Sword Saint

As a sword saint, you can channel your ki to empower yourself with several special abilities. Your ki flows through you, waxing and waning with your use of your abilities in battle. Outside of battle, your ki flow slows, limiting how much ki you can call upon at any given moment. You can only gain and use ki while you remain centered (see below).

Your cultivator level for all ki abilities is equal to your sword saint level. Your key ability modifier is Wisdom.

Ki Pool

Your maximum ki pool is equal to your cultivator level + your Wisdom score. Outside of combat, your maximum ki pool is equal to your cultivator level, and any excess at the end of combat drains away immediately. So, a 2nd level sword saint with a 16 Wisdom would have a maximum ki pool of 18 in combat and 2 outside of combat.

Gaining Ki

When you enter combat, at the start of your first turn, you immediately gain ki equal to your cultivator level, which is added to any ki you may already have in your ki pool, up to your maximum ki pool.

During combat, each successful melee attack you make with a heavy or light blade that does not expend ki grants you 1 ki point, up to your maximum ki pool. Successful critical hits grant ki equal to the attack’s critical multiplier. Special attacks which require you to expend one or more points of ki do not grant ki on a hit, nor do attacks made as part of delivering a spell or esoteric ability or when initiating a martial technique.

Additionally, you can spend 1 round meditating to refocus your ki flow to regain ki points. This provokes attacks of opportunity. At the start of your next turn, you can make a concentration check using your cultivator level. You gain a number of ki points equal to your check result, up to your maximum ki pool.

Being Centered

Maintaining a centered state of being is critical for a sword saint to draw upon internal ki and direct it to flow properly.  Becoming uncentered disrupts the ki flow, causing you to become clumsy and awkward. If you are not centered, you cannot gain ki points or use any ability that requires ki but do not lose any ki you currently possess.

To remain centered, you must wield a heavy or light blade, must not be encumbered by more than a light load, and must not carry a shield. You also become uncentered if you are disabled, dying, helpless, or unconscious.

Multiclass Cultivators

If you already possess the ability to cultivate ki when you become a sword saint, then the following applies.

Your cultivator level for all ki abilities is equal to your sword saint level + your cultivator level from other classes. If you gained cultivation through the Ki Cultivation feat, then your cultivator level is instead equal to your sword saint level + 1/2 your levels in other classes.

You gain the sword saint’s ability to gain ki by attacking with heavy or light blades, but you do not lose any existing methods of gaining ki. For example, a monk/sword saint can gain ki when attacking unarmed or with a heavy or light blade.

You use only the sword saint restrictions on being centered as described above. This replaces any existing restrictions you may possess. This means that a monk/sword saint is no longer restricted to remaining unarmored and wielding only monastic weapons; however, she now becomes uncentered when wielding a monastic weapon that is not also a heavy or light blade.

Sword saint levels do not progress the ki cultivation abilities of any other cultivation class you possess.

At 1st level, you gain the ability to strike with the speed and power of lightning. While centered, if you spend 1 ki point before you use a standard or full-round action to make a melee attack with a heavy or light blade, you may make one additional attack with that weapon at your highest base attack bonus.

You may flurry when making any normal melee attack, including when charging, making a special attack, or using combat maneuvers. This additional attack stacks with the bonus attacks from haste and other similar effects. You may not flurry when making a melee attack as part of delivering a spell or esoteric ability or when initiating a martial technique, nor may you combine this ability with the monk‘s flurry of blows.

The extra attack from flurry of blades does not generate ki.

This ability counts as the monk’s flurry of blows ability for the purposes of meeting prerequisites.

With the cultivation of sword ki, you become proficient in the use of any blade you wield. At 1st level, you gain proficiency with all exotic weapons in the Heavy Blades and Light Blades weapon groups.

In addition, any feat you possess (or later gain) that applies to only a single weapon—such as Weapon Specialization—instead applies to all weapons from that weapon group, provided it is either Heavy or Light Blades.

Your ability to parry and deflect attacks with your blade is greatly enhanced by your sword ki. Beginning at 2nd level, the bonus you gain from the Dodge feat increases by +1 as long as you remain centered. This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 6th level and again at 10th level.

A swift attack to throw an enemy off balance is often the best defense. At 2nd level, whenever an enemy misses you with a melee attack, you may spend 1 ki point to make an attack of opportunity against that enemy.

You gain Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites. You may use this feat while you are armed with a heavy or light blade.

You may expend ki to use this feat additional times in a round. Each additional deflection costs 1 ki point more than the previous. So, the second deflected attack costs 1 ki point, the third costs 2 ki points, and so forth.

Beginning at 3rd level, your sword ki gives you the ability to control your blade even when it leaves your hand. By focusing your sword ki into a heavy or light blade, you can cause the blade to fly similar to the flying disk spell using your cultivator level as your caster level.

Activating this ability is a standard action that costs 1 ki point. At the beginning of each turn, you must spend 1 ki point as a free action to maintain this ability, otherwise the effect ends, causing the sword to gently descend.

You cannot wield a blade as a weapon while it is affected by this ability.

At 4th level, you are able to focus your sword ki to protect your will into the world as sword intent, slashing an enemy from afar. You may spend 3 ki points as a standard action to make a melee attack with a heavy or light blade. Your reach for this attack is increased by 5 feet per class level.

At 8th level, your sword intent rends the very air, slashing through all enemies in a line. When using this ability, you may spend an additional 3 ki points (6 total) to attack all enemies along a line to the extent of your sword intent range. You make a single melee attack roll and damage roll with your weapon and apply the results to each creature in the line. If you make a critical hit, only the first creature hit takes additional critical hit damage.

At 5th level, you gain Whirlwind Attack as a bonus feat, but you may only use it with a heavy or light blade. In addition, you may use your Flurry of Blades ability to gain one additional attack that can use used against any one opponent in reach when you make this attack. (You normally forfeit any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities.

At 7th level, when you use flurry of blades, you may spend 2 additional ki points to make a second additional attack with a heavy or light blade. This attack is made at your full base attack bonus with a -5 penalty. You must make the decision whether or not to use this ability when you spend the ki to activate flurry of blades.

At 8th level, you gain Maelstrom Attack as a bonus feat, but you may only use it with a heavy or light blade.

In addition, you may use your Flurry of Blades and Rush of Steel abilities to gain two additional attacks that can use used against any opponents in reach when you make this attack. (You normally forfeit any bonus or extra attacks granted by other feats, spells, or abilities.)

At 9th level, your sword ki can disorient your foes, disrupting their ability to fight effectively. You may spend 10 ki points as a swift action to charge a heavy or light blade with disruptive ki until the end of your turn. Any creature you hit with the charged weapon must make a successful Fortitude save (DC 15 + your Wisdom modifier) or become dazed until the start of your next turn. A creature only makes a single save against this ability, even if they are hit multiple times in a round.

Your ability to focus your sword intent permeates the world around you, forming a sword domain. When you use your Maelstrom Attack feat with a heavy or light blade, you may expend a number of ki points to extend your reach for this attack by 5 feet for every 2 ki points spent. You may not spend more than 10 ki points on this ability.

When you make an attack with extended reach using this ability or your Sword Intent ability, any additional attacks from your Flurry of Blades and Rush of Steel abilities have the same maximum reach (but do not strike all enemies in a line).