Fantasy Class: Martialist

© 2009 The Fantasy Cartographic

Cover and Interior Illustrations © 2008 VShane

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We at the Fantasy Cartographic hope that you find Fantasy Class: Martialist useful and enjoyable. If you like what you’ve seen here, please let us know. If you dislike it, have suggestions, or have questions, please contact us. As with the best in roleplay gaming, fan feedback will only improve this product. Help us to make the martialist as good as it can be. fantasy.cartographic@gmail.com

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Credits

Fantasy Class: Martialist

Written By Nicholas Kristof

Edited By Alexander Mont

Nicholas Kristof

Michael Garfield

Graphic Design & Layout Nicholas Kristof

Cover Illustration & Internal Art VShane

Radiant SpearTM Logo Will Peters Productions

Special Thanks To Michael Potter

David Kristof

Matt Kristof

Brian DiGennaro

Greg DiGennaro

Michael Strane

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Table of Contents

The Martialist

Contents

Table

Contents 4

History 5

The Martialist 6

Exploits 9

Paragon Paths 25

Battlefield Sprinter 26

Defender of the Five Rivers 27

Dwarven Hammer Hand 28

Granite Grappler 29

Iron Fist 30

Tail Lasher 31

Thin One 32

Wave Knight 33

Epic Destinies 34

Eternal Striker 35

Grappler of the Gods 35

Wave Ruler 36

New Feats 37

Heroic Tier Feats 37

Paragon Tier Feats 39

Epic Tier Feats 40

Multiclass Feats 41

Equipment 42

Armor 42

Weapons 43

Hand Slot Items 43

Head Slot Items 44

Appendices 46

Appendix A: Table of Exploits by Type and Usage 46

Appendix B: Table of Exploits by Name (Alphabetically) 49

Appendix C: Optional Rules for the Using Equipment 52

Appendix D: Martialist Equipment Categories for

Assorted Items from Other Sources

54

Appendix E: Power Cards for all Martialist Powers 56

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The Martialist

History

History During the Reign of the Twenty-Second, in the fifty-seventh year of the Empire’s Third Conquests, the Keep at Horrdren Vale was converted to a prison. The military advisors to the Emperor convinced him of the need for a prison from which escape would be impossible and, for its eventual inhabitants, more dangerous than their imprisonment. As Horrdren Vale no longer sat at a crucial crossroads at the Empire’s western boundary, it provided a perfect location.

Initially, Horrdren Vale housed only Dragonborn and Tiefling prisoners. With the Empire ascendant, and the realms of the dracs and devilkin locked in check-mated struggle, the generals that served the Twenty-Second believed, rightfully, that holding these blood-sworn enemies in the same prison would aid in breaking their spirits. Soon, however, the opportunity to house prisoners of other races proved too much temptation to bear. The Keep was soon filled to capacity. Military prisoners, and then political prisoners, those who had personally slighted the Twenty-Second, then the Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fourth and their closest advisors, and others were all housed in its dizzying heights. The towers full, the prisoners were then set to work mining into the base of Mount Aatos, not for ore or gem, but merely for space to house themselves and the ever-growing stream of prisoners.

During the Reign of the Twenty-Fifth, six years following the end of the Third Conquests, violence erupted within Horrdren’s Claw, as the Keep had by then come to be known. The prisoners, united in spite of racial enmities and distrust, took control of the lower tunnels and the bases of the Three Spires. Antallan the Weak claimed control of Horrdren’s Claw in the name of all its prisoners. His “reign” lasted for seven weeks, during which time he laid siege to the upper levels of the Three Spires. Black Spire and East Spire fell to his forces, but as with all alliances forged in desperation, his quickly dissolved as first the Tieflings, then the Dragonborn, demanded a greater share of the spoils. Unfortunately for the prisoners, Great Spire did not fall, and the only spoils gained were shackles for all and death for most. The Rose Warden was able to request reinforcements, who arrived at the Claw two weeks after Antallan was betrayed. The forces sent by the Twenty-Fifth included Varadruin warriors, three regiments of Flayed Spears, and one company of the Twenty-Fifth’s Own.

Within three days of their arrival at the gates of the Claw, the Imperial forces were able to subdue the entire rebellion. Although records were not kept, it was said that fully half of the prisoners were killed at that time. The Rose Warden was also summarily executed for losing control of the Claw. Norsuul, Adjutant to the Knight Commander of the Silver Spears, was placed in command of the Claw. He instituted a series of reforms that eventually led to the development of the fighting styles in use by martialists today. The most significant of which was the outlawing of all wooden and metal implements within the confines of the prison. As the prisoners that rose up in rebellion had used knives and forks, cooking and mining implements, and even more mundane objects as weapons to take control of the Claw, Norsuul removed all such objects. He replaced them all with objects crafted from crumblestone; objects crafted of the material would literally crumble if forcibly struck against another object—even the flesh and bone of a living creature. The guards

under his command, of course, retained their weapons and armor. For many long years, the prisoners were under the complete control of Norsuul and his corps of guards.

As the implements to do so were no longer present, mining within the lower tunnels of the Claw ceased. The lack of readily available weapons, however, did not stop the prisoners from plotting escape. Nor did it prevent violence within the Claw, which was as much as ever a cruel and inhospitable place. Gangs of prisoners formed; factions grew strong, split or dissolved and reformed anew; death was common—by the blade or hammer of the guards or by the hand of other prisoners. Norsuul grew complacent, believing that crumblestone solved the problems of prisoner violence. Thinking that his armed guards were far superior in combat to his prisoners, he took to touring the tunnels with but two henchmen to protect him. Shortly after this foolishness was noted by the prison population, Norsuul and his two aides were found dead. He had been Warden for twenty-two years, and during that time studied every aspect of those whose lives he owned, yet he never fully understood the fundamental change that occurred within the prison population wrought by his own decisions. In the end, that ignorance cost him his life.

The Claw remained a prison for more than three hundred years after the death of Norsuul. Throughout that time, crumblestone ensured that the prisoners had only the use of their bodies to inflict pain, and death, upon each other. It also ensured that those who spent any time within the prison became experts in unarmed combat; survival required it. It is possible that the martial traditions developed in the Claw would have stayed within its walls forever. During those three hundred years, the Claw came close to being shuttered at least eight times. And each time, the intention of the Empire was to kill all of the prisoners rather than loose them upon the populace. But for various reasons the Claw remained in service, and each passing year allowed the combat styles of the prisoners held within to strengthen, to develop, to be perfected. As time marched onward, and Emperors came and went, surely it would happen that an Emperor would make a decision, a decision to either annihilate or free the wretched inhabitants of the Claw.

The Fifty-Eighth took possession of the Radiant Spear fourteen years into what is now called the Third Peace. It is said that he was a follower of the Dove Queen. While there is no proof to substantiate such a claim, his edicts seemed to indicate an understanding of her gentle teachings, for unlike the majority of his recent predecessors, he cared not for war or conquest. Nor did he develop personal grudges easily. With no wars or personal whim to feed the insatiable appetite of the Claw, its population began to decline. Seven years after possessing the Spear, the Fifty-Eighth ordered the closing of the Claw. In all, over eleven hundred prisoners were freed. They took with them, to every corner of the Empire, their unique knowledge of combat, of muscle and bone, momentum and balance. It was these eleven hundred men, dwarves, elves, dragonborn and tiefling, that became the first Martialists.

- From the writings of Delic the Steady-Handed Historian to the Wielder of the Radiant Spear, The Sixty-Seventh

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The Martialist

The Martialist

The Martialist

“I am the fighter who carries no sword, the rogue who carries no dagger, and the ranger who carries no bow. With my hands and my feet, I will defeat you.”

CLASS TRAITS

Role: Striker

Power Source: Martial.

Key Abilities: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather.

Weapon Proficiencies: See Implement of Doom

class feature

Bonus to Defense: +1 Fortitude, +1 Reflex

Hit Points at First Level: 12 + Constitution Score

Hit Points per Level Gained: 5

Healing Surges per Day: 6 + Constitution modifier

Trained Skills: Endurance. From the class skills

list below, choose three more trained skills at 1st

level. Class skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Athletics (Str),

Intimidate (Cha), Stealth (Dex), Streetwise (Cha),

Insight (Wis).

Build Options: Brawler, Brutal Grappler, Dextrous

Grappler

Class Features: Armor of My Being, Expert

Grapple, Implement of Doom, Martialist Approach

As a martialist, you have complete control of your body,

and you use it to best advantage. You have practiced the

use of force, balance, and momentum, and you are an expert

at destroying joints, breaking bones, and crushing internal

organs. You carry no visible weapons, but that does not

mean that you aren’t armed. In the proper circumstance,

you can use your foot, your fist, your elbow, or even your

head.

Your reasons for choosing this unusual path are your own,

but those who come into contact with you will learn that

sometimes the best weapon is no weapon at all. You might

be a freedom fighter standing up to the well-armed troops of

an oppressive baron, a street tough who guards your

neighborhood from the chaos of the wider city, a wandering

pilgrim seeking your destiny, or maybe even the local thug

or the bodyguard of a sinister crime lord.

Those who don’t know any better see your empty hands and

take you for an easy mark. They would be well-served to

pay attention to the manner in which you move, the strength

of your fists, and the confidence with which you carry

yourself. Their contempt doesn’t bother you; in fact, it is to

your advantage.

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The Martialist

The Martialist

Creating a Martialist

The three martialist builds are the Brawler, the Brutal

Grappler, and the Dextrous Grappler. Each of these builds

make use of strength and dexterity; they are by far your

most important attributes.

Brawler You fight, and you fight hard. You punch, you kick, you

claw, you gouge. Most of your powers rely on your fists

and your feet for powerful punches and kicks. Strength is

the most important ability score for you. Select the striker

technique martialist approach.

Suggested Feat: Toughened Fist (Human feat: Sturdy

Strike)

Suggested Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Intimidate,

Streetwise

Suggested At-Will Powers: Combination Strike,

Weaponless Does Not Equal Weak

Suggested Encounter Power: Throat Strike

Suggested Daily Power: The Scythe

Brutal Grappler You squeeze your enemy, you lock him, you shove him to

the ground. You use momentum—your own—to punish

your enemies. Strength should be your highest ability score

as most of your attacks rely upon it. Select the wrestler

technique martialist approach.

Suggested Feat: All-Powerful Lock (Human feat: Power

Attack)

Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Endurance, Stealth, Insight

Suggested At-Will Powers: Grab and Hold, Forceful Shove

Suggested Encounter Power: Forge the Vulnerability

Suggested Daily Power: One on One

MARTIALIST OVERVIEW

Characteristics You are capable of dealing massive amounts of damage

with your fist and foot and specialize in leaving your foes

confused, down, and hurting. You thrive in melee

combat but have almost no ranged abilities. You can

withstand a powerful blow but much prefer attacking

your foes and moving on.

Religion Martialists are known to worship all of the gods. Those

who are good aligned will often worship the gods of

adventure, protection, civilization, and battle while those

with an evil bent favor the god of war.

Races Each of the major peoples of the world count martialists

among their numbers. Dragonborn and humans make

capable brawlers and brutal grapplers; eladrin, elves, and

halflings prove to be effective dextrous grapplers.

Dextrous Grappler You are nimble on your feet, and combat to you is almost a

dance. You use your enemies’ momentum against them, to

trip and confound. Your attacks rely on Dexterity, so it

should be your highest ability score. Select the wrestler

technique martialist approach.

Suggested Feat: Counter Embrace (Human feat: Combat

Reflexes)

Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Endurance, Stealth, Insight

Suggested At-Will Powers: Dance of Death, Attack to

Defend

Suggested Encounter Power: Bloodied Embrace

Suggested Daily Power: Gliding Assault

Martialist Class Features

You have the following class features.

Armor of My Being. You are tough, your body

hardened, your bones and muscles resistant to physical

damage.

You gain a bonus to your Armor Class as a result of your

continuing martial training. Additionally, you gain some

resistance to normal damage. These advantages increase as

your level increases.

Level Bonus to AC Resistance 1 – 5 Nil Nil

6 – 15 + 1 Nil

15 – 25 + 2 Resist 1 normal

26 – 30 + 3 Resist 2 normal

Expert Grapple. As an expert in close-quarters combat,

you are skilled at grabbing opponents and controlling them.

When you attempt to grab a target (See chapter 9 of the

D&D 4E PLAYER’S HANDBOOK), the following paragraphs

apply. For those aspects of grabbing not addressed herein,

use the rules presented in the D&D 4E Player’s Handbook.

Strength Attack: A grab requires a Strength attack vs.

Reflex. If you have one hand free, make a Strength attack

+2 vs. Reflex. If you have both hands free, make a Strength

attack +3 vs. Reflex.

Effects of the Grab: As long as you have an opponent

grabbed, you gain a +3 bonus to hit using any exploit that

has the Grapple keyword; you gain a +2 bonus to hit using

any exploit with the Fist, Weak-Hand, or Head keyword. If

an enemy attempts to escape from you, you have a +3 bonus

to your defense.

Moving a Grabbed Target: Make a Strength attack +2 vs.

Fortitude to move the target.

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The Martialist

The Martialist

Implement of Doom. As a Martialist, you have

molded your body into a weapon, or more accurately, a

collection of weapons. The following table summarizes the

‘weapons’ that you have at your disposal at all times; they

are the Crux (your body itself), Fist (including open hand,

forearm, and elbow attacks), Weak-Hand (same as Fist),

Foot (including stomp and knee attacks), and Head. All

Martialists are proficient with their Crux and Fist and

receive the proficiency bonus accordingly. As part of the

Implement of Doom (IoD) class feature, you are able to

select two additional ‘weapons’ with which to be proficient,

whether it is your Foot, Head, or Weak-Hand. (Further

selecting the respective Proficiency feat would enable you

to be proficient in all five.) In all cases, whether or not you

are proficient with a particular weapon, you do cause the

damage listed in the table when conducting an attack.

Weapon Proficiency Damage Crux +2 1d8

Fist +3 1d8

Weak-Hand +2 1d6

Foot +2 1d10

Head +3 1d6

The damage dice listed above are only the starting

possibilities; various feats and exploits can increase the

damage done by you with a particular Implement of Doom.

Damage dice will always follow the progression below:

1d6 → 1d8 → 1d10 → 1d12 →

2d6 → 2d6+1 → 2d8 → 2d10

Finally, additional feats allow you to take special advantage

of your racial characteristics.

Example: Rithaig Mithril-Toe is a 25th

level dwarven

martialist who has taken the hardened foot, toughened foot,

and adamantine foot feats. He attacks and hits an opponent

with mighty reave using his foot. The attack deals 5[W] +

Strength modifier damage and slows the target. His foot

does 2d6 + 1 damage (1d10 for the Implement of Doom and

then three steps along the damage progression table above

due to the three feats). The total damage from this attack

would be 10d6 +10 [(5 x (2d6 + 1)) + 5 (strength modifier)].

Martialist Approach. Martialists approach combat

using a wide range of techniques. There are those that

prefer to keep their enemies at arms length, at the far end of

a clenched fist. Other martialists strive for full body

contact, to squeeze, twist, or crush their foes. Choose one of

the following techniques:

Striker Technique: Because of the skill with which you

wield your fists, you gain Unarmed Brutality as a bonus

feat. Additionally, you gain the benefit of the Potent Strike

as detailed below:

Potent Strike. Once per round, when you have

combat advantage against an enemy and are

attacking with an exploit that has the Fist, Weak-

Hand, Foot, or Head keyword (See below), the

attack deals extra damage if the attack hits. You

decide whether to apply the extra damage after

making the damage roll. The extra damage is based

on your level.

Level Potent Strike Extra Damage 1

st-10

th +1d6

11th

-20th

+2d6

21st-30

th +3d6

Wrestler Technique: You enjoy drawing your enemy

close and causing him to suffer; you gain Hold Tight as a

bonus feat. You are also able to Power Lock your

opponents; see below.

Power Lock. Once per round, if you attack an

opponent with an exploit that has the Grapple

keyword or attack an opponent that you hold in a

grab at the start of the attack, the attack deals extra

damage if it hits. You decide whether to apply the

extra damage after making the damage roll. This

extra damage increases as you advance in level.

Level Power Lock Extra Damage 1

st-10

th +1d6

11th

-20th

+2d6

21st-30

th +3d6

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The Martialist

Martialist Exploits

Exploits

Your powers are exploits that rely on physical prowess. For

many, Strength is the most important attribute; for others it

is Dexterity. Choose those that help you fulfill your

conception of your character. Martialist exploits make use

of several new keywords. An explanation of each follows:

Crux and Fist: When determining damage for an exploit

that uses one of these keywords, use your Implement of

Doom ‘Crux’ or ‘Fist’ damage. Also, there are several feats

and paragon paths that affect exploits with these keywords.

Foot, Head, and Weak-Hand: When determining damage

for an exploit that uses one of these keywords, use your

Implement of Doom ‘Foot’, ‘Head’ or ‘Weak-Hand’

damage. When attacking with one of these, you only

receive a proficiency bonus if you selected that IoD as part

of the class feature or have the appropriate Proficiency feat.

Also, there are feats and paragon paths that affect exploits

with this keyword.

Grapple: This keyword denotes a specific type of attack.

Typically, only those exploits with this keyword can have

Power Lock damage applied to them. The primary damage

caused by these exploits is determined by the other

keyword(s) listed. There are feats and paragon paths that

affect exploits with this keyword.

Humanoid: Exploits that contain this keyword can only be

used against ‘humanoid’ targets, i.e. targets that have two

arms, two legs, and a head in roughly human proportions,

and that are smaller, the same size or one size category

larger than you. Various feats and paragon paths expand

upon these powers.

For those exploits that list only Weapon, the Martialist shall

choose whichever Implement of Doom he desires for this

attack and roll damage accordingly. Additionally, you may

use actual melee weapons with exploits with this keyword.

Finally, some exploits list a keyword followed by a second

or third in parentheses, such as Fist (Foot) or Crux (Fist).

In those cases, the exploit has either one or the other

keyword. When initially selecting the exploit, you must

decide which version you are choosing. This will be yours

for the length of your life unless you choose to retrain. For

the purposes of selecting powers as you advance in level,

you may only learn one version of any given exploit at a

time.

Level 1 At-Will Exploits

Attack to Defend Martialist Attack 1 The strength of your attack prevents your foe from retaliating.

At-Will • Martial, Weapon

Standard Action Melee Target: One creature

Attack: Strength vs. Fortitude

Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.

Effect: The target suffers a -1 penalty to attack rolls when

attacking you until the end of your next turn.

Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier damage at 21st

level. Additionally at 21st level, the target’s attack penalty

increases to -2.

Combination Strike Martialist Attack 1 Your fists strike your opponent almost as if one.

At-Will • Martial, Fist, Weak-Hand

Standard Action Melee Target: One creature

Attack: Strength vs. AC, two attacks

Hit: 1[W] damage (Fist) for first attack. 1[W] damage (Weak-

Hand) for second attack.

Increase damage to 2[W] at 21st level.

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