Campaign Design - Prestige Class: Drunken Master

Drunken Master (adapted from Complete Warrior)

Carrying weapons in the mead-halls of the kings and lords of the Freeholds and the lands ruled by the Rhadynnic Great Houses is forbidden by law and custom. Those who would settle scores or defend their clan's honor in such places must learn to fight without the use of ordinary weaponry. These are the unusual - even controversial - men who specialize in drunken boxing. By weaving and staggering about as if inebriated, drunken boxers avoid many blows in brawls. Likewise, their stumbling, lurching attacks catch their opponents off guard. Moreover, when they actually imbibe alcohol, drunken masters can perform truly prodigious feats of strength and bravery.

These abilities garner drunken masters little respect among traditional monastic orders, but they are considered heroes to many despite the toll drunken boxing takes upon its users. Drunken masters may remain intoxicated for hours after a fight, and they are often found half-asleep in taverns and mead-halls, mumbling incoherently. Despite this, more than a few lords count drunken masters among their retinue, and there have even been examples of houses choosing a master of this fighting style as their arwr. Such clan champions usually choose chairs, ladders, or other ordinary household implements as weapons of choice in challenges.

Monks form the backbone of the drunken boxing school. Members of other classes become drunken masters less frequently, although barbarians, fighters, and scouts take up this path often enough that it is not considered unusual.

Prospective students are studied at a distance by other drunken masters, then treated to a display of the power of drunken boxing. if the student expresses enthusiasm for learning the new techniques, a group of drunken masters takes him from tavern to tavern, getting rip-roaring drunk, causing trouble and passing along the first secrets of the technique. Those who survive the revelry are welcomed as new drunken masters.

NPC drunken masters are often found in taverns and bars, or in the halls of great lords as somewhat boozy champions ready to challenge their liege's enemies to a duel with beer steins and bar stools as the chosen weapons. They rarely pick fights there, but are quick to come to the aid of someone outmatched in a tavern brawl. Most keep a low profile, although some are famous - or infamous - for the deeds they have performed while under the influence.

Hit Die: d8.
Luck Die: d2.

Requirements
To become a drunken master, one must meet the following criteria:

• Skills: Tumble 8+ ranks.
• Feats: Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Unarmed Strike.
• Special: Flurry of blows ability, evasion ability, must be chosen by existing drunken masters and survive a night of revelry among them without being incapacitated, poisoned, or extraordinarily embarrassed.

Class Skills

• The drunken master's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft: Any (all skills taken individually)(Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform: Any (all skills taken individually)(Cha), Profession: Any (all skills taken individually)(Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
• Note: Because the Three Worlds campaign uses the Skills by Character house rule, the list of class skills given here is only included for the sake of completeness, and is not used by characters in the campaign setting.
• Skill Points at each level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the drunken master prestige class.

• Base Attack Bonus: Average. A drunken master gains +¾ base attack bonus per class level.


• Base Fortitude Save Bonus: Good. A drunken master gains a +½ base Fortitude save bonus per class level.


• Base Reflex Save Bonus: Good. A drunken master gains a +½ base Reflex save bonus per class level.


• Base Will Save Bonus: Poor. A drunken master gains a +¹⁄₃ base Will save bonus per class level.


• Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Drunken masters gain no new proficiency with any weapons or armor.


• Drink Like Demon (Ex): A drunken master's body handles alcohol differently from other people's. He can drink a large tankard of ale, a bottle of wine, or a corresponding amount of stronger alcohol as a move action. Every bottle or tankard of alcohol he consumes during combat reduces his Wisdom and Intelligence by 2 points each, but increases his Strength or Constitution (character's choice) by 2 points. A drunken master may benefit from a number of drinks equal to his class level. The duration of both the penalty and the bonus is a number of rounds equal to the character's drunken master level +3.


• Improvised Weapons (Ex): While bottles and tankards are a drunken master's preferred improvised weapons, he can use furniture, farm implements, or nearly anything else at hand to attack his foes. A drunken master's improvised weapon deals as much damage as his unarmed strike plus an extra 1d4 points. Most improvised weapons deal bludgeoning damage, although some (a broken glass bottle, for example) would deal piercing or slashing damage. When a drunken master rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll while using an improvised weapon, that weapon breaks apart and becomes useless.


• Stagger (Ex): By tripping, stumbling, and staggering, a drunken master of 2^nd level or higher can make a charge attack that surprises his opponents. This ability has two beneficial effects: First, the charge need not be in a straight line, even though the character can still move up to twice his speed. Second, if a drunken master makes a DC 15 Tumble check before beginning a charge, his movement through threatened squares provokes no attacks of opportunity.


• Swaying Waist (Ex): At 3^rd level, a drunken master knows how to weave and bob during an attack, making him more difficult to hit. The character gains a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class against any one opponent he chooses during his turn.


• Armor Class Bonus (Ex): At 4^th level, a drunken master gains s +2 bonus to Armor Class. This bonus improves to +2 at 9^th level.


• Improved Improvised Weapons (Ex): A drunken master of 4^th level or higher can use long improvised weapons (such as ladders) as reach weapons according to their length, and improvised weapons with many protrusions (such as chairs) provide a +2 bonus on opponents' disarm attempts. Finally, large objects with broad, flat surfaces (such as tables) can be upended to become improvised tower shields.


• Greater Improvised Weapons (Ex): At 5^th level or higher, a drunken master wielding an improvised weapon deals an extra 1d8 points of damage instead of 1d4.


• Improved Feint (Ex): At 6^th level, a drunken master gains Improved Feint as a bonus feat, even if he doesn't meet the prerequisites.


• Improved Grapple (Ex): At 7^th level, a drunken master gains the Improved Grapple feat as a bonus feat even if he does not meet the prerequisites.


• For Medicinal Purposes (Sp): At 8^th level, a drunken master gains the ability to convert a single alcoholic drink he has ingested into a single potion of cure moderate wounds, as if he had just drunk a dose of the potion. To use this ability, the character must be under the effect of an alcoholic drink (see Drink Like a Demon, above). When he converts one drink of alcohol into one dose of the potion, his ability scores change (+2 to Intelligence and Wisdom, ad -2 to Strength or Constitution) as if the duration of the alcohol's effect had expired. The ability can be used up to three times per day. It is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.


• Corkscrew Rush (Ex): A drunken master of 9^th level or higher can perform this maneuver, leaping forward and twisting his body in midair as he attempts to head-butt an opponent. When making a charge attack he can, in addition to dealing normal damage, initiate a bull rush without provoking an attack of opportunity. if the bull rush attempt succeeds, the opponent is stunned unless she makes a Will save (DC 10 + the drunken master's class level + the drunken master's Wisdom modifier). If the bull rush attempt fails, the drunken master falls prone in front of the opponent.


• Superior Improvised Weapons (Ex): At 9^th level and higher, a drunken master wielding an improvised weapon deals an extra 1d12 points of damage instead of 1d8.


• Breath of Flame (Sp): A 10^th level drunken master can ignite some of the alcohol within his body and spew it forth from his mouth as a free action. This breath of flame deals 3d12 points of fire damage to all within the 20-foot cone, or half damage to those who make a Reflex save (DC 10 + the drunken master's class level + the drunken master's Constitution modifier). Each time a drunken master uses breath of flame, it consumes one drink's worth of alcohol from within his body, lessening the penalty to his Intelligence and Wisdom scores and reducing the bonus to his Strength or Constitution score (the character's choice).

Drunken Master

Level	Special
1st	Drink Like a Demon, Improvised Weapons
2nd	Stagger
3rd	Swaying Waist
4th	Armor Class Bonus +1, Improved Improvised Weapons
5th	Greater Improvised Weapons
6th	Improved Feint
7th	Improved Grapple
8th	For Medicinal Purposes
9th	Armor Class Bonus +2, Corkscrew Rush, Superior Improvised Weapons
10th	Breath of Flame

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