sirpercival
2013-03-31, 11:16 AM
DREAD CHAMPION
Image! (http://www.munchkinpress.com/cpg149/albums/userpics/10947/Sauron.jpg)
They could see him in the distance, across the sea of writhing, hacking bodies. He towered over the king at his side, and men cleared a wide circle around him, none wanting to brave the wrath of the tyrant's champion.
Suddenly, his patron nodded, and the mountainous bulk of steel strode nimbly forward, crushing men with a mere flick of his wrist. Just before they died, those closest to him could see through the visor of his black helmet: the man was smiling.
MAKING A DREAD CHAMPION
A Dread Champion is a melee combatant who revels in the glory and gore of battle. He knows that true power comes from the ability to end the lives of his enemies, and the fear that inspires in others.
Abilities: A Dread Champion requires a high Strength and Constitution to survive melee combat, and a high Charisma to sow fear among his enemies.
Races: Any, though Dread Champions smaller than Medium are quite rare.
Alignment: Any non-good. Good characters aren't often attracted to the Dread Champion's methods.
Starting Gold: As paladin.
Starting Age: As paladin.
Hit Die: d12
Class Skills
The Dread Champion's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (History, Nobility & Royalty) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|M.Known|M.Readied| Stances
1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Cowing strike, density of demeanor| 6 | 4 | 1
2 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Cultivate dread, mocking challenge| 7 | 4 | 2
3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Anger is fear| 8 | 5 | 2
4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Mettle, no escape| 9 | 5 | 2
5 | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Reap and sow, sundering glare| 10| 6 | 3
6 | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Improved cowing strike| 11| 6 | 3
7 | +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Opportunity| 12| 6 | 3
8 | +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Improved mocking challenge| 13| 7 | 3
9 | +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Improved sundering glare| 14| 7 | 4
10| +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Death is strength| 15| 8 | 4
11| +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Greater cowing strike| 16| 8 | 4
12| +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Fear is anger, improved mettle| 17| 8 | 4
13| +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Sow and reap| 18| 9 | 4
14| +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Greater mocking challenge| 19| 9 | 5
15| +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Improved no escape| 20| 10| 5
16| +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10| +5 | +10| Supreme cowing strike| 21| 10| 5
17| +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10| +5 | +10| Ungodly roar| 22| 10| 5
18| +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11| +6 | +11| Dread reputation| 23| 11| 5
19| +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11| +6 | +11| Strength is death| 24| 11| 5
20| +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12| +6 | +12| Avatar of dread, supreme mocking challenge| 25| 12| 6[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Dread Champions are proficient with all armor and shields (including tower shields), all simple and martial weapons, and one exotic weapon of their choice.
Maneuvers: As a Dread Champion, you begin your career with knowledge of 6 martial maneuvers, chosen from the following disciplines: Army of One (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5710173), Broken Blade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122533), Crimson Earth (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6325.0), Jade Throne (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160101), and Sublime Tapestry (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1351). Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver that you can use is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one.
You learn additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on the above table. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. The highest-level maneuvers you can learn are based on her initiator level, as normal. Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered Dread Champion level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. In effect, you lose the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. You can choose a new maneuver of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level maneuvers you can learn; you need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level.
Maneuvers readied: You can ready four of your six maneuvers per encounter at level 1, and as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you are able to ready more, but still must choose which maneuvers to ready. You ready maneuvers by exercising for 5 minutes; once readied, the maneuvers remain so until you spend 5 minutes to ready new ones.
You begin an encounter with all your maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you readied them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your maneuvers can be used once per encounter unless you recover them. Whenever you successfully demoralize an opponent with an Intimidate check, you may recover an expended maneuver as a free action; however, you can't use a recovered maneuver in the same round that you recover it, or recover a maneuver in the same round that you expended it.
Stances Known: You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to you. At 2nd, 5th, 9th, 14th, and 20th level, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you currently use as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description. Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.
Cowing strike (Ex): The strength of your blows is enough to turn the legs of the most stout-hearted of men to jelly. Whenever you successfully strike an opponent in melee who is not already shaken, frightened, panicked, or cowering, you may make a single demoralization attempt against that opponent as a free action. You may only make a demoralization attempt against that particular opponent with this ability; effects which would normally allow you to demoralize more than one creature at a time (such as the Never Outnumbered skill trick) do not apply. Unlike other fear effects, this ability is not a mind-affecting effect -- even mindless things instinctively shy away from your might.
Density of demeanor (Ex): Creatures respect and fear you no matter what their size; failure to do so would be suicide. You suffer no penalties to Intimidate checks for being smaller than your target, though you still gain bonuses for being larger as appropriate.
Cultivate dread (Ex): When you reach 2nd level, your schemes to covertly promote your own fearsome reputation have begun to pay off. You gain a circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks equal to half your class level (rounded down, minimum +1).
Mocking challenge (Ex): Fools! Weaklings! Sniveling cowards! Who among you dares move against me? At 2nd level, you learn to provoke your enemies into rash acts with torrents of verbal abuse. As a move action, you may expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver to let out a mocking challenge. All enemies within 10 feet times the level of the expended maneuver must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + your Charisma modifier). A creature who fails its save against this effect has a choice: it may approach and engage you in melee combat at its earliest opportunity, or it may suffer a penalty to attacks, saves, and skill checks equal to your Charisma modifier for a number of rounds equal to the level of the expended maneuver. This is a sonic, language-dependent effect.
Anger is fear (Ex): By 3rd level you have learned that provoking strong emotions in your opponent is the key, since any strong emotion can be translated to crippling fear with just the slightest nudge. Creatures whose emotions have been artificially enhanced in some way are especially susceptible to this effect. Whenever you attempt to demoralize a creature who is benefitting from one of the following, you may roll twice and take the better result. If such a creature is normally immune to mind-affecting and/or fear effects, you may instead affect that creature with a demoralization attempt, but you only roll once, and the creature gains a +5 bonus on its save.
A morale bonus to saves, attacks, or skill checks.
Barbarian's rage or similar effects.
Any bardic music effect.
Any compulsion effect.
Any harmless mind-affecting effect.
Mettle (Ex): At 4th level, you learn to resist magical and unusual attacks with great willpower or fortitude. If you make a successful Will or Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial), you instead completely negate the effect. You do not gain the benefit of this ability when you are unconscious or sleeping.
No escape (Su): As a Dread Champion, you mete out an inevitable fate upon your foes, and no running can save them. From 4th level onward, creatures within your melee reach cannot use the Withdraw action, and any creature within 30 feet of you attempting to move farther away from you than its starting position finds the squares it is moving into to be difficult terrain.
Reap and sow (Ex): Upon reaching 5th level, your martial skill improves, teaching you to make long, sweeping strikes with your weapon. As long as you are wielding a non-reach weapon in two hands, your melee reach increases by +5 feet.
Sundering glare (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, the force of your will is strong enough to remove obstacles on its own. You can use an Intimidate check in place of the Strength check to break an object with sudden force, as long as you are within 10 feet.
Improved cowing strike (Ex): At 6th level, your blows are even more frightening than they were before. You may use your Cowing Strike ability against a creature who is already shaken.
Opportunity (Ex): When you reach 7th level, your upwardly-mobile machinations have taught you to be aware of every opportunity for wreaking havoc upon your enemies. Whenever a creature you threaten forgoes an attack of opportunity for any reason (including having no more attacks of opportunity left in a round), that creature provokes an attack of opportunity from you. A given creature may not provoke more than one attack of opportunity in a given round from you with this ability.
Improved mocking challenge (Ex): Upon achieving 8th level, you have a masterful grasp of body language and facial cues. Your Mocking Challenge ability is no longer a sonic or language-dependent effect.
Improved sundering glare (Ex): Beginning at 9th level, your force of will can damage objects even when it doesn't break them outright. You can make a sunder attempt against an object within 10 feet with your glare alone; this functions as a normal sunder attempt, except that you deal damage equal to the result of your Intimidate check, which bypasses hardness.
Death is strength (Su): Your will and resolve increase each time you cut down another enemy. Starting at 10th level, whenever you kill an opponent, you heal a number of hit points equal to twice that creature's Hit Dice.
Greater cowing strike (Ex): By the time you reach 11th level, you rain down destruction and fear with abandon, and the mere sight of you destroying an opponent causes your enemies to quake in their boots. Whenever you use your Cowing Strike ability, all enemies within 30 feet must save against your demoralization check or become shaken (you do not recover additional maneuvers when you successfully demoralize enemies other than the target of your attack with this ability).
Fear is anger (Ex): When you are 12th level, you learn to turn your own (heavily suppressed) fears and anxieties into fuel in battle. Whenever you are subjected to a fear effect that you do not create, you do not suffer the effects (as if you were immune to fear); instead, you gain a morale bonus to attack rolls, saves, and skill checks for 1 minute based on the strength of fear that effect would have caused in you, as shown on the table below. Multiple instances of this ability overlap and do not stack.
{table=head]Fear Strength|Morale Bonus
Shaken|+1
Frightened|+2
Panicking|+4
Cowering|+5[/table]
Improved mettle (Ex): This ability, gained at 12th level, works like Mettle, except that while you still negate the effect on a successful Fortitude or Will saving throw, henceforth you suffer the lesser effect only on a failed save. You do not gain the benefit of this ability when you are unconscious or sleeping.
Sow and reap (Ex): Once you reach 13th level, individual enemies are simply stalks of grain, waiting to be harvested by your blade. Whenever an enemy dies due to a martial strike that you initiate, you immediately recover that maneuver.
Greater mocking challenge (Ex): At 14th level, your catcalls and taunts cut straight to the core of your enemies' ego. You may activate your Mocking Challenge ability as an immediate action; in addition, any creature whose actions you interrupt with your mockery receive a -4 penalty on its save against the effect. Finally, creatures who fail their saves and choose to attack you deal minimum damage on successful attacks.
Improved no escape (Su): Your persona has a sort of gravity to it, where potential victims get pulled into the center to be slaughtered. Starting at 15th level, you can expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver to project an aura of inevitability as a standard action, which lasts for a number of rounds equal to the level of the expended maneuver. All creatures within 60 feet must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier) or be bound into a death spiral centered on you. Bound creatures are drawn inexorably toward you by 5 feet each round at the beginning of your turn, and may not make any movement which would move them further away from you than their starting position.
Supreme cowing strike (Ex): Beginning at 16th level, your attacks cause your opponents to (figuratively) melt into a pile of spineless, terrified pudding. The demoralization attempt you make with your Cowing Strike ability functions against creatures who are normally immune to fear, though they receive a +4 bonus to their save. In addition, on a critical hit, an opponent who fails its save against your demoralization cowers in fear for 1 round before resuming its normal level of fear (including the result of the demoralization) for the remainder of the duration.
Ungodly roar (Ex): When you achieve 17th level, you can expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver to release a shout containing all your rage, spite, and malice. Activating this ability is a standard action which does not provoke attacks of opportunity. All creatures in a cone of length 10 feet times the level of the expended maneuver must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + your Charisma modifier) or be knocked prone, as well as checked, dazed, deafened, shaken, and stunned for 1d4 rounds. This is a sonic effect.
Dread reputation (Ex): By the time you attain 18th level, your exploits have brought you infamy far and wide. Your demoralization attempts are no longer mind-affecting (though they are still fear effects). In addition, whenever a creature approaches within 30 feet of you for the first time, you may attempt to demoralize it as a free action. Each time that creature approaches within 30 feet of you, you may attempt to demoralize it again until it successfully saves against the demoralization.
Strength is death (Ex): When you are 19th level or higher, you enjoy cutting down the strongest of your enemies, for such things put fear into the hearts of the weak. You may expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver as a swift action to gain a bonus to attack and damage rolls on your next attack against a single opponent equal to that opponent's Strength score.
Avatar of dread (Su): Upon reaching 20th level, your anger and hatred, and the fear of your enemies, are enough to keep you alive even when your body has failed you. When you reach -10 hit points, you don't actually die. All life functions cease, however, and you are functionally a corpse for the purpose of resolving all spells that affect dead bodies. It takes a Heal check (DC 20 + 1/2 your class level) to detect any vital signs. You remain at -10 hit points no matter what damage or healing you receive. Death effects still affect you normally, and dismembering, burning, or skinning your corpse is sufficient to kill you. When 10 minutes have passed since you last took damage, you gain fast healing 10 until you are completely healed. You still appear dead until you reach your full normal hit points.
Supreme mocking challenge (Ex): At 20th level, you can activate your Mocking Challenge ability as a free action even when it isn't your turn, though no more often than once per round. In addition, the penalty for choosing not to engage you in melee combat increases to twice your Charisma modifier.
Image! (http://www.munchkinpress.com/cpg149/albums/userpics/10947/Sauron.jpg)
They could see him in the distance, across the sea of writhing, hacking bodies. He towered over the king at his side, and men cleared a wide circle around him, none wanting to brave the wrath of the tyrant's champion.
Suddenly, his patron nodded, and the mountainous bulk of steel strode nimbly forward, crushing men with a mere flick of his wrist. Just before they died, those closest to him could see through the visor of his black helmet: the man was smiling.
MAKING A DREAD CHAMPION
A Dread Champion is a melee combatant who revels in the glory and gore of battle. He knows that true power comes from the ability to end the lives of his enemies, and the fear that inspires in others.
Abilities: A Dread Champion requires a high Strength and Constitution to survive melee combat, and a high Charisma to sow fear among his enemies.
Races: Any, though Dread Champions smaller than Medium are quite rare.
Alignment: Any non-good. Good characters aren't often attracted to the Dread Champion's methods.
Starting Gold: As paladin.
Starting Age: As paladin.
Hit Die: d12
Class Skills
The Dread Champion's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (History, Nobility & Royalty) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|M.Known|M.Readied| Stances
1 | +1 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Cowing strike, density of demeanor| 6 | 4 | 1
2 | +2 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Cultivate dread, mocking challenge| 7 | 4 | 2
3 | +3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Anger is fear| 8 | 5 | 2
4 | +4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Mettle, no escape| 9 | 5 | 2
5 | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Reap and sow, sundering glare| 10| 6 | 3
6 | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Improved cowing strike| 11| 6 | 3
7 | +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Opportunity| 12| 6 | 3
8 | +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Improved mocking challenge| 13| 7 | 3
9 | +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Improved sundering glare| 14| 7 | 4
10| +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Death is strength| 15| 8 | 4
11| +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Greater cowing strike| 16| 8 | 4
12| +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Fear is anger, improved mettle| 17| 8 | 4
13| +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Sow and reap| 18| 9 | 4
14| +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Greater mocking challenge| 19| 9 | 5
15| +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Improved no escape| 20| 10| 5
16| +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10| +5 | +10| Supreme cowing strike| 21| 10| 5
17| +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10| +5 | +10| Ungodly roar| 22| 10| 5
18| +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11| +6 | +11| Dread reputation| 23| 11| 5
19| +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11| +6 | +11| Strength is death| 24| 11| 5
20| +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12| +6 | +12| Avatar of dread, supreme mocking challenge| 25| 12| 6[/table]
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Dread Champions are proficient with all armor and shields (including tower shields), all simple and martial weapons, and one exotic weapon of their choice.
Maneuvers: As a Dread Champion, you begin your career with knowledge of 6 martial maneuvers, chosen from the following disciplines: Army of One (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5710173), Broken Blade (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122533), Crimson Earth (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6325.0), Jade Throne (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160101), and Sublime Tapestry (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1351). Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver that you can use is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one.
You learn additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on the above table. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. The highest-level maneuvers you can learn are based on her initiator level, as normal. Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered Dread Champion level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. In effect, you lose the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. You can choose a new maneuver of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level maneuvers you can learn; you need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level.
Maneuvers readied: You can ready four of your six maneuvers per encounter at level 1, and as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you are able to ready more, but still must choose which maneuvers to ready. You ready maneuvers by exercising for 5 minutes; once readied, the maneuvers remain so until you spend 5 minutes to ready new ones.
You begin an encounter with all your maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you readied them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your maneuvers can be used once per encounter unless you recover them. Whenever you successfully demoralize an opponent with an Intimidate check, you may recover an expended maneuver as a free action; however, you can't use a recovered maneuver in the same round that you recover it, or recover a maneuver in the same round that you expended it.
Stances Known: You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to you. At 2nd, 5th, 9th, 14th, and 20th level, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you currently use as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description. Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.
Cowing strike (Ex): The strength of your blows is enough to turn the legs of the most stout-hearted of men to jelly. Whenever you successfully strike an opponent in melee who is not already shaken, frightened, panicked, or cowering, you may make a single demoralization attempt against that opponent as a free action. You may only make a demoralization attempt against that particular opponent with this ability; effects which would normally allow you to demoralize more than one creature at a time (such as the Never Outnumbered skill trick) do not apply. Unlike other fear effects, this ability is not a mind-affecting effect -- even mindless things instinctively shy away from your might.
Density of demeanor (Ex): Creatures respect and fear you no matter what their size; failure to do so would be suicide. You suffer no penalties to Intimidate checks for being smaller than your target, though you still gain bonuses for being larger as appropriate.
Cultivate dread (Ex): When you reach 2nd level, your schemes to covertly promote your own fearsome reputation have begun to pay off. You gain a circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks equal to half your class level (rounded down, minimum +1).
Mocking challenge (Ex): Fools! Weaklings! Sniveling cowards! Who among you dares move against me? At 2nd level, you learn to provoke your enemies into rash acts with torrents of verbal abuse. As a move action, you may expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver to let out a mocking challenge. All enemies within 10 feet times the level of the expended maneuver must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + your Charisma modifier). A creature who fails its save against this effect has a choice: it may approach and engage you in melee combat at its earliest opportunity, or it may suffer a penalty to attacks, saves, and skill checks equal to your Charisma modifier for a number of rounds equal to the level of the expended maneuver. This is a sonic, language-dependent effect.
Anger is fear (Ex): By 3rd level you have learned that provoking strong emotions in your opponent is the key, since any strong emotion can be translated to crippling fear with just the slightest nudge. Creatures whose emotions have been artificially enhanced in some way are especially susceptible to this effect. Whenever you attempt to demoralize a creature who is benefitting from one of the following, you may roll twice and take the better result. If such a creature is normally immune to mind-affecting and/or fear effects, you may instead affect that creature with a demoralization attempt, but you only roll once, and the creature gains a +5 bonus on its save.
A morale bonus to saves, attacks, or skill checks.
Barbarian's rage or similar effects.
Any bardic music effect.
Any compulsion effect.
Any harmless mind-affecting effect.
Mettle (Ex): At 4th level, you learn to resist magical and unusual attacks with great willpower or fortitude. If you make a successful Will or Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial), you instead completely negate the effect. You do not gain the benefit of this ability when you are unconscious or sleeping.
No escape (Su): As a Dread Champion, you mete out an inevitable fate upon your foes, and no running can save them. From 4th level onward, creatures within your melee reach cannot use the Withdraw action, and any creature within 30 feet of you attempting to move farther away from you than its starting position finds the squares it is moving into to be difficult terrain.
Reap and sow (Ex): Upon reaching 5th level, your martial skill improves, teaching you to make long, sweeping strikes with your weapon. As long as you are wielding a non-reach weapon in two hands, your melee reach increases by +5 feet.
Sundering glare (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, the force of your will is strong enough to remove obstacles on its own. You can use an Intimidate check in place of the Strength check to break an object with sudden force, as long as you are within 10 feet.
Improved cowing strike (Ex): At 6th level, your blows are even more frightening than they were before. You may use your Cowing Strike ability against a creature who is already shaken.
Opportunity (Ex): When you reach 7th level, your upwardly-mobile machinations have taught you to be aware of every opportunity for wreaking havoc upon your enemies. Whenever a creature you threaten forgoes an attack of opportunity for any reason (including having no more attacks of opportunity left in a round), that creature provokes an attack of opportunity from you. A given creature may not provoke more than one attack of opportunity in a given round from you with this ability.
Improved mocking challenge (Ex): Upon achieving 8th level, you have a masterful grasp of body language and facial cues. Your Mocking Challenge ability is no longer a sonic or language-dependent effect.
Improved sundering glare (Ex): Beginning at 9th level, your force of will can damage objects even when it doesn't break them outright. You can make a sunder attempt against an object within 10 feet with your glare alone; this functions as a normal sunder attempt, except that you deal damage equal to the result of your Intimidate check, which bypasses hardness.
Death is strength (Su): Your will and resolve increase each time you cut down another enemy. Starting at 10th level, whenever you kill an opponent, you heal a number of hit points equal to twice that creature's Hit Dice.
Greater cowing strike (Ex): By the time you reach 11th level, you rain down destruction and fear with abandon, and the mere sight of you destroying an opponent causes your enemies to quake in their boots. Whenever you use your Cowing Strike ability, all enemies within 30 feet must save against your demoralization check or become shaken (you do not recover additional maneuvers when you successfully demoralize enemies other than the target of your attack with this ability).
Fear is anger (Ex): When you are 12th level, you learn to turn your own (heavily suppressed) fears and anxieties into fuel in battle. Whenever you are subjected to a fear effect that you do not create, you do not suffer the effects (as if you were immune to fear); instead, you gain a morale bonus to attack rolls, saves, and skill checks for 1 minute based on the strength of fear that effect would have caused in you, as shown on the table below. Multiple instances of this ability overlap and do not stack.
{table=head]Fear Strength|Morale Bonus
Shaken|+1
Frightened|+2
Panicking|+4
Cowering|+5[/table]
Improved mettle (Ex): This ability, gained at 12th level, works like Mettle, except that while you still negate the effect on a successful Fortitude or Will saving throw, henceforth you suffer the lesser effect only on a failed save. You do not gain the benefit of this ability when you are unconscious or sleeping.
Sow and reap (Ex): Once you reach 13th level, individual enemies are simply stalks of grain, waiting to be harvested by your blade. Whenever an enemy dies due to a martial strike that you initiate, you immediately recover that maneuver.
Greater mocking challenge (Ex): At 14th level, your catcalls and taunts cut straight to the core of your enemies' ego. You may activate your Mocking Challenge ability as an immediate action; in addition, any creature whose actions you interrupt with your mockery receive a -4 penalty on its save against the effect. Finally, creatures who fail their saves and choose to attack you deal minimum damage on successful attacks.
Improved no escape (Su): Your persona has a sort of gravity to it, where potential victims get pulled into the center to be slaughtered. Starting at 15th level, you can expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver to project an aura of inevitability as a standard action, which lasts for a number of rounds equal to the level of the expended maneuver. All creatures within 60 feet must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier) or be bound into a death spiral centered on you. Bound creatures are drawn inexorably toward you by 5 feet each round at the beginning of your turn, and may not make any movement which would move them further away from you than their starting position.
Supreme cowing strike (Ex): Beginning at 16th level, your attacks cause your opponents to (figuratively) melt into a pile of spineless, terrified pudding. The demoralization attempt you make with your Cowing Strike ability functions against creatures who are normally immune to fear, though they receive a +4 bonus to their save. In addition, on a critical hit, an opponent who fails its save against your demoralization cowers in fear for 1 round before resuming its normal level of fear (including the result of the demoralization) for the remainder of the duration.
Ungodly roar (Ex): When you achieve 17th level, you can expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver to release a shout containing all your rage, spite, and malice. Activating this ability is a standard action which does not provoke attacks of opportunity. All creatures in a cone of length 10 feet times the level of the expended maneuver must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 class level + your Charisma modifier) or be knocked prone, as well as checked, dazed, deafened, shaken, and stunned for 1d4 rounds. This is a sonic effect.
Dread reputation (Ex): By the time you attain 18th level, your exploits have brought you infamy far and wide. Your demoralization attempts are no longer mind-affecting (though they are still fear effects). In addition, whenever a creature approaches within 30 feet of you for the first time, you may attempt to demoralize it as a free action. Each time that creature approaches within 30 feet of you, you may attempt to demoralize it again until it successfully saves against the demoralization.
Strength is death (Ex): When you are 19th level or higher, you enjoy cutting down the strongest of your enemies, for such things put fear into the hearts of the weak. You may expend a readied (and unexpended) maneuver as a swift action to gain a bonus to attack and damage rolls on your next attack against a single opponent equal to that opponent's Strength score.
Avatar of dread (Su): Upon reaching 20th level, your anger and hatred, and the fear of your enemies, are enough to keep you alive even when your body has failed you. When you reach -10 hit points, you don't actually die. All life functions cease, however, and you are functionally a corpse for the purpose of resolving all spells that affect dead bodies. It takes a Heal check (DC 20 + 1/2 your class level) to detect any vital signs. You remain at -10 hit points no matter what damage or healing you receive. Death effects still affect you normally, and dismembering, burning, or skinning your corpse is sufficient to kill you. When 10 minutes have passed since you last took damage, you gain fast healing 10 until you are completely healed. You still appear dead until you reach your full normal hit points.
Supreme mocking challenge (Ex): At 20th level, you can activate your Mocking Challenge ability as a free action even when it isn't your turn, though no more often than once per round. In addition, the penalty for choosing not to engage you in melee combat increases to twice your Charisma modifier.