Thane

A Base Class for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

You are the manifestation of strength and sheer physicality. You fear no mere mortal who would dare stand before you. You know that when the chips are down, might makes right; and you strive to be the strongest. Blessed with a natural gift of great size and strength, you know you were meant to rule, to conquer, or simply kill the hell out of whoever would stop you on your way to your goal.

Hit Dice: D10.

Role: Thanes are not subtle about what they do. They are not master planners or strategists. They are not flashy or even particularly creative, but they are good at one thing -- killing. Be it on the battlefield with a wrought iron axe fending off the insignificant gnats who try in vain to challenge his might, or in a life-or-death struggle against a savage grizzly bear armed only with a man-sized club, a thane is a king of brutality. While thanes can be gentle giants, their gift predisposes them towards a violent lifestyle where their talents can truly shine. They excel at dealing obscene amounts of melee damage with two handed weapons and battering the enemy around. Their damage is comparable to a raging barbarian or a two-handed fighter who invests heavily in their Strength. Their targets are creatures of smaller size categories than themselves and when they grow (at 5th and 20th level) this becomes an easier task. While a thane is well versed in the art of offense, they lack defense. They possess no proficiency with armor or shield and often rely on their Hit Dice, Constitution score, and several of their defensive talents to see them through fights. Many invest in armor proficiency feats as they level up to counteract this but others simply kill their opponent before they have a chance to injure the thane.

Natural Gift: A thane must be born with considerable size and physicality. On average a thane is 10-25% larger and heavier than the typical range for a member of their race. While this does not grant them a size category bonus, they eventually gain one as they progress in level.

A thane is strong, physically fit, and domineering. Players are required to have at least 14 Strength and Constitution to qualify for this class.

Trappings: Thanes often select two-handed weapons as their trappings, though they are hardly bound to this choice. Many have gruesome trophies or even family heirlooms as their trinkets.

Alignment: Any

Starting Wealth: 3d6 × 10 gp (average 105 gp.). In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills[]

The thane’s class skills are Craft (Int), Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Domination (+1), the bigger they are, oversized
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Bonus feat
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Domination (+2)
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Savage strokes
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Mountainous growth, thane talent
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2	Bonus feat, rampage
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	Domination (+3)
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	Savage strokes
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3	Thane talent
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	Bonus feat
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3	Domination (+4)
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4	Rampage, savage strokes
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+4	Thane talent
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+4	Bonus feat
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+5	Domination (+5)
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+5	Savage strokes
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	Thane talent
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6	Bonus feat, rampage
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	Domination (+6)
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	Mighty Mountain

Class Features[]

The following are the class features of the thane.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies[]

The thane is proficient with all simple weapons as well as the great club and but with no armor or shields.

Domination (Ex):[]

All his life, a thane will have had to fight lesser men. He will have naturally developed tactics to dominate and crush them. At 1st level a thane gains a +1 circumstance bonus on all melee attacks and damage rolls against creatures of a smaller size category than him. At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter this bonus improves by 1 to a maximum of +6 at 19th level.

The Bigger They Are (Pn):[]

A flaw common to giants is their inability to comprehend the frailty of their own mortality and the danger their size possesses. Thanes takes a -2 penalty to their CMD against trip and dirty trick combat maneuvers for each size category greater than medium they possess.

Oversized (Pn):[]

Despite his size, a thane’s frame is larger than nature intended. A thane reduces the number of attacks of opportunity he can make per round by 2 (minimum 1) for every size category larger than that of his base race.

Bonus Feats:[]

At 2nd level, and at every 4 levels thereafter, a thane gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats. For the purpose of qualifying for combat feats a thane counts his level as his fighter level -2 (minimum 1). These levels stack with fighter levels for the purpose of qualifying for combat feats.

Savage Strokes (Ex):[]

At 4th level a thane can throw some serious weight behind his strikes. Once per round, after making a successful attack with a two-handed weapon, the thane may make a sunder or a bull-rush attempt as a free action against the target of his successful attack. The creature targeted with this ability must be of a smaller size category than the thane. This does not additionally provoke an attack of opportunity when he makes the combat maneuver. Savage strokes only applies on attacks made during your turn (not on attacks of opportunity).

At 8th level, this may be used on a creature of an equal size category or smaller. At 12th level a thane can make both a sunder and bull rush combat maneuver with savage strokes. At 16th level a thane can use this ability against a creature of any size category.

Mountainous Growth (Ex):[]

At 5th level a thane’s size increases by one size category as they truly begin to understand how to fully utilize their weight and size. In some cases this might mean they begin a special diet, an intense exercise routine to put on even more muscle mass, or even a growth spurt.

This grants them a +2 size bonus to Strength, a -2 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), a -1 penalty on attack rolls and AC, and a -2 size penalty on Stealth and Fly checks due to its increased size. A humanoid creature whose size increases to Large has a space of 10 feet and a natural reach of 10 feet.

Thane Talent (Ex):[]

While all thanes share a few things in common, each is cut from a different sort of cloth. They say power is telling -- as it is applied differently by diverse folks. At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter a thane gains a thane talent from the list below.

Savvy Thane: A thane who is cautious is a rare sight indeed, and he may ignore the penalty imposed by his the bigger they are class feature.
Man or Monster: A thane adds his domination bonus on Intimidate checks against all creatures (regardless of size).
Dominar: A thane may use his domination class feature against creatures of his size category.
Giant-Feller: A thane may use his domination class feature against creatures at a size category larger than his own, but he only apply half the bonus (minimum +1). A thane must have the dominar talent to select this one.
Hardwood: A thane is made of tougher stuff. He gains DR/magic equal to the bonus provided by his domination class feature (regardless of the size of the attacker).
Insurmountable: A thane fears no man and no sword. His chest, a mess of scars and muscle, cares little for the blows of mere bugs. He gains a natural armor bonus equal to the bonus provided by his domination class feature against attacks made by creatures he can affect with his domination class feature (smaller creatures by default) while wearing no armor.
Great Strides: A thane with this talent gains a +10 foot bonus to it’s move speed and treats non-magical difficult terrain like normal terrain.
Savage Soldier: A thane may use his savage strokes class feature with any melee or natural weapon, regardless of handedness.
Highground: Creatures no longer gain a bonus on attack rolls from holding the high ground. In addition, the thane gains +2 circumstance bonus on attack rolls against creatures who have the high ground.
High Perch: Smaller creatures attacking a thane do not gain the bonus to hit normally granted for flanking. In addition, when a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the thane, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.
Giant Wrestler: A thane retains his Dexterity bonus to AC when pinning an opponent or when grappled, and gains the benefit of the Improved Grapple feat. In addition a creature larger than the thane never gets bonuses due to its size on grapple maneuvers when grappling with a thane.
Shadow of the Thane: The bonus for flanking for a thane with this talent is increased to a +4 bonus (rather than a +2). In addition, a character can flank with a thane against any creature the thane threatens, provided that the creature in question that the thane threatens is of a smaller size category than the thane.
Pile of Swords: A thane becomes proficient with all martial weapons and 3 exotic weapons of his choice.
Bull in a China Shop: A thane ignores 5 points of hardness and deals double damage to objects. This bonus only applies if the weapon he is using deals bludgeoning damage or are natural attacks.
Crushing Stroke: If the thane uses Power Attack while employing his savage strokes class feature, his target is also knocked prone if they fail a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 thane level + Strength modifier). This is done in addition to any other effects from the thane’s savage strokes. The thane must have the Power Attack feat before selecting this thane talent.
Trouncing Trample: The thane gains the trample universal monster ability. When he deals damage with this trample, it is based on his unarmed damage if he does not have a slam attack (or if it is higher). The thane must have the Improved Overrun feat before selecting this thane talent.
Big Bully: If the thane successfully steals from a creature of a smaller size category than himself, he may additionally make a free Intimidate check to demoralize that creature. The thane must have the Improved Steal feat before selecting this thane talent.

Rampage (Ex):[]

At 6th level, a thane who confirms a critical hit with a two-handed weapon may select one of the following benefits: he may make an extra attack at the same base attack bonus, make an additional 5 foot step during the round (even if he has already moved or utilized his 5 foot step this round), or gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls on all subsequent attacks he makes before the end of his turn. At 12th level and 16th level this bonus to attack and damage rolls increases to +4. A thane may only use this ability once per round.

Mighty Mountain (Ex):[]

At 20th level, a thane grows one additional size category. This grants them a further +2 size bonus to Strength, a -2 size penalty to Dexterity (to a minimum of 1), a -1 penalty on attack rolls and AC, and a -2 size penalty on Stealth and Fly checks due to its increased size.

Additionally, when a he confirms a critical with his rampage class feature he may instead choose to lop the head off a creature, emulating the decapitating effect of a vorpal weapon. This works on any confirmed critical with his rampage class feature, not just on a 20.

Sidebar: Similar Classes[]

As introduced in the beginning of this book, some exotic classes fill roles that would normally be within the purview of other classes. A thane fills a role similar to a fighter or barbarian and as such multiclassing into one of these classes is discouraged.

Section 15 OGL Copyright Declaration:[]

Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by

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Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip

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