Bane Guard (4e Class)

Bane Guard
"I said that we would fight to the death, and we will. That does not imply that we will not take breaks in between then and now."

Baneguards are those who have inherited the mastery of war first taught to the Goblin people by Bane himself. Long ago the reign of giants was broken when Bane took favor on the goblins and gave them power in the form of knowledge of war. It was then that the tide of battle turned from the large to small.

Bane's secrets of war have since disseminated to all humanoids of the world, and indeed the number of Bane Guards who are not followers of Bane now substantially outnumber the ones that are.

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Bane Guard Overview
Characteristics: You have a very high armor class and will probably want to use a reach weapon. Your ability to soak punishment through hit points is often not as good as other Defenders, but with your area control abilities you should be able to keep enough enemies off your friends and yourself to call it even. You can be an effective mounted combatant and an effective reach weapon user even if you are small sized, and Bane Guard is pretty much the only place to go for those character concepts.

Religion: All the original Baneguards worshiped Bane|Bane]]. But in modern days there are many Baneguards who pay homage to other gods of wickedness that support social order such as Asmodeus|Asmodeus]] or Torog|Torog]]. Many still are the followers of Unaligned gods whose teachings are in keeping with the tempered lifestyle and strict discipline of a Baneguard such as The Raven Queen|The Raven Queen]] or Erathis|Erathis]]. But all who revere order are encouraged to follow the shadowy banners of a Baneguard. Even the followers of good deities such as Avandra|Avandra]] or Bahamut|Bahamut]].

Races: Goblin|Goblins]] are commonly bane guards, possessing both the blessings of Bane and a natural disposition towards the mobile tactics a Bane guard must employ. Many small races turn to the military disciplines of the bane guards as they have proven quite effective in defending the small from the large. Kobold|Kobolds]] frequently become baneguards, as do Halfling|Halflings]]. From the larger races, the life of the Bane Guard seems to appeal mostly to outsider races such as Drow|Drow]], Gnoll|Gnolls]], and Half Elf|Half Elves]].
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Creating a Baneguard
The Line Holder and the Vanguard are two Bane Guard builds that represent a focus on holding and taking ground respectively – the two key elements of conquest. Many Bane Guard abilities rely upon Ability Scores|Dexterity]] as a primary or secondary trait, and a lot of Line Holder powers utilize Ability Scores|Constitution]] while classical Vanguard powers use a lot of Ability Scores|Charisma]] instead.

Line Holder
You specialize in holding off enemies and interposing your weapons between your enemies and their objectives. Ability Scores|Dexterity]] is needed for a lot of mobility and offense powers, so you'll want to make it your best score. You can't defend anything if you can't get to the places you need to defend. Ability Scores|Constitution]] will maximize the effectiveness of your retributive attacks and will thus make you far more dangerous once you can take the high ground. A Line Holder probably wants to select the Cruel Overlord class feature.


 * Suggested Feat|Feat]]: Resolution of Darkness (Human feat: Human Perseverance|Human Perseverance]])
 * Suggested Skill checks|Skills]]: Acrobatics skill|Acrobatics]], Dungeoneering skill|Dungeoneering]], Endurance skill|Endurance]], Perception skill|Perception]], Stealth skill|Stealth]].
 * Suggested at-will powers|At-Will Powers]]: Mole's Grasp, Holding Pattern
 * Suggested encounter powers|Encounter Power]]: Simple Trick
 * Suggested daily powers|Daily Power]]: Murderous Rampage

Vanguard
You favor the front lines and the front lines favor you. Fortune favors the bold, and you'll take as much of Fortune's favor as she has available. Ability Scores|Charisma]] may be your most important ability score because it helps power your most reckless attacks. Ability Scores|Dexterity]] is also vital because a lot of your more damaging powers use Dexterity. A Vanguard almost certainly wants the accuracy available from the Shadow Warrior class feature.


 * Suggested Feat|Feat]]: War Leader (Human feat: Action Surge|Action Surge]])
 * Suggested Skill checks|Skills]]: Acrobatics skill|Acrobatics]], Diplomacy skill|Diplomacy]], Endurance skill|Endurance]], Intimidate skill|Intimidate]], Stealth skill|Stealth]].
 * Suggested at-will powers|At-Will Powers]]: Undercut, Conquering Lunge
 * Suggested encounter powers|Encounter Power]]: Shadow Cut
 * Suggested daily powers|Daily Power]]: Shadowy Assault

Bane Guard Class Features
All Bane Guards share these class features.

Bane Guard Tactics
Bane Guards learn the powerful tactics of the original warriors of Bane. Choose one of the following options.

Shadow Warrior: You are a battle veteran well versed in the front lines of battle. When you make an attack on an enemy that is marked, you may add your Charisma modifier to your attack roll.

Cruel Overlord: You hold territory with the tenacity and overbearing stance of Bane himself. When an enemy makes a Saving Throw within your melee reach, you may elect to give them a penalty equal to your Constitution modifier.

Dominating Presence
When you have a reach weapon you gain Threatening Reach. When you make an Attack of Opportunity you may make an At-Will attack instead of a Basic Melee Attack.

Adaptive Combat
By constantly adapting your battle strategy, you can force your opponents to constantly adapt to you. Whenever you are allowed to learn a new Daily Bane Guard Attack Secret, you are also allowed to learn a new At-Will Bane Guard Secret. Thus, a 5th Bane Guard has 3 separate At-Will Secrets (2 first level and one 5th level At-Will Bane Guard Secrets). These are learned at levels 5, 9, 15, 19, 25, and 29. Daily Powers learned from Paragon Class, Epic Destiny, or Tradeout do not count. Nor do Utility Powers that may happen to be Daily Powers. Thus, at 29th level, a Bane Guard will have 8 At-Will attacks to choose from. Also, a Bane Guard can use Tide of Battle at will.

Wolf Pack
You can speak with wolves of all kinds as if they were humanoids with which you shared a language. You gain Mounted Combat as a bonus feat. If you are small, you can consider any medium canine to have the Mount trait. If you are medium, you can consider any large canine to have the Mount trait.

Powers
Power List