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View Full Version : "And Lo, the Pebble Toppled The Mountain."[3.5, Discipline, PEACH]



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]

Amechra
2011-08-30, 10:03 PM
1st level Maneuvers
Smile within Defeat (Counter)- As long as you have the lower hand, you are
stronger.
Sparrow Slays the Hawk (Strike)- Deal 1d6 damage, enemy is weighed down by
their prowess

2nd level Maneuvers
Enough Running (Boost)- Gain immunity to fear; benefit against enchantment
spells as well.
Weapon Within the Heart (Strike)- Deal 2d6 damage, weapon it treated as
having being magical.


3rd level Maneuvers
Mouse as Mongoose (Stance)- Those stronger than you have their abilities turned
against them.

4th level Maneuvers

5th level Maneuvers
Ant Crushes the Mountain (Stance)- An insurmountable force is simply an excuse for laziness.



6th level Maneuvers
Resistance is Victory; Defeat is Impossible (Strike)- Deal 8d6 damage, gain
benefits from the enemies around you.

Amechra
2011-08-30, 10:07 PM
Descriptions.

Garryl
2011-08-31, 12:58 AM
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]

You mention taking Martial Study a second time and selecting stances. Did you mean Martial Stance (which gives you knowledge of a stance)? You can take that feat any number of times by default.

Since martial adepts can't naturally learn Obstinate Sparrow maneuvers, progressing IL is all they'll do with respect to this discipline anyways. Did you mean that the IL only improves for the purpose of initiating maneuvers of the discipline, rather than for learning them? If so, try the following instead:

"In addition, through a quirk of training, a martial adept determines his initiator level for the purpose of initiating Obstinate Sparrow maneuvers using his full Commoner level instead of half. For all other purposes related to the discipline and its maneuvers, such as learning Obstinate Sparrow maneuvers, he uses his full Commoner level plus half of his levels in other classes in place of his normal initiator level."

I'd advise caution in basing the Underdog modifier on the encounter's EL instead of an individual's CR. (Encounters as a whole have Encounter Levels, not Challenge Ratings, IIRC.) CRs are bad enough, but ELs are eyeballed at best and depend on many factors above and beyond the opponents involved in the encounter at the exact moment (defeated enemies, reinforcements that have yet to come, terrain, etc.). You have a typo in your table (should be +6 at 16, and +7 at 19). Also, the equation can be simplified to:

"(Encounter's EL - your ECL + 1/2 your Commoner levels) divided by 3, rounded up."