[3.5] Infernal Monster Discipline

[Xefas]

Martial Disciples are, at their core, expressions of ideas. Whenever a master has designed his own discipline, he has poured into it his own feelings and ideologies, such that the discipline makes statements - expressions of art, of love, of dominance, of self-perfection, of camaraderie.

The disciplines most know throughout the Planes - Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, White Raven, and others - have been created by mortals, and reflected their desires. They show the mortals' fear of death, or love of victory, or their philosophies of perfecting their own imperfect forms. Some of the more exotic disciplines, such as Dread Crown, have been created by Outsiders, and such disciplines represent dedication to a higher moral concept, such as Evil, rather than the petty problems of the lesser Primes.

The Infernal Monster discipline resonates with ideals far baser than either. It is the expression of pure, untainted savagery. Savagery not dealt due to hunger, ignorance, sadness, self-preservation, or sadism. Only a select few men will ever press against such feelings - when they lose themselves in the primal rage of violence, and they hurt others for no other reason than because they can do nothing else. The Infernal Monster has no master, and cannot be taught. It may only be learned when one has lost themselves fully to unrestrained brutality, and lives for nothing but destruction.

The skill for Infernal Monster is Intimidate, and its associated weapons are unarmed strikes, natural weapons, and improvised weapons. A character that has even a single Infernal Monster maneuver readied (whether expended or not) or who knows an Infernal Monster stance, does not take a penalty on their attack rolls for wielding improvised weapons.

Furthermore, under such conditions, should they acquire a new improvised weapon during an encounter that they did not possess going into it, they add a +2 attack bonus and bypass damage reduction as if the improvised weapon were magic until the end of the encounter. It is in the nature of Infernal Monsters to put as little forethought into their violence as possible, opting instead to bludgeon their foes to death with whatever scenery happens to be laying around.

All Warblade, Swordsages, and Crusaders (and any homebrew initiating classes, at the DM's discretion) may learn the Infernal Monster discipline, in one of two ways. Both require the prospective character to have lost themselves in a mindless fury without thought, restraint, or concern for bystanders or consequences. Rage or Frenzy class features do not automatically qualify you - though they certainly get you onto the right track.

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 Infernal Monster ones). You may also, at your discretion, lose its associated skill as a class skill and gain Intimidate 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 Intimidate 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 (but not light) improvised weapons as two-handed for the purposes of strength modifiers to damage and the bonus added to damage from Power Attack.

This discipline uses a concept called "Rage Effects". A Rage Effect, for the purposes of this discipline's maneuvers and stance, induces the following behavior for the duration:

During this time, you may not recover any maneuvers outside of the Infernal Monster or Tiger Claw disciplines, and you may not show any manner of restraint in your attacks (i.e. you may not voluntarily use nonlethal damage if there is a suitable lethal method around). You may not voluntarily perform movement that would take you farther away from all of your enemies (you may switch targets, but not forsake all of them). If you drop a foe unconscious, and there are other dangers afoot, you may focus on those other dangers, but if there are no other enemies or dangers around, you must attempt to kill fallen enemies. If an ally strikes you (even if they are under some sort of mind-effecting affect), they are considered an enemy for the duration of the Rage. All Rages automatically end if you neither attack an enemy nor are attacked by an enemy for 5 consecutive rounds, regardless if its normal duration would be longer.

All maneuvers of this discipline are also considered to have the [Common Sense] subtype. I'm fairly certain you knew I didn't intend for you to carry a sack of rats around and declare them as your enemy to abuse the functions of the maneuvers, and similar deals. I am defining here, in the rules, that should you be under suspicion of conspiring to perform such acts, your DM and fellow players are allowed to douse you with kerosene and light you on fire. It's here. In the rules.

Maneuver List
Level 1
All-Consuming Rampage Release (Boost) - Devolve into a mindless fury.
Raging Behemoth Charge (Strike) - Catapult yourself into the fray.
Retribution Will Follow (Stance) - Fly into a rage when struck.

Level 2
Fury is Freedom (Counter) - Rend unnatural thoughts from your mind.
God-Smashing Blow (Strike) - Send your foe plummeting to the ground.

Level 3
Infernal Monster Form (Stance) - Your blows grow deadlier as you attack.
World-Breaker Grip (Boost) - Effortlessly hold a grapple.

Level 4
Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide (Strike) - Mark an enemy for death.
Screaming Meat-Shield (Counter) - Use your grappled enemies as unfortunate cover.

Level 5
Joyful Cessation of Restraint (Strike) - Slaughter enemies with ludicrous speed.
Rabble-Terrorizing Puissance (Stance) - Strike fear into the hearts of all around you.

Level 6
Impatient Slaughter Speed (Boost) - Move in quickly for the kill.
Post-Traumatic Brutality Roar (Strike) - Send your enemies fleeing in terror.

Level 7
Fists of the Old Ones (Boost) - Endow your fists with killing potential.
Hero-Sundering Hands (Strike) - End a grapple badly for your enemies.

Level 8
Armageddon Nightmare Duel (Strike) - Haunt your foes in their nightmares.
Untamed Apocalypse Shintai (Stance) - Become the true Infernal Monster.

Level 9
Crack the Sky (Strike) - Send enemies flying away.

Level 1

Spoiler

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All Consuming Rampage Release
Infernal Monster (Boost)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 5 rounds

The Infernal Monster is angry. Very, very angry. It's angry that it exists. It's angry that you exist. It's angry at the sky above its head, and the ground beneath its feet. It's angry at just about everything, and while there might, hypothetically, be something that it doesn't know about that would not make it angry, it's pretty damn sure such a thing does not exist.

For the duration of this maneuver, you go into a Rage, granting you a +4 bonus to strength and dexterity.

Raging Behemoth Charge
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Action: Full-Round
Range: Charge
Target: Up to two enemies

The Infernal Monster cannot wait to enter battle. Whenever it is not actively killing, it thinks only of warm blood splashing its face, the stench of rent entrails upon the ground, and the horrified shrieks of prey as it closes upon them.

As part of this maneuver, you must first charge an enemy. At the end of the attack normally granted by a charge, you may make a second melee attack at the same attack bonus against another enemy within reach (but not the same enemy that you struck before).

If you are currently under a Rage effect, you may use this maneuver to charge through difficult terrain.

Retribution Will Follow
Infernal Monster (Stance)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

Prey that does not struggle may be fortunate enough to suffer a quick death. To fight is to only incite the Infernal Monster further.

While in this stance, if you suffer damage from an attack, you fly into a Rage, gaining a +4 bonus to Strength and Dexterity (multiple bonuses granted by this same stance do not stack). However, the enemy that struck you gets first priority over all other enemies, and you must attack them in preference to anything else if it is reasonable possible for you to do so (i.e. if your priority target has damage reduction that is nearly impossible for you to overcome, you may choose a different target to pursue - work with your DM and use your best judgment). If you have multiple 'first priorities' from having been struck multiple times, you may freely choose among them.

Level 2

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Fury is Freedom
Infernal Monster (Counter)
Action: Immediate
Range: Personal
Target: You

To lose yourself in fathomless anger is to be free from control; both from yourself and from others.

Activating this maneuver automatically rids you of one ongoing spell, spell-like, supernatural, or extraordinary mind-affecting effect, or one of the following conditions: Confused, Cowering, Dazed, Fascinated, Frightened, Nauseated, Panicked, Paralyzed, Shaken, Stunned. Furthermore, you are inoculated towards that specific spell, ability, or condition for the remainder of the encounter. You may activate this maneuver even if one of the stated conditions would prevent you from taking such an action (such as Dominate Person telling you not to, or Stunned preventing you from taking actions at all).

You shatter this effect by rage alone, and doing so exerts a noticeable amount of strain on your body. You take 1 point of damage per effective spell level of the effect (or 4 damage, if no spell level may be derived). This damage may not be prevented by any means, and is not considered an attack.

God-Smashing Blow
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Action: Standard
Range: Melee
Target: One creature

Once the Infernal Monster is in the throes of combat, his prey has only one hope to survive. If they are thrown to the ground, or knocked far enough away, perhaps he will forget about them in the pursuit of different meat.

As part of this maneuver, make a standard melee attack. If you succeed and deal damage, you and the struck target must engage in opposing strength checks. If you succeed on this check, you may choose to either knock your foe prone or to send them flying.

In the case of the former, the ground in a 10ft radius around your target suffers the same amount of damage dealt to your victim. On a stone dungeon floor, this may not make much difference, but fighting inside of a wooden house or on the outside of a glass roof might force this to come into play.

In the case of the latter, your target is flung in a direction of your choice, 1 foot per point of your Strength score (including temporary bonuses), rounded to the nearest 5ft square.

After choosing either effect, you (the player) may choose for your character to have forgotten about the humbled foe. In this case, they no longer count as an enemy for the purposes of the behavior your Rage effects induce upon you for the remainder of the encounter, or until they invoke your ire again in some way.

Level 3

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Infernal Monster Form
Infernal Monster (Stance)
Prerequisite: One Infernal Monster Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

Anger is not something that the Infernal Monster may empty himself of. No amount of violence will bleed it from him, and there are no coping mechanisms. The Monster's anger only breeds more anger, and his violence only breeds more violence.

Every time you make a melee attack (whether you hit or not) against an enemy, you gain a +1 bonus to your Strength score and enter a Rage for 1 round. The Strength bonus granted by this maneuver will continue to stack up to a maximum of your character level. If this Strength bonus hits its maximum, you also grow in size by one category. Magical equipment grows with you, but mundane equipment does not. This will burst any armor or non-magical confines that you are wearing or imprisoned within that has a hardness less than your Strength score. If you are unable to reach your maximum increased size, you simply stop growing until such time that you do have space.

World-Breaker Grip
Infernal Monster (Boost)
Prerequisite: One Infernal Monster Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Grapple
Target: Grappled Enemy

To the Infernal Monster, anything is a weapon suitable for annihilating his enemies. Even his enemies.

You may activate this maneuver only while you are in a grapple. You make an immediate grapple check against your enemy, and if you succeed, you have him in your grip. While in your grip, your enemy is not grappling you. You are free to move around and act as normal, dragging them along for the ride in your square. However, you must devote at least one hand at all times to maintaining your grip. As a free action, you may relinquish your grip at any time, dumping the foe into a square within your reach.

During an enemy's turn, they may do nothing but attempt to break free of your grip. They make a grapple check as a full-round action, and if they succeed, they break free, falling in an adjacent square of their choice. If they fail, they are pinned and continue to be in your grip. You take no penalty on this grapple check due to only holding them in one hand.

An enemy in your grip may be used as an improvised weapon with the stats of a Greatclub of a size equal to their own size category, though you take no attack roll penalty for wielding a foe of a size larger than weapons you can normally wield. Whenever you succeed in striking something with this improvised weapon, half the damage dealt is also dealt to it. After it becomes a corpse, it still continues to take damage, losing limbs and chunks of flesh along the way, reducing its size category accordingly.

Level 4

Spoiler

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Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Melee
Target: One creature

Better to be boring than dead. Prey that amuses the Infernal Monster cannot be forgotten, and thus cannot live. They may escape temporarily, but they have already incited its never-ending rage, and it will hunt them endlessly because of that.

As part of this maneuver, you make a standard melee attack (this maneuver may specifically be used at the end of a charge in place of the normal attack or attacks as well). If you succeed in hitting and dealing damage, the victim must make a Will saving throw (10 + 1/2 your character level + your strength modifier) or else you burn the signature of their animating force (whether the positive energy of living things, the negative energy of the undead, the arcane energies of a golem, or something else) into your rage-poisoned mind.

Henceforth, by taking a full-round action, you may know the exact direction and distance the afflicted victim is from you. Keep in mind that this is still an extraordinary ability, and thus cannot be negated or dispelled by magical means. The only way to be free of the hunt is for either participant to die (which, admittedly, for those with resurrection magic readily available, is not too large of a thing).

While a victim whose signature is burned into your mind is within line of sight of you, you may voluntarily spend a free action to go into a Rage.

You may only have a number of people burned into you equal to your character level at any one time. If you reach your maximum, you need to start killing people to lower the amount before you can gain new prey.

Screaming Meat-Shield
Infernal Monster (Counter)
Prerequisite: Two Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Immediate
Range: Special
Target: Special

The impulsive fury of the Infernal Monster often puts it in a position to forsake any unnecessary actions that do not cause immediate harm to others, such as defending one's self. However, when prey fights back enough that defense becomes necessary, its love for destruction allows it to briefly merge violence and protection into the same brutal action.

This maneuver may be used in response to an attack roll being rolled against you while you are grappled or while you have someone in your grip from World-Breaker Grip. Should the attack roll succeed in hitting you, it instead hits the enemy you are grappling or that is in your grip, sparing you entirely. This does function with spells or other effects that have attack rolls.

Level 5

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Joyful Cessation of Restraint
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Personal
Target: You

It is frustrating for the Infernal Monster that, while it may imagine acts of unfathomable savagery and violence, the limitations of its finite form are rarely enough to carry them out. In truth, this is probably the greatest mercy bestowed on the multiverse. Still, once in a while, as it shakes and rattles at its pathetic prison, its bars bend; if only for a moment.

You may immediately make a full-attack action.

If you have a Rage effect active, every attack is made at your full base attack bonus.

Rabble-Terrorizing Puissance
Infernal Monster (Stance)
Prerequisite: Two Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

The Infernal Monster does not necessarily wish to be feared. It puts no effort towards causing fear, or being fearsome. It is merely the joyful duty of prey to flee in terror and then die screaming. It is simply what they are. And the Infernal Monster has no particular qualms with this.

At the end of your turn, if you made at least one melee attack roll, all living creatures within 60ft must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character + Strength modifier) or become Shaken for 1 minute (those that are already Shaken become Frightened, and those that are already Frightened become Panicked, as normal; which resets the 1 minute duration).

Creatures that are immune to fear but still fail their saving throw instead invoke the amusement of the Infernal Monster, which we have already established is bad. Any attack you make that hits and deals damage to such an individual grants you a stackable +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls against that same individual for the remainder of the encounter. At the end of the encounter, this amusement fades.

Level 6

Spoiler

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Impatient Slaughter Speed
Infernal Monster (Boost)
Prerequisite: Two Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 5 rounds

If there is anything that infuriates an Infernal Monster more than their prey's continued existence, its the intervening space that they must waste precious time and energy moving through that could otherwise be put to use murdering said prey.

To activate this maneuver, their must not currently be an enemy within your melee reach. You focus your murderous intent on an enemy that you have line of sight to (though you need not have line of effect) or that you may perceive with some magical means of perception, such as clairvoyance or scrying. Alternatively, it may be someone that you have marked with Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide that is within 1 mile of you.

Upon activation, you instantly close the distance between yourself and your chosen prey. This is not teleportation; you merely move however fast it takes in as direct a line as possible to move adjacent to them. No matter what you move through, you never take damage from this travel. Interposed obstacles, such as adamantine walls, walls of force, planar barriers, or small moons are simply shattered in your wake, leaving a you-shaped hole in them.

If your target is currently in mid-air, and you can not fly, you may make a grapple check as a free action to grab onto them and not fall (or take them with you, depending).

For the following 5 rounds, you fly into a Rage, but with the same priority restrictions as Retribution Will Follow, with your focused target obtaining that priority.

Post-Traumatic Brutality Roar
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Personal
Area: 60ft
Target: All enemies within the area

Even though they may not want to admit it, even to themselves, everyone must eventually come to terms with the fact that they live in a world where the Infernal Monster is real. He is coming, and when he gets here, everyone will die. He cannot be stopped, or reasoned with, and the sad fact of life is that it is everyone's lot to be his prey. Even the Gods know this; they must. But everyone is fallible, and sometimes they forget. It is the duty of the Infernal Monster to remind them, and destroy the sweet bliss of ignorance.

Enemies in the area must make three consecutive Will saves (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Strength modifier) against being Shaken (upgrading to higher levels as normal). No matter the level, this lasts for 1 minute. Any enemies that fail two or more saves have horror stricken into their very existence. For the rest of their lives, whenever they perceive you through any means, they become Shaken with no save. This persists through even death and resurrection.

Enemies that are immune to fear because they are Undead instead become Turned if they fail one or more saves.

Enemies that are immune to fear for a reason other than being Undead instead suffer internal hemorrhaging as the very concept of fear batters against the impenetrable fortress of their mind. They take your Strength modifier in damage every round until they receive at least one point of magical healing.

Level 7

Spoiler

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Fists of the Old Ones
Infernal Monster (Boost)
Prerequisite: Three Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 5 rounds

The Infernal Monster is not a person; not a creature; not a physical thing. It is the anger inside every sapient being. Though true, unrestrained rage is required to see the Infernal Monster and learn its practices, every act fueled by any amount of ire shows the face of the Monster, however distorted and diluted. When a cat catches a bird and tortures it to death out of boredom, and then leaves it to rot in the sun, uneaten, that is the Infernal Monster. When a man takes the life of another man so that he may live instead, that too is the Infernal Monster. When a god grants his clerics a spell to enhance their weapon, rather than a spell to alleviate suffering, that is the Infernal Monster. When the very birth-pains of the primordial chaos wrought such an imperfect multiverse where anger, hate, and suffering were even possible concepts, that was the Infernal Monster.

For the duration of this maneuver, you gain a +16 bonus to Strength and Dexterity. If you are in a Rage, these bonuses are doubled.

Hero-Sundering Hands
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Prerequisite: Three Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Grapple
Target: One Creature

Most prey offers no challenge to the Infernal Monster. It is ended quickly and simply because it must be so. However, the occasional foe may offer enough of a semblance of the possibility of a challenge it requires special attention. The Monster dreams of such adversaries, and wakes salivating.

As part of this maneuver, you must be in a grapple and not pinned, and then spend your action making a grapple check. Alternatively, you may activate it if you have a creature in your grip from World-Breaker Grip.

If you succeed on the grapple check (you need not make a check if you have someone in your grip - it automatically succeeds), you immediately release the grapple, dropping your foe in a square within reach. However, the way in which you release them involves amputating one of their body parts via twisting and ripping it clean off. This deals 1/4 of their maximum hit point total in damage to them, and causes them to bleed out an additional number of hit points per turn equal to your strength modifier until they receive a spell capable of regenerating body parts, or magical healing equal to your full strength score. It also has a secondary effect, depending on the body part ripped off. These are a few of the more common ones, though atypical enemies will require some DM discretion on the effects of spontaneous limb amputation:

Arm: Obviously, they have one less hand to wield things in. But, in addition to that, they take a -8 penalty on Balance checks and any other checks that would benefit from having both hands (such as Climbing, Swimming, etc).

Leg: They can't use their land speed anymore, and are probably going to be prone almost indefinitely. If they have to, they may crawl on the ground for 5ft of movement per full-round action. They take a -8 penalty on Climb checks and any other checks that would benefit from having both legs (certain things may be impossible altogether).

Face: They are permanently disfigured from the extensive destruction of their skull. They are permanently blinded from the loss of eyes. They loss the Scent ability if they had it due to trauma to the olfactory system. They are incapable of speech from the damage to their jaw, teeth, and tongue. Unfortunately for them, they still have the ears to hear the horrified screams of children as they gaze upon his visage (assuming he survives).

Genitalia: Only included for completeness sake. Suffice it to say, no procreation.

Wing: No more natural fly speed (this may have further implications for a species that relies heavily on its wings as its primary means of locomotion).

Level 8

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Armageddon Nightmare Duel
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Prerequisite: Three Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Melee
Target: One Creature

Those that witness the Infernal Monster, and yet continue to live, are cursed with nightmares both sleeping and wakeful. They should be dead, and they know it. Their own mortality - even the possibility of death for immortal creatures - haunts them endlessly.

As part of this maneuver, make a standard melee attack. If it hits and deals damage, the target must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Strength modifier) or else have your nightmarish existence seared into their unconscious mind.

Henceforth, when an afflicted foe goes to sleep, or even just decides to rest, they are tortured by vivid dreams of you murdering them over and over again in progressively more brutal and fantastic ways, all of which they may remember perfectly. They gain no benefit from sleep or rest (though sleep, technically, is still sleep, and they will not die from sleep deprivation). Notably, this slows down the natural healing process, and prevents spells from being regained for classes that require sleep or rest.

This process is very soothing for you, however, as a graphic cinema plays in the back of your mind, revealing a veritable cornucopia of bloodshed. While an afflicted foe is sleeping or resting, you heal 1 hit point per round, one poison effect every 5 rounds, one point of ability damage or burn every 10 minutes, and one disease every hour.

You may only have up to 5 individuals afflicted by this ability at one time, and the rejuvenatory bonuses do not stack. The affliction lasts indefinitely, so long as you do not die. Death severs the link, restoring them to sanity.

Untamed Apocalypse Shintai
Infernal Monster (Stance)
Prerequisite: Three Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance (Special)

Even from the depths of madness that a man must sink to have progressed this far in the teachings of the Infernal Monster, the learning and subsequent activation of this maneuver is enough to give anyone pause. It is not to be taken lightly, and more than one master of the Infernal Monster style has skipped it entirely.

By entering this stance, you forfeit all vestiges of humanity, becoming a full extension of the Infernal Monster. This confers all the benefits of the Infernal Monster Form stance in addition the following.

You are under a constant amplified Rage effect that may not be turned off while you remain in this stance. In addition to the behavioral restrictions of a normal Rage, you may not wield any weapons other than an unarmed attack, natural weapon, or improvised weapon. You may not take any action that directly improves the statistics of another being (this includes healing hit point damage). You may not take actions that improve your own statistics if they take longer than 1 round (such as putting on armor; swapping out your chosen readied maneuvers does not count for this restriction). You may not activate maneuvers that belong to a school other than Infernal Monster. While you may understand speech as normal, your maximum capacity for communication is one or two word grunts amidst guttural howls of rage (even via telepathy, you are required to think grunts and howls at the recipient). Finally, with the exception of the occasional round of patching oneself up (see above), if you are not actively engaged in harming living and/or sentient things, you must be physical moving towards the closest known living and/or sentient thing with intent to harm it. The single exception involves the Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide maneuver. If you have a creature's signature seared into your mind via that maneuver, you may begrudging allow others nearby to continue living by actively pursuing one of your memorized targets. For this reason, alliances with the Infernal Monster tend to be either brief or distant.

Worst of all, you may not voluntarily leave this stance, nor may any effect cause you to leave this stance except for that which is detailed below. You may choose to sleep once per day, though not even unconsciousness ends the duration of this stance. Only the act of discharging the energy of a Greater Restoration, Heal, Limited Wish, Wish, or Miracle spell over your body while you are both at less than 0 hit points and unconscious will end this stance and its associated hysteria (you do not gain any other benefits of the spent spell).

In exchange for all of these detriments, while in this stance, you are immune to fear, as well as any Mind-Affecting effect that would somehow convince you to not harm something. You may, for instance, be the subject of a Dominate Person spell, but you must completely ignore any commands to not harm something that you otherwise would. Finally, Infernal Monster maneuvers you initiate are not expended, and you are considered to have all of your Known Infernal Monster maneuvers readied, even if this would exceed your limit for Readied Maneuvers.

Level 9

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Crack the Sky
Infernal Monster (Strike)
Prerequisite: Four Infernal Monster Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Melee
Target: One Creature

While Untamed Apocalypse Shintai is the purest expression of the Infernal Monster, this maneuver is more difficult for a prospective student to learn, earning it the spot at the top of the pyramid of gore and broken lives that is the Infernal Monster Discipline. It allows the practitioner to unleash a full 1/100th of the Infernal Monster's strength for a brief moment. 1% in one punch is all most will ever need to defeat anything but the mightiest foe.

First, you must make a melee attack roll against your target. If this succeeds, your victim has one last chance to avoid his fate by making a successful Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Strength modifier). If they make this save, they narrowly avoid your especially lumbering and inaccurate blow. Should they fail, however, they take damage as if from being normally attacked by you, plus an additional 20d6 damage, plus they are catapulted into the air, and 18 + 1d4 miles away from you by the sheer force of the strike.

Victims take about five minutes to traverse this distance, reaching terminal velocity in the meantime, and landing in a crater of their own blood and sloughed flesh, invoking an additional 20d6 damage from the impact. This damage is also dealt to the surface the target lands on which, if appropriate, will also cause all creatures within 300 feet of the impact zone to make a (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Strength modifier) Reflex save or fall prone.

While hurtling through the air, a creature's body is completely buckled from the force of the punch, preventing movement of any kind, including that required to complete somatic components. In addition, spells without a somatic component require a concentration check with a DC equal to (10 + 1/2 your character level + your Strength modifier) or the amount of damage they took from the initial punch, whichever is higher, to be performed properly.

If the victim somehow alters their position, such as via Plane Shift or a Teleportation spell, their velocity is maintained.

[Xefas]

Additional Stuff

Feats:

Hands of Fury
Masters of the Infernal Monster Discipline are marked forever as inhuman beasts and enemies of all who seek to live peacefully. The hands of men were given to them to differentiate themselves from such beasts; to build tools and homes and lasting monuments to the world. The hands of the Infernal Monster can only destroy.
Prerequisites: The character must know the "Untamed Apocalypse Shintai" and "Crack the Sky" Infernal Monster maneuvers.

Benefit: Upon taking this feat, the character's arms sprout an eerily meaningful network of scars from the shoulder all the way down. With close inspection, they almost seem to scrawl into unnerving characters belonging to an awkward, feral speech, though no such language is known to exist. If a character utilizes magic, such as a Comprehend Languages spell, that allows them to understand any written language, then they find that the inscription reads:

---
Once there was a maiden...
...who struck an iron wall until it shattered her hand.
She did not stop, though cracks spread throughout her bones.
She did not stop, though blood sprayed her eyes.
She did not stop until she shattered the wall.
"Survival is fury," she said.
---

It is unknown whether this relates some origin of the Discipline or of the Infernal Monster itself, or of something else entirely. But, beyond the cosmetic, the character gains a deep measure of power.

Firstly, the character's unarmed attacks that utilize parts of his arms (or natural weapons that utilize the arms) are treated as magical weapons with a +5 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls that automatically bypass all damage reduction. In addition, they are treated as 2-handed weapons for the purposes of Power Attack, if they were not somehow already. Improvised weapons that the character wields gain identical benefits.

Secondly, should the character's arms ever be removed from his body in some way, they immediately wither and the character automatically grows them back after five days. Other lasting injuries to his arms, such as broken bones or a Wither Limb spell, automatically heal over the course of 1 round.

Thirdly, whenever the character is dealing with their arms, they double any bonuses to their Strength score from any source above their base, permanent rating.

(This following feat is a reference to an Infernal Monster expansion charm by The Demented One)
Creation-Swallowing Hellmouth Strike [Epic]
In time before time, there existed unbound chaos - the primordial rage of the yet-to-be-born cosmos. In the present, the last remaining vestiges of this horrific paradise are known as the Infinite Layers of the Abyss, a lair to the descendants of the creatures that roamed the pure anarchy in antiquity, and, perhaps, the Infernal Monster if it truly has a physical manifestation.

Prerequisite: The character must know the "Crack the Sky" Infernal Monster maneuver; Character Level 21st

Benefit: You have transcended farther down the path than any master of the Infernal Monster discipline ever thought possible. When you activate Crack the Sky, you tap into the full 100% of the Infernal Monster's strength for that one moment. In place of the 20d6 damage added onto your normal attack's damage, you add 200d6. The victim flies 180 +4d10 miles, which takes about five hours to land (though terminal velocity remains the same, so they still only take 20d6 from the impact).

In addition, should you choose, you may punch a victim straight through planar boundaries and into a random layer of the Abyss. This occurs as they begin their flight, and they still continue to complete its five-hour duration.

See the Primeval God-Monster Epic Discipline for the Infernal Monster's epic-level options.

[Primal Fury]

Outrage!

The only true capstone to Infernal Monster is One Hand Fury!

[Xefas]

The only true capstone to Infernal Monster is One Hand Fury!

I was actually considering making that a feat, as, if I recall correctly, its a permanent bonus, which isn't represented too well by a maneuver.

[Primal Fury]

Oh... Well. Carry on then.

[Avalon®]

Eagerly awaiting One Hand Fury.

edit: Also, I haven't seen any listed pre-requisites for the maneuvers.

[Zarthrax]

Also eagerly awaiting One Hand Fury, but also eagerly looking forward to Untamed Apocalypse Shintai and Crack the Sky...lol

[Zarthrax]

Bump, with the hope that Xefas is watching, and finishing.....

[Xefas]

Alright, I added prerequisite lines to the maneuvers (thanks for pointing this out, Avalon) and detailed my D&D equivalent for One Hand Fury (in the second post). I know it's quite different. I felt this was more appropriate for a world without Infernals or Yozi.

[Lix Lorn]

Oh, how I love that sutra...

I approve of Common Sense subtype. xD

Doesn't Retribution Will Follow render the first level boost obselete?

Let's hope Malfeas doesn't learn Fury is Freedom. Goodbye oaths.

Does the Form-type's size increase give you more ability boosts?

I love World-Breaker Grip. xD

Is Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide permanant?

I love Post-Traumatic Brutality Roar. xDD

Armageddon Nightmare Duel should have a way around it. Remove Curse, Heal or even Wish/Miracle. As is, it is a 'spellcasters save (with their bad save) or WORSE THAN DIE'.

Looking forward to last two maneuvers!

[Xefas]

Oh, how I love that sutra...

Me too. It's definitely my favorite sutra.

I approve of Common Sense subtype. xD
I love World-Breaker Grip. xD
I love Post-Traumatic Brutality Roar. xDD

Glad you like.

Doesn't Retribution Will Follow render the first level boost obselete?

Well, they stack. So, you can rage and then you can double rage. Not to mention that the stance is purely reactive, so if enemies are (quite sensibly) avoiding you to attack your allies, the boost will keep you rage'd even then.

Does the Form-type's size increase give you more ability boosts?

No. I don't think that's usually the case unless it specifically says. Like "Enlarge Person" specifically tells you the ability modifications you get. In this case, you're less "getting bigger, and thus getting stronger" and more "your muscles are pumping up so far out of control that your biceps just happen to spill over into the next size category".

I often think of Bane when I imagine this stance.

Look at him. He's trying to scrunch into a 5ft square but he can't do it. His muscles are too big. He takes up a Large space just by pure bulk.

Is Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide permanant?

Armageddon Nightmare Duel should have a way around it. Remove Curse, Heal or even Wish/Miracle. As is, it is a 'spellcasters save (with their bad save) or WORSE THAN DIE'.

I am actually fine with these things. Viva la non-caster. As for having it bypassed by Wish/Miracle, it's already bypassed entirely by a 9th level spell. True Resurrection.

This is just a way of saying "I get to have some fun before a caster invalidates me instead of them rendering my tricks ineffective instantly".

[Lix Lorn]

Okay, just checking.

...Bane rules. xD

I dunno... it seems kinda too strong to have an ability that makes your opponent save or have to arrange their own death to ever be useful again.

[Xefas]

I dunno... it seems kinda too strong to have an ability that makes your opponent save or have to arrange their own death to ever be useful again.

But don't you see? It's the best implementation of insanity ever put to D&D. You don't have any mechanics specifically saying "you act like a nutball", the circumstances just cause the player/DM to sit back and make a perfectly rational decision to kill themselves.

If you switch the solution to Wish/Miracle, then you're getting basically the same result but without any of the awesome.

[Lix Lorn]

...that is both awesome and creepy. xD

[Xefas]

Alright, final two maneuvers done. And an Epic Feat.

Now maybe I can get back to finishing that Infernal charm tree I've been working on...

[Lix Lorn]

May I suggest having the speed of Crack the Sky invoke concentration checks for trying to cast while flying?
...also, if you teleport while at terminal velocity, you appear-still at terminal velocity.
Anyhoo. I approve!

[Primal Fury]

These look positively magnificent. What I'd really like to see is a prestige class built off this Discipline.

[Xefas]

May I suggest having the speed of Crack the Sky invoke concentration checks for trying to cast while flying?
...also, if you teleport while at terminal velocity, you appear-still at terminal velocity.
Anyhoo. I approve!

Both great ideas. Added.

These look positively magnificent. What I'd really like to see is a prestige class built off this Discipline.

Thanks . I have a couple ideas about how I'd go about an Infernal Monster prestige class, but let me ask you if you'd prefer seeing a She Who Lives In Her Name discipline or an Ebon Dragon discipline instead? Those are two things I'm kinda interested in doing as well.

(As an aside, there are quite a few other Martial Arts I'd like to port over, but other than the Hero Styles, they just don't have enough charms to make a full Discipline - I think the minimum is about 18. I wanted to make Thousand Wounds Gear style into the Inevitable discipline, possibly with monster stats for a Martial Inevitable, but it's like...12ish charms, I think?)

[Lix Lorn]

My favourite MA is Live Wire...

[Primal Fury]

but let me ask you if you'd prefer seeing a She Who Lives In Her Name discipline or an Ebon Dragon discipline instead? Those are two things I'm kinda interested in doing as well.

These seem to have the same problem as Exalted MA styles built off the Yozi: They're too multifaceted to be scrunched down into a single discipline. If you want a Pyrian feel for your D&D character, I'd go for a Psion. As for the All-Shadow... That might work a bit better if you stick only to the Life-Blighting Emptiness tree.

[Xefas]

That might work a bit better if you stick only to the Life-Blighting Emptiness tree.

That's basically what I meant. I'm not going to condense the entire tree into one discipline. It'd just be some of their combat charms turned into maneuvers that a mortal developed a Discipline around by tapping into some extraplanar force.

It's going to be less "Putting that pyrian feeling into your character" and more "Kill a yak from 300 yards away with mind bullets".

My favourite MA is Live Wire...

Okay. It only has seven charms in it, though. I can't really extrapolate a discipline from that.

[Primal Fury]

I guess it's fine then. Martial Disciplines are have a certain level of "weirdness" them. I'll need to see it before I can make any judgement calls.

And have you taken a look at my Fading Light Potency thread yet? I'd really like your opinion on it since you gave me the idea.

[Xefas]

And have you taken a look at my Fading Light Potency thread yet? I'd really like your opinion on it since you gave me the idea.

I had; I was just being lazy. I've posted now, though.

By the way, are the White Wolf forums down for you too? I was thinking about getting an account there, but haven't been able to use it for a few days now.

[Avalon®]

Xefas, I'd like to see your take on Hungry Ghost style.

It could prove... interesting.


edit: looks like you predicted my post. :D

[DarkEternal]

Really awesome discipline. I might give it as an option on my future games. Still, the "Fury is Freedom" seems a bit too strong for a level 2, especially since it is a counter. It is practically, immediate, you are immune to something like that for the rest of the encounter and gain some small amount of damage to you. It's basically a much more pumped up version of the Iron Heart surge.

That aside, very interesting, I love the "Break the sky" maneuver. I like to think of it as a punt.

[Cheesy74]

I really like this discipline, but I feel like it's balanced more for a villain or boss encounter than a player, especially with the faster-attack and -move maneuvers that improve a single foe's action economy.

Showed it to my DM, he's adamant that we're going to face a master in it at some point. So, thanks, maybe. I'm a bit frightened.

[Xefas]

edit: looks like you predicted my post. :D

Yes, yes, I'm amazing like this. Unfortunately Hungry Ghost didn't have quite enough charms in it to make a full discipline, so I spliced it with some Dark Messiah, but it all seems to work. They were both, at one point, the Abyssal Hero Style. I'll start filling in charms soon.

Really awesome discipline. I might give it as an option on my future games. Still, the "Fury is Freedom" seems a bit too strong for a level 2, especially since it is a counter. It is practically, immediate, you are immune to something like that for the rest of the encounter and gain some small amount of damage to you. It's basically a much more pumped up version of the Iron Heart surge.

I'm glad you like the discipline. See, Fury Is Freedom, I think, is more what Iron Heart Surge was meant to be. Currently, IHS is very vague on what it does, and explicitly can't do many things that it seems like it should. Honestly, I homebrewed a new IHS for my group to use almost immediately after getting the Tome of Battle down. It's pretty much exactly like Fury Is Freedom, but it doesn't immunize you or hurt you, but instead gives +2 to attack rolls and armor class for one round. I would heartily encourage anyone who makes a lot of use of the Tome of Battle to adopt this houserule as well.

Other than that (admittedly tenuous) justification, I'll merely point out that 4 damage doesn't seem like a lot, but it's going to be about 10%-15% of a 3rd level character's health, just for using it once. And at mid-high levels, I find effects like this to be necessary to prevent casters just locking down the non-casters of the party and having them whip out their DS at the table and being bored. You could say "I don't use control effects like that", but then the maneuver becomes less useful anyway.

That aside, very interesting, I love the "Break the sky" maneuver. I like to think of it as a punt.

Me too. Either that or a SHORYUKEN!

I really like this discipline, but I feel like it's balanced more for a villain or boss encounter than a player, especially with the faster-attack and -move maneuvers that improve a single foe's action economy.

Well, it is a discipline about indiscriminately murdering everything in your general vicinity. Antagonists will benefit quite a bit from this discipline, if only because they don't have to put a lot of effort into "playing well with others". I think it'd be fine for players to have, though. So long as you discuss the "please don't touch me while I'm murdering" both in character and out of character.

Showed it to my DM, he's adamant that we're going to face a master in it at some point. So, thanks, maybe. I'm a bit frightened.

Awesoooome. Tell me how it turns out. I'm eager to see what an actual character with this turns out looking like.

[Avalon®]

You know what would be a good NPC for this? Try having a Gnome Swordsage be the first practitioner of this style.

Then have him wield a Colossal Dragon as a weapon.

[DracoDei]

shoulder all the way day

You have a typo here. It is from the first feat if I remember correctly.

[Xefas]

You have a typo here. It is from the first feat if I remember correctly.

Ah, thank you for the catch. Fixed.