Schools of Combat

Soldiers of the White Shield
Lesson 1 – Lead Footing
A strong stance is the basis for all the techniques of the White Shield. As part of his training, a student of the White Shield strengthens his legs through constant running and balance exercises. The lead footing technique bestows a +4 stability bonus when defending against trip attacks and improved grab attempts

Lesson 2 – Defensive Stature
To learn the defensive stature, a student must undergo a grueling exercise regimen. The master and student engage in a series of battles in which the student may not strike back and must remain totally on defense. The purpose of this exercise is to improve endurance, patience, and the ability to dodge blows. Defensive stature imparts a +1 dodge bonus to AC.

Lesson 3 – Block Arrow
When teaching the block arrow technique, a master fires arrows at a student who tries to block them with a round, wooden shield. This lesson teaches a student to keep an eye out for ranged weapons and to predict their movement in combat. From then on, if the student does nothing but move in a round, he gains twice the normal AC bonus from his shield against
ranged attacks. This ability does not work with the shield spell.

Lesson 4 – Defend Ally
In combat, a good soldier keeps a friend covered from attacks. When first learning this technique, students are taught to concentrate on protecting another person in combat. As a result, any time the Soldier uses the aid another action in combat, he can impart a +4 bonus to his ally’s AC rather than a +2

Lesson 5 – Stubborn Will
In this lesson, the student and master travel to asecluded spot. The master carries all the supplies. For several days, the student must stand in absolute silence and refuse all offers of food or drink while the master taunts and provokes him. The master may even roast up a disgustingly obscene feast and lay it out toward the end of the second day. By refusing to give in to temptation, the student learns the stubborn will technique, imparting a +1 bonus to all Will saves.

Lesson 6 – Defensive Nature
By continuing his efforts in balancing exercises, the student learns to be naturally defensive at all times. Defensive nature improves the AC bonus given by defensive stature to +2.

Lesson 7 – Disarming Blow
Adisarming blow is an improved strike against a weapon. When learning this lesson, the student and master practice for days with a variety of different-sized weapons and positions. Eventually, the student masters the angle of attack needed to strike a weapon away from an opponent. This technique grants a +2 bonus to all disarm attempts. In addition, a successful disarm knocks the weapon 10 ft. away from the defender.

Lesson 8 – Unexpected Charge
Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. As part of this lesson a student randomly attacks his master without warning, usually with clever ambushes. The unexpected charge teaches the idea that an opponent caught off guard is easier to fight. Once this technique is learned, the character can take a charge action without suffering attacks of opportunity from creatures whose threatened squares he charges throu.

Lesson 9 – Energy Resistance
This lesson is a real trial by fire and sometimes scars a student for life. The student first chooses an energy type such as cold or electricity and then travels to an appropriate environment: a frozen wasteland for cold, a volcano for fire, a rotting swamp for acid, a stormy mountaintop for electricity, and so forth. The student then endures this harsh environment wearing as little clothing as possible and using no magical protections. The master checks up on, feeds, and encourages the student on a daily basis. The result of this torture is the development of a natural energy resistance 5 to the chosen energy type.

Lesson 10 – Damage Reduction
The most powerful technique a student of the White Shield can learn is the ability to shrug off damage. The secrets of attaining this ability are carefully guarded, and students wishing to learn this powerful technique are whisked away for a month and return with very little memory of what occurred or where they went. However, upon his return the student has gained the damage reduction technique. With this ability, a character gains a natural damage reduction of 15/–

Vinekeepers
Lesson 1 – Nature’s Clothing
Vinekeepers wear a distinct uniform that makes it easier for them to blend into wooded areas. This clothing has to be specially made by the master for the student. The student receives a series of lectures of how clothing, plants, colors, and sunlight are all important in camouflage. The clothing covers light and medium armor and gives the wearer a +2 circumstance bonus to Hide checks made in forested areas. The clothing cannot be worn by another individual and requires 1 full day to completely replace if destroyed.

Lesson 2 – The Huntsman
As part of being more at home in the wild, a student of the Vinekeepers must learn to be self-sufficient. As such, the master teaches the student how to identify certain tracks, hunt wild animals, and to properly prepare game for eating. The huntsman technique gives a character a +2 circumstance bonus to Wilderness Lore checks and makes it a class skill.

Lesson 3 – Watchful Rest
A Vinekeeper must be ready for anything, prepared to move at a moment’s notice. As part of her training, a student spends her nights in meditation while her master occasionally delivers an unexpected slap. This technique improves awareness during periods of rest. A character with watchful rest gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Listen checks when sleeping or resting and may react immediately upon waking (she is never considered surprised after being awoken.)

Lesson 4 – Quickscape
Vinekeepers use the quickscape technique to escape quickly from trouble. It takes patience and careful study to know the exact moment that an opponent will blink or otherwise be distracted in combat. With the master’s careful guidance, a student learns to use nature as a way to conceal a retreat. Once per battle, the character can use her move action to run away and hide. Even if the opponent’s eyes are following the character, it will seem as if she has melted into the background.

She may hide at any point during her movement, although her Hide check suffers a –1 penalty for each enemy combatant. Opponents can make an immediate Spot check as a free action to detect the character’s hiding place, but if they fail this check they must search for her as normal. This technique can only be used in heavily forested areas

Lesson 5 – Stoneface
Stoneface teaches a student the ability to remain perfectly still for hours on end. The lesson begins early one morning and involves hours of remaining motionless in a variety of positions and locations. The master teaches the student how to control breathing and how to ignore irritations such as mosquitoes. The stoneface technique grants the Vinekeeper a +4 circumstance bonus to Hide checks when the character is in position and motionless before an enemy approaches. The student can remain motionless for a number of hours equal to 1 + her Constitution modifier. She may extend this time by making a Concentration check (DC 20 + the number of previous checks) at the beginning of each hour.

Lesson 6 – The Grassblade
Movement can give away a position and reveal a Vinekeeper, so much of her training focuses on erasing these disadvantages. The grassblade technique focuses on reducing sound and leaving as few traces of movement as possible. For one week, the master and student practice stop and go travel. By learning the grassblade technique, a character gains a +2 circumstance bonus to Move Silently checks and increases the DC of Wilderness Lore checks to track her by 4 when she is traveling through wooded environments.

Lesson 7 – Windwalk
As a supernatural ability, the Vinekeeper can move among the branches of the trees hidden by the sound of rustling wind. This ability can be used three times per day and it lasts one minute per level each time it is used. A student learns this technique by sitting high in the trees and concentrating on the sound of the wind for several days. When using the windwalk, a character gains a +8 bonus to Jump, Hide, and Move Silently checks while moving among the branches of trees.

Lesson 8 – Nature’s Ally
The Vinekeeper has a good relationship with the plants and animals of the forest. By learning to tap into latent area magic, a Vinekeeper can ask for help from her environment. This ability acts as either a control plants or animal friendship spell as cast by a 9th-level druid, and can be used twice per day. The character can freely choose between the two effects each time the ability is used.

Lesson 9 – Viper Strike
One of the deadliest abilities of the Vinekeepers is the technique of attacking without warning and then retreating, all in a single action. When using a viper strike, the Vinekeeper draws a weapon, attacks with a +4 bonus on her attack roll, retreats, and hides, all within one round of combat and without provoking an attack of opportunity. This action combined with the quickscape ability has given rise to legends that the Vinekeepers spring from the forest itself to wreak terrible havoc upon their enemies.

This ability works in all ways like the Spring Attack feat, except the Vinekeeper must be hidden before she initiates the strike.

Lesson 10 – One With Nature
In a forest, the Vinekeeper becomes nigh invisible even when she is not hiding. To learn this powerful technique, a student must spend an entire month in the wild without food, water, clothes, or even friends. The master watches from afar but does not directly intercede, leaving only clues, written suggestions, and odd animal sounds for the student to study. After learning this powerful technique, the Vinekeeper is always considered to have full concealment against attacks in a forest, as she blends in with her surroundings and ducks and weaves in combat, using the terrain to her utmost advantage.

Order of Illianel
Lesson 1 – Focused Attack
The Order of Illianel focuses on good, solid fighting over fancy maneuvers. A disciplined fighter waits for the proper moment before making a move. The focused attack involves the student taking a defensive stance for one or more rounds in order to improve his next attack. The character must be in combat and taking no action other than full defense. For each round spent focusing, the character gains a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls for one standard melee attack. Subsequent attacks are treated normally. The maximum bonus is equal to the class level of the character performing the action.

If the character takes damage while he is focusing, he must make a Concentration check (DC equals the amount of damage taken) or lose any benefits from previous rounds of focus.

Lesson 2 – Expert Control
The Order of Illianel trains its members to be absolutely controlled in battle. Expert control bestows a character with a +1 bonus to damage rolls in melee combat, and makes Concentration a class skill for the character.

Lesson 3 – Ringing Strike
Awell-placed slap can cause an opponent’s head to swim. The technique of the ringing strike can only be performed in unarmed combat and must be declared before the attack roll is made. The ringing strike deals no damage but a foe struck by the attack must make a Fortitude save (DC 12). If the saving throw fails, the foe is stunned for one round. This technique cannot be used against opponents wearing helmets or other protective headgear or who are immune to critical hits.

Lesson 4 – Power Slam
To learn this technique, students spend hours throwing themselves at tied bushels of hay in order to learn how to use weight in a charge. This technique confers a +1 bonus to melee damage when charging, and a +5 bonus to the opposed Strength check when the character initiates a bull rush.

Lesson 5 – Balanced Attacks
Requires multiple attacks. The Order of Illianel can teach a student to balance multiple attacks. Rather than making a single strong attack followed by one or more weaker ones, the student holds back a little on his initial strike to improve his chances of hitting on future strikes. Once a character learns this technique he may take up to a –4 penalty on his first attack and then add the subtracted amount to the second orthird attack.
For example, Fenris is a 7th-level barbarian and has a total attack bonus of +10/+5. Fenris may use balanced attacks to subtract two points from his first attack and add it to the second. For one round, Fenris has a +8/+7 attack bonus. The exact amount subtracted must be declared before attack rolls are made and the added bonus must be used in the same round. This technique only works with melee attacks.

Lesson 6 – Double Notch
The double notch technique allows a student to fire two arrows at once by gripping them both at the same time. As such, a character can only use double notch with a composite bow. In a single ranged attack, a character props two arrows on the bow and fires both of them at a –4 penalty. Only one attack roll is necessary, and both arrows must strike the same target. However, damage for each of the arrows is rolled separately. Grabbing and loading two arrows is a move-equivalent action that can be performed during a move(similar to drawing a weapon during a move).

Lesson 7 – Last Ditch Effort
Often used as a final resort, the last ditch effort technique involves flinging a melee weapon at an opponent. Normally, such a maneuver would be very difficult, but the Order of Illianel instructs a student in the nuances of making a melee weapon into a ranged one. After learning this technique, the student can throw any weapon at an opponent with no penalty to the attack roll. Such impromptu thrown weapons have a range increment of 10 feet. The weapon deals its standard amount of damage.

Lesson 8 – Lion’s Toss
This maneuver requires at least a 12 Strength to perform. Atime honored game for the Order of Illianel is the caber toss, in which players lift huge tree trunks and see who can throw them the farthest. The game demands incredible upper body strength and balance, but it also leads to the lesson of the lion’s toss. When using this technique, a character can grab and throw an opponent for stunning damage. In order to perform the lion’s toss, a character must first make a successful grapple check on an opponent of his size category or smaller. The character can then throw the opponent 5 ft. + 5 ft per point of Strength modifier. The unlucky individual takes 1d6 points of damage and is stunned for 1d2 rounds. The opponent can attempt a Tumble check (DC 20); if successful, he suffers only the damage and is not stunned. The lion’s toss can be used three times per day.

Lesson 9 – Masterful Control
This technique builds on the ideas learned in expert control. It improves the amount of damage a character can deliver in melee attacks to +2 and grants the character a +1 bonus to damage with thrown weapons.

Lesson 10 – Screaming Strike
The most powerful attack a student in the Order of Illianel can learn is the screaming strike. When the character charges he leaps onto an opponent with such driving force that he gains a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls, as well as driving his opponent back as if he had performed a bull rush (use the character’s attack roll as his bull rush total). The screaming strike can only be used with melee weapons and maybe performed three times per day.

The Veruthian Slayers
Lesson 1 – Undead Lore
Requires the ability to read. Knowledge is power for a Veruthian Slayer. For one week, the master provides a prospective student with mounds upon mounds of books on the undead and occult. The student must read through these texts, scripts, accounts, studies, and histories to familiarize himself with the enemy. After acquiring this skill, a character gains a +4 bonus to all Knowledge (undead) checks, which is now considered a class skill. When encountering a new type of undead or finding evidence that suggests the presence of one, a Knowledge (undead) check may reveal helpful information on how to deal with the monster. The DM should determine the DC of any such check based on the information sought and the resources available.

Lesson 2 – Focused Slash
Some undead, such as skeletons, take only partial damage from slashing weapons. With a focused slash, the Slayer deals full damage when using a slashing weapon through his understanding of how and where to strike. This technique only works against non-living opponents.

Level 3 – Sense Undead
Advanced students of the Veruthian Slayers eventually develop a spell-like ability to detect the presence and relative strength of nearby undead. This ability can be used three times per day and acts like the detect undead spell as cast by a 3rd-level cleric.

Lesson 4 – Undead Critical
All creatures, even the undead, have their weaknesses. The Veruthian Slayers teach their students to find these vulnerable spots through intense understanding of the creature’s link to the negative energy that fuels it. The master and student spend several days tearing apart corpses and observing weak points in muscle and bone tissue, as well as the telltale blackened areas that serve as conduits to the negative energy plane.
Upon learning this technique, a character can inflict a critical hit on undead in combat. Immunity to critical hits is ignored.

Lesson 5 – Drain Resistance
The hours spent preparing for the rigors of fighting horrific undead monsters eventually pay off with improved mental and physical strength. As such, a character with this technique gains an improved resistance to the draining energy attacks of the undead. If a successful energy drain attack is made against the character, he may attempt a Fortitude save (DC 10 + one-half the attacker’s HD) to negate the level drain. If the save is unsuccessful, the character gains the negative levels and may attempt to shrug them off the following day as normal.

Lesson 6 – Summon Undead
Why seek the undead when you can make them come to you? In a secret ceremony, the Veruthian Slayers instruct a student in the arts of summoning the undead. This spell-like ability is usable three times per day and requires three rounds of concentration to perform. When this technique is used, the character sends out a mental command to all undead within 60 ft. + 10 ft. per point of Wisdom modifier. The effect lasts for two minutes and does not put the undead under the student’s control. It merely makes the character a beacon, or magnet, drawing the undead to him. Intelligent undead can make a Will save (DC 15) to ignore the summons but they will immediately be aware of the character’s presence and exact location.

Lesson 7 – Vorpal Hack
A student must show extreme prowess and initiative in defeating the undead before the Veruthian Slayers will teach him this technique. The vorpal hack ability enables the student to chop off a specified limb of an undead creature when wielding a bladed weapon. A character must declare that he is making a vorpal hack and specify which limb he wants to chop off before making his attack roll. The attack suffers a –4 penalty but on a successful attack, the limb is severed completely. This technique requires a full round action and can only be used three times per day.

Lesson 8 – Unnatural Healing
Through intense studies and experimentation with vampire blood, the Veruthian Slayers have unlocked the secret of unnatural healing. They can bestow this ability on a student in a complex ritual that lasts for three days, but leaves the student sick and bedridden for almost a week and a half afterwards. The power bestowed by this ritual enables the body to quickly repair damage delivered by undead creatures. A character with this ability gains a limited form of fast healing, allowing him to repair one hit point of damage per round.

Lesson 9 – Phantom Blade
The phantom blade is a supernatural ability that requires intense spiritual awareness. When using this technique, any melee weapon in the character’s hands becomes imbued with the ghost touch ability, which enables it to strike incorporeal undead. Should the weapon leave the character’s hands for whatever reason it automatically loses the ghost touch ability until the Slayer once again wields it.

Lesson 10 – Spectral Blast
Among all of the techniques taught by the Veruthian Slayers, none is more feared than the spectral blast. This unearthly attack emits a bolt of purely spiritual energy that rips through undead like a tornado. The bolt begins from the character’s hand and travels in a straight line for 25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels or until it hits an undead target. The spectral blast deals 10d6 points of damage to undead but passes harmlessly through living creatures. A character can perform a spectral blast three times per day.

Talaxian Duelists
Lesson 1 – Calm Demeanor
No duelist worth his salt loses his temper in combat. This is the quickest way to ensure defeat. A duelist remains focused and calm, always keeping his attention on the fight. Since many duels take place in front of a large and often loud audience, the duelist learns to ignore outside distraction that would hinder his fighting performance. The calm demeanor technique makes Concentration a class skill for the duelist and gives him a +2 bonus to Will saves against mind-affecting spells if he is in melee combat.

Lesson 2 – Weapon Mastery
A Talaxian Duelist slowly develops an uncanny affinity for his favored weapon. To reflect this, a character that successfully learns this lesson gains the Weapon Focus feat with his favored weapon. If the character already has the Weapon Focus Feat, the bonus from this feat is increased to +2

Lesson 3 – Steady Grip
The Talaxian Duelists are constantly honing their skills and are very possessive of their weapons. A master teaches his student to maintain complete control over the weapon, thus making the student less likely to drop it. Steady grip gives the character a +2 circumstance bonus when defending against disarm attempts.

Lesson 4 – Parry
At times, defense is as important as the attack, and knowing when to concentrate on blocking incoming strikes can be crucial to winning a duel. When performing a parry, a character can hold off on one standard attack in order to block an attack by an opponent. A parry must be declared at the beginning of the turn so that even if the challenger goes first, the character can still parry (unless the defender is flat-footed). The Duelist loses his highest base attack for that turn, but may still use his movement action or any subsequent attacks.
On the challenger’s attack, the duelist and the challenger make an opposed attack roll. If the duelist’s roll is equal to or greater than the challenger’s roll then the attack is blocked and deals no damage. If the challenger’s roll is higher then the parry did not work and the attack is resolved as normal. A character may not parry a weapon that is two sizes larger than the one he is using to make the parry.

Lesson 5 – Thrust
Awell-timed attack may not deal as much damage to an opponent, but it is more likely to hit. In this lesson, a student learns to study an opponent and to gauge his movements. By predicting an opponent’s reaction, the student can land a more precise hit with a small penalty to the damage dealt. A thrust must be declared before the attack roll is made and provides a +2 circumstance bonus to the character’s first attack roll in a round, at a –1 penalty to damage.

Lesson 6 – Fast Hands
A Talaxian Duelist must be ready for a fight at anytime and any place. In this first lesson, the master instructs the student on the proper way to sheath a weapon to make it easier for fast retrieval. This technique allows a character to draw his weapon instantly, as if he had the Quick Draw feat.

Lesson 7 – Improved Awareness
Sometimes a defeated foe disregards the honor of the duel and tries to inflict vengeance on the duelist, usually with a surprise attack or by getting some friends to help him seek revenge. A master teaches the student to expect such attacks and to be wary of large groups. This improved awareness makes it nigh impossible to get a good hit against a duelist. As a result, a character with this technique cannot be flanked, as if he had a 6th-level rogue’s Uncanny Dodge ability.

Lesson 8 – Speed of the Cheetah
Usually reserved for quick retreats and emergencies, this powerful technique grants a character the spell-like ability to cast cat’s grace on himself once per day as by a 3rd-level sorcerer.

Lesson 9 – Blademaster
Duelists prefer to disable an opponent rather than killing him, but some foes are so stubborn that they do not know when to quit. As such, the Duelists developed the blademaster technique, which is the mastery of using a weapon for subdual damage. When using a weapon that the character has a weapon focus in, the character can attack for subdual damage without incurring any penalties.

Lesson 10 – Barrier of Reflection
Sometimes an opponent resorts to magic to cheat in a duel. The Duelists consider this unacceptable, and actually had to find a way to insure that some petty, robed wizard was not knocking around the masters of their school. The barrier of reflection technique allows a character to cast spell turning on himself once per day as by a 13th-level sorcerer.

Fists or Ramos
Lesson 1 – Tipsy Demeanor
The essence of combat in the Fists of Ramos isto trick an opponent to drop his guard. Usually this is accomplished through erratic staggering, slurred speech, and seemingly weak perceptions. However, this is all an elaborate charade. The master and student spend hours studying inebriated individuals, sometimes even playing games with them, in order to perfect the student’s imitation.

By learning the tipsy demeanor technique, a character gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Perform checks when pretending to be impaired. The character may also consider Perform a class skill. In order to be used for combat, this technique must be initiated in or before the character’s first round of combat. It can be maintained as a free action. Opponents can make an opposed Spot check to see through the ruse, however. If the opponent fails to spot the subterfuge, the character receives a +1 dodge bonus to AC for the duration of the combat.

Lesson 2 – Kamse Strike
The Fists of Ramos learn a variety of specialized unarmed attacks. One of the first that a student learns is the kamse strike, which is an unexpected head butt often used in the beginning of combat to break through even the most secure defenses. In the first round of combat, the character gets a +4 circumstance bonus to a single unarmed melee attack. A character must declare he is using the kamse strike before making the attack roll.

Lesson 3 – Unwary Snatch
Fast hands and subtle movements are not the sole domain of thieves and pickpockets. The Fists are highly skilled at adept grabs, especially when a dangerous weapon or wand would thwart the gears of destiny. The unwary snatch technique provides a +2 circumstance bonus toall disarm attempt.

Lesson 4 – The Kaori Defense
The kaori defense is a relatively new lesson that was adapted from the Talaxian’s parry technique (see above). It works as an unarmed parry, allowing the Fist to parry weapons as easily as if he had one of his own. The Kaori need only give up his highest base attack in a round in which he is not flat-footed in order to make an opposed attack roll with the opponent. If the Fist wins, the attack is parried; if he loses, it resolves as normal. The elven master Kaori Brightstone refined this technique before disappearing to an unknown quest centuries ago. Her sudden disappearance in the mines of Felwar remains a mystery.

Lesson 5 – Passout
A good way to end unwanted combat or really throw an enemy a confusing bone is to merely fall over and pretend to be unconscious. When initiating the passout technique, a character swoons and hits the ground in a seemingly prone state. A character in this state is neither helpless nor considered prone, and he retains any Dexterity bonus to AC. When using this technique, the character makes a Perform check opposed by the Spot checks of his opponents. The character can then wait and make one surprise attack on any foe that comes within 5 feet and who failed his Spot check. Any opponent that is the target of such an attack loses his Dexterity bonus to AC for that attack. This technique can only be used once per battle and ends the moment the character initiates a surprise attack or performs any other action that requires more than a minimal movement.

Lesson 6 – The Roving Eye
The Fists of Ramos are keen observers and are trained to carefully study those around them. Masters are often seen talking to the back of a student’s head rather than facing them in order to force the student to pay attention to her surroundings. The roving eye technique endows a student with a +2 bonus to all Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

Lesson 7 – Floor Sweep
As a follow up to the passout technique, students of the Fist of Ramos are taught how to trip up an adversary in a sweeping kick without provoking an attack of opportunity. The floor sweep grants a +2 circumstance bonus to an unarmed trip attack, and can be made from a prone position without penalty. The attack is treated as if the character had the Improved Trip feat and he can rise as a free action immediately after making the attack.

Lesson 8 – Sleeper Punch
The Fists of Ramos are known for their ability to knock an opponent unconscious with a single blow. Most attribute this ability to the Fists’ reliance on strength of arms. However, that is not quite the case. By learning the locations of pressure points and vulnerable muscle structures, a student of the Fists learns how to strike an adversary in such a way that he falls into a deep slumber. This technique is an extraordinary ability that can be used three times per day. A character must declare that he is using the sleeper punch before making the attack roll. When performing a sleeper punch, the character makes an unarmed attack with a –4 penalty to the attack roll. If the attack succeeds, the opponent falls asleep as if he was targeted by a sleep spell cast by a 3rd-level sorcerer. The opponent gets a Will save (DC 18) to resist. Creatures that are immune to sleep or critical hits are not affected by the sleeper punch.

Lesson 9 – Purple Haze
A student must undergo a small ritual in order to learn the purple haze technique. As part of the ceremony she must drink a wild concoction of potions that usually makes the student sick and helpless for several days. However, the benefit for this temporary discomfort is the spell-like ability to cast blur on oneself once per day as cast by a 10th-level sorcerer.

Lesson 10 – Tornado Kick
Without question, the Fists are not afraid of being outnumbered in battle. The tornado kick is identical to the Whirlwind Attack feat except that it may only be used with unarmed melee attacks, as well as the following differences.

When performing the tornado kick, a character spins around in a wild flurry of kicking blows that have the chance not only to damage but also knock opponents unconscious. As a full attack action, the character makes one unarmed melee attack at his highest base attack bonus against each opponent with 5 ft. All those struck with the tornado kick must make a Fortitude save (DC 14) or fall to the ground unconscious. Unconscious characters can be awakened by normal means, similar to those affected by a sleep spell. A character can use the tornado kick twice per day.

The Jaden Spearmen
Lesson 1 – Spear Expertise
The Spearmen begin their training with the longspear and practice to improve their control and handling of the long and challenging weapon. The swinging thrusts, kicks, and maneuvers are quite impressive to behold, and they take incredible strength and concentration to perform. The spear expertise technique grants a character the Weapon Focus (longspear) feat.

Lesson 2 – High Brow
The first attack the spearmen learn to perform is the high brow. In this attack, a spearman strikes with a reach weapon at a distance using the front end of the weapon and then follows it with a close attack using the reverse end. A character must declare he is using a high brow attack before the attack roll is made. When using this technique, the character makes one attack at a distance with his full base attack bonus, then the character moves within 5 ft. of the opponent and initiates a second attack at a –5 penalty to the attack roll. This movement does not incur an attack of opportunity. This ability requires a full attack action to perform.

Lesson 3 – The Iron Curtain
By holding out his weapon horizontally in front of him and rushing forward, a Spearman can use his longspear to clothesline enemies. When using the iron curtain technique, a character performs an overrun and can strike all individuals in a 10-ft. wide line. Opponents that do not elect to jump out of the way are subject to a trip attack

Lesson 4 – Low Blow
This technique teaches a spearman to use his spear as an effective tripping tool. A character that knows this maneuver can make a trip attack on any opponent within 10 feet. This attack does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and if the attack fails his opponent may not attempt to trip him back.

Lesson 5 – Flying Spear
Often a spearman finds himself the target of ranged attacks, spells, or natural attacks from unreachable foes. In this case, the experienced spearman has an option, albeit one that leaves him deprived of his favored weapon. This advanced Jadan technique allows the spearman to throw his longspear at his enemies. The weapon has a range increment of 15 ft. and deals its normal damage on a successful strike. The Jadan masters teach their students to only use this technique as a last resort.

Lesson 6 – Backstep
It is very difficult to follow through with a hit up close and a Spearman needs room to move after performing a high brow or being pressed in melee. As such, Jadan masters train their students in the art of making a quick backstep. When using this technique, a character can move up to 10 feet back without incurring an attack of opportunity for leaving his opponent’s threatened area. He suffers attacks of opportunity for moving through other opponents’ threatened areas as normal.

Lesson 7 – Vaulted Kick
In this lesson, a student learns that a weapon can be used both for balance as well as for attacking. The vaulted kick allows a character to make an unarmed kick attack while using his large weapon as a counter-weight. This technique grants the character a +4 circumstance bonus to a single unarmed attack, which does not provoke an attack of opportunity even if the character does not have Improved Unarmed Strike, and requires a full attack action to perform. The target of the vaulted kick must also make a Strength check (DC 10) or be pushed back 5 ft. by the spearman’s assault in addition to normal damage.

Lesson 8 – Up-Close Combat
A common misconception that usually gets an enemy killed is that the Spearmen are helpless against foes that come close due to the large size of their weapons. However, the Spearmen are highly trained in this type of combat and merely suffer a –4 penalty to attack rolls with reach weapons against foes within 5 ft. Spears used in this manner use the same weapon statistics as a club.

Lesson 9 – Wall of Blades
When the orcish hordes were attacking, the Spearmen knew that they were hopelessly outnumbered and could easily be overrun. As such, they developed the wall of blades technique in order to scare the orcs and make their own forces seem more powerful. As a spell-like ability a character with wall of blades can cast mirror image as if he was a 3rd-level sorcerer. This ability can be used once per day.

Lesson 10 – Superior Spearfighting
Some opponents are just too tough to keep away, and continue to press a spearman despite his best efforts and the lessons that he has learned. A master Jadan Spearman that has learned this technique can turn his spear on its side, using it as a quarterstaff to form a double weapon. The spear is in all ways like a quarterstaff being wielded as a double weapon, except that its damage is 1d8/1d6. In addition, the Jadan master wields this weapon as if he had the Ambidexterity, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, and Two Weapon Fighting feats, effectively reducing his penalty when fighting in this manner.