Zaydos
2015-03-30, 04:42 PM
The Perfected Style of the Grand Court
Old even before the Temple of Nine Swords. The Perfected Style of the Grand Court was the pinnacle of elven sword art developed and honed by generations of near immortal elven duelists. Mired in millennia of tradition the nobles who practiced the Perfected Style refused to acknowledge the martial learnings of other humanoid races, seeing elven war arts as universally supreme, and refused to teach their secret arts to others. As such, when the Temple was being founded and the great search for martial disciplines carried out, the masters of the Perfected Style scoffed and ignored the call. Only once it was well established did the elf-lords deem to take notice, sending a representative to duel the temple’s finest. Despite their mastery of the Five Steps they could not adapt to the wizardry of blade that a true master of nine could bring to bear. When the Temple fell, many among the court cheered, noting how the experiment had failed and its way of the nine would fade with its destruction, while their own Perfected Style would last forever. The elf-lords were wrong, though, as it was the end of an age and the old kingdoms like the temple would fall. Where the fall of the Temple of Nine Swords served only to scatter to the seven winds the seeds of the sublime way, the fall of the elf-lords almost destroyed their “perfected style”. Battle arts designed for the battlefield supplanted it and only a few of the noblest blood practiced the Perfected Style. Eventually the style was forced to adapt as elements of other styles were brought into it and it was at last taught to the shorter lived races, but through it all the Perfected Style put form first. It is a style of duelists, of the high court where appearance is as valued as success, and even in its current form its stylized methods and ways are hard to mix with the other disciplines of the Sublime Way.
Associated Skill: Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty).
Discipline Weapons: Longsword, Rapier, Elven Thinblade, Elven Courtblade, Unarmed Strike.
Gaining the Perfected Style of the Grand Court Discipline: A swordsage may trade access to any discipline they have available to themselves to gain the Perfected Style of the Grand Court discipline in its place. A wildwood knight may exchange any discipline other than Star Dream, and an Argent Blade any other than Lunar Spirit. A crusader or warblade may exchange any discipline they possess for the Perfected Style of the Grand Court gaining Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) as a class skill and losing the exchanged discipline’s associated skill unless it is Balance. A morphic claw may not learn the Perfected Style.
New Maneuver Type: Dash
A dash maneuver is used as a move action and includes some amount of movement. Actions which can normally be taken as part of a move action, such as drawing a weapon with BAB +1 or higher. If a check or ability requires moving at half or less speed it can be used as part of a dash if you move no more than that proportion of the movement granted by the dash maneuver.
It has been brought to my attention that when people homebrewed move action maneuvers previously they were called Rushes. For all practical purposes the two should be considered the same thing.
Special Rules:
The Four Forms: Many Perfected Style of the Grand Court maneuvers require you to be in one of the Four Forms of the Royal Beasts (here after referred to as “forms”) or place you within one. These four forms are Dancing Stag, Ferocious Lion, Focused Eagle, and Iron Tortoise. You may remain in one of the four forms indefinitely as long as you make a melee attack against a creature each round, however due to the nature of the Perfected Style it is difficult to incorporate maneuvers of other disciplines into these four dueling forms. It is possible to do so either approaching it from a depth of understanding of the Perfected Style, or the Sublime Way as a whole. Whenever you use a maneuver that is not of the Perfected Style you must make a Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) or Martial Lore check (your choice) with a DC of 10 + three times the level of the maneuver used. If you fail you lose your form and must re-enter it. Certain martial disciplines mix more or less readily with certain forms, and certain ones rely on either stealth and deception at odds with a dueling style or ranged or supernatural powers and are considered dishonorable styles having an additional increase to their check DCs unless you have the Broken Honor of the Jackal feat.
Desert Wind: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag, +5 for Iron Tortoise.
Devoted Spirit: No special modifiers.
Diamond Mind: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Focused Eagle, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Iron Heart: -2 to DC of checks.
Setting Sun: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Shadow Hand: +5 to DC to remain in Ferocious Lion or Iron Tortoise. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Stone Dragon: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Dancing Stag.
Tiger Claw: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Ferocious Lion, automatically fail those to remain in Iron Tortoise.
White Raven: No special.
Adamant Eagle: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Crone’s Hex: +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Crushing Avalanche: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Dancing Stag.
Darting Viper: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Focused Eagle, and -5 to Dc of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Feral Hunger: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Ferocious Lion. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Flashing Lightning: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag, +5 for Iron Tortoise.
Grown Blade: +5 to DC of checks to remain in any form. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Hewn Tree: +5 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag or Focused Eagle. +5 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Jeering Monkey: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag, automatically fail those to remain in Iron Tortoise. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Lunar Spirit: +10 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style; argent blades may ignore this.
Protean Hunter: +5 to DC of checks to remain in any form. +10 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Star Dream: +10 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style; wildwood knights practice a fey variant of the Perfected Style and may not only ignore this but reduce the DC of checks to remain in any form after using a Star Dream maneuver by 5..
In addition the Focused Eagle form has special rules of its own. When you enter the Focused Eagle form you must choose on enemy as your Chosen Foe. You may not make attacks of opportunity against other creatures, and suffer a -4 penalty to attacks against other creatures, if you attack another creature you immediately exit the Focused Eagle form, and you cannot initiate martial strikes against other creatures or counters in response to them. Against your chosen foe, however, you gain a +1 bonus to hit increasing to +4 on attacks of opportunity, they suffer a -4 penalty to hit you with attacks of opportunity and a penalty to Tumble checks to move past you without provoking attacks of opportunity and to Bluff checks to feint in combat equal to -4 or ½ your Initiator Level whichever is higher.
Weapon Restrictions: Perfected Style of the Grand Court strikes may only be used with its discipline weapons and any bonuses to attacks or damage granted by a Perfected Style maneuver or stance only applies to attacks with these maneuvers. The Arsenal of a Wounded Beast feat circumvents these restrictions.
Bonus 5-ft Steps: Many Perfected Style maneuver grant you additional 5-ft steps. These 5-ft steps may be used in addition to your normal 5-ft step or in turns in which you move normally and would not normally be able to take a 5-ft step. They otherwise function as 5-ft steps.
Maneuvers List
Dancing Stag Path: 1st, Stance. +1 to AC, ignore 1 square of difficult terrain, and enter the Dancing Stag Form more easily.
Lion's Claw: 1st, Strike. -3 AC, +2 to hit, +1d6 damage, and enter the Ferocious Lion form.
Opening Strike: 1st, Strike. Enter the form of your choice.
Stag Dance Jab: 1st, Strike. 5-ft step before or after attack.
Tortoise Shell: 1st, Counter. Gain AC bonus against melee attacks based on your current form.
Focused Assault: 2nd, Strike. Enter the Focused Eagle form and make two attacks on your chosen foe, and gain bonus based upon what form your were in previously.
Second Step: 2nd, Strike. +2d6 damage and bonus based on your current form.
Quick Step: 2nd, Boost. 5-ft step, 10-ft if you are in the Dancing Stag form.
Defensive Awareness: 3rd, Counter. Gain defensive bonus based on current form.
Devastating Strike: 3rd, Strike. Large bonus to damage against foe who was your chosen foe last round.
Focused Eagle Path: 3rd, Stance. Single in on a target and gain defensive bonuses. Enter Focused Eagle more easily and change chosen foe as a move action.
Posture Perfecting Pirouette: 3rd, Dash. Move 10-ft and enter a form, gain bonus if you shift from one form to another.
Shift Form: 3rd, Boost. Enter a form; enter your current form for a bonus.
Four Beast Dance: 4th, Dash. Move and gain a bonus based on your current form.
Third Step: 4th, Strike. +4d6 damage and additional bonus if you used 2nd Step last round.
Counter Technique: 5th, Counter. Defend against charge or special combat maneuver.
Ferocious Lion Path: 5th, Stance. -2 AC, +2 to hit, bonus attack on a critical hit. In addition enter Ferocious Lion more easily.
Iron Tortoise Path: 5th, Stance. -2 to hit and damage, -10-ft movement speed, but gain DR 5/-. In addition enter Iron Tortoise more easily.
Opening Rush: 5th, Strike. Charge and enter form gaining benefits based on it.
Absolute Focus: 6th, Boost. Gain benefit based on form for 1 round.
Fourth Step: 6th, Strike. +8d6 damage and additional bonus if you used 3rd Step last round.
All-Out Offense: 7th, Strike. -2 to saves, -6 to AC, +6 to hit, +15d6 damage; may enter Ferocious Lion.
Retribution of Steel: 7th, Counter. Deal 1/2 damage received to foe in melee; full damage if in Iron Tortoise or Focused Eagle.
Epitome of the Beast: 8th, Boost. Gain benefit based on current form.
Final Step: 8th, Strike. Double damage and additional benefit if you used 4th Step last round.
Mastery of Forms: 8th, Stance. Shift forms easily and gain benefits based on your current form.
Fury of Four Beasts: 9th, Strike. +10d8 damage for each form you've entered since you were last without one.
Perfected Style of the Grand Court Feats:
Arsenal of a Wounded Beast
Taken from the royal courts the Perfected Style has been adapted to many weapons, you have learned one of these adaptations, the way to use its venerable techniques with a multitude of weapons.
Prerequisites: 2 Perfected Style of the Grand Court maneuvers.
Benefit: You may use Perfected Style of the Grand Court strikes with any weapon, and may gain the bonuses to attack and damage of maneuvers and stances from that discipline with any weapon.
Broken Honor of the Jackal
It is said that there was once a fifth Royal Beast. It stood graciously and noble alongside the progenitors of the Four Great Houses of the Old Kingdom. Till one day it committed a sin of such dishonor that it was stricken from their ranks and banished from the fledgling kingdom. Thus the Clever Jackal does not exist within the Perfected Style, but there are those who claim it as their banner to justify techniques frowned upon by traditionalists of the Perfected Style.
Prerequisites: 1 Perfected Style of the Grand Court maneuver, 1 maneuver from a “dishonorable” discipline (Shadow Hand, Crone’s Hex, Feral Hunger, Grown Blade, Hewn Tree, Jeering Monkey, Protean Hunter, and sometimes Lunar Spirit and/or Star Dream).
Benefit: You do not suffer an increase to the DC of the check to remain within a form due to a maneuver being from a “dishonorable” style.
Old even before the Temple of Nine Swords. The Perfected Style of the Grand Court was the pinnacle of elven sword art developed and honed by generations of near immortal elven duelists. Mired in millennia of tradition the nobles who practiced the Perfected Style refused to acknowledge the martial learnings of other humanoid races, seeing elven war arts as universally supreme, and refused to teach their secret arts to others. As such, when the Temple was being founded and the great search for martial disciplines carried out, the masters of the Perfected Style scoffed and ignored the call. Only once it was well established did the elf-lords deem to take notice, sending a representative to duel the temple’s finest. Despite their mastery of the Five Steps they could not adapt to the wizardry of blade that a true master of nine could bring to bear. When the Temple fell, many among the court cheered, noting how the experiment had failed and its way of the nine would fade with its destruction, while their own Perfected Style would last forever. The elf-lords were wrong, though, as it was the end of an age and the old kingdoms like the temple would fall. Where the fall of the Temple of Nine Swords served only to scatter to the seven winds the seeds of the sublime way, the fall of the elf-lords almost destroyed their “perfected style”. Battle arts designed for the battlefield supplanted it and only a few of the noblest blood practiced the Perfected Style. Eventually the style was forced to adapt as elements of other styles were brought into it and it was at last taught to the shorter lived races, but through it all the Perfected Style put form first. It is a style of duelists, of the high court where appearance is as valued as success, and even in its current form its stylized methods and ways are hard to mix with the other disciplines of the Sublime Way.
Associated Skill: Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty).
Discipline Weapons: Longsword, Rapier, Elven Thinblade, Elven Courtblade, Unarmed Strike.
Gaining the Perfected Style of the Grand Court Discipline: A swordsage may trade access to any discipline they have available to themselves to gain the Perfected Style of the Grand Court discipline in its place. A wildwood knight may exchange any discipline other than Star Dream, and an Argent Blade any other than Lunar Spirit. A crusader or warblade may exchange any discipline they possess for the Perfected Style of the Grand Court gaining Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) as a class skill and losing the exchanged discipline’s associated skill unless it is Balance. A morphic claw may not learn the Perfected Style.
New Maneuver Type: Dash
A dash maneuver is used as a move action and includes some amount of movement. Actions which can normally be taken as part of a move action, such as drawing a weapon with BAB +1 or higher. If a check or ability requires moving at half or less speed it can be used as part of a dash if you move no more than that proportion of the movement granted by the dash maneuver.
It has been brought to my attention that when people homebrewed move action maneuvers previously they were called Rushes. For all practical purposes the two should be considered the same thing.
Special Rules:
The Four Forms: Many Perfected Style of the Grand Court maneuvers require you to be in one of the Four Forms of the Royal Beasts (here after referred to as “forms”) or place you within one. These four forms are Dancing Stag, Ferocious Lion, Focused Eagle, and Iron Tortoise. You may remain in one of the four forms indefinitely as long as you make a melee attack against a creature each round, however due to the nature of the Perfected Style it is difficult to incorporate maneuvers of other disciplines into these four dueling forms. It is possible to do so either approaching it from a depth of understanding of the Perfected Style, or the Sublime Way as a whole. Whenever you use a maneuver that is not of the Perfected Style you must make a Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) or Martial Lore check (your choice) with a DC of 10 + three times the level of the maneuver used. If you fail you lose your form and must re-enter it. Certain martial disciplines mix more or less readily with certain forms, and certain ones rely on either stealth and deception at odds with a dueling style or ranged or supernatural powers and are considered dishonorable styles having an additional increase to their check DCs unless you have the Broken Honor of the Jackal feat.
Desert Wind: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag, +5 for Iron Tortoise.
Devoted Spirit: No special modifiers.
Diamond Mind: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Focused Eagle, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Iron Heart: -2 to DC of checks.
Setting Sun: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Shadow Hand: +5 to DC to remain in Ferocious Lion or Iron Tortoise. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Stone Dragon: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Dancing Stag.
Tiger Claw: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Ferocious Lion, automatically fail those to remain in Iron Tortoise.
White Raven: No special.
Adamant Eagle: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Crone’s Hex: +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Crushing Avalanche: -5 to DC of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Dancing Stag.
Darting Viper: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Focused Eagle, and -5 to Dc of checks to remain in Iron Tortoise, automatically fail those to remain in Ferocious Lion.
Feral Hunger: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Ferocious Lion. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Flashing Lightning: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag, +5 for Iron Tortoise.
Grown Blade: +5 to DC of checks to remain in any form. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Hewn Tree: +5 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag or Focused Eagle. +5 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Jeering Monkey: -10 to DC of checks to remain in Dancing Stag, automatically fail those to remain in Iron Tortoise. +15 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Lunar Spirit: +10 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style; argent blades may ignore this.
Protean Hunter: +5 to DC of checks to remain in any form. +10 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style.
Star Dream: +10 to DC of all as a “dishonorable” style; wildwood knights practice a fey variant of the Perfected Style and may not only ignore this but reduce the DC of checks to remain in any form after using a Star Dream maneuver by 5..
In addition the Focused Eagle form has special rules of its own. When you enter the Focused Eagle form you must choose on enemy as your Chosen Foe. You may not make attacks of opportunity against other creatures, and suffer a -4 penalty to attacks against other creatures, if you attack another creature you immediately exit the Focused Eagle form, and you cannot initiate martial strikes against other creatures or counters in response to them. Against your chosen foe, however, you gain a +1 bonus to hit increasing to +4 on attacks of opportunity, they suffer a -4 penalty to hit you with attacks of opportunity and a penalty to Tumble checks to move past you without provoking attacks of opportunity and to Bluff checks to feint in combat equal to -4 or ½ your Initiator Level whichever is higher.
Weapon Restrictions: Perfected Style of the Grand Court strikes may only be used with its discipline weapons and any bonuses to attacks or damage granted by a Perfected Style maneuver or stance only applies to attacks with these maneuvers. The Arsenal of a Wounded Beast feat circumvents these restrictions.
Bonus 5-ft Steps: Many Perfected Style maneuver grant you additional 5-ft steps. These 5-ft steps may be used in addition to your normal 5-ft step or in turns in which you move normally and would not normally be able to take a 5-ft step. They otherwise function as 5-ft steps.
Maneuvers List
Dancing Stag Path: 1st, Stance. +1 to AC, ignore 1 square of difficult terrain, and enter the Dancing Stag Form more easily.
Lion's Claw: 1st, Strike. -3 AC, +2 to hit, +1d6 damage, and enter the Ferocious Lion form.
Opening Strike: 1st, Strike. Enter the form of your choice.
Stag Dance Jab: 1st, Strike. 5-ft step before or after attack.
Tortoise Shell: 1st, Counter. Gain AC bonus against melee attacks based on your current form.
Focused Assault: 2nd, Strike. Enter the Focused Eagle form and make two attacks on your chosen foe, and gain bonus based upon what form your were in previously.
Second Step: 2nd, Strike. +2d6 damage and bonus based on your current form.
Quick Step: 2nd, Boost. 5-ft step, 10-ft if you are in the Dancing Stag form.
Defensive Awareness: 3rd, Counter. Gain defensive bonus based on current form.
Devastating Strike: 3rd, Strike. Large bonus to damage against foe who was your chosen foe last round.
Focused Eagle Path: 3rd, Stance. Single in on a target and gain defensive bonuses. Enter Focused Eagle more easily and change chosen foe as a move action.
Posture Perfecting Pirouette: 3rd, Dash. Move 10-ft and enter a form, gain bonus if you shift from one form to another.
Shift Form: 3rd, Boost. Enter a form; enter your current form for a bonus.
Four Beast Dance: 4th, Dash. Move and gain a bonus based on your current form.
Third Step: 4th, Strike. +4d6 damage and additional bonus if you used 2nd Step last round.
Counter Technique: 5th, Counter. Defend against charge or special combat maneuver.
Ferocious Lion Path: 5th, Stance. -2 AC, +2 to hit, bonus attack on a critical hit. In addition enter Ferocious Lion more easily.
Iron Tortoise Path: 5th, Stance. -2 to hit and damage, -10-ft movement speed, but gain DR 5/-. In addition enter Iron Tortoise more easily.
Opening Rush: 5th, Strike. Charge and enter form gaining benefits based on it.
Absolute Focus: 6th, Boost. Gain benefit based on form for 1 round.
Fourth Step: 6th, Strike. +8d6 damage and additional bonus if you used 3rd Step last round.
All-Out Offense: 7th, Strike. -2 to saves, -6 to AC, +6 to hit, +15d6 damage; may enter Ferocious Lion.
Retribution of Steel: 7th, Counter. Deal 1/2 damage received to foe in melee; full damage if in Iron Tortoise or Focused Eagle.
Epitome of the Beast: 8th, Boost. Gain benefit based on current form.
Final Step: 8th, Strike. Double damage and additional benefit if you used 4th Step last round.
Mastery of Forms: 8th, Stance. Shift forms easily and gain benefits based on your current form.
Fury of Four Beasts: 9th, Strike. +10d8 damage for each form you've entered since you were last without one.
Perfected Style of the Grand Court Feats:
Arsenal of a Wounded Beast
Taken from the royal courts the Perfected Style has been adapted to many weapons, you have learned one of these adaptations, the way to use its venerable techniques with a multitude of weapons.
Prerequisites: 2 Perfected Style of the Grand Court maneuvers.
Benefit: You may use Perfected Style of the Grand Court strikes with any weapon, and may gain the bonuses to attack and damage of maneuvers and stances from that discipline with any weapon.
Broken Honor of the Jackal
It is said that there was once a fifth Royal Beast. It stood graciously and noble alongside the progenitors of the Four Great Houses of the Old Kingdom. Till one day it committed a sin of such dishonor that it was stricken from their ranks and banished from the fledgling kingdom. Thus the Clever Jackal does not exist within the Perfected Style, but there are those who claim it as their banner to justify techniques frowned upon by traditionalists of the Perfected Style.
Prerequisites: 1 Perfected Style of the Grand Court maneuver, 1 maneuver from a “dishonorable” discipline (Shadow Hand, Crone’s Hex, Feral Hunger, Grown Blade, Hewn Tree, Jeering Monkey, Protean Hunter, and sometimes Lunar Spirit and/or Star Dream).
Benefit: You do not suffer an increase to the DC of the check to remain within a form due to a maneuver being from a “dishonorable” style.