Viewtiful Captain (3.5e Prestige Class)

Summary::An advanced Viewtiful Warrior, champion of justice! Length::6 Minimum Level::10 Base Attack Bonus Progression::Good Fortitude Save Progression::Good Reflex Save Progression::Good Will Save Progression::Good Class Ability::VFX Class Ability Progression::Full



Viewtiful Captain
"You see, 'hero' isn't just a title that's bestowed upon a person, it's something that's earned every single day."

Out of all the advanced paths available to the Viewtiful Warrior, the Viewtiful Captain is the most like the basic Viewtiful Warrior. He supplements his unarmed combat with extra VFX and elemental power.

Becoming a Viewtiful Captain
Viewtiful Captains are elite Viewtiful Warriors. They delay unlocking the most extreme techniques, such as Ukemi, Viewtiful Forever, and Take 2, in order to more thoroughly tap into the elements of VFX - fire and lightning - and maximize the potential of the basic VFX abilities.

The Viewtiful Captain is in many respects just like the basic Viewtiful Warrior. This includes his basic abilities. Charisma is the most important, followed by Strength and Dexterity, followed by Constitution, and then Wisdom and Intelligence are the dump stats.

* A character can only take his or her first level in Viewtiful Captain if he or she has a lawful good or neutral good alignment. However, once the character has at least one level in Viewtiful Captain, he or she can change to any lawful or good alignment and still keep his or her class features.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Viewtiful Captain.

The VFX pool of a Viewtiful Captain (as seen in the above table) stacks with the VFX pool of any other VFX-using class to determine total VFX pool size. A Viewtiful Captain's VFX pool grows in size more quickly than a Viewtiful Warrior's, though not as much as a Viewtiful Shogun's. Just like any other Viewtiful Warrior, if a Viewtiful Captain's VFX pool bottoms out, he loses most of his class features until his VFX pool has recharged to at least 4 VFX points.

Viewtiful Captain levels stack with Viewtiful Warrior levels to influence numerical variables of VFX Slow, VFX Mach Speed, VFX Replay, and VFX Zoom; however, Viewtiful Captain levels do not contribute to gaining more Mach Speed clones or enhancing critical hits in VFX Replay. They do contribute to advancing the progression of VFX Slow's capabilities.

 : Viewtiful Captain levels stack with Viewtiful Warrior levels (and levels in other Viewtiful classes) to determine the dodge bonus of Viewtiful Dodge.

 : Viewtiful Captain levels stack with Viewtiful Warrior levels (and monk levels) to determine the damage dealt by unarmed attacks and what forms of damage reduction they can bypass. In addition, Viewtiful Captain levels count equally to Viewtiful Warrior and monk levels in determining how many times a character can use Stunning Fist per day (well, before having to power it with VFX, that is).

 : Once per day per Viewtiful Captain level, the Viewtiful Captain can declare any attack he makes to be a smite crime attack. He adds his Charisma bonus to his attack roll (stacking with bonuses he gains from using his VFX powers) and may add his Viewtiful Captain level &times;3 plus ½ his Viewtiful Warrior level to the damage roll, but only if the target of his attack is chaotic or evil. If the Viewtiful Captain accidentally smites a creature that is not chaotic or evil, that smite has no effect but is still used up for the day. A Viewtiful Captain may not smite while out of VFX.

 : Viewtiful Captains are natural-born leapers. A Viewtiful Captain can jump twice as high as an ordinary member of his race, before taking feats, other class abilities, skill tricks, ongoing spell effects, magic items, etc. into account. This extra jump height also applies to his Double Jump. This class ability is not lost if the Viewtiful Captain runs out of VFX.

 : From 2nd level onwards, whenever the Viewtiful Captain gains an aura from VFX Mach Speed or VFX Replay, he can choose whether to generate a fire or lightning aura. (Normally, the element of the aura is determined by the VFX power that was used.)

 (Su, VFX): Starting at 2nd level, the Viewtiful Captain has an aura that protects him from attacks as long as he has VFX. This aura has 10 temporary hit points per Viewtiful Captain level plus 5 temporary hit points per Viewtiful Warrior level, and can absorb up to 10 points of damage per Viewtiful Captain level from a single attack. If the aura is breached, the Viewtiful Captain is as vulnerable to attack as any other character. He may not refresh the aura while it is up, but on his next turn after the aura is breached, the aura is regenerated with full temporary hit points.

If the Viewtiful Captain would be dazed, stunned, paralyzed, instantly slain, or petrified for any reason and has his aura up, the aura instantly disperses as if reduced to 0 hit points, completely negating the hazard in the process. The aura regenerates at the start of the Viewtiful Captain's next turn, as usual. He cannot regenerate his aura if dazed, stunned, or paralyzed.

 : A Viewtiful Captain of 3rd level or higher adds his Charisma modifier to his maximum number of VFX points. This class feature can only be gained once from any source; it does not stack with itself.

 (Su, VFX): If there's one law Viewtiful Captains don't respect, it's the law of gravity. Starting at 3rd level, a Viewtiful Captain in midair can use a free or immediate action to "lock" his altitude, neither rising nor falling through the air. He can move laterally however he pleases, as if hovering, at twice his base land speed with perfect maneuverability. This is not considered sufficient stabilization to use Double Jump again if it's already been used, nor does it allow another use of Red Hot/Cool Blue Kick if it's already been used twice.

Though called a VFX ability, VFX Float doesn't consume any VFX at all. The Viewtiful Captain can continue hovering all day if he has to... scratch that, he can stay in midair for as long as he can stay awake, as long as he doesn't use up all his VFX.

 (VFX): As a standard action, a Viewtiful Captain of 4th level or higher can use a standard action to call down 5 bolts of lightning or fire. This works like the call lightning spell, except that all 5 bolts are called down simultaneously. Each of the bolts must strike a different square, and each bolt does 2d8 electricity or fire damage (for lightning and fire bolts, respectively) per level. Using this ability costs 4 VFX, and the ability cannot be used 2 turns in a row.

 (Su, VFX): From 4th level onwards, when the Viewtiful Captain dives towards the ground via VFX Zoom, he may charge himself with lightning or fire as he does so. This doubles his damage both while descending and upon landing, with half of the damage being physical and half of the damage being of the chosen element. In addition, the hazard radius of the shockwave is tripled.

Though labeled as a VFX ability, VFX Pound consumes no VFX. It's considered to be part of the VFX Zoom ability.

 : Starting at 5th level, the Viewtiful Captain's aura regains 3 hit points per round if damaged.

/ (VFX): At 6th level, the Viewtiful Captain gains VFX Mach Speed or VFX Replay - whichever one he didn't take as a Viewtiful Warrior.

This is treated as an ability score increase due to leveling up.

Ex-Viewtiful Captains
A Viewtiful Captain is defined by his dedication to justice. As such, he must have at least one lawful or good alignment component. If his alignment becomes neutral, chaotic neutral, neutral evil, or chaotic evil, he loses the class features he gained from his Viewtiful Captain levels. However, his Viewtiful Captain levels continue to stack with his Viewtiful Warrior levels to determine the size of his VFX pool and the extent of his VFX and unarmed attack capabilities.

Playing a Viewtiful Captain
Combat: The Viewtiful Captain is basically an upgraded version of the Viewtiful Warrior (which is why it only goes on for 6 levels - allowing a player to take as many levels in this class as they like would make Viewtiful Warrior levels beyond 10th rather pointless). He's just as effective in unarmed combat as before, but he also has some potent special attacks to utilize. Still, the Viewtiful Captain, like all Viewtiful classes, is a "burst damage" class who has trouble in prolonged combat; he can deal heavy damage in a short amount of time, but he can't keep it up forever. The finite nature of his VFX makes him best suited to a hit-and-run style of play, swooping in to do as much damage as possible with his VFX, then running away to recharge (rinse and repeat until the job is done).

Advancement: Like all of the Viewtiful classes, the Combo Maker is an excellent choice, since it rewards the Viewtiful Captain for scoring lots of hits and allows him an alternative means of burst damage that he can potentially use to keep the pressure on while recharging. Taking levels in Viewtiful Shogun or Viewtiful Monarch might also be a rewarding venture, though the requirement to stoop to lawful evil before beginning to take Viewtiful Shogun levels might provide an... interesting roleplay exercise. If you're a good roleplayer, you'll end up turning on the party; if you're a bad roleplayer, well, you're likely to turn the DM and your fellow players against you (but since you're a Munchkin, you totally deserve it). Much friend-versus-foe action will ensue before everything gets sorted out. For the purposes of party coherence, it's much more feasible for a redeemed Viewtiful Shogun to become a Viewtiful Captain.

Viewtiful Captains in the World
"A hero isn't just a man with extraordinary abilities. He's special because it's through sticking with it that he has acquired them. A hero is only a hero because he was willing to fail in order to become one."

Viewtiful Captains are elite Viewtiful Warriors, and their roles in society reflect this. Viewtiful Captains often serve as mentors for up-and-coming Viewtiful Warriors, some of whom go on to become Viewtiful Captains themselves.

NPC Reactions: Viewtiful Captains are a bit more reserved than standard Viewtiful Warriors - this is likely due to the growth of wisdom and loss of exuberance that accompanies the aging process. Still, they do tend to try to please a crowd with fancy moves whenever they get the chance, and just like a Viewtiful Warrior, certain crowds are less likely to be entertained than others.

Viewtiful Captains in the Game
Viewtiful Captains are the best of the best Viewtiful Warriors. They pose all of the challenge that a standard Viewtiful Warrior does and then some more, even without Ukemi, Viewtiful Forever, and Take 2. Nonetheless, their most prominent role is defender of justice and feared enemy of criminals everywhere, though a Viewtiful Captain who's fallen down the slippery slope of moral misjudgment can also be a terrifying enemy of the forces of good.

Adaptation: ...The Viewtiful Captain is really just the Viewtiful Warrior with a few extras. He fills the same roles as his less advanced counterpart. If VFX is a subset of psionics, then the Viewtiful Captain is a psionic character.