Xefas
2011-04-03, 12:58 AM
If one were to examine the Prime through its history texts, its bard songs, and its many folk tales, one may come to the extremely erroneous conclusion that it is a just place to live. Terrible villains threaten the world, and valiant heroes rise up to vanquish them. Plagues threaten to wipe out whole kingdoms, only to be saved by the holy prophets of their Gods. For every dragon there is a dragon-slayer, and somehow it all ends up balanced.
It is not so. Beneath these uplifting tales, the Prime knows anything but justice. While the special few heroes make themselves rich and powerful overthrowing the obvious threats, the peasants still suffer in anonymity from the Powers Without. For every Balor with ideas of world conquest, banished back to the pit whence it came, ten thousand Imps corrupt our daughters, our sons, our neighbors, and go unnoticed. We live in squalor, and they offer us a brief respite. We may be spared the dragon's flame, but our souls will feel the Flames Eternal.
No, let those Heroes have their glory, and stand in the gleaming light atop the bones of their insipidly evil monsters. For every witch whose eyes I burn from their wretched sockets, for every demon I leave crucified and drowning in their own blood, for every innocent man, woman, and child I put to the sword before they can be corrupted, I save more souls than those knights in shining armor ever will. That's enough for me, but I suppose the ignorant masses need their Heroes.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad91/bluejanus/Witch_Hunter.jpg
The skill for Ruthless Catechism is Knowledge (The Planes). A strong knowledge of evil outsiders will serve any Witchhunter well. Its associated weapons are the hand crossbow, light crossbow, repeating crossbow, rapier, scimitar, longsword, shortsword, and dagger.
Such is the connection between the Ruthless Catechism fighting style and the crossbow, that any character that has at least one Ruthless Catechism maneuver Known may automatically reload a held crossbow at the end of any round in which they did not fire a crossbow but were still capable of taking actions, as a free action. Somehow, in the process of sword-swinging, potion-drinking, mad dashing, and so on, they found a spare instant to slide a bolt into their weapon.
All Warblade, Swordsages, and Crusaders (and any homebrew initiating classes, at the DM's discretion) may learn the Ruthless Catechism discipline, in one of two ways. Both require the prospective character to have lost a loved one to the influence of an evil outsider. "Lost" could refer to death, but also to corruption, such as having their soul bought with a faustian bargain, entry into the Warlock class, or more mundane (and possibly more grisly) instances. Afterward, learning the discipline could include being taught by another Witchhunter, joining an official Order of Witchhunters, or simply one's natural development of the discipline through the trials of hunting and killing evil creatures.
The first way requires you to forsake one Martial Discipline you would normally be allowed. You lose all maneuvers and stances of that discipline, and must replace them with others of the same level (preferably Ruthless Catechism ones). You may also, at your discretion, lose its associated skill as a class skill and gain Knowledge (The Planes) as a class skill, if you wish.
The second is to purchase the discipline as a feat. You gain access to it in addition to all of your other known disciplines, as well as Knowledge (The Planes) as a class skill permanently, regardless of classes you choose in the future. As an extra bonus for using a feat slot, you may also treat one-handed and light weapons as two-handed for the purposes of strength modifiers to damage and the bonus added to damage from Power Attack.
This discipline uses the concept of "Witches". When the text of this discipline refers to a "Witch", it means:
Any evil-aligned outsider, or outsider with the evil subtype.
Any undead with an intelligence score.
Any humanoid or monstrous humanoid with access to spells or spell-like abilities.
Any humanoid or monstrous humanoid who has committed, or conspired to commit, an act of evil within the past hour.
Anything spiritually possessed by an undead or evil-outsider, or somehow under the control of an evil-aligned entity, such as through a Dominate Person spell, or the Ego of an evil intelligent magic item.
This discipline uses the concept of "Acts of Penance". An Act of Penance is any severe debility or mutilation inflicted upon a Witch that, so far as you are aware, they cannot personally undo the harm of. For example, burning the eyes out of an evil cleric is pointless if they are high enough level to cast Regeneration. The Act must not instantly kill them (and you must not willingly allow them to die while they are in your presence), although they may die from related circumstances later (blood loss, infected wounds, etc).
The purpose is to make them feel the pain they have caused others, so they can reflect on it, and hopefully make the choice to become better people and forsake their evil ways, so that perhaps when they bleed out, their soul has a chance at going to A Better Place. This almost never works, as the sad truth is that no matter how hard a Witchhunter shoves Salvation down a sinner's throat, they must still take that last little step - a step most are far too corrupt to take.
All saving throws are calculated as DC (10 + 1/2 character level + highest ability modifier).
Maneuver List
Level 1
Spurn the Occult (Boost) - Defend yourself from vile magics.
Tools of the Trade (Strike) - Strike with a blade and crossbow.
Witch Hunt (Stance) - Devote yourself fully to eradicating evil.
Level 2
Salt Ward (Boost) - Consecrate an area against evil.
Undeniable Aggress (Counter) - Witches cannot ignore you.
Level 3
Deadeye Impulse (Stance) - Harry blasphemers with your crossbow.
Nail in the Cross (Strike) - Stab your enemy in the hand.
Righteous Inspiration (Boost) - Renew your faith.
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 1
Spurn the Occult
Ruthless Catechism (Boost)
Action: Swift
Range: Line of Sight
Target: One Enemy
Duration: 5 rounds
"Know the Witch. Kill the Witch."
As part of this maneuver, make a Knowledge (The Planes) check with a DC of 10. If you succeed, and your target is a Witch, you learn one spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability currently available to the target (so not expended spells or spell-like abilities with no uses per day left in them). For every 5 points above 10 you rolled, you gain one additional piece of information. The abilities with the highest spell level, or effective spell level, are revealed first (consider abilities with no listed effective spell level to have an effective spell level of 1/2 the target's challenge rating, rounded down).
Finally, you choose one revealed ability with a spell level or effective spell level equal to or less than (your character level / 2, rounded down). You become completely immune to the effects of the chosen ability for the duration of this maneuver. You see it coming, you know how to stop it, you have a plan in your mind, and there's nothing they can do about it.
Tools of the Trade
Ruthless Catechism (Strike)
Action: Standard
Range: Special (see text)
Target: Up to two enemies
"Yesterday, I would have said that there is no Witch deserving of fear, for none exist that are so fearsome and unknowable that they cannot be solved by simple decapitation by iron blade. Today, I realize the folly of my statement - I was entirely ignorant of the truth. Today, I am a wiser man. Today, I revise my statement such that there is no Witch to fear, for none exist that are so fearsome and unknowable that they cannot be solved by simple decapitation by iron blade followed by a swift bolt to the skull.
...Today was a learning experience."
With one fluid motion, you bring your blade to bear while leveling your crossbow and firing a quick round into your foe.
You must be holding a crossbow in one hand, and a slashing weapon in the other to use this maneuver. As part of this maneuver, you make a standard melee attack with a held slashing or piercing weapon. Immediately afterward, you make a standard ranged attack with a held crossbow, with the exception that you do not provoke attacks of opportunity for firing the crossbow while threatened, and you take no penalty for firing it into melee, or at melee range.
Witch Hunt
Ruthless Catechism (Stance)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
"I do not concern myself with lives, constable, but afterlives. Better a thousand pure souls walk Celestia, than a thousand corrupt men walk this earth."
A Witchhunter is entirely devoted to their duty, and they know that it is Righteous. If the Gods themselves declare him Evil, then it is the Gods who are corrupt, and they too shall be shown the error of their ways.
Upon entering this stance, your "alignment" becomes meaningless. You choose a passive alignment that you are considered as when you are effected by something that you are not aware of, but for any effect that you are aware of, you are simply considered whichever alignment is best (or you can choose, if there is a "tie" on "best", or just because you want to).
In addition, for each Act of Penance you have committed within the past week, you gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls against Witches and on Gather Information checks to locate Witches or items related to them. You can never benefit from more than (Character Level / 3, rounded up) points of this bonus at one time.
Level 2
Salt Ward
Ruthless Catechism (Boost)
Action: 1 minute
Range: Personal
Area: 30 foot radius circle, or 50 foot line
Target: All Non-Witches In The Area
Duration: Until Broken (See Text)
"Animosity is my sword; Contempt, my shield."
The Witchhunter draws a trail of some earthen material native to the Prime, and by his will, no Witch may cross its borders.
While this maneuver is active, no Witch may enter the warded area, attack into it, or extend the effects of one of its abilities into it. The warding of the drawn line extends infinitely upwards, so that it cannot be flown over, but it does not extend below the surface it is drawn upon, so burrowing is an easy way to circumvent it.
Should a Witch attempt to force an attack or effect into the Warded area, they must make a Will save. If they fail, then their attempt is negated and they cannot try again until the ward is broken. If they succeed, the ward is broken and the maneuver ends. The ward is also broken if the Witchhunter that conjured it ever leaves the warded area, or if someone already inside the warded area takes a standard action to smudge the trail that was drawn to create it.
Undeniable Aggress
Ruthless Catechism (Counter)
Action: Immediate
Range: Threatened Area
Target: One Creature
"Suffer not the Witch if they fall within your gaze, and suffer no Witchcraft at the length of your sword."
This maneuver must be activated in response to a Witch that you Threaten (typically by them being in your melee range) using a spell or spell-like ability. As part of this maneuver, you make an attack of opportunity. This uses up one attack of opportunity available to you this round as normal - however, even if the Witch was Casting Defensively, this maneuver may still be activated. Furthermore, if you hit and deal damage, the Witch adds (10 + your initiator level) to the DC of the Concentration check to avoid losing their spell due to injury.
Level 3
Deadeye Impulse
Ruthless Catechism (Stance)
Prerequisite: One Ruthless Catechism Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
"Witchhunter Tip #277: If someone in a bathrobe puts their hands together and the first word out of their mouth isn't in Common, shoot to kill."
While in this stance, you are considered to Threaten any Witch that you could attack with a held crossbow. In addition, whenever you make an attack of opportunity, you also instantly reload a held crossbow as part of that same action.
Nail in the Cross
Ruthless Catechism (Strike)
Prerequisite: One Ruthless Catechism Maneuver
Action: Standard
Range: Melee or Ranged
Target: One Enemy
"When a child is naughty, we take away their toys."
As part of this maneuver, make a standard melee or ranged attack with either a slashing or piercing melee weapon or crossbow, respectively. If this attack hits, it deals only half the final damage it normally would, but you have succeeded in placing your blade or your bolt through the hand of the target. This is automatically considered an Act of Penance (although, typically, a simple stab through the hand would not qualify).
A target whose hand has been struck this way takes a -2 penalty on any d20 rolls for actions involving that hand, and has a 25% arcane spell failure.
A second application of this maneuver to the same hand before it has been healed (this can be achieved by bringing the target up to full hit points), ruins the hand entirely, making it incapable of being used, and increasing the spell failure to 50%.
If a third and fourth application are applied to the target's other hand, this arcane spell failure stacks to 75% and finally 100% when the target has no hands left to cast.
Righteous Inspiration
Ruthless Catechism (Boost)
Prerequisite: One Ruthless Catechism Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
"Some days, I admit, I question whether what I'm doing is right. I walk through a town I've visited in the past, and the people throw stones at me. Priests of the High Gods condemn me as a murderer and heretic. Not even the whores and the courtesans will flock to a man who reeks of death and sulfur.
But, as I hold a Warlock's head in a bucket of holy water until the bubbles stop, and then start the CPR for round two, all that doubt just washes away with the screams. I know that I am Righteous."
This maneuver must be activated as you commit an Act of Penance. You heal (your initiator level x 2) and gain the benefit of a Lesser Restoration spell (effective caster level equal to your initiator level). Your wounds don't knit and heal; rather, your faith in your own self-righteousness lets you transcend caring about such trivial, worldly concerns.
It is not so. Beneath these uplifting tales, the Prime knows anything but justice. While the special few heroes make themselves rich and powerful overthrowing the obvious threats, the peasants still suffer in anonymity from the Powers Without. For every Balor with ideas of world conquest, banished back to the pit whence it came, ten thousand Imps corrupt our daughters, our sons, our neighbors, and go unnoticed. We live in squalor, and they offer us a brief respite. We may be spared the dragon's flame, but our souls will feel the Flames Eternal.
No, let those Heroes have their glory, and stand in the gleaming light atop the bones of their insipidly evil monsters. For every witch whose eyes I burn from their wretched sockets, for every demon I leave crucified and drowning in their own blood, for every innocent man, woman, and child I put to the sword before they can be corrupted, I save more souls than those knights in shining armor ever will. That's enough for me, but I suppose the ignorant masses need their Heroes.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad91/bluejanus/Witch_Hunter.jpg
The skill for Ruthless Catechism is Knowledge (The Planes). A strong knowledge of evil outsiders will serve any Witchhunter well. Its associated weapons are the hand crossbow, light crossbow, repeating crossbow, rapier, scimitar, longsword, shortsword, and dagger.
Such is the connection between the Ruthless Catechism fighting style and the crossbow, that any character that has at least one Ruthless Catechism maneuver Known may automatically reload a held crossbow at the end of any round in which they did not fire a crossbow but were still capable of taking actions, as a free action. Somehow, in the process of sword-swinging, potion-drinking, mad dashing, and so on, they found a spare instant to slide a bolt into their weapon.
All Warblade, Swordsages, and Crusaders (and any homebrew initiating classes, at the DM's discretion) may learn the Ruthless Catechism discipline, in one of two ways. Both require the prospective character to have lost a loved one to the influence of an evil outsider. "Lost" could refer to death, but also to corruption, such as having their soul bought with a faustian bargain, entry into the Warlock class, or more mundane (and possibly more grisly) instances. Afterward, learning the discipline could include being taught by another Witchhunter, joining an official Order of Witchhunters, or simply one's natural development of the discipline through the trials of hunting and killing evil creatures.
The first way requires you to forsake one Martial Discipline you would normally be allowed. You lose all maneuvers and stances of that discipline, and must replace them with others of the same level (preferably Ruthless Catechism ones). You may also, at your discretion, lose its associated skill as a class skill and gain Knowledge (The Planes) as a class skill, if you wish.
The second is to purchase the discipline as a feat. You gain access to it in addition to all of your other known disciplines, as well as Knowledge (The Planes) as a class skill permanently, regardless of classes you choose in the future. As an extra bonus for using a feat slot, you may also treat one-handed and light weapons as two-handed for the purposes of strength modifiers to damage and the bonus added to damage from Power Attack.
This discipline uses the concept of "Witches". When the text of this discipline refers to a "Witch", it means:
Any evil-aligned outsider, or outsider with the evil subtype.
Any undead with an intelligence score.
Any humanoid or monstrous humanoid with access to spells or spell-like abilities.
Any humanoid or monstrous humanoid who has committed, or conspired to commit, an act of evil within the past hour.
Anything spiritually possessed by an undead or evil-outsider, or somehow under the control of an evil-aligned entity, such as through a Dominate Person spell, or the Ego of an evil intelligent magic item.
This discipline uses the concept of "Acts of Penance". An Act of Penance is any severe debility or mutilation inflicted upon a Witch that, so far as you are aware, they cannot personally undo the harm of. For example, burning the eyes out of an evil cleric is pointless if they are high enough level to cast Regeneration. The Act must not instantly kill them (and you must not willingly allow them to die while they are in your presence), although they may die from related circumstances later (blood loss, infected wounds, etc).
The purpose is to make them feel the pain they have caused others, so they can reflect on it, and hopefully make the choice to become better people and forsake their evil ways, so that perhaps when they bleed out, their soul has a chance at going to A Better Place. This almost never works, as the sad truth is that no matter how hard a Witchhunter shoves Salvation down a sinner's throat, they must still take that last little step - a step most are far too corrupt to take.
All saving throws are calculated as DC (10 + 1/2 character level + highest ability modifier).
Maneuver List
Level 1
Spurn the Occult (Boost) - Defend yourself from vile magics.
Tools of the Trade (Strike) - Strike with a blade and crossbow.
Witch Hunt (Stance) - Devote yourself fully to eradicating evil.
Level 2
Salt Ward (Boost) - Consecrate an area against evil.
Undeniable Aggress (Counter) - Witches cannot ignore you.
Level 3
Deadeye Impulse (Stance) - Harry blasphemers with your crossbow.
Nail in the Cross (Strike) - Stab your enemy in the hand.
Righteous Inspiration (Boost) - Renew your faith.
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 1
Spurn the Occult
Ruthless Catechism (Boost)
Action: Swift
Range: Line of Sight
Target: One Enemy
Duration: 5 rounds
"Know the Witch. Kill the Witch."
As part of this maneuver, make a Knowledge (The Planes) check with a DC of 10. If you succeed, and your target is a Witch, you learn one spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability currently available to the target (so not expended spells or spell-like abilities with no uses per day left in them). For every 5 points above 10 you rolled, you gain one additional piece of information. The abilities with the highest spell level, or effective spell level, are revealed first (consider abilities with no listed effective spell level to have an effective spell level of 1/2 the target's challenge rating, rounded down).
Finally, you choose one revealed ability with a spell level or effective spell level equal to or less than (your character level / 2, rounded down). You become completely immune to the effects of the chosen ability for the duration of this maneuver. You see it coming, you know how to stop it, you have a plan in your mind, and there's nothing they can do about it.
Tools of the Trade
Ruthless Catechism (Strike)
Action: Standard
Range: Special (see text)
Target: Up to two enemies
"Yesterday, I would have said that there is no Witch deserving of fear, for none exist that are so fearsome and unknowable that they cannot be solved by simple decapitation by iron blade. Today, I realize the folly of my statement - I was entirely ignorant of the truth. Today, I am a wiser man. Today, I revise my statement such that there is no Witch to fear, for none exist that are so fearsome and unknowable that they cannot be solved by simple decapitation by iron blade followed by a swift bolt to the skull.
...Today was a learning experience."
With one fluid motion, you bring your blade to bear while leveling your crossbow and firing a quick round into your foe.
You must be holding a crossbow in one hand, and a slashing weapon in the other to use this maneuver. As part of this maneuver, you make a standard melee attack with a held slashing or piercing weapon. Immediately afterward, you make a standard ranged attack with a held crossbow, with the exception that you do not provoke attacks of opportunity for firing the crossbow while threatened, and you take no penalty for firing it into melee, or at melee range.
Witch Hunt
Ruthless Catechism (Stance)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
"I do not concern myself with lives, constable, but afterlives. Better a thousand pure souls walk Celestia, than a thousand corrupt men walk this earth."
A Witchhunter is entirely devoted to their duty, and they know that it is Righteous. If the Gods themselves declare him Evil, then it is the Gods who are corrupt, and they too shall be shown the error of their ways.
Upon entering this stance, your "alignment" becomes meaningless. You choose a passive alignment that you are considered as when you are effected by something that you are not aware of, but for any effect that you are aware of, you are simply considered whichever alignment is best (or you can choose, if there is a "tie" on "best", or just because you want to).
In addition, for each Act of Penance you have committed within the past week, you gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls against Witches and on Gather Information checks to locate Witches or items related to them. You can never benefit from more than (Character Level / 3, rounded up) points of this bonus at one time.
Level 2
Salt Ward
Ruthless Catechism (Boost)
Action: 1 minute
Range: Personal
Area: 30 foot radius circle, or 50 foot line
Target: All Non-Witches In The Area
Duration: Until Broken (See Text)
"Animosity is my sword; Contempt, my shield."
The Witchhunter draws a trail of some earthen material native to the Prime, and by his will, no Witch may cross its borders.
While this maneuver is active, no Witch may enter the warded area, attack into it, or extend the effects of one of its abilities into it. The warding of the drawn line extends infinitely upwards, so that it cannot be flown over, but it does not extend below the surface it is drawn upon, so burrowing is an easy way to circumvent it.
Should a Witch attempt to force an attack or effect into the Warded area, they must make a Will save. If they fail, then their attempt is negated and they cannot try again until the ward is broken. If they succeed, the ward is broken and the maneuver ends. The ward is also broken if the Witchhunter that conjured it ever leaves the warded area, or if someone already inside the warded area takes a standard action to smudge the trail that was drawn to create it.
Undeniable Aggress
Ruthless Catechism (Counter)
Action: Immediate
Range: Threatened Area
Target: One Creature
"Suffer not the Witch if they fall within your gaze, and suffer no Witchcraft at the length of your sword."
This maneuver must be activated in response to a Witch that you Threaten (typically by them being in your melee range) using a spell or spell-like ability. As part of this maneuver, you make an attack of opportunity. This uses up one attack of opportunity available to you this round as normal - however, even if the Witch was Casting Defensively, this maneuver may still be activated. Furthermore, if you hit and deal damage, the Witch adds (10 + your initiator level) to the DC of the Concentration check to avoid losing their spell due to injury.
Level 3
Deadeye Impulse
Ruthless Catechism (Stance)
Prerequisite: One Ruthless Catechism Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
"Witchhunter Tip #277: If someone in a bathrobe puts their hands together and the first word out of their mouth isn't in Common, shoot to kill."
While in this stance, you are considered to Threaten any Witch that you could attack with a held crossbow. In addition, whenever you make an attack of opportunity, you also instantly reload a held crossbow as part of that same action.
Nail in the Cross
Ruthless Catechism (Strike)
Prerequisite: One Ruthless Catechism Maneuver
Action: Standard
Range: Melee or Ranged
Target: One Enemy
"When a child is naughty, we take away their toys."
As part of this maneuver, make a standard melee or ranged attack with either a slashing or piercing melee weapon or crossbow, respectively. If this attack hits, it deals only half the final damage it normally would, but you have succeeded in placing your blade or your bolt through the hand of the target. This is automatically considered an Act of Penance (although, typically, a simple stab through the hand would not qualify).
A target whose hand has been struck this way takes a -2 penalty on any d20 rolls for actions involving that hand, and has a 25% arcane spell failure.
A second application of this maneuver to the same hand before it has been healed (this can be achieved by bringing the target up to full hit points), ruins the hand entirely, making it incapable of being used, and increasing the spell failure to 50%.
If a third and fourth application are applied to the target's other hand, this arcane spell failure stacks to 75% and finally 100% when the target has no hands left to cast.
Righteous Inspiration
Ruthless Catechism (Boost)
Prerequisite: One Ruthless Catechism Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
"Some days, I admit, I question whether what I'm doing is right. I walk through a town I've visited in the past, and the people throw stones at me. Priests of the High Gods condemn me as a murderer and heretic. Not even the whores and the courtesans will flock to a man who reeks of death and sulfur.
But, as I hold a Warlock's head in a bucket of holy water until the bubbles stop, and then start the CPR for round two, all that doubt just washes away with the screams. I know that I am Righteous."
This maneuver must be activated as you commit an Act of Penance. You heal (your initiator level x 2) and gain the benefit of a Lesser Restoration spell (effective caster level equal to your initiator level). Your wounds don't knit and heal; rather, your faith in your own self-righteousness lets you transcend caring about such trivial, worldly concerns.