Okay, this is a bit of a post, its a heavily modified version of the D20 rules I've been working on for some time. I got inspiration from a number of sources, so don't be surprised to see things that rings a bell. Gotten inspiration from World of Warcraft, the Grim n' Gritty Rules, from the Warhammer tabletop game, etc. The whole point of the thing I'm working on is to make combat more interesting, especially for non-spellcasters. It is more rules heavy than normal D20.
Balmortis Core Rule System
The Balmortis system is a revised variant of the D20 rules. The system primarily uses D20 checks when determining the success of the many possible actions a character can perform. Yet there are many and significant differences from the normal D20 system.
Stats
The stats have been changed slightly. The system uses 5 stats, instead of 6. These stats are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence and Spirit. Spirit is a stat that combines Charisma and Wisdom into one stat. The reason for this is that both Wisdom and Charisma were often underrepresented and used as dump-stats for most classes except the few classes that relied on them for spellcasting.
Classes
The classes in the Balmortis system have been greatly changed. There are only six classes and no prestige classes. The six classes are: Melee, Ranged, Protection, Artisan, Arcane and Divine. All options previously available to players through prestige classes are achived by taking feats, or by combining classes. The classes have independent XP pools instead of the normal D20 unified XP pool and character level. That means, if you have gained 10 levels in the Melee class, you don't need more XP to gain a level in the Ranged class than a character with only 1 level in the Melee class. This means that it is relatively cheap to take at least a few levels in other classes than your primary class. The only exception are the two magic wielding classes. If you have any levels in either Arcane or Divine you suffer a -10% penalty to XP spent in the other classes. This penalty stacks and applies also to the other magic-wielding class. For example, if you have one level in Arcane or more, you will suffer a -10% XP penalty to XP spent in the Divine class, in addition to the four mundane classes. If you have at least one level in both Arcane and Divine, you will suffer a -10% penalty to both of these spellcasting classes, as well as a -20% penalty to all mundane classes. This is to prevent magic from being too commonplace, even in player characters, since it would be easy for any player to take a few levels in spellcasting.
Health
All creatures have a fixed amount of hitpoints based on their size. These hitpoints fall into five categories: Healthy, lightly wounded, moderately wounded, heavily wounded and dying. All five categories contain the same amount of hitpoints.
Creature Size Total Hitpoints Hitpoints per. category
Fine 5 1
Dimunitive 10 2
Tiny 15 3
Small 20 4
Medium 25 5
Large 30 6
Huge 40 8
Gargantuan 80 16
So, if a unwounded Medium-Sized character suffers 5 points of damage, he will fall into the lightly wounded category. If he suffers 20 points of damage, he will fall into the dying category. Any creature that is in any category besides healthy will suffer some penalties. This penalty will apply to all attack rolls, all skill checks, to his defence class and to any saving throws. In addition, the mana cost for any spells cast by a wounded character will be increased too, by the penalty amount listed below.
Category Penalty
Healthy None
Lightly Wounded 1
Moderately Wounded 2
Heavily Wounded 4
Dying 8
Anyone in the Dying category will also suffer 1 point of damage each round. This damage is not subject to any form of damage reduction from armor or magical effects. Only by being healed to a category above Dying will the character be able to stop this damage.
Armor and Defence
Armor Class has been divided into Armor Class and Defence Class. When a character attacks another character, his attack roll needs to be equal to his opponents Defence Class or more. If he hits, he subtracts the enemy's Armor Class from his damage to find the actual damage caused. Below is a list of which modifiers are added to Armor Class and Defence Class.
Defence Class: Dexterity Bonus, Shield Bonus, Deflection Bonus, Luck Bonus
Armor Class: Constitution Bonus, Armor Bonus, Natural Armor Bonus
As it is evident, Constitution gives an Armor Class bonus. Since all creatures have fixed hitpoints, Constititution no longer provides a hitpoint bonus.
Melee Class
The Melee Class determines the characters close-combat fighting capabilities. Any creature with one or more levels in the Melee Class will gain a stat called Rage. The maximum Rage any character can have is fifteen points. Whenever the character causes damage with a melee attack, he gains one Rage point. Whenever a character receives damage from a melee attack, he receives one Rage point. Any round where the character neither receives nor causes damage, he looses one Rage at the end of the round. Therefore, characters will usually have no Rage points when encountered, but will build them up slowly during combat. Many of the special attacks that can be accessed through melee feats require Rage.
Another special thing about the Melee Class is Styles. A Style is basically a tree of feats that share a common theme. For example, the Fencing Style focuses on fighting defensively, waiting for an opening in your opponents defence before making your move. The Havoc Style focuses on causing damage to multiple foes at the same time. Styles have both special attacks as well as passive bonuses associated with them. A character can only be use one Style at the time. At the beginning of his turn, the character decides which of the Styles available to him that he wishes to use. For one full round, he only receives bonuses from that style, and he can not use special attacks from other Styles than his selected Style. Naturally, he can always use special attacks not associated with any Style.
In addition to the Style trees, there's also several weapon type specialization trees. These trees allows the character to learn one specific type of weapons intimately.
Level Melee Attack Bonus Fortitude Saving Throw Feats
1 +1 +0 1
2 +2 +1 2
3 +2 +1 3
4 +3 +2 4
5 +4 +2 5
6 +4 +3 6
7 +5 +3 7
8 +6 +4 8
9 +6 +4 9
10 +7 +5 10
11 +8 +5 11
12 +8 +6 12
13 +9 +6 13
14 +10 +7 14
15 +10 +7 15
Feats
Agile Fighting
Prerequisites: None
Description: When you fight, you put more emphasis on fast maneouvres than brute strength.
Benefit: Instead of adding your Strength Modifier to your to hit rolls, you may choose to add your Dexterity Modifier.
Anticipation
Prerequisites: Cunning Eye
Description: You can lessen the effect counter actions by being prepared for them.
Benefit: Before making an attack, you may declare one specific type of counter action. If your attacked opponent uses the counter action you declared, you gain a +3 Circumstantial Defence Class bonus against the counter action, if applicable.
Beserk
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Enrage
Description: When Enraged, your hateful will even bolsters your ability to shrug of magical spells and other effects.
Benefit: While you Enrage, you gain a +2 bonus to all Saving Throws.
Bloodfury
Prerequisites: Melee 6, Bloodlust
Description: You can make an additional attack after causing a critical hit, are your bloodthirst grants you both speed and strength.
Benefit: After causing damage with a critical hit, you may make an additional free attack against any opponent within range, besides the opponent you just caused a critical hit against.
Bloodlust
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Description: You are nurtured by the sight of devastating critical hits.
Benefit: Any critical hits you cause will make you gain 2 points of Rage, as opposed to 1.
Crippling Ambush
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack, Melee 6
Description: You cripple your opponent when you attack them from the rear.
Benefit: When you cause extra damage to an opponent from the Sneak Attack feat, the enemy suffers a penalty to all attack rolls for one full round equal to the bonus damage caused by the Sneak Attack feat.
Crush Armor
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Sunder Armor
Description: Your Sunder Armor attacks hinder your opponents mobility.
Benefit: When an opponent has had their armor reduced by your Sunder Armor Special Attack, they suffer a penalty to their next attack roll equal to the amount by which their armor was reduced.
Cunning Eye
Prerequisites: None
Description: You can discern the combat moves of your opponents.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent within 30 ft. of you performs a Special Attack, roll an Intelligence check (DC 15) to learn what Special Attack was used.
Decapitate
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Execute, Two-Hander Focus
Description: You cause terrible critical hits when attacking injured opponents.
Benefit: Whenever you attack an opponent that is in the Heavily Wounded or Dying category, your critical strike range and critical strike multiplier are both increased by two points.
Dual-Wield Focus
Prerequisites: Melee 2
Description: You are more adept at wielding two weapons.
Benefit: Your attack penalty to attacks with your off-hand weapon is reduced by two points.
Enrage
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: You are infuriated by attacks that injure you severely.
Benefit: Whenever an attack brings you down one health category or more, you gain a +2 bonus to hit and damage with melee attacks for 1d4 rounds.
Essence Bond
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: You form a bond between your weapon and your life essence.
Benefit: When you make an attack, you may choose to sacrifice 1 hitpoint to gain a +2 bonus to either your attack roll or your damage roll. Using Essence Bond must be announced before making the attack.
Essence Roar (Special Action)
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Essence Bond
Action Time: Free action
Rage Cost: 0
Description: You can sacrifice health to gain Rage.
Benefit: As a free action, you can sacrifice some of your hitpoints to gain Rage. You may sacrifice up to 3 hitpoints when using Essence Roar. For each hitpoint sacrificed, you gain 2 Rage points.
Evasive Fury
Prerequisites: Melee 4, Agile Fighting
Description: You are able to generate Rage from attacks that miss you.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent attacks you but misses, you still gain 1 point of Rage.
Execute
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: Your attacks cause significantly more damage against wounded foes.
Benefit: If you hit an opponent that is in the Heavily Wounded category, you cause double damage. Against an opponent in the Dying category, you cause tripple damage.
Exploit Weakness
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Sneak Attack
Description: You are able to use the weakness of your opponent to deliver precise attacks.
Benefit: For each category beneath Healthy that your opponent is in, you gain a +1 bonus to your attack rolls against him.
Fast Attacks
Prerequisites: Melee 10
Description: You are able to attack a multitude of times each round.
Benefit: You make may two instant attacks each round instead of just one.
Fury
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Enrage
Description: You gain greater amounts of Rage when Enraged
Benefit: While Enraged, you gain an additional point of Rage from all successful melee attacks.
Giant Form
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Strength 17+
Description: You use your enormous strength to force your will upon your opponents.
Benefit: You count as being one size larger than you are for the purpose of any Melee Class feats that rely on size, or have bonuses or penalties associated with size.
Greater Rage
Prerequisites: None
Description: You are able to contain more Rage than usual.
Benefit: Your maximum Rage is increased by 3 points.
Guard (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Attack Time: Full Round Action
Rage Cost: 3
Description: You stay vigilant, guarding an ally from enemy attacks.
Benefit: When you use Guard, you choose an ally within 5 ft. of you. For one full round you are guarding your ally. Whenever anyone makes a melee attack against the guarded character, and the enemy is within melee range of you, you may make an attack as a Counter action against the attacking enemy.
Hidden Reserve
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Greater Rage
Description: You have a small reserve of Rage that stays even outside of combat.
Benefit: 3 points of your Rage are not subject to the usual Rage decay that occours when you're not engaged in combat. You can save those 3 points of Rage for as long as you like, even if not engaged in combat.
Lunge (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 6, Agile Fighting
Action Time: Instant action
Rage Cost: 7
Description: You make a sudden forward movement, followed by an attack.
Benefit: Lunge can only be used when you haven't performed your 5 ft. move of the round. You make your 5 ft. move and get an instant attack on an enemy in range of your new position. You gain a +2 bonus to hit with the Lunge attack.
Lunge, Improved
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Agile Fighting
Description: Your Lunge attack benefits greatly from your Dexterity.
Benefit: When performing a Lunge attack, you add twice your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll, in addition to the standard +2 bonus to hit with Lunge.
Mana Sink
Prerequisites: Spell Harrier, Spell Strike, Spirited Fighting, Divine 8, Melee 8
Description: Your attacks cause your opponent to loose mana.
Benefit: When you cause damage to an enemy spellcaster, he will loose an amount of mana equal to your Spirit Modifier.
Meditated Attack (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Spirited Fighting
Action Time: Full round action
Rage Cost: 3
Description: By meditating on your attack, you can strike with such certainty that your opponent will be unable to counter.
Benefit: Meditated Attack is a regular melee attack that can not be subjected to a counter action like a normal melee attack.
Opportunist (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 14, Sneak Attack
Action Time: Instant Attack
Rage Cost: 3
Description: You are able to instantly attack opponents who are attacking other foes.
Benefit: Opportunist can only be used against an opponent that you are standing behind. When the opponent makes an attack, you are able to make an instant Opportunist attack.
Pounce (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Agility 17+
Action Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 4
Description: You make a powerful lunge from sitting or lying position against a standing opponent.
Benefit: Pounce can only be used from either a sitting or a prone position. You lunge up in attack, making a normal attack against your opponent. If you hit with your attack, you will cause normal damage plus two. If you cause damage with the pounce attack, you will be standing up after the attack is concluded.
Sneak Attack
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Description: You can cause additional damage when attacking opponents from the rear.
Benefit: When you attack an opponent from the rear, you cause an additional 1d6 points of damage on a successful hit.
Sneak Attack, Improved
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack, Melee 8
Description: You cause even more damage when you attack opponents from the rear.
Benefit: The bonus damage from the Sneak Attack feat is increased to 2d6.
Signature Ability
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: You have specialized yourself in one of your attacks.
Benefit: When you take the Signature Ability feat, pick a Special Attack that you know. You will receive a +1 bonus to hit with the selected attack, and the attack will cost 1 less point of Rage to use.
Signature Ability, Hurtful
Prerequisites: Melee 18, Signature Ability
Benefit: Pick a Special Attack that you already have improved through Signature Ability. You cause 2 additional points of damage with the selected Special Attack.
Signature Ability, Improved
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Signature Ability
Description: You have specialized yourself further in one of your attacks.
Benefit: Pick a Special Attack that you already have improved through the Signature Ability. The bonus to hit with the selected ability increases to +2, and it will cost 2 less points of Rage to use.
Slayer
Prerequisites: Melee 6, Execute
Description: Downing an opponent feeds you with Rage.
Benefit: When you kill an opponent, you instantly gain 2 points of Rage.
Spell Harrier
Prerequisites: None
Description: You are adept at disrupting the spellcasting of foes you hit in melee.
Benefit: When you cause damage to an enemy that is in the process of casting a spell, the Concentration DC to continue casting is increased by +2.
Spell Strike (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 4, Spell Harrier
Attack Time: Counter action
Rage Cost: 2
Description: You can freely attack enemy spellcasters when they try to cast spells while in melee range of you.
Benefit: Spell Strike can be used against an enemy that attempts to cast a spell while standing in the area that you threaten.
Spirited Fighting
Prerequisites: Divine 2
Description: When you fight, you let your force of will guide your hand.
Benefit: Instead of adding your Strength Modifier to your to hit rolls, you may choose to add your Spirit Modifier.
Spirit Guide
Prequisites: Melee 6, Spirited Fighting
Description: Your spirit guides your attacks, enabling you to learn from your mistakes.
Benefit: After missing a melee attack, you gain a cumulative +1 circumstantial bonus to your next melee attack against the same opponent. This bonus can stack up to a total of +5 if you miss five attacks in a row.
Sunder Armor (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Attack Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 6
Description You strike against an opponent with the intent of destroying his armor.
Benefit: You make a normal attack that causes normal damage. If the attack hits and causes damage, you reduce the Armor bonus of your opponents Armor Class by 1 point, untill he has his armor repaired.
Sunder Armor, Improved
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Sunder Armor
Description: Your Sunder Armor special attack has an even greater effect.
Benefit: If you cause damage with Sunder Armor, the armor of your opponent is reduced by 2 points instead of merely 1.
Swift Attacks
Prerequisites: Melee 20, Fast Attacks
Description: Your melee attacks are even faster to execute, allowing you to attack more each round.
Benefit: You may make three instant attacks each round.
Two-Hander Focus
Prerequisites: Melee 2
Description: You gain additional rage when attacking with a two-handed weapon.
Benefit: Whenever you successfully cause damage with a two-handed weapon, you gain an additional point of rage.
Unbalancing Strike (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Attack Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 2
Description: You strike against your opponent with your full strength in an attempt to unbalance him.
Benefit: You make a normal attack roll. If you hit, your opponent suffers a penalty to all attack rolls for one round equal to your Strength Modifier. Can only be used against opponents the same size as you or smaller.
Vampiric Criticals
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Essence Bond
Description: Whenever you cause damage with a critical melee attack, you heal yourself of 1 point of damage.
Vampiric Slash (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 14, Vampiric Criticals
Attack Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 5
Description: You strike your opponent with an almost supernatural attack that siphons the life from him.
Benefit: You make a normal attack. If you cause damage, you are healed for an amount equal to the damage caused.
Weakening Strike (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Attack Time: Standard Action
Rage Cost: 4
Description: You strike your opponent with the intent to lower either his mobility or his physical fortitude.
Benefit: You make a normal melee attack. If you cause damage, you cause your opponent to suffer a penalty to his Reflex or Fortitude Saving Throws for a number of rounds equal to the damage caused. The penalty the target receives is equal to the damage caused as well, for the duration of the effect.
Balmortis Core Rule System
The Balmortis system is a revised variant of the D20 rules. The system primarily uses D20 checks when determining the success of the many possible actions a character can perform. Yet there are many and significant differences from the normal D20 system.
Stats
The stats have been changed slightly. The system uses 5 stats, instead of 6. These stats are Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence and Spirit. Spirit is a stat that combines Charisma and Wisdom into one stat. The reason for this is that both Wisdom and Charisma were often underrepresented and used as dump-stats for most classes except the few classes that relied on them for spellcasting.
Classes
The classes in the Balmortis system have been greatly changed. There are only six classes and no prestige classes. The six classes are: Melee, Ranged, Protection, Artisan, Arcane and Divine. All options previously available to players through prestige classes are achived by taking feats, or by combining classes. The classes have independent XP pools instead of the normal D20 unified XP pool and character level. That means, if you have gained 10 levels in the Melee class, you don't need more XP to gain a level in the Ranged class than a character with only 1 level in the Melee class. This means that it is relatively cheap to take at least a few levels in other classes than your primary class. The only exception are the two magic wielding classes. If you have any levels in either Arcane or Divine you suffer a -10% penalty to XP spent in the other classes. This penalty stacks and applies also to the other magic-wielding class. For example, if you have one level in Arcane or more, you will suffer a -10% XP penalty to XP spent in the Divine class, in addition to the four mundane classes. If you have at least one level in both Arcane and Divine, you will suffer a -10% penalty to both of these spellcasting classes, as well as a -20% penalty to all mundane classes. This is to prevent magic from being too commonplace, even in player characters, since it would be easy for any player to take a few levels in spellcasting.
Health
All creatures have a fixed amount of hitpoints based on their size. These hitpoints fall into five categories: Healthy, lightly wounded, moderately wounded, heavily wounded and dying. All five categories contain the same amount of hitpoints.
Creature Size Total Hitpoints Hitpoints per. category
Fine 5 1
Dimunitive 10 2
Tiny 15 3
Small 20 4
Medium 25 5
Large 30 6
Huge 40 8
Gargantuan 80 16
So, if a unwounded Medium-Sized character suffers 5 points of damage, he will fall into the lightly wounded category. If he suffers 20 points of damage, he will fall into the dying category. Any creature that is in any category besides healthy will suffer some penalties. This penalty will apply to all attack rolls, all skill checks, to his defence class and to any saving throws. In addition, the mana cost for any spells cast by a wounded character will be increased too, by the penalty amount listed below.
Category Penalty
Healthy None
Lightly Wounded 1
Moderately Wounded 2
Heavily Wounded 4
Dying 8
Anyone in the Dying category will also suffer 1 point of damage each round. This damage is not subject to any form of damage reduction from armor or magical effects. Only by being healed to a category above Dying will the character be able to stop this damage.
Armor and Defence
Armor Class has been divided into Armor Class and Defence Class. When a character attacks another character, his attack roll needs to be equal to his opponents Defence Class or more. If he hits, he subtracts the enemy's Armor Class from his damage to find the actual damage caused. Below is a list of which modifiers are added to Armor Class and Defence Class.
Defence Class: Dexterity Bonus, Shield Bonus, Deflection Bonus, Luck Bonus
Armor Class: Constitution Bonus, Armor Bonus, Natural Armor Bonus
As it is evident, Constitution gives an Armor Class bonus. Since all creatures have fixed hitpoints, Constititution no longer provides a hitpoint bonus.
Melee Class
The Melee Class determines the characters close-combat fighting capabilities. Any creature with one or more levels in the Melee Class will gain a stat called Rage. The maximum Rage any character can have is fifteen points. Whenever the character causes damage with a melee attack, he gains one Rage point. Whenever a character receives damage from a melee attack, he receives one Rage point. Any round where the character neither receives nor causes damage, he looses one Rage at the end of the round. Therefore, characters will usually have no Rage points when encountered, but will build them up slowly during combat. Many of the special attacks that can be accessed through melee feats require Rage.
Another special thing about the Melee Class is Styles. A Style is basically a tree of feats that share a common theme. For example, the Fencing Style focuses on fighting defensively, waiting for an opening in your opponents defence before making your move. The Havoc Style focuses on causing damage to multiple foes at the same time. Styles have both special attacks as well as passive bonuses associated with them. A character can only be use one Style at the time. At the beginning of his turn, the character decides which of the Styles available to him that he wishes to use. For one full round, he only receives bonuses from that style, and he can not use special attacks from other Styles than his selected Style. Naturally, he can always use special attacks not associated with any Style.
In addition to the Style trees, there's also several weapon type specialization trees. These trees allows the character to learn one specific type of weapons intimately.
Level Melee Attack Bonus Fortitude Saving Throw Feats
1 +1 +0 1
2 +2 +1 2
3 +2 +1 3
4 +3 +2 4
5 +4 +2 5
6 +4 +3 6
7 +5 +3 7
8 +6 +4 8
9 +6 +4 9
10 +7 +5 10
11 +8 +5 11
12 +8 +6 12
13 +9 +6 13
14 +10 +7 14
15 +10 +7 15
Feats
Agile Fighting
Prerequisites: None
Description: When you fight, you put more emphasis on fast maneouvres than brute strength.
Benefit: Instead of adding your Strength Modifier to your to hit rolls, you may choose to add your Dexterity Modifier.
Anticipation
Prerequisites: Cunning Eye
Description: You can lessen the effect counter actions by being prepared for them.
Benefit: Before making an attack, you may declare one specific type of counter action. If your attacked opponent uses the counter action you declared, you gain a +3 Circumstantial Defence Class bonus against the counter action, if applicable.
Beserk
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Enrage
Description: When Enraged, your hateful will even bolsters your ability to shrug of magical spells and other effects.
Benefit: While you Enrage, you gain a +2 bonus to all Saving Throws.
Bloodfury
Prerequisites: Melee 6, Bloodlust
Description: You can make an additional attack after causing a critical hit, are your bloodthirst grants you both speed and strength.
Benefit: After causing damage with a critical hit, you may make an additional free attack against any opponent within range, besides the opponent you just caused a critical hit against.
Bloodlust
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Description: You are nurtured by the sight of devastating critical hits.
Benefit: Any critical hits you cause will make you gain 2 points of Rage, as opposed to 1.
Crippling Ambush
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack, Melee 6
Description: You cripple your opponent when you attack them from the rear.
Benefit: When you cause extra damage to an opponent from the Sneak Attack feat, the enemy suffers a penalty to all attack rolls for one full round equal to the bonus damage caused by the Sneak Attack feat.
Crush Armor
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Sunder Armor
Description: Your Sunder Armor attacks hinder your opponents mobility.
Benefit: When an opponent has had their armor reduced by your Sunder Armor Special Attack, they suffer a penalty to their next attack roll equal to the amount by which their armor was reduced.
Cunning Eye
Prerequisites: None
Description: You can discern the combat moves of your opponents.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent within 30 ft. of you performs a Special Attack, roll an Intelligence check (DC 15) to learn what Special Attack was used.
Decapitate
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Execute, Two-Hander Focus
Description: You cause terrible critical hits when attacking injured opponents.
Benefit: Whenever you attack an opponent that is in the Heavily Wounded or Dying category, your critical strike range and critical strike multiplier are both increased by two points.
Dual-Wield Focus
Prerequisites: Melee 2
Description: You are more adept at wielding two weapons.
Benefit: Your attack penalty to attacks with your off-hand weapon is reduced by two points.
Enrage
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: You are infuriated by attacks that injure you severely.
Benefit: Whenever an attack brings you down one health category or more, you gain a +2 bonus to hit and damage with melee attacks for 1d4 rounds.
Essence Bond
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: You form a bond between your weapon and your life essence.
Benefit: When you make an attack, you may choose to sacrifice 1 hitpoint to gain a +2 bonus to either your attack roll or your damage roll. Using Essence Bond must be announced before making the attack.
Essence Roar (Special Action)
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Essence Bond
Action Time: Free action
Rage Cost: 0
Description: You can sacrifice health to gain Rage.
Benefit: As a free action, you can sacrifice some of your hitpoints to gain Rage. You may sacrifice up to 3 hitpoints when using Essence Roar. For each hitpoint sacrificed, you gain 2 Rage points.
Evasive Fury
Prerequisites: Melee 4, Agile Fighting
Description: You are able to generate Rage from attacks that miss you.
Benefit: Whenever an opponent attacks you but misses, you still gain 1 point of Rage.
Execute
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: Your attacks cause significantly more damage against wounded foes.
Benefit: If you hit an opponent that is in the Heavily Wounded category, you cause double damage. Against an opponent in the Dying category, you cause tripple damage.
Exploit Weakness
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Sneak Attack
Description: You are able to use the weakness of your opponent to deliver precise attacks.
Benefit: For each category beneath Healthy that your opponent is in, you gain a +1 bonus to your attack rolls against him.
Fast Attacks
Prerequisites: Melee 10
Description: You are able to attack a multitude of times each round.
Benefit: You make may two instant attacks each round instead of just one.
Fury
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Enrage
Description: You gain greater amounts of Rage when Enraged
Benefit: While Enraged, you gain an additional point of Rage from all successful melee attacks.
Giant Form
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Strength 17+
Description: You use your enormous strength to force your will upon your opponents.
Benefit: You count as being one size larger than you are for the purpose of any Melee Class feats that rely on size, or have bonuses or penalties associated with size.
Greater Rage
Prerequisites: None
Description: You are able to contain more Rage than usual.
Benefit: Your maximum Rage is increased by 3 points.
Guard (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Attack Time: Full Round Action
Rage Cost: 3
Description: You stay vigilant, guarding an ally from enemy attacks.
Benefit: When you use Guard, you choose an ally within 5 ft. of you. For one full round you are guarding your ally. Whenever anyone makes a melee attack against the guarded character, and the enemy is within melee range of you, you may make an attack as a Counter action against the attacking enemy.
Hidden Reserve
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Greater Rage
Description: You have a small reserve of Rage that stays even outside of combat.
Benefit: 3 points of your Rage are not subject to the usual Rage decay that occours when you're not engaged in combat. You can save those 3 points of Rage for as long as you like, even if not engaged in combat.
Lunge (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 6, Agile Fighting
Action Time: Instant action
Rage Cost: 7
Description: You make a sudden forward movement, followed by an attack.
Benefit: Lunge can only be used when you haven't performed your 5 ft. move of the round. You make your 5 ft. move and get an instant attack on an enemy in range of your new position. You gain a +2 bonus to hit with the Lunge attack.
Lunge, Improved
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Agile Fighting
Description: Your Lunge attack benefits greatly from your Dexterity.
Benefit: When performing a Lunge attack, you add twice your Dexterity modifier to your attack roll, in addition to the standard +2 bonus to hit with Lunge.
Mana Sink
Prerequisites: Spell Harrier, Spell Strike, Spirited Fighting, Divine 8, Melee 8
Description: Your attacks cause your opponent to loose mana.
Benefit: When you cause damage to an enemy spellcaster, he will loose an amount of mana equal to your Spirit Modifier.
Meditated Attack (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 10, Spirited Fighting
Action Time: Full round action
Rage Cost: 3
Description: By meditating on your attack, you can strike with such certainty that your opponent will be unable to counter.
Benefit: Meditated Attack is a regular melee attack that can not be subjected to a counter action like a normal melee attack.
Opportunist (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 14, Sneak Attack
Action Time: Instant Attack
Rage Cost: 3
Description: You are able to instantly attack opponents who are attacking other foes.
Benefit: Opportunist can only be used against an opponent that you are standing behind. When the opponent makes an attack, you are able to make an instant Opportunist attack.
Pounce (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Agility 17+
Action Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 4
Description: You make a powerful lunge from sitting or lying position against a standing opponent.
Benefit: Pounce can only be used from either a sitting or a prone position. You lunge up in attack, making a normal attack against your opponent. If you hit with your attack, you will cause normal damage plus two. If you cause damage with the pounce attack, you will be standing up after the attack is concluded.
Sneak Attack
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Description: You can cause additional damage when attacking opponents from the rear.
Benefit: When you attack an opponent from the rear, you cause an additional 1d6 points of damage on a successful hit.
Sneak Attack, Improved
Prerequisites: Sneak Attack, Melee 8
Description: You cause even more damage when you attack opponents from the rear.
Benefit: The bonus damage from the Sneak Attack feat is increased to 2d6.
Signature Ability
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Description: You have specialized yourself in one of your attacks.
Benefit: When you take the Signature Ability feat, pick a Special Attack that you know. You will receive a +1 bonus to hit with the selected attack, and the attack will cost 1 less point of Rage to use.
Signature Ability, Hurtful
Prerequisites: Melee 18, Signature Ability
Benefit: Pick a Special Attack that you already have improved through Signature Ability. You cause 2 additional points of damage with the selected Special Attack.
Signature Ability, Improved
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Signature Ability
Description: You have specialized yourself further in one of your attacks.
Benefit: Pick a Special Attack that you already have improved through the Signature Ability. The bonus to hit with the selected ability increases to +2, and it will cost 2 less points of Rage to use.
Slayer
Prerequisites: Melee 6, Execute
Description: Downing an opponent feeds you with Rage.
Benefit: When you kill an opponent, you instantly gain 2 points of Rage.
Spell Harrier
Prerequisites: None
Description: You are adept at disrupting the spellcasting of foes you hit in melee.
Benefit: When you cause damage to an enemy that is in the process of casting a spell, the Concentration DC to continue casting is increased by +2.
Spell Strike (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 4, Spell Harrier
Attack Time: Counter action
Rage Cost: 2
Description: You can freely attack enemy spellcasters when they try to cast spells while in melee range of you.
Benefit: Spell Strike can be used against an enemy that attempts to cast a spell while standing in the area that you threaten.
Spirited Fighting
Prerequisites: Divine 2
Description: When you fight, you let your force of will guide your hand.
Benefit: Instead of adding your Strength Modifier to your to hit rolls, you may choose to add your Spirit Modifier.
Spirit Guide
Prequisites: Melee 6, Spirited Fighting
Description: Your spirit guides your attacks, enabling you to learn from your mistakes.
Benefit: After missing a melee attack, you gain a cumulative +1 circumstantial bonus to your next melee attack against the same opponent. This bonus can stack up to a total of +5 if you miss five attacks in a row.
Sunder Armor (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 4
Attack Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 6
Description You strike against an opponent with the intent of destroying his armor.
Benefit: You make a normal attack that causes normal damage. If the attack hits and causes damage, you reduce the Armor bonus of your opponents Armor Class by 1 point, untill he has his armor repaired.
Sunder Armor, Improved
Prerequisites: Melee 8, Sunder Armor
Description: Your Sunder Armor special attack has an even greater effect.
Benefit: If you cause damage with Sunder Armor, the armor of your opponent is reduced by 2 points instead of merely 1.
Swift Attacks
Prerequisites: Melee 20, Fast Attacks
Description: Your melee attacks are even faster to execute, allowing you to attack more each round.
Benefit: You may make three instant attacks each round.
Two-Hander Focus
Prerequisites: Melee 2
Description: You gain additional rage when attacking with a two-handed weapon.
Benefit: Whenever you successfully cause damage with a two-handed weapon, you gain an additional point of rage.
Unbalancing Strike (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Attack Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 2
Description: You strike against your opponent with your full strength in an attempt to unbalance him.
Benefit: You make a normal attack roll. If you hit, your opponent suffers a penalty to all attack rolls for one round equal to your Strength Modifier. Can only be used against opponents the same size as you or smaller.
Vampiric Criticals
Prerequisites: Melee 12, Essence Bond
Description: Whenever you cause damage with a critical melee attack, you heal yourself of 1 point of damage.
Vampiric Slash (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 14, Vampiric Criticals
Attack Time: Standard action
Rage Cost: 5
Description: You strike your opponent with an almost supernatural attack that siphons the life from him.
Benefit: You make a normal attack. If you cause damage, you are healed for an amount equal to the damage caused.
Weakening Strike (Special Attack)
Prerequisites: Melee 6
Attack Time: Standard Action
Rage Cost: 4
Description: You strike your opponent with the intent to lower either his mobility or his physical fortitude.
Benefit: You make a normal melee attack. If you cause damage, you cause your opponent to suffer a penalty to his Reflex or Fortitude Saving Throws for a number of rounds equal to the damage caused. The penalty the target receives is equal to the damage caused as well, for the duration of the effect.
