Martial Schools - A new subset of Martial Disciplines

[DaTedinator]

IRON HEART

IRON PALM [Prestige]

Take the sword away from the greatest swordsman in the world, and what would you have? Nothing. The only constant in battle – the only weapon you can be certain you have – is your own body.

Practitioners of the Iron Palm school of Iron Heart have studied for the worst case scenario, to the point where even bereft of a weapon, they’re better off than the average armed soldier.


Iron Palm is a prestige school; those who wish to learn its secrets must meet the following requirements:
Skills: Balance 10 ranks
Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Strike


IRON PALM MANEUVERS


4TH LEVEL

• Empty Sword Technique: Counter- Disarm foe before he can attack.

6TH LEVEL

• Turn the Blade: Strike- Attack an opponent with their own weapon.
• Followup Attack: Stance- Your attacks deal extra damage based on how much your attack exceeded foe’s AC.

7TH LEVEL

• Last Ditch Strike: Strike- Attack deals extra damage for each expended maneuver.

8TH LEVEL

• Open Arms Technique: Stance- Disarm, sunder the weapon of, or trip anyone who hits you.


Maneuver Descriptions

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Empty Sword Technique
Iron Heart (Counter)
Level: Iron Palm 4
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature

Catching your foe's hand before his blade touches your skin, you wrench the weapon away from him before he has a chance to use it.

You may use this maneuver whenever an opponent makes a melee attack against you with a weapon. You may immediately attempt to disarm them; unlike normal, you don't provoke an attack of opportunity, you don't take a -4 penalty if you attempt the disarm while unarmed, and if you fail the disarm attempt, your opponent may not attempt to disarm you in return. Additionally, because you're waiting for your opponent's weapon to come to you, you may use this maneuver even if your opponent is outside of your reach.

If you were unarmed when initiating this maneuver, and successfully take your opponent's weapon, you may immediately make an attack of opportunity against them.

Flowing Fists
Iron Heart (Stance)
Level: Iron Palm 5
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

The more solid your blow, the more power you can pour into it.

While you are in this stance, your attacks deal extra damage based on how much your attack rolls exceed your opponent's AC. The bonus damage is equal to half the difference between your attack roll and your opponent's AC, rounded down. So if your attack roll totaled 28, and your opponent had an AC of 23, your attack would deal +2 bonus damage.

If you land a critical threat, the bonus damage is instead equal to the difference between your attack roll and your opponent's AC. If you confirm the crit, multiply that bonus damage as normal.

Turn the Blade
Iron Heart (Strike)
Level: Iron Palm 6
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One creature

Through a series of clever maneuvers, you manage to get your opponent to hit themselves with their own weapon.

As a part of this maneuver, make a melee touch attack. If it succeeds, you may make an attack against your opponent, using your own base attack bonus, Strength bonus, etc., but the attack is made with whatever weapon they're currently wielding (if they're wielding more than one, you choose which one you attack with). You apply the weapon's bonuses to attack and damage, as normal, but you gain no bonuses or penalties that are specifically granted to whoever wields the weapon - for example, a good-aligned Warblade wouldn't take any negative levels for attacking his opponent with their Unholy Greataxe.

If either your touch attack at the start of this maneuver, or your attack made as a part of this maneuver are critical hits, you may attempt to disarm your opponent after attacking them. If your disarm attempt fails, they may not attempt to disarm you in return.

Last Ditch Strike
Iron Heart (Strike)
Level: Iron Palm 7
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature

You may have exhausted all of your other tricks, but you still have one ace left up your sleeve.

As a part of this maneuver, make a melee attack. The attack gains a +1 bonus to attack and +1d6 bonus to damage for each maneuver you currently have expended.

If this is your last readied maneuver - and you have at least one expended maneuver - a successful attack is automatically a critical threat.

Open Arms Technique
Iron Heart (Stance)
Level: Iron Palm 8
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

You are a whirling torrent of vengeful steel; nobody who hits you gets out unscathed.

Whenever you are hit by a melee attack while in this stance, you may retaliate against your opponent. You may either make a disarm or trip attempt against them, or make a sunder attempt against the weapon that hit you. Additionally, if you successfully disarm or trip an enemy, or sunder their weapon, you may immediately take an attack of opportunity against them.

In any case, you don't provoke an attack of opportunity for your disarm, sunder, or trip attempt, and your opponent may not retaliate if you fail a disarm or trip attempt.