Jatmaj
2023-02-21, 08:37 AM
Open Way
Long ago, when the Temple of Nine Swords still stood, a thief, having heard legends of the place, came to the Sunspire Mountains, entered the Temple in the night and stole the ancient scrolls and martial scripts kept by the masters of the Setting Sun. But, though she had meant to sell her ill-gotten treasure, she paused on the way down the mountain to read them, and was so inspired by what she learned that she returned to the Temple to repent the theft and study the sublime way herself. In time, she went on to invent the Open Way school, a martial discipline focused on bypassing defenses and taking advantage of vulnerabilities.
The key skill for Open Way maneuvers is Open Lock. The dagger, punching dagger, short sword, light pick, and kama are the associated weapons for Open Way.
Learning the Open Way discipline
Because the Open Way discipline was never taught widely at the Temple of the Nine Swords or any similar center of training, most martial adepts do not know any maneuvers from it, or even know it exists. Only Swordsages can learn maneuvers from the Open Way discipline. There are two ways to master the discipline. The first is to have been trained in it. If you choose to make a martial adept that has already been trained in the Open Way discipline at character creation, you simply replace one discipline that adept could normally learn maneuvers from with the Open Way discipline.
The other way is to seek out a master of the Open Way discipline–a martial adept capable of using at least 5th-level maneuvers from the discipline. You must train for a month under the master and spend 1,000 xp at the end of your training. You gain the ability to learn maneuvers from the Open Way discipline. In addition, you may exchange your maneuvers known for maneuvers of the Open Way discipline. You may exchange one maneuver of each level, and the new maneuvers you learn must be of the same level as the exchanged maneuvers. The difficulty of finding an appropriate mentor is left to the DM to choose.
Sidebar - Other Martial Adept classes:
Of the three martial adept classes describe in the Tome of Battle, only a swordsage can learn the Open Way discipline. However if you use homebrew classes in your game, it should also be available to any class that would ordinarily have access to the Setting Sun or Shadow Hand disciplines, in the same manner described above.
Level 1
Keyhole Strike: Strike - Attack that ignores cover and shields, adds dex mod to damage
Open Defenses: Boost – Make opponent flat-footed for one attack if you succeed at Open Lock check
Pass the Sentinel: Boost – Charge does not provoke attacks of opportunity
Slip the Shackles: Counter – Add Open Lock ranks to check to escape grapple
Burglar's Stance: Stance – Gain Trapfinding
Level 2
Hand-Opening Strike: Strike – Deal damage on successful disarm attempt
Strike the Flaw: Boost – Deal bonus damage equal to target’s DR or hardness
Vital Blow: Boost – Automatically confirm critical hit
Level 3
Open Veins: Strike – Opponent takes half damage again every round until healed
Pick Rake: Boost – Make off-hand attack against all creatures you have hit this turn; ignore improvised weapon penalties
Scale-Reaving Strike: Strike – On hit, halve armor or natural armor, or deal +1d6 damage
Opened Eyes: Stance – +IL/4 to Spot, Search, Sense Motive
Level 4
Four-Pin Attack: Strike – Make multiple disarm, sunder, or trip attempts as a standard action
Open the Path: Counter – Ignore difficult terrain, abilities that would limit your movement
Rogue’s Precision: Strike – Attack with +4d6 Sneak Attack.
Turn the Blade: Boost – Increase your weapon’s critical modifier
Level 5
Griplock: Counter – Automatically succeed at a grapple check or check to avoid being disarmed
Spell-Reaving Strike: Strike – On hit, dispel a spell on the target, or deal +2d6 damage
Pierce Through: Strike – Move and attack targets whose square you pass through
Locksmith’s Stance: Stance – You may take 10 on dexterity checks and dexterity-based skill checks
Level 6
Seek the Gap: Strike – Strike as a touch attack, but critical hit if you beat normal AC as well.
Form-Reaving Strike: Strike - Target loses resistance to a damage type of your choice, or deal +3d6 damage.
Level 7
Find the Path: Boost – As the Find the Path spell
Perfect Keyhole Strike: Strike - Attack that ignores cover (even total) and shields, adds twice dex mod to damage
Pierce the Veil: Counter – Reroll will save, gain temporary True Seeing
Level 8
Open Ribs: Strike – Kill by removing opponent’s heart
Unlocked Potential: Stance – +1 insight bonus to all ability scores
Level 9
Open Mind: Strike – Freely alter the target’s beliefs, values and loyalties
Keyhole Strike
Open Way 2 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Weapon attack
Target: One creature
You aim your attack at the weakest point in your foe’s defenses, no matter how small.
As part of this maneuver, make a single attack. This attack ignores cover, except for total cover, and the target does not benefit from the AC bonus of any shield they may be using. Furthermore, if you hit, deal additional damage equal to your dexterity modifier.
Open Defenses
Open Way 1 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
You pick apart your enemy's ability to parry and dodge as if they were an inefficient lock.
Make an Open Lock check opposed by your target's AC. If yours is higher, the target is flat-footed until the end of your turn.
Pass the Sentinel
Open Way 1 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Full-round action
You must make a charge attack as part of this maneuver. During the charge, your movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Slip the Shackles
Open Way 1 (Counter)
Initiation Action: Immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn
Until the end of your turn, you gain a competence bonus equal to your ranks in Open Lock on any checks you make to escape a grapple.
Burglar's Stance
Open Way 1 (Stance)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
You gain the Trapfinding and Trap Sense class features, as if you were a rogue of a level equal to your initiator level.
Hand-Opening Strike
Open Way 2 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Full-round action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
Like the pins of a lock, you jolt your foe’s fingers into a position where they can no longer secure their contents.
As part of this maneuver, make a disarm attempt. Unlike a normal disarm attempt, this does not provoke attacks of opportunity nor risk you being disarmed in return. If you succeed at disarming your opponent, you also deal damage as if you had hit with a normal melee attack.
Strike the Flaw
Open Way 2 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Duration: End of turn
Even the best picklocks know that occasionally, the quickest way through a locked door is to break the hinges.
Until the end of your turn, your melee attacks deal extra damage equal to the highest damage reduction or hardness their target possesses.
Vital Blow
Open Way 2 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Duration: Instantaneous
You quickly strike at a vital area while your opponent’s guard is open.
You automatically succeed at the next roll you make to confirm a critical hit this turn. You may initiate this boost after rolling an attack, but before you determine the result.
Open Veins
Open Way 3 (Strike)
Prerequisites: One Open way maneuver
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature with a circulatory system
Duration: See text
You find the most efficient route for your enemy's blood to leave his body.
Make an attack with a slashing or piercing weapon. If the attack deals damage, your enemy continues to take half that much damage on your turn every successive round until he receives magical healing.
Pick Rake
Open Way 3 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Duration: Instantaneous
The first adepts of the Open Way, with thieves’ tools so often in hand, learned also to use them as a weapon in times of need.
Make an attack with a light off-hand weapon against each enemy you've already hit this round. You don’t take improvised weapon penalties on these attacks, and if using a masterwork tool as a weapon, the masterwork bonus applies to the attacks.
Scale-Reaving Strike
Open Way 3 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
Duration: See text
You cleave through key portions of your enemy’s armor, weakening its protection.
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. If this attack hits, your foe’s armor is weakened, reducing its AC bonus by half until the armor is repaired. If your foe is not wearing armor but has natural armor, their natural armor bonus is halved instead, lasting until the target receives at least 15 points of magical healing.
If your foe has neither armor nor natural armor, your attack deals 1d6 extra damage.
Opened Eyes
Open Way 3 (Stance)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
While you are in this stance, you gain an insight bonus to Spot, Search, and Sense Motive checks equal to 1/4 your initiator level.
Four-Pin Attack
Open Way 4 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: Several creatures
As part of this maneuver, you take a full attack action; however, all of the attacks you make during it must be disarm, sunder, or trip attempts. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity during this maneuver.
Open the Path
Open Way 4 (Boost)(Su)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
When you move, obstacles part before you, whether rough ground, conjured barriers, or the blades of your foes.
Until the end of your turn, your movement is not impeded by difficult terrain, you may ignore any harmful effect that would be triggered by entering or moving through an area (including attacks of opportunity), and you may pass through magical or supernatural barriers and obstructions as if they were not present.
Rogue’s Precision
Open Way 4 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. This attack deals an addition 4d6 points of damage to flanked or flat-footed foes, as per the Sneak Attack class feature.
Turn the Blade
Open Way 4 (Boost)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Swift action (See text)
Range: Melee attack
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous
Your weapon’s critical multiplier is increased by 2 for a single attack. You may initiate this boost after rolling an attack, but before you determine the result.
Griplock
Open Way 5 (Counter)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn
Until the end of your turn, you gain a +20 bonus on attempts to pin an opponent, rolls to prevent an opponent from breaking your grapple, and rolls to avoid being disarmed.
Spell-Reaving Strike
Open Way 5 (Strike)(Su)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature or object
You break open the magic protecting your opponent, rendering him vulnerable.
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. If this attack roll succeeds, before rolling for damage or any miss chances that may apply, you may make a dispel check, using your initiator level instead of caster level, against an ongoing spell or spell-like ability that has been cast on the target. You may choose a particular spell or ability if its effects are visible; otherwise, the a random spell on the target is affected. If the check succeeds, the spell or spell-like ability ends.
If your target is not under the effects of any spells or spell-like abilities, your attack deals 2d6 extra damage.
Pierce Through
Open Way 5 (Strike)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Full round action
Range: See text
Target: Several creatures
You strike multiple opponents in a one forceful lunge.
Sometimes termed Cut Through or Break through by those adepts who favor slashing or bludgeoning weapons, this maneuver allows you to move up to half your speed in a straight line. During this movement, you don’t provoke attacks of opportunity, and can pass freely through spaces occupied by an opponent without making a tumble check. Make a single attack roll against all creatures whose spaces you passed through during this movement, dealing damage to those whose AC is less than the result of your attack roll as if you had hit them with a standard melee attack.
Locksmith’s Stance
Open Way 5 (Stance)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
Your training in the Open Way discipline has given you both steady hands and quick reflexes.
While you are in this stance, you may take 10 on dexterity checks (including initiative) and dexterity-based skill checks.
Seek the Gap
Open Way 6 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature or object
As part of this maneuver, make a single melee attack. This is a touch attack, rather than a standard melee attack. If you hit, you deal normal damage. If your attack roll exceeds both your opponent’s touch AC and normal AC, the attack is automatically a critical hit, regardless of your weapon’s normal critical threat range.
Form-Reaving Strike
Open Way 6 (Strike)(Su)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature or object
Duration: One hour
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. If this attack hits, you may name a damage type. If the target is immune to that type of damage, they instead become merely resistant to it. If the target is resistant to that type of damage, they lose their resistance to it. If the target is neither resistant nor immune to the type of damage you named, your attack deals 3d6 extra damage.
Find the Path
Open Way 7 (Boost)(Su)
Prerequisite: Three Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Target: You
Duration: 10 min./level
You become aware of the most direct physical route to a destination of your choice, exactly as you had cast a Find the Path spell on yourself.
Perfect Keyhole Strike
Open Way 7 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Weapon attack
Target: One creature
As part of this maneuver, make a single attack. This attack ignores cover, even total cover, and the target does not benefit from the AC bonus of any shield they may be using. Since this attack ignores total cover, you need not have line of effect to the target. Furthermore, if you hit, deal additional damage equal to twice your dexterity modifier.
Pierce the Veil
Open Way 7 (Counter)(Su)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn
You can use this maneuver any time you would fail a will save. Immediately reroll the will save, using the better of the two results. Furthermore, until the end of your next turn, you gain the benefits of a True Seeing spell.
Open Ribs
Open Way 8 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Full-round action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature with a heart and skeletal system.
You find your way through your enemy's ribs and gently remove its heart.
Make an Open Lock check at a -10 penalty. If your result exceeds the target’s AC, the creature dies. Creatures that have a heart but do not rely on it to survive (such as many undead or creatures with regeneration) merely take damage equal to their current hit points.
Unlocked Potential
Open Way 8 (Stance)(Su)
Prerequisite: Three Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
While you are in this stance, you gain a +1 insight bonus to all of your ability scores.
Open Mind
Open Way 9 (Strike)(Su)
Prerequisite: Four Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Full-round action
Target: One sapient creature
You find your way through your enemy's psychological defenses.
Make an Open Lock check opposed by the target's choice of a bluff check, concentration check or will save. If yours is higher, you may alter its beliefs, values and loyalties in any manner that could be achieved by an arbitrarily high bluff or diplomacy check.
Credit:
dspeyer pointed out that the Homebrew Martial Discipine Compendium had at least one discipline for every skill except open lock, and posted a few maneuvers from a potential discipline with open lock as its key skill. I was inspired to try expanding these ideas into a full discipline (posted with his permission).
Open Defenses, Open Veins, Open Ribs, and Open Mind are from his post (which I can't link to because this account is too new), included here with only minor changes.
The ‘Learning the Open Way discipline’ section is derived from the rules for learning homebrew disciplines written by The Demented One, which I also can't link to.
Long ago, when the Temple of Nine Swords still stood, a thief, having heard legends of the place, came to the Sunspire Mountains, entered the Temple in the night and stole the ancient scrolls and martial scripts kept by the masters of the Setting Sun. But, though she had meant to sell her ill-gotten treasure, she paused on the way down the mountain to read them, and was so inspired by what she learned that she returned to the Temple to repent the theft and study the sublime way herself. In time, she went on to invent the Open Way school, a martial discipline focused on bypassing defenses and taking advantage of vulnerabilities.
The key skill for Open Way maneuvers is Open Lock. The dagger, punching dagger, short sword, light pick, and kama are the associated weapons for Open Way.
Learning the Open Way discipline
Because the Open Way discipline was never taught widely at the Temple of the Nine Swords or any similar center of training, most martial adepts do not know any maneuvers from it, or even know it exists. Only Swordsages can learn maneuvers from the Open Way discipline. There are two ways to master the discipline. The first is to have been trained in it. If you choose to make a martial adept that has already been trained in the Open Way discipline at character creation, you simply replace one discipline that adept could normally learn maneuvers from with the Open Way discipline.
The other way is to seek out a master of the Open Way discipline–a martial adept capable of using at least 5th-level maneuvers from the discipline. You must train for a month under the master and spend 1,000 xp at the end of your training. You gain the ability to learn maneuvers from the Open Way discipline. In addition, you may exchange your maneuvers known for maneuvers of the Open Way discipline. You may exchange one maneuver of each level, and the new maneuvers you learn must be of the same level as the exchanged maneuvers. The difficulty of finding an appropriate mentor is left to the DM to choose.
Sidebar - Other Martial Adept classes:
Of the three martial adept classes describe in the Tome of Battle, only a swordsage can learn the Open Way discipline. However if you use homebrew classes in your game, it should also be available to any class that would ordinarily have access to the Setting Sun or Shadow Hand disciplines, in the same manner described above.
Level 1
Keyhole Strike: Strike - Attack that ignores cover and shields, adds dex mod to damage
Open Defenses: Boost – Make opponent flat-footed for one attack if you succeed at Open Lock check
Pass the Sentinel: Boost – Charge does not provoke attacks of opportunity
Slip the Shackles: Counter – Add Open Lock ranks to check to escape grapple
Burglar's Stance: Stance – Gain Trapfinding
Level 2
Hand-Opening Strike: Strike – Deal damage on successful disarm attempt
Strike the Flaw: Boost – Deal bonus damage equal to target’s DR or hardness
Vital Blow: Boost – Automatically confirm critical hit
Level 3
Open Veins: Strike – Opponent takes half damage again every round until healed
Pick Rake: Boost – Make off-hand attack against all creatures you have hit this turn; ignore improvised weapon penalties
Scale-Reaving Strike: Strike – On hit, halve armor or natural armor, or deal +1d6 damage
Opened Eyes: Stance – +IL/4 to Spot, Search, Sense Motive
Level 4
Four-Pin Attack: Strike – Make multiple disarm, sunder, or trip attempts as a standard action
Open the Path: Counter – Ignore difficult terrain, abilities that would limit your movement
Rogue’s Precision: Strike – Attack with +4d6 Sneak Attack.
Turn the Blade: Boost – Increase your weapon’s critical modifier
Level 5
Griplock: Counter – Automatically succeed at a grapple check or check to avoid being disarmed
Spell-Reaving Strike: Strike – On hit, dispel a spell on the target, or deal +2d6 damage
Pierce Through: Strike – Move and attack targets whose square you pass through
Locksmith’s Stance: Stance – You may take 10 on dexterity checks and dexterity-based skill checks
Level 6
Seek the Gap: Strike – Strike as a touch attack, but critical hit if you beat normal AC as well.
Form-Reaving Strike: Strike - Target loses resistance to a damage type of your choice, or deal +3d6 damage.
Level 7
Find the Path: Boost – As the Find the Path spell
Perfect Keyhole Strike: Strike - Attack that ignores cover (even total) and shields, adds twice dex mod to damage
Pierce the Veil: Counter – Reroll will save, gain temporary True Seeing
Level 8
Open Ribs: Strike – Kill by removing opponent’s heart
Unlocked Potential: Stance – +1 insight bonus to all ability scores
Level 9
Open Mind: Strike – Freely alter the target’s beliefs, values and loyalties
Keyhole Strike
Open Way 2 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Weapon attack
Target: One creature
You aim your attack at the weakest point in your foe’s defenses, no matter how small.
As part of this maneuver, make a single attack. This attack ignores cover, except for total cover, and the target does not benefit from the AC bonus of any shield they may be using. Furthermore, if you hit, deal additional damage equal to your dexterity modifier.
Open Defenses
Open Way 1 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
You pick apart your enemy's ability to parry and dodge as if they were an inefficient lock.
Make an Open Lock check opposed by your target's AC. If yours is higher, the target is flat-footed until the end of your turn.
Pass the Sentinel
Open Way 1 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Full-round action
You must make a charge attack as part of this maneuver. During the charge, your movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Slip the Shackles
Open Way 1 (Counter)
Initiation Action: Immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn
Until the end of your turn, you gain a competence bonus equal to your ranks in Open Lock on any checks you make to escape a grapple.
Burglar's Stance
Open Way 1 (Stance)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
You gain the Trapfinding and Trap Sense class features, as if you were a rogue of a level equal to your initiator level.
Hand-Opening Strike
Open Way 2 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Full-round action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
Like the pins of a lock, you jolt your foe’s fingers into a position where they can no longer secure their contents.
As part of this maneuver, make a disarm attempt. Unlike a normal disarm attempt, this does not provoke attacks of opportunity nor risk you being disarmed in return. If you succeed at disarming your opponent, you also deal damage as if you had hit with a normal melee attack.
Strike the Flaw
Open Way 2 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Duration: End of turn
Even the best picklocks know that occasionally, the quickest way through a locked door is to break the hinges.
Until the end of your turn, your melee attacks deal extra damage equal to the highest damage reduction or hardness their target possesses.
Vital Blow
Open Way 2 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Duration: Instantaneous
You quickly strike at a vital area while your opponent’s guard is open.
You automatically succeed at the next roll you make to confirm a critical hit this turn. You may initiate this boost after rolling an attack, but before you determine the result.
Open Veins
Open Way 3 (Strike)
Prerequisites: One Open way maneuver
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature with a circulatory system
Duration: See text
You find the most efficient route for your enemy's blood to leave his body.
Make an attack with a slashing or piercing weapon. If the attack deals damage, your enemy continues to take half that much damage on your turn every successive round until he receives magical healing.
Pick Rake
Open Way 3 (Boost)
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Melee attack
Duration: Instantaneous
The first adepts of the Open Way, with thieves’ tools so often in hand, learned also to use them as a weapon in times of need.
Make an attack with a light off-hand weapon against each enemy you've already hit this round. You don’t take improvised weapon penalties on these attacks, and if using a masterwork tool as a weapon, the masterwork bonus applies to the attacks.
Scale-Reaving Strike
Open Way 3 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
Duration: See text
You cleave through key portions of your enemy’s armor, weakening its protection.
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. If this attack hits, your foe’s armor is weakened, reducing its AC bonus by half until the armor is repaired. If your foe is not wearing armor but has natural armor, their natural armor bonus is halved instead, lasting until the target receives at least 15 points of magical healing.
If your foe has neither armor nor natural armor, your attack deals 1d6 extra damage.
Opened Eyes
Open Way 3 (Stance)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
While you are in this stance, you gain an insight bonus to Spot, Search, and Sense Motive checks equal to 1/4 your initiator level.
Four-Pin Attack
Open Way 4 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: Several creatures
As part of this maneuver, you take a full attack action; however, all of the attacks you make during it must be disarm, sunder, or trip attempts. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity during this maneuver.
Open the Path
Open Way 4 (Boost)(Su)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
When you move, obstacles part before you, whether rough ground, conjured barriers, or the blades of your foes.
Until the end of your turn, your movement is not impeded by difficult terrain, you may ignore any harmful effect that would be triggered by entering or moving through an area (including attacks of opportunity), and you may pass through magical or supernatural barriers and obstructions as if they were not present.
Rogue’s Precision
Open Way 4 (Strike)
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. This attack deals an addition 4d6 points of damage to flanked or flat-footed foes, as per the Sneak Attack class feature.
Turn the Blade
Open Way 4 (Boost)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Swift action (See text)
Range: Melee attack
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous
Your weapon’s critical multiplier is increased by 2 for a single attack. You may initiate this boost after rolling an attack, but before you determine the result.
Griplock
Open Way 5 (Counter)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn
Until the end of your turn, you gain a +20 bonus on attempts to pin an opponent, rolls to prevent an opponent from breaking your grapple, and rolls to avoid being disarmed.
Spell-Reaving Strike
Open Way 5 (Strike)(Su)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature or object
You break open the magic protecting your opponent, rendering him vulnerable.
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. If this attack roll succeeds, before rolling for damage or any miss chances that may apply, you may make a dispel check, using your initiator level instead of caster level, against an ongoing spell or spell-like ability that has been cast on the target. You may choose a particular spell or ability if its effects are visible; otherwise, the a random spell on the target is affected. If the check succeeds, the spell or spell-like ability ends.
If your target is not under the effects of any spells or spell-like abilities, your attack deals 2d6 extra damage.
Pierce Through
Open Way 5 (Strike)
Prerequisite: One Open Way maneuver
Initiation Action: Full round action
Range: See text
Target: Several creatures
You strike multiple opponents in a one forceful lunge.
Sometimes termed Cut Through or Break through by those adepts who favor slashing or bludgeoning weapons, this maneuver allows you to move up to half your speed in a straight line. During this movement, you don’t provoke attacks of opportunity, and can pass freely through spaces occupied by an opponent without making a tumble check. Make a single attack roll against all creatures whose spaces you passed through during this movement, dealing damage to those whose AC is less than the result of your attack roll as if you had hit them with a standard melee attack.
Locksmith’s Stance
Open Way 5 (Stance)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
Your training in the Open Way discipline has given you both steady hands and quick reflexes.
While you are in this stance, you may take 10 on dexterity checks (including initiative) and dexterity-based skill checks.
Seek the Gap
Open Way 6 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature or object
As part of this maneuver, make a single melee attack. This is a touch attack, rather than a standard melee attack. If you hit, you deal normal damage. If your attack roll exceeds both your opponent’s touch AC and normal AC, the attack is automatically a critical hit, regardless of your weapon’s normal critical threat range.
Form-Reaving Strike
Open Way 6 (Strike)(Su)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature or object
Duration: One hour
As part of this maneuver, make an attack. If this attack hits, you may name a damage type. If the target is immune to that type of damage, they instead become merely resistant to it. If the target is resistant to that type of damage, they lose their resistance to it. If the target is neither resistant nor immune to the type of damage you named, your attack deals 3d6 extra damage.
Find the Path
Open Way 7 (Boost)(Su)
Prerequisite: Three Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Target: You
Duration: 10 min./level
You become aware of the most direct physical route to a destination of your choice, exactly as you had cast a Find the Path spell on yourself.
Perfect Keyhole Strike
Open Way 7 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Standard action
Range: Weapon attack
Target: One creature
As part of this maneuver, make a single attack. This attack ignores cover, even total cover, and the target does not benefit from the AC bonus of any shield they may be using. Since this attack ignores total cover, you need not have line of effect to the target. Furthermore, if you hit, deal additional damage equal to twice your dexterity modifier.
Pierce the Veil
Open Way 7 (Counter)(Su)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn
You can use this maneuver any time you would fail a will save. Immediately reroll the will save, using the better of the two results. Furthermore, until the end of your next turn, you gain the benefits of a True Seeing spell.
Open Ribs
Open Way 8 (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Full-round action
Range: Melee attack
Target: One creature with a heart and skeletal system.
You find your way through your enemy's ribs and gently remove its heart.
Make an Open Lock check at a -10 penalty. If your result exceeds the target’s AC, the creature dies. Creatures that have a heart but do not rely on it to survive (such as many undead or creatures with regeneration) merely take damage equal to their current hit points.
Unlocked Potential
Open Way 8 (Stance)(Su)
Prerequisite: Three Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
While you are in this stance, you gain a +1 insight bonus to all of your ability scores.
Open Mind
Open Way 9 (Strike)(Su)
Prerequisite: Four Open Way maneuvers
Initiation Action: Full-round action
Target: One sapient creature
You find your way through your enemy's psychological defenses.
Make an Open Lock check opposed by the target's choice of a bluff check, concentration check or will save. If yours is higher, you may alter its beliefs, values and loyalties in any manner that could be achieved by an arbitrarily high bluff or diplomacy check.
Credit:
dspeyer pointed out that the Homebrew Martial Discipine Compendium had at least one discipline for every skill except open lock, and posted a few maneuvers from a potential discipline with open lock as its key skill. I was inspired to try expanding these ideas into a full discipline (posted with his permission).
Open Defenses, Open Veins, Open Ribs, and Open Mind are from his post (which I can't link to because this account is too new), included here with only minor changes.
The ‘Learning the Open Way discipline’ section is derived from the rules for learning homebrew disciplines written by The Demented One, which I also can't link to.