Martial Arts Overview

The martial arts consists primarily of two categories of techniques: Maneuvers and Stances. A maneuver—either a boost, counter, or strike—is a specialized ability that produces a specific effect and is temporarily expended after use. A stance provides an ongoing effect as long as the stance is maintained and is never expended.

Maneuvers and stances do not have limited uses per day; however, each time you use a maneuver, it is temporarily expended and unavailable to you. Whether this means you have lost proper mental focus, expended some ki energy, or simply are out of the proper position to perform the maneuver, you cannot perform the same maneuver again until you have a moment of rest or take a specialized action to recover an expended maneuver. The type of action necessary to recover an expended maneuver depends on your class, with each type of martial disciple possessing its own unique ability to recover expended maneuvers. You can typically use each of your readied maneuvers once per encounter, but you may be able to use them more than once if you take the time to recover expended maneuvers. Stances are never expended and thus are always available to you.

Readying Maneuvers

Much as a wizard or cleric needs time to prepare spells for the day, a martial disciple must ready the mind and prepare the body through meditation, prayer, exercise, or some other method of focus. You must choose your selection of readied maneuvers in advance, and only those maneuvers which are readied are available for use during an encounter.

The number of readied maneuvers is based on your class and level. If you gained maneuvers through feats or other training, then the feat or other option will dictate how many maneuvers you may ready. Prestige and specialist classes may grant additional readied maneuvers, in which case you simply add that to the maximum number of maneuvers you may currently ready.

Readying maneuvers is a relatively brief endeavor, taking only 10 minutes of dedicated preparation time. Most martial disciples know more maneuvers than they are able to ready at one time and must choose which subset of maneuvers to have readied. You need not perform a Rest to ready maneuvers and may change which maneuvers you have readied any number of times per day, provided you spend 10 minutes in preparation each time.

You may not choose to leave any of your readied maneuvers slots empty, nor may you ready an specific maneuver in more than one slot. All slots must be filled, and each individual maneuver may only be readied once.

Stances never need to be readied and are always available to you.

Initiating Maneuvers and Stances

To initiate any technique, you must be able to move. Any effect which prevents movement—stunned, dazed, immobilized, grappled, and so forth—also prevents you from initiating a maneuver or stance. To initiate a technique, you simply choose which technique to use and take the requisite action: swift, immediate, move, standard, or full-round. You may only initiate your readied maneuvers that are not currently expended.

Initiating a stance is a swift action, and it remains in effect until you initiate a new stance, choose to end the stance, or become unconscious or are otherwise rendered helpless. Stances may even be used outside of combat, granting you their benefit whenever you might find them suitable.

Concentration

You need not maintain concentration to initiate a technique or maintain an active stance. Injury and hostile effects also do not cause you to lose a technique the way you might a spell; however, enemies may still interfere in ways that could make certain techniques impossible to use. For example, being tripped or disarmed would prevent you from using a maneuver that requires you to move or attack with your weapon.

If you initiate a maneuver and are prevented from completing it, the maneuver is still expended, and the action used to initiate it is lost. You may recover the maneuver as normal for your class.

Martial techniques do provoke attacks of opportunity, unless the technique’s description specifically states that it does. However, some techniques allow or cause movement or other actions which do provoke attacks of opportunity, in which case these actions still provoke (unless the description says otherwise). For example, a maneuver which allows you to move between attacks on a full attack would cause you to provoke attacks of opportunity for that movement as normal when you leave a square threatened by an enemy.

Initiator Level

Much like spells and caster level, some martial techniques variable effects based on your initiator level. Your initiator level is equal to the number of levels you have in your martial disciple class. Prestige classes and specialist classes that grant or advance your maneuvers also add to your initiator level. If you have no levels in a martial disciple class, your initiator level is equal to 1/2 your Hit Dice.

If you multiclass into a class that isn’t a martial disciple or into a different martial disciple class, your martial skill still improves. Your initiator level is equal to your levels as a martial disciple + 1/2 your levels in all other classes. For example, a Mystic 6/Ranger 5 would be considered an 8th-level initiator.

If you possess the Martial Arts Training feat, your initiator level is equal to the higher of your ranks in Arms Lore or your initiator level as described above.

Learning Maneuvers and Stances

Martial techniques are categorized by level, with higher level techniques being more powerful. The highest level maneuver you can learn is based on your initiator level rather than on your class level. Determine your initiator level as described above and then compare it to Table: Highest-Level Technique Known to determine the strongest techniques you can learn.

For example, the Mystic 6/Ranger 5 mentioned above is an 8th-level initiator and can select maneuvers and stances of up to 4th level.

Resolving A Maneuver or Stance

Once initiated, a maneuver or stance must be properly resolved.

Attack Rolls

Many maneuvers (especially strikes) involve making an attack of some type. Any offensive maneuver that involves an attack roll, makes non-damaging attack (such as a bull rush or overrun), can be resisted by a saving throw, deals damage, or otherwise harms or hampers a foe is considered an attack.

Bonus Types

Various martial techniques grant a bonus to rolls, AC, saves, or other characteristics that you may possess, which follows the normal rules for bonus types and stacking. If the bonus type is not identified, then it is considered an untyped bonus.

Actions During a Maneuver

Each maneuver describes the action type necessary to initiate it (move, standard, full-round, swift, or immediate). Any benefits granted by the maneuver are considered part of that action, even if they would normally require taking an action by themselves, such as attacking, charging, or moving. If a maneuver requires a standard action and allows you move and then make an attack, then both the movement and attack are resolved as part of that standard action.

Recovering Expended Maneuvers

At the beginning of each encounter, all of your readied maneuvers are available and are not expended. When initiated, a maneuver becomes expended and cannot be used again until it is recovered. Expended maneuvers are recovered automatically at the end of an encounter; however, you may also take a special action to recover one or more expended maneuvers during an encounter.

Special Action

Most martial disciples are able to recover a maneuver by taking a specific action to do so. The type of action required is dependent on the martial disciple’s training. Characters with more than one martial disciple class must keep track of readied and expended maneuvers separately for each class, as each will have a different recovery method.

A character who has gained maneuvers through feats without levels in a martial disciple class typically cannot recover maneuvers through a special action.

End of an Encounter

A martial disciple recovers expended maneuvers automatically at the end of an encounter, as long as you have at least 1 full minute of recovery time in which you make no attacks, initiate no maneuvers, and are not targeted or affected by an enemy attack. You must be able to avoid combat for 1 minute in order to recover maneuvers; otherwise, you must rely on your recovery method using a special action as described above.

Martial Techniques and Magic

Martial techniques are typically not magical in nature and are typically not esoterica. However, some techniques produce supernatural or magical effects. Supernatural and magical effects produced by martial techniques are considered to be esoteric effects and have full System Transparency.

Extraordinary, Spell-Like, and Supernatural Abilities

Unless stated otherwise, a martial technique is considered an extraordinary ability and works in an antimagic field or dead magic zone. Initiating a maneuver or stance does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

If a martial technique specifically produces a supernatural or other magical effect, then it is subject to the rules for such abilities. Martial techniques are never considered to be spells and are not subject to being counterspelled.

Detecting Martial Techniques

Most maneuvers have an instantaneous duration, and the effects are obvious to an observer. Identifying a specific technique or discipline by observation requires a successful Arms Lore check.

Techniques which produce a supernatural or magical effect can be detected by detect magic and similar abilities. The martial discipline can be identified with a Knowledge (Martial Lore) check as per the spell’s ability to identify spell school.

Multiple Effects

Martial techniques generally work as described, no matter how many other spells, powers, or other effects are active in the same area or are affecting the same subject. When a technique has an effect on other techniques, spells, powers, or other effects, the technique’s description will explain the effect.

Stacking Effects

Martial maneuvers and stances which provide a bonus or penalty to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, or other attributes do not stack if they are the same bonus type, unless that bonus type specifically stacks (dodge, circumstance, and so forth).

Most martial disciples can have only one stance active at a time. Initiating a new stance cancels all benefits of the previously active stance. However, some advanced disciples may be able to maintain more than one active stance.