instance, can’t be chosen as adjacent squares for a great swing. The war hulk may skip creatures, attacking only those he wants to. For example, if there are three creatures in a row—an enemy, an ally, and another enemy—the war hulk can choose those three squares for the great swing but strike only the two enemies. If a war hulk drops one of his foes with a great swing, he may make a cleave attack normally. However, he may do so only once for every time he swings, even if he drops more than one foe.

Mighty Rock Throwing (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a war hulk gains a powerful rock throwing ability. The character can throw rocks that deal 2d8 points of damage with a range increment of 50 feet. (Like all thrown weapons, they have a maximum range of five range increments.) The war hulk uses his Strength modifier instead of his Dexterity modifier on the attack roll. The rock must weigh approximately 50 pounds.

Mighty Swing (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a war hulk can make a mighty swing. A mighty swing is like a great swing, except that it is an attack rather than a full-round action. Thus, the character can move and make a mighty swing or (if he can make multiple attacks) make multiple mighty swings in a single round.

Sweeping Boulder (Ex): Starting at 6th level, a war hulk is able to throw his rocks with such force that they affect two adjacent squares. (The second square must be farther away from the war hulk than the first—they cannot be equidistant from him.) Make one attack roll and apply the result to each target. As with great swing, the war hulk must have line of effect from one square to the next.

Toughness: At 8th, 9th, and 10th level, a war hulk gains Toughness as a bonus feat.

Massive Sweeping Boulder (Ex): Starting at 8th level, a war hulk is able to throw his rocks with such force that they affect four squares in a line. (Each successive square chosen must be farther away from the character.) Only the first creature can be subject to damage from a critical hit or a sneak attack.

As with great swing, the war hulk must have line of effect from one square to the next.

Massive Swing (Ex): A 10th-level war hulk can lash out all around himself with a single attack. Massive swing works like mighty swing, except that its effect is not limited to three squares. The war hulk’s swing affects all squares he threatens.