Amechra
2011-08-30, 10:02 PM
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Obstinate Sparrow Discipline
We hear tales of the Disciplines that the great Reshar may have overlooked; that is nothing compared to this discipline.
Reshar encountered it a thousand times; in a mother guarding her children, in the last few farmers doggedly defending their homes and families from an oncoming horde, and in the mob coming to take the head of a warlord who had decided to rape one of their daughters.
He found it in those who had had enough, who would not give up, though they were fighting a monster who could slay their entire country with nary a thought; those who had nothing left to give but their own bodies, and gave them gladly.
This is the genesis of heroism; the source is desperation, and the result is their deaths.
As such, it is pointless to teach to grand warriors, as it only truly works if the enemy so outclasses the user that there is only a one-in-a-million chance that it will work... which is a 1-in-1 chance, if you believe the stories.
Reshar encountered it a thousand times, but never recognized it for what it was; ignoring it as simply an impulse, an instinct of mothers and the doddering old. So it was never taught in the Temple of Nine Swords; in fact, no one has ever taught it, as it is so common that those who are its masters do not even realize that they are anything special.
As such, maneuvers from this discipline may only be selected through the Martial Study and Martial Stance feats, representing a recognition of certain internal impulses of... survival. Due to this not truly being a "study" of the discipline, each time the Martial Study feat is used to obtain a maneuver , it counts as only half of the feat for the purpose of how many times you may take that feat. In addition, the Martial Study feat may be taken a second time; the stance chosen must be from the Obstinate Sparrow Discipline, however.
In addition, through a quirk of training, all classes only progress initiating for the purpose of the Initiator Level for this discipline; the only exceptions are levels in the Commoner class, which advance IL for this discipline at a 1:1 basis, as it represents a simple, untrained human being.
There are no key skills for this discipline, as it is, at its roots, unskilled combat. It also has no discipline weapons, as everything close enough to hand is a weapon.
The [Underdog] Descriptor
At the heart of the Obstinate Sparrow Discipline is the [Underdog] descriptor. A maneuver or stance with the [Underdog] tag grants a special bonus based off of the following:
(Encounter CR-(Your ECL-1/2 your Commoner Level)+2)/3
Common differences are as follows:
{table=head]Result|Bonus
0 or less|+0
1-3|+1
4-6|+2
7-9|+3
10-12|+4
13-16|+5
17-19|+6
20+|+7[/table]
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http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs48/i/2009/202/d/7/Underdog_by_89as13.jpg
Obstinate Sparrow Discipline
We hear tales of the Disciplines that the great Reshar may have overlooked; that is nothing compared to this discipline.
Reshar encountered it a thousand times; in a mother guarding her children, in the last few farmers doggedly defending their homes and families from an oncoming horde, and in the mob coming to take the head of a warlord who had decided to rape one of their daughters.
He found it in those who had had enough, who would not give up, though they were fighting a monster who could slay their entire country with nary a thought; those who had nothing left to give but their own bodies, and gave them gladly.
This is the genesis of heroism; the source is desperation, and the result is their deaths.
As such, it is pointless to teach to grand warriors, as it only truly works if the enemy so outclasses the user that there is only a one-in-a-million chance that it will work... which is a 1-in-1 chance, if you believe the stories.
Reshar encountered it a thousand times, but never recognized it for what it was; ignoring it as simply an impulse, an instinct of mothers and the doddering old. So it was never taught in the Temple of Nine Swords; in fact, no one has ever taught it, as it is so common that those who are its masters do not even realize that they are anything special.
As such, maneuvers from this discipline may only be selected through the Martial Study and Martial Stance feats, representing a recognition of certain internal impulses of... survival. Due to this not truly being a "study" of the discipline, each time the Martial Study feat is used to obtain a maneuver , it counts as only half of the feat for the purpose of how many times you may take that feat. In addition, the Martial Study feat may be taken a second time; the stance chosen must be from the Obstinate Sparrow Discipline, however.
In addition, through a quirk of training, all classes only progress initiating for the purpose of the Initiator Level for this discipline; the only exceptions are levels in the Commoner class, which advance IL for this discipline at a 1:1 basis, as it represents a simple, untrained human being.
There are no key skills for this discipline, as it is, at its roots, unskilled combat. It also has no discipline weapons, as everything close enough to hand is a weapon.
The [Underdog] Descriptor
At the heart of the Obstinate Sparrow Discipline is the [Underdog] descriptor. A maneuver or stance with the [Underdog] tag grants a special bonus based off of the following:
(Encounter CR-(Your ECL-1/2 your Commoner Level)+2)/3
Common differences are as follows:
{table=head]Result|Bonus
0 or less|+0
1-3|+1
4-6|+2
7-9|+3
10-12|+4
13-16|+5
17-19|+6
20+|+7[/table]