Absorption (Absorb): The amount that Body Damage is reduced by before it is applied. Unless specifically stated to work against other damage types, Absorption only reduces Physical Damage.

Armor Class: A creatures ability to keep from being hit by an opponent. This is a generic measurement for a creatures reflexes, defensive skill, and general difficulty to hit. A creature's Armor Class is 10 plus the characters Defense modifier plus any additional modifiers.

Armor Piercing (AP): The amount that Absorption is reduced. If Armor Piercing is greater than the victims Absorption the excess Armor Piercing is wasted and not counted towards damage.

Armor Type: The grouping of different sorts of armor (light, medium or heavy).

Body Damage: Any time damage that is done to a victim that is not completely counted against Dodge Hit Points. This signifies that the attacker has landed a blow on his victim, but since this is before Absorption is checked it doesn't mean Hit Points will actually be lost. Body Damage being done is a frequent check for grabs and other attacks that ignore armor.

Body Damage After Absorption: Body Damage after Absorption is the damage that is subtracted from the victim Body Hit Points. This is a frequent check for Poison on weapons and other attacks that require blood to be drawn.

Body Hit Points (BHP): The amount of damage a character can take before being knocked unconscious. Body Hit Points represent a combination of a character's physical fortitude, mass, and general ability to withstand abuse.

Character Points (CP): The points a character earns for combat, role-playing, and completing quests. These points can be spent to enhance the character.

Critical Range (Crit Range): The range of possible numbers that can be rolled in a To-Hit attempt, and result in a Critical Hit counting up from 1. The Default for this is a Crit Range of 1, but this can be modified by skills, items, etc.

Damage Type: The Damage types are: Acid, Cold, Death, Fire, Holy, Lightning, Magic, Physical, Poison, and Unholy. These are the forms of damage that can be taken, where Physical represents the most common form of weapon and bashing damage. Exhaustion Damage is covered below.

Difficulty Class (DC): The number the character has to beat on a d20 roll with any adjusted bonus's he receives to perform a task. A simple door may have a DC of (13) to resist being broken through while a iron bared door may have a DC of (25).

Dodge Hit Points (DHP): The amount of damage a character can avoid before he begins to take damage against his Body Hit Points. Dodge Hit Points represent a character's ability to dodge and parry, with a bit of luck thrown in as well. It also represents a character's endurance and stamina to keep up the energy required in avoiding attacks. Dodge Hit Points are often an almost magical ability that powerful warriors have to always sidestep an attack.

Opposed Action (OA): Opposed actions are rolled whenever two effects contradict each other. They should be specified in the effect descriptions but may also be requested at the DM's discretion. To resolve an Opposed Action a d20 is rolled and added to the rank of each effect. The highest result takes effect and the lowered is ignored. The newest effect wins ties. An Opposed Action at +2 means the effect that is describing the check gets +2 on its result.

Party Pool: Specific points purchased by the party that can be used to allow the players to roll multiple dice to attempt to better their odds at achieving a favorable roll.

Rank: The power scale of an effect, based off of any skill, spell or other. All effects that do not have a specific rank should be considered to occur at rank 1.

Spell Check: The Casters Sorcery (or Divine) check with a bonus equal to the rank of the spell he is casting.

Spell Sphere: A classification of spells (Fire, Water, Apollo, etc) which characters may learn.

Weapon Category: The overall grouping of weapons (missile, melee, or thrown).

Weapon Type: The subcategories of weapon types in a weapon category (long blades, short blades, crossbows, etc).

Rounding: All numbers are rounded down even if the fraction is one-half or larger.

Multiplying: When two or more multipliers apply, combine them into a single multiplier with each extra multiplier adding 1 less than its original value. So, if a character does double damage for a critical hit and has a sword that does double damage to Golems, it would do triple damage (2 + 1) to Golems on that critical hit. Or if the same character rolled a Crit that did triple damage and was using a sword that did quadruple damage to Golems he would do 6x normal damage (3 + 3 or 4 + 2 dependin g on which order you look at it in).

Stacking Bonuses: In a group of Bonus's if any gives a max it may not help toward overcoming that max. So if a character with 15 Strength is wearing a Ring of Strength +3 (no max) and a Ring of Strength +3 (max 19) his Strength would be 19. In other words the player cannot opt to count the ring with the max first, no matter what order he puts the rings on. The bonuses are always calculated against the character.

There are only five Ability Scores: Constitution (Con), Dexterity (Dex), Strength (Str), Talent (Tal), and Virtue (Vir).

All statistics use the following modifiers when they are listed as modifying a skill. In addition Talent uses the Ability score Modifier to determine the character's Spell DC bonus and Strength uses it to determine the character's Damage Bonus with Melee and Thrown Weapons. Constitution uses it for Healing adjustment and Virtue uses it for a modifier to resist Possession attempts.

Damage Bonus with Melee and Thrown Weapons: This can never exceed the average weapon damage for that weapon, without magic. For example, if a character with a 20 strength attacked with a dagger that he has 2 ranks of Way of Earth with (increasing the dagger's damage to 1d6), he would have an average damage of 3.5. Because of that he could only use 3 points of his bonus strength damage. This uses the Modifier column to determine the amount and is based on the characters Strength.

Healing Adjustment: If this reduces a character heal rate below 1 then it takes an additional day (or hour for Dodge hit points) to heal 1 Hit point per point under 1 that the character's heal rate is at. So, a Heal rate of 0 means the character heals 1 Body hit point per 2 days or 1 Dodge hit point per 2 hours. A Heal rate of -3 means the character heals 1 Body hit point per 5 days or 1 Dodge hit point per 5 hours.

Hit Points: These are the amount of Hit Points that the character has for every rank of Body or Dodge that he has. The Body Hit Points are determined by the character's Constitution and his Dodge is determined by the character's Dexterity.

Resist Possession: This modifier applies to any possession attempt, from the attack of a spirit to a Magic Jar spell. It uses the Modifier column and is determined by the characters Virtue.

Spell DC Bonus: This is a bonus the character gains to the DC of spells he casts. It uses the Modifier column to determine the amount and is based on the characters Talent.

Weight Allowance: Every weapon gives a penalty to its initiative based on its weight. Weight Allowance offsets that minus but can never give you a bonus to initiative. The total weight for a character is the total of his weapon, armor and shield weight. A character receives a +1 initiative penalty for every point his weight is above his Weight Allowance. A character whose weight is greater than twice his Weight Allowance is too bogged down to be able to attack at all. Using a weapon two-hand ed reduces its Weight Allowance by 2 (but never below 1). Using two weapons requires you to add their weight together. Any penalty received because their combined weight is above the character's weight allowance is applied to both weapons. It is determined by the Character's Strength.

Talent:

Talent (Tal) is used to determine the maximum amount of ranks a character can learn in Mage spheres as well as determine if the character is able to use some magical items. By using certain items in spell casting, such as foci and a casting chamber, a character can raise his talent as it applies to that spell, while a magic dead area could drop a character's talent.

The Spell Resistance gained by a low Talent only applies to arcane spells, and mage spell-like effects cast specifically on the character from monsters and people native to the Prime Material and Inner planes. This is not voluntary and "protects" even against spells cast from friendly casters, as such it is more of a curse than a benefit. Unlike normal Spell Resistance this only applies to spells whose area of effect is the character and not a range (the theory being the spell needs to find the charac ter's aura in order to effect him). As such it will help against a Polymorph cast on the character but will not protect against a Fireball or Wall of Force. Note that since the character's Talent is so low the character will often be unable to use many magical items. This Magic Resistance also applies whenever the character attempts to use any magical item that his low Talent would allow him, except for straight pluses from magical weapons and armor (spell like effects from the weapons and armor still a re effected by the Magic Resistance).

Virtue:

Virtue (Vir) is the spirituality of the character. It measures his faith, conviction, and general attunement to all things spiritual.

Spell Resistance applies only to those spells, and spell-like effects, from outer planar creatures and priests. It does not in any way protect against Wizard spells.

Hit Points are divided into two categories. The first is called Body Hit Points and represents the actual amount of damage the character's body can withstand. The second is called Dodge Hit Points and represents the character's ability to dodge attacks, parry, and just plain luck. A round of combat consists of many feints, thrusts, parries and dodges, not just two people facing off and hacking into each other. It also doesn't make sense to think that a person with 80 hit points could withstand being bashed with a war hammer 20 times and still be able to run around and fight normally (his body would be hamburger). A successful attack might not actually even hit a character but would just tire him, causing him to parry the attack or dodge to the side. In these cases he would lose Dodge Hit Points. He wouldn't actually start being "injured" until his Dodge Hit Points are gone and he is taking damage against his Body Hit Points, this represents actual damage to his body. In the example above our figh ter with 80 hit points might take 14 damage with the damage counted against his Dodge Hit Points, tiring him out, before the last 6 hits begin to actually injure him. This also makes those rare attacks that can't be dodged (such as falling from a great height) all the more dangerous.

Most special attacks by monsters that take effect after a successful hit now require Body damage to be done to be effective. This includes diseases passed by a monsters attack, paralyzation, poison, or other special attacks that require contact including knockout from punching, wrestling and martial arts attacks. Some spells are a special exception to this.

In most cases the character's Dodge Hit Points must be removed before he starts taking damage to his Body Hit Points. There are cases where the damage done is taken directly from the character's Body Hit Points even if he has Dodge Hit Points left; generally these are situations where the character has no way to dodge the attack. Note that if a character runs out of Body Hit Points he is dead, even if he has Dodge Hit Points left. Possible causes for the character taking damage directly to his Body H it Points include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Prone Attacks
2. Falling Damage
3. Some Critical Hits
4. Poison
5. Entering a hostile environment (Drowning, Swimming in Lava, etc.)
   1. This does not include the effect of spells or dragon breath
6. Backstabs and other surprise attacks
7. If for any reason the character chooses to simply not avoid the attack and take it straight to Body (if for example he believes his absorption will cover it)

Healing:

Characters heal Body damage and Dodge damage differently. Follow these rules when healing characters:

1. Character's heal rate is their amount of Body ranks + Healing adjustment provided by their Constitution (see Ability Scores).



2. A character that gets a good nights rest recovers his heal rate in Body points. A good night's rest requires adequate food, water and a sheltered sleeping location, usually requiring a tent and bedroll. DM's may imply heal rate penalties for less than optimal sleeping conditions.



3. A resting characters regains his heal rate in Dodge points for every hour he rests.



4. Characters heal Body and Dodge at the same time.



5. A character cannot naturally heal any Dodge points that would give him less Dodge damage than he has Body damage. For example, if a character has 3 points of Body damage he can only heal Dodge until he has 3 points of Dodge damage left, then he must wait to recover more Body before he can recover any more Dodge.

Negative Hit Points:

Creatures can be reduced to negative half their maximum Body Hit Points before dying. Once past 0, generally the character is unconscious. For example a warrior with 7 Body HP and 6 Dodge HP could be reduced to -3 before dying (at -4 he would be dead). Notice there is no limit on this, so although that golem may no longer be moving, a mage might be able to fix him up to work again (a golem with 120 Body Hit Points would be able to be reduced to -60 before being destroyed beyond repair).

Combat in the System is not round based. Instead every character announces his actions and each action has a segment cost (otherwise known as an initiative cost). After those segments have passed the character is able to take that declared action. At anytime before that action occurs the character is able to declare a different action although his new segment cost will start for the segment he declares the new action. All combat starts on segment 0.

So for example Orthus has an initiative of 8 with his Katana and is fighting a pair of Lizardmen, both of which have an initiative of 12. On segment 0, Orthus declares that he is attacking Lizardman 1 and both Lizardmen declare that they are attacking Orthus. When segment 8 rolls around he rolls his to hit and damage if needed and after finding that his hit doesn't kill Lizardman 1, Orthus declares that he is continuing to attack Lizardman 1. On segment 12 both Lizardmen (assuming the one Orthus atta cked is still alive) are able to attack Orthus, and after doing so declare that they continuing to attack Orthus. On segment 16 Orthus goes again and, assuming Orthus continues attacking, all three of them go on segment 24. This continues until combat is over.

Critical Hits and Fumbles:

Critical Hits: Rolled for every time a 20 is rolled to hit unless a 20 is the only number that will hit.

Critical Fumbles: Rolled for every time a 1 is rolled to hit.

Time:

Combat is counted in segments. In many cases it is important to know how much real time these actions are taking.

Initiative:

There is no roll for Initiative unless two combatants are going in the same segment and either the DM or one of the players wishes it to not be simultaneous. If so both combatants roll a d10 and the lowest goes first, in the case of a tie the actions are simultaneous. In general a character will go on segments divisible by his Initiative (now a set number), but a DM may levy segment costs in certain situations such as:

Spells are broken down into two categories for casting purposes. The first is a 4 segment preparation time which can be done for a specific spell before combat begins. The second category is the spells actual casting time, which for conversion of spells outside this documents 4 greater than normal.

Determining Hits:

To determine if the attack was successful the attacker rolls a d20 and adds his Accuracy bonus (with any applicable Attack modifications). If the total is equal to or greater than the victims Armor Class the attack was successful. If a 20 is rolled and a 20 is not the only number that will hit a Critical Hit is scored. If a 1 is rolled then the attacker has committed a Fumble.

Applying Damage:

Once a hit has been determined, the next step is applying damage. Damage is rolled as per the attacker's weapon damage plus modifiers. Then the following steps are followed:

1. If the damage is Straight to Body or if the victim has 0 Dodge Hit Points skip to step 4.
2. If the victim's Dodge Hit Points are greater than the damage the damage is subtracted from the victim's Dodge Hit Points and this process ends.
3. The victim's Dodge Hit Points are subtracted from the remaining damage and the process continues with this number being the Body Damage. The victims Dodge Hit Points are now 0. Body Damage is often necessary to determine if grabs and such are successful.
4. The victim's Absorption is reduced by the attacker's Armor Piercing. This number (minimum 0) is subtracted from the Body Damage. This is the Applied Body Damage, and if it is 0 or less this process ends. Remember, unless specifically stated Absorption and Armor Piercing apply only to Physical Damage.
5. Any remaining damage is subtracted from the victim's Body Hit Points. If the victim's Body Hit Points drop below 1 then the victim is unconscious. If the victim's Body Hit Points drop below negative a half of his maximum Body Hit Points then he is Dead. Any damage done in this step is considered Body Damage after Absorption and is usually required for poison effects to occur and such.

Attack en Masse:

When multiple attackers attack a single opponent they are entitled to a bonus equal to +1 to hit their opponent for each additional attacker beyond the first, and the single opponent suffers a -1 to hit for each attacker beyond the first. So if three fighters are attacking a death knight, all of the fighters gain a +2 to hit and the death knight suffers a -2 to hit.

If there is a size difference between the attackers and the opponent it takes three times as many attackers to gain the bonus for each size category difference. So it would take 4 size medium attackers to gain a +1 against one large opponent (who would likewise suffer only a -1 to hit) or 10 size small attackers to gain a +1 against one large opponent.

Holding Attacks:

A character may hold his attack instead of attacking. He may even do this when he is not in combat with anyone. It takes as long to hold your attack as your attack initiative is. This can be done with Melee, Missile and Thrown weapons but cannot be done with spells or magic items spell like effects. Characters that join melee with a held attack get their attack on the 0 segment or on whatever segment they reach their opponent.

Attacks of Opportunity:

A character in melee is assumed to be doing his best to both avoid attacks from enemies, and at the same time threaten any enemies near him to keep them on their toes. Sometimes, however, the character may let his guard down enough to allow his opponents the opportunity to take a free attack on him. These are Attacks of Opportunity.

A character is unable to take more than one Attack of Opportunity every 8 segments no many how many are presented to him. So if a character is in melee with 3 Orcs and all three turn and flee on the same segment the character has to select which he wishes to gain his free attack against. Also if he takes an Attack of Opportunity against the first Orc as it flees and the other two Orcs flee 5 segments later he can't take an attack of opportunity against either of them.

Fleeing Melee:

If a character attempts to break from melee combat from someone that has either attacked him, or whom he has attacked since the start of melee that opponent gets an Attack of Opportunity against him.

Firing Into Melee:

Characters attempting to throw weapons or shoot missiles into melee suffer a -4 to hit their opponent. If the attack misses by 4 or less the character must roll another attack on the person his opponent was in melee with.

Called Shots:

A character choosing to attack an opponent's vulnerable area is considered to be using a called shot. In doing so the character suffers a -4 to hit and the benefits of succeeding with the strike depend on the target. Typically the Called Shot allows a character to score Body damage on an adjusted roll of 1 or lower. On other targets it might have other effects (DM's discretion) such as a dragon with a vulnerable spot under its heart where one good hit (at least 8 points of damage) will instantly slay it, to an almost invulnerable warrior who can only be injured by striking his heel. Certain attacks may be more difficult and require more than a -4 penalty to hit, while others might be easier and only suffer a -1 or -2 to hit. And some creatures (such as zombies and golems) may be completely immune to called shots. As before the details of a particular called shot remain at the DM's discretion. Shots to attempt to poke out an opponents eye and equally hard shots should suffer at least a -8 to hit, a nd the victim should be allowed a Dodge check to avoid permanent disability (with a successful hit and a successful save resulting in normal damage, but no eye loss).

Two-Handed Weapons:

A character can use any weapon of his same size category in one hand and use any weapon of up to one size category larger than his size in two hands. So a human (size medium) could use a long sword (size medium) in one hand and a two-handed sword (size large) in two hands. A Halfling (size small) could use a short sword (size small) in one hand, a long sword (size medium) in two hands and could not use a two-handed sword. A Gnoll (size large) could use a short sword, a long sword and a two-handed in one hand.

Using Two Weapons:

All characters using two weapons are -2 to hit with their primary weapon and -4 to hit with their secondary weapon. The initiative is tracked separately for each weapon, and his strength is reduced by 2 with his secondary weapon for damage purposes. Also, the character's secondary weapon suffers a 1 segment initiative penalty.

A character using a weapon in his secondary hand but not in his primary hand is -2 to hit with it unless he is ambidextrous.

Reach:

Reach is the distance (expressed in 5' blocks) that the character can threaten by being able to make attacks into that area. So a character or creature with a reach of 3 threatens all opponents within 15' of them, or within 3 5' hexes of them.

If two opponents are closing for melee and both have a held attack the opponent with the longer reach will be able to attack first.

Tiny creatures typically have a reach of 0, meaning they don't threaten any creatures in the hexes around them.

Falling Damage:

Characters who fall take 1d6 in Body damage for the first 10' they fall, an additional 2d6 Body damage for the next 10' they fall, an additional 3d6 Body damage for the next 10' they fall, etc. Up to a maximum of 20d6. So a character that falls 20' takes 3d6 Body damage, 6d6 if he falls 30', and so on.

Movement:

All characters have a base Move rate which signifies how many feet they can move per round. A normal humans Move is 30 so he can move 30' per round.

Movement in Armor:

Movement is reduced by 5 if the character is wearing Medium Armor and by 10 if the character is wearing Heavy armor. Characters wearing Light armor don't suffer any movement penalty. This penalty is applied before the movement is multiplied for Double Move or Running.

Normal Move:

Typically characters don't intentionally move during combat. Characters may do this however and still continue with all of their normal actions. The only penalty they receive is that whatever action they are attempting suffers a +2 initiative penalty. They are of course open to any Attacks of Opportunity that their movement may cause.

Double Move:

A Double Move is a quickened hustle that still allows the character to actively defend himself. Characters Double Moving move at double their normal rate. The only action a character can take while Double Moving is Holding an Attack, and he even suffers a -2 Initiative penalty to this action.

Running:

Running is a full out sprint where the character is concerned with nothing except the speed at which he can get to his intended goal. Characters cannot perform any actions while running and take all damage straight to body if attacked. A character can only run for an amount of segments equal to his Constitution plus double any ranks he has in Endurance. Characters that push themselves to run past this can continue on for 50% longer but gain the Fatigued condition when they stop.

Free Step:

A character can at any time take a 5' free a step in any direction without inviting any Attacks of Opportunity. This represents the normal fluid nature of combat. After taking a Free Step a character is unable to take another until at least 10 segments have passed.

Asleep: Magical sleep requires damage to be done to the victim before he can begin to wake up. Normal sleep allows the character to make a Listen check with a modifier determined by the DM (+2 to notice someone walking up to the bed, -2 to hear someone opening the door to the room) to wake up. While asleep the victim is considered helpless, is automatically hit, and all damage against him is doubled. Any modifiers the attacker may have for backstabs are calculated in addition to this doubling of the damage. Once awakened the victim is -2 to hit and Armor class for 2 rounds as he attempts to get his bearings.

Berserk: A berserk character gains +4 to Constitution and Strength (no max) and suffers a -2 penalty to AC. During the time he is berserk he also gains a +2 Willpower checks. Damage done while a character is berserk is done first to real hit points and then to the temporary hit points from the increased Con, meaning a character can die when this condition wears off.

A Berserk character cannot attempt any actions that require patience or concentration, such as spell casting.

Bleeding (..., -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, ...): A character that is bleeding takes a d6 plus the specified amount in Body damage every 10 segments. This damage is considered Physical damage but cannot be absorbed. If this damage is ever 0 or less, the Bleeding stops. It takes a successful use of the Heal skill (First Aid) or other action that specifically stops bleeding to stop this damage from occurring. Otherwise, it persists until the character dies. Regenerating creatures stop bleeding if the ble ed amount is ever equal to or less than the amount they regenerate each round.

Blind in One Eye: Victims that are blind in one eye are -2 to all Perception checks and -2 to hit will all non-melee attacks because of the loss of depth perception.

Hopeless: A victim who is hopeless doesn't believe that anything he does matters. They may attack or not, they may run or not, but they really don't think it makes any difference. Hopeless victims will most likely sit or lay down, fighting only to defend themselves. When in combat hopeless victims are -2 to hit and -1 to damage and never take Attacks of Opportunity.

Hungry: This condition is given to a character who has not eaten in so long that it is beginning to effect him. Typically this means more than a day without food. Until the character eats he is -1 on all checks (including attack) and his Constitution is reduced by 2. If a character keeps this effect for 2 days he also gains the Weak condition.

Incapacitated, Arm: A victim who has had one arm incapacitated for whatever reason is unable to use that arm for any functions, no longer receives any benefit from wielding a shield with that arm and suffers a -2 to his Dexterity for the loss of balance. Rings, bracers and other magical items worn on that arm still continue to function.

Incapacitated, Leg: A victim who has had one leg incapacitated for whatever reason suffers a -4 to his Dexterity, -2 to his Armor Class, -2 to hit and drops to 25% of his normal move rate.

Mute: Mute characters are unable to speak. They are unable to cast spells that have a verbal component and will be unable to easily warn companions of surprise attacks and such. Players with mute characters should not speak for their players or confer any knowledge to other players except by describing their actions.

Pained: Pained victims feel agonizing pain in all parts of their body whenever they move. This pain makes them -2 to hit and -1 to Armor Class. Pained victims also suffer 75% spell failure on any casting attempts.

Slow: A slowed victim's initiative is doubled and his move rate is halved.

Underwater: Characters who are underwater act as if they are Slow and Weak. This Weakness does not apply to Melee Piercing weapons like spears, tridents, etc. Spell Casters are also unable to cast any spells with a Verbal Component while underwater unless they can Breath normally. Missile and Thrown weapons cannot be used underwater.

Vulnerable: A vulnerable victim has all Body damage doubled. This doubling is done as the damage is actually applied and is after absorption has been subtracted out and such.

Weak: Characters that have been weakened do only half damage.

Feats are specialized combat moves that a character can make, which have effects above and beyond the normal hit for damage. Passive feats are always in effect, others have to be announced prior to rolling the attack, such as Arm Slash, and some of them have to be announced prior to rolling damage, such as Deathblow. Unless specifically noted none of these feats are cumulative. The character can opt to only have one take effect per attack.

All characters that have at least 1 rank of Attack know simple feats. They represent all of the normal combat options that anyone with the most basic of combat training is able to do during combat.

Each type of feat beyond Simple has a specific prerequisite beyond any listed along with the feat. To learn a Basic Pass the character must have at least 3 ranks of Attack, specific weapon with the weapon he is learning the feat with. To learn a Difficult pass the character must have 5 ranks of Attack with the weapon the feat is being learned with and know 2 Basic passes with it. To learn a Master Stroke the character must have 7 ranks of Attack with the weapon the feat is being learned and know 2 Di fficult passes with it. To learn a Death Move the character must have an incredible 10 ranks of Attack with that weapon and know 2 Master strokes with it. Lastly Legendary Moves are reserved for only the most extraordinary characters, people whose skill is talked about for generations afterwards. They are rewarded only at the DM's discretion, but should require at least a Attack of 13 with the weapon it is begin learned.

Spell feats require ranks of Sorcery instead of ranks of Attack.

Passive feats "stack" with other feats and are assumed to always be operating. Only one non-passive feat can be used in any attack.

Spell feats require require an adequate Sorcery skill to learn instead of Attack skill.

All-around Sight [Peripheral Vision & Blind Fighting]
This feat allows the character an almost supernatural awareness of everything within 15' of him. For game effect purposes the character is assumed to be looking in all directions at all times without suffering any penalties for doing so. As such it is nearly impossible to sneak up on such a character without hide in shadows or similar magical skills at work. Characters with this feat have their penalty reduced to only -1 to hit wh en fighting opponents they cannot see.

Ambidextrous
Characters with this talent are able to wield weapons equally with both hands. This does not give them any bonus when using two weapons except to choose which hand they would like to receive the -4 off hand penalty with and to give them the option of receiving a -3/-3 penalty when using two weapons instead of -2/-4.

Arching Strike, <melee weapon> [Only with melee weapons with base init of 10+]
Characters with this feat can attack two opponents standing side by side in one sweeping strike. The attacks are rolled separately and both are at -3 to hit. If successful however both attacks do the character's normal damage. Finally a critical rolled for either attack is ignored although fumbles are handled normally.

Archmage [Requires rank 10+ in 3+ mage spell spheres]
This skill allows the characters to treat his spells as if they had been cast at 150% there rank (a rank 6 spell would be treated as a rank 9 spell) in two important situations. First when being calculated against a victims Spell Resistance and secondly when someone who isn't an Archmage is attempting any Opposed actions between a spell and the Archmage's spell (dispelling it, etc.).

Arm Slash
The character must announce that he is attempting an Arm Slash before attacking. The character receives a -2 to hit his opponent but if he hits and does Body damage this attack inflicts a wound to the opponent's sword arm (or whatever comparable appendage the opponents has). The victim fights at Attack penalty of -1 until the damage is healed (effect is cumulative with each attack). If the attack hits but doesn't do Body damage the damage is as normal.

This feat does not affect creatures that do not feel pain. For creatures that attack with multiple limbs (a squid or a warrior wielding two weapons) the penalty is only applied to the limb that is affected by this attack.

Armor Use, <armor type>
A character can only have 1 rank of Armor Use, Light Armor for each point of Strength he has above 11. A character can only have 1 rank of Armor Use, Medium Armor for each point of Strength he has above 13. A character can only have 1 rank of Armor Use, Heavy Armor for each point of Strength he has above 15.

This ability allows the character to negate the dexterity penalty for wearing the selected armor. Each rank of this skill reduces the dexterity penalty from armor of that type by one. This skill is selected with an armor category (Light, Medium or Heavy). Also this skill reduces the Movement penalty imposed by Medium and Heavy armor by 1 for every rank of this skill. So a character with 4 ranks of this skill with Heavy armor would only be -6 on his Move from wearing Heavy armor instead of the normal -10.

Attack from Surprise
An attack from surprise requires that the victim be unaware that the character is about to attack him (the victim must be surprised). Although most commonly this means the character is attacking from stealth, this can also apply if the victim knows about the character but just isn't expecting any attack. In almost all cases if the character has a weapon visible everyone around him won't be surprised by an attack unless they truly trust him.

Attacking from Surprise is treated as a normal attack except the victim is treated as per the Helpless condition.

Back Swing, <melee weapon>
Characters with this feat may make a Back Swing check to see if they can take an immediate second attack after hitting any target. A Back Swing attack will not spawn another Back Swing opportunity. Back Swing attacks are at -4 to hit, except for double bladed axes and staves, which are only -2 to hit.

Bladedance, <melee weapon>
To use this ability the character must be wielding one, one-handed weapon. No weapon or shield can be wielded in his off hand.

Characters with this feat can make a Bladedance check every time they are attacked by a melee attack that they can see. If successful the character gets an immediate free attack against his attacker. This attack occurs before his attacker's does, although in the same segment. If the attack hits, the attacker's attack is at -2 to hit.

No more than one Bladedance check can be made every segment; the character may choose which attacker he wants to Bladedance against, although he must always use his free attack against the attacker whose attack spawned the opportunity. Since Bladedance is not a passive attack it can't be combined with other non-passive attacks such as Back Swing.

Blind-Cast
Characters with this feat can attempt to target creatures they cannot see with their spells. This automatically makes the spell a ray attack and the caster suffers the normal penalties for being unable to see his target.

Blind-Fight
Characters with this feat have the to-hit penalty imposed when they can't see from -4 to -2.

Bull Rush
A character can choose to attack an opponent in such a way as to attempt to push him back. This does provoke an attack of opportunity from the victim. This is especially helpful when the opponent is pinned against a wall, on the edge of a cliff, or some other hazard. In doing so the character rolls his attack at -4 to hit. If he successfully hits, the victim must make a Body or Dodge check (whichever the victim prefers). If the save is successful the victim can ignore thi s attack. If the save is failed the victim is pushed back up to 1/4th the attacking characters movement rate, or be knocked prone. If it isn't possible to be pushed back, such as if there is a wall in the way, he must choose to be knocked prone.

Victims that are 1 size category larger than the character gain a +4 to their Body check to resist this effect. It is not possible to Bull Rush victims more than 1 size category larger than the character.

Cat Style
A Character trained in this fighting style gains +2 to hit any opponent with a higher (slower) initiative than him. He also receives a -2 penalty to hit any opponent with a lower (faster) initiative than him. They receive no bonus or penalty to hit opponents with an equal initiative. The character can never choose to voluntarily forgo using this feat.

If the character is using multiple weapons the initiative is per weapon. So if using a long sword with Init of 7 and a dagger with Init of 5 against an opponent with an initiative of 6 the dagger would be +2 to hit and the long sword would be -2 to hit.

Channel the Soul, <spell sphere>
A spell caster with this feat has all spells in the selected sphere duration's increased as if he was casting the spell at 2 ranks higher. Only the duration is effected by the spells higher rank. It does not affect the spell's ability to be dispelled, effect, etc.

Charge
In order to charge a character must have at least 10' of room between him and the victim and the character can't be involved in melee, although the victim can be. Charging gives no special modifiers except that some weapons do additional damage when used in a charge.

Characters with additional movement left can charge through their victim and continue moving without incurring an Attack of Opportunity. Charging must always be in a straight line, except for flying creatures, which are allowed to "swoop" down and back up during their charge.

Choke Hold, Hand
If this attack does body damage to the victim the victim must make a Body check with a bonus equal to his Body Points remaining after receiving the damage from this attack. If failed the character is knocked out for 1d10+10 rounds. If this attack does enough damage to knock the victim unconscious the save is automatically failed. All damage done by this attack is subdual.

Additional ranks of this skill cause it to do an additional 2 points of damage with every rank purchased, only when it does body damage.

Circle Kick, Foot
This quick spinning kick is -4 to hit. If the character does hit, he does double damage; if he misses, the character forfeits his next attack. He spends his next attack time recovering from the missed kick and is unable to perform any attacks or move until this is done.

Cleave [Kia]
If the character deals a creature enough damage to make it drop (typically by dropping it to below 0 hit points, killing it, etc.), the character gains an immediate, extra melee attack against another creature within his reach. The character cannot take a 5-foot step before making this extra attack. The extra attack is with the same weapon and at the same bonus as the attack that dropped the previous creature.

Cleave cannot be used to gain more than 1 additional attack per weapon per segment. So, even if the character used Arching Strike and killed 2 creatures, the Cleave would only allow him to cleave into one additional opponent.

Combat Reflexes
Characters with this feat are able to make Attacks of Opportunity more frequently than normal. The normal segment limit that limits an Attack of Opportunity (no more than one every 8 segments) is reduced by the characters Dexterity modifier. So a character with a 16 Dexterity would have +3 Dexterity modifier and would be able to take an Attack of Opportunity every 5 segments (8-3) instead of every 8.

Combined Weapon Style, <melee weapon 1> and <melee weapon 2>
This rare style allows a character to share feats between the two weapons this style is selected with. Most commonly this is learned as Combined Weapon Style, Hand and Foot but any combination of melee weapons is possible. This allows a character to apply his Way of Earth skill learned with either weapon to both, initiative feat to both, etc. Note that since Attack is a skill and not a Feat it cannot be shared w ith this Feat.

Feats that can only be learned with a specific weapon (such as Flying Kick) cannot be shared by this skill.

Counterstrike, <melee weapon>
To use this ability the character must have only one opponent, and have a better initiative than that opponent. When used, the character has to allow the opponent to go first, holding his attack. The character gains an AC bonus equal to half of his ranks in this feat, rounded up, for that attack. On the segment immediately following the attack the character gets to use his held attack. If his enemy's attack was a miss, then the character gets a pl us to hit his enemy equal to his ranks in this feat. If his enemy's attack was a hit then the character gets to attack his enemy normally.

Deathblow, <weapon>
Character with this skill can elect to roll a d20 anytime they are attacking an opponent, before the character rolls for damage. On a 1-5 the character's damage is doubled, on a 6-15 the character rolls normal damage, and on a 16-20 the character misses completely. Unless specifically stated to affect this feat nothing else may alter this roll, even character points.

Deflect Arrows
This feat allows the character to deflect incoming arrows, as well as crossbow bolts, spears, and other shot or thrown weapons.

The character must have a hand free (holding nothing) to use this feat. Up to once every 4 segments, the character may double his Defense modifier to Armor Class against 1 missile or thrown weapon attack. The character must be aware of the attack. This does not count as an action. Exceptional ranged weapons, such as boulders hurled by giants or Throw Flames, can't be deflected.

Disarm
To use this skill, the character must first declare his attempt to disarm his victim. This immediately provokes an Attack of Opportunity from the victim. If this Attack of Opportunity hits, then the Disarm attempt automatically fails. The character suffers a -4 to hit the victim but if successful the victim must make a Dodge check with a bonus for each rank of Attack the victim has. If successful, the character's attack has been negated and the victim suffers no ill effects. If failed, the victim must relinquish his weapon. If the attacker has a free hand he can opt to flip the weapon neatly into it. This can only be used in Melee attacks and has an initiative of the characters normal initiative +2.

Dominguez Double-Dive, <melee weapon>
This skill can only be used if the character is wielding two weapons, and he hits with his secondary weapon with 4 more than needed. If successful, the character can forfeit his next attack (as long as it hasn't already been forfeited) with his primary weapon to take the attack this segment. The damage from the primary and secondary attack is at +1. This skill is often used to setup feats that require both weapons to hit in the same segment .

This skill doesn't reset the primary weapons initiative count. It still must continue counting to its next attack, skip that attack and then count up to another attack before he can attack again with his primary weapon.

Dominguez Necktie, <bladed weapon>, <creature> [Only creatures with exposed necks]
To use this feat the character must be attacking from the front with two weapons on the same segment and both weapons have to have hit by 8 more than needed. If any Body damage is done by the attack the victim must make a Dodge check or be stunned for 2d4 rounds and suffer Bleeding (+6).

Eagle Claw, Hand
This powerful strike does double damage but also doubles the characters initiative.

Essence Binding
This feat allows the character to double his normal amount of Bindings that he would normally be allocated by his Sorcery skill.

Evasion Prerequisite: 5 ranks of Tumble.
A character with this feat suffers no damage when he makes a Dodge check that would normally halve damage. The character suffers normal damage if his Dodge check is failed. Evasion can only be used by characters wearing Light or no armor.

Eusdrian Standoff, <melee weapon>
To use this skill the character must roll to hit his victim by 4 more than needed and he must be using at least as many weapons as his opponent. The character locks weapons with his victim, closing in until they are face to face. This effectively prevents any melee attacks by either of them until someone steps away and resets initiative for both combatants.

If the victim steps away first, the character automatically gets to strike on the next segment with a +2 bonus on his attack roll. However, the victim can attempt a Strength check at a -6 penalty to push the character away; if he succeeds, neither receives any subsequent bonuses. If the strength check is failed the character gets to attack just as if the victim had stepped away.

Feint, <melee weapon>
This feat adds one to the character's initiative and forces the victim to make a Perception check. If failed the character receives a +3 to hit, if the victim makes the save then the attack is made at the normal chance to hit. A character can only use a feint once against any opponent, after that the victim expects the feint and the character will no longer receive the bonus. The DM may also choose to give a victim a bonus to his Perception check if he has seen the character use the feint feat before.

Fending
In order to use this feat three conditions must be met. First the character can only move up to 3 his normal move AWAY form his opponent during his movement round. Secondly this must be the character's first attack of combat (unless a Fending maneuver was used on the preceding attack) and lastly the character's weapon must be at least 1 size category larger than his opponent's weapon. If those conditions are met the character gains a +2 to hit. If his hit is successful this signifies that he has placed his weapon between himself and his opponent. Now his opponent has the option of either not attacking the character (holding his attack), or pushing in toward him. If the opponent doesn't attack the character then he doesn't take any damage from the character's attack but also cannot attack the character in melee. If he chooses to attack he takes normal damage from the character's weapon and then can attack the character at -4 to hit (because of the character's defensive acti on).

Characters using a fending maneuver automatically go before their opponents when melee begins. They automatically win the initiative roll on initiative 0.

Flying Kick, Foot
To use this feat the character must have at least 10' between him and his opponent, and have established a running start. Therefore this skill is usually only used to begin combat. The character rolls an attack as normal but if he hits the damage is tripled. If the character misses in the attack he also forfeits his next attack and suffers a -4 on his armor class until he makes his next attack.

Gamblers Strike, <weapon> [Deathblow with this weapon]
This ability allows the character to roll his Deathblow check as many times as he would like, though if any of them are failures he automatically misses with the attack. All damage multipliers are cumulative.

Grapple
Grappling means wrestling and struggling hand-to-hand. It's tricky to perform, but sometimes you want to pin foes instead of killing them, and sometimes you have no choice in the matter. For monsters, grappling can mean trapping you in a toothy maw or holding you down so it can chew on you. There are several actions a character can take while grappling:

• Grab: this spawns an Attack of Opportunity from the victim. If this attack hits, the grab is automatically unsuccessful. Otherwise the character makes a to-hit roll as an unarmed attack and if successful the victim has been grabbed. This attack has the same initiative as the character's unarmed attack. It in no way hinders the victim to be grabbed.



• Hold: this also takes the same initiative as the character's unarmed attack. The victim is forced to make a Body check modified by Dexterity or Strength (whichever is higher) instead of Constitution to avoid being Held. If successful both the hold and the grab are lost. If the check is failed the victim is held. Victims of 1 size larger than the character gain a +4 to this check; victims of 1 size smaller than the character suffer a -2 to this check. Characters with ranks of Escape Artist add t heir Escape Artist rank and modifiers to this check. Victims of more than 1 size larger than the character cannot be held. While held victims suffer a -2 to hit. The victim may use his unarmed initiative to continue making the above check to break the hold.



• Grapple: this is automatic from the Hold stage and occurs as soon as the attacker's next unarmed initiative comes around. While grappling opponents can only use weapons 2 size categories smaller than they are. So an Ogre (large) could use a Short Sword (small) but a Dwarf (Medium) couldn't. They are also free to make Hand attacks. Grappling characters cannot cast spells that have Somatic components, or those that have Material components unless they have the Material components in their hand. While Grappling, characters have only a few options:
  
  
  • Damage Opponent: the character may attack as specified above.
  
  
  
  • Pin: The character has to make a successful Grapple check to be able to pin a victim. If the character succeeds with this check the victim has to make a check identical to the one in the Hold section to avoid the pin. A character can only be pinned by one opponent at a time, although many can hold him.
  
  
  
  • Break Another's Pin: Assuming you are in a Grapple, and are not the one pinned, you can attempt to break an ally's Pin for him. The checks involved are exactly like Escaping.
  
  
  
  • Escape: Characters in a grapple that aren't held by anyone automatically escape the grapple. If a character is held he must make the same check described in the Held section to escape. Every successful check removes either a Pinned or Hold by an opponent. All of these must be removed (pinned first) before a character can escape a grapple.
  
  
  
• Joining a Grapple: If a character wants to join in on a grapple he automatically succeeds on his grab and doesn't provoke an Attack of Opportunity for doing it. He has still to succeed on the Hold (requiring the victim to fail a check) before he can become truly involved.

Great Cleave Prerequisite: Cleave.
This feat is exactly like Cleave, except there is no limit to the number of creatures it can effects per segment.

Great Throw, Hand [Throw]
This feat acts exactly like the Throw feat except that along with all the penalties of the Throw feat the victim is thrown 1' per 2 points of damage done (before absorption) is whatever direction the character selects.

Guarding
Guarding is the option to attempt to keep a specific victim from reaching a specific destination. This could mean keeping a victim from going through a doorway, from attacking another character, or from grabbing a weapon. To guard a destination, the character must be within 4 yards of it and generally between the victim and the destination. A guard must also restart their initiative when they start guarding a new destination or start guarding the same destination against a new vict im. While guarding a destination, the guard can't be in melee with anyone except the victim.

To be successful the guard must be able to enter the same environments as his victim. So for example a non-flying guard couldn't keep a flying victim from attack someone behind him unless the guard was able to stand over the destination.

In cases where someone wants to begin guarding a destination at approximately the same time as the victim wants to reach it the DM should assign a check with modifiers based both on the relative speed of the characters and the location of the destination in relationship to the characters.

Iajitsu, <melee or thrown weapon>
This feat allows a character to act as if he has his weapon in his hand and ready even when it is sheathed. As such there is no draw time to draw the weapon and the character is even able to Hold his Attack while the weapon is still sheathed.

Improved Bull Rush
Improved Bull Rush acts just like a Bull Rush except it doesn't provoke an Attack of Opportunity.

Improved Disarm, <melee weapon type>
This feat acts just like the Disarm feat except it doesn't provoke an Attack of Opportunity and doesn't incur the +2 to the characters initiative, instead its speed is the characters normal initiative.

Improved Evasion Prerequisite: Evasion.
Characters with this feat don't take any damage when they make a successful Dodge check that would normally halve damage and suffer only half damage even when they fail the Dodge check. Improved Evasion can only be used by characters wearing Light or no armor.

Incapacitator, Hand, <creature type>
This feat cannot be used unless the character has established a Grab on the victim as described under the Grab feat. Once the Grab has been made the character must announce that he is using this feat before attacking. The character then suffers a -4 penalty to hit his opponent. If that attack is successful and the victim takes Body damage from it the victim must make a Body check with a -1 per rank the character has in this skill or lose the use of whatever limb the character was hoping to effect for 10+1d4 rounds. Regardless of is the victim makes the check this attack does normal damage.

Initiative I - V, <weapon> [All preceeding Initiative Levels]
Initiative can never lower a melee weapons initiative below 4 and a thrown or missile weapons initiative below 3. So a dagger (base init 7) wouldn't receive any advantage by having more than Initiative III purchased with it.

This feat is always operating and reduces the characters initiative with the selected weapon by the number of this skill (Initiative III reduces the weapons initiative by 3, etc.).

Inner Calm
This feat allows the character to attempt to not have a spell broken when he takes damage. If the character makes a successful Inner Calm check his spell is not broken and he can continue with his casting. This check is made at -4 if the damage was taken to Body. The caster may also make an Inner Calm check to avoid spell failure brought on by the Pained condition.

Instant Stand
The character may leap to his feet without any initiative cost, allowing him to immediately return from a prone to a standing position.

Kia
After scoring a hit with a melee weapon and before rolling damage a character may opt to use this skill. This skill allows the character to automatically do maximum damage. This skill can only be attempted once per day per rank of the character in this skill. It can never be attempted more than once a turn.

Leg Slash
The character must announce that he is making a Leg Slash before attacking. The character then suffers a -2 to hit but if he hits, and does Body damage he inflicts a wound to the opponent's legs (or whatever movements appendages the victim has). The victim suffers an Armor Class penalty of -1 until the wound is healed (effect is cumulative with each pass).

This feat does not affect creatures that do not feel pain.

Leg Sweep, Foot
This feat requires that the character hit the victim and do Body damage (before absorption). If this succeeds the victim must make a successful Dodge check, if successful this attack has no effect (even the damage is ignored). If the check is failed the victim takes damage as normal and is knocked down as per the Prone condition.

This feat cannot be used on victims of a greater size category than the character. It can also not be used against flying or levitating victims.

Manzanas Blurring Tower, <weapon>
A character must be using two weapons to use this skill. The character must announce that he is using this feat prior to announcing his attack and he receives a -4 to hit with that attack. If he hits, the victim must make a Dodge check (DC 15). If the victim fails the check the character gets an immediate free attack with whatever weapon he didn't just hit with, and this attack does not count toward that weapon's initiative count.

A Manzanas Blurring Tower attack can only be used on a normal attack, not a free attack provided by this skill or any other skill.

Metamagic Mastery
This feat allows the character to weave Metamagic spells that modify a second spell together with the first spell. The casting time of the combined spell is the longer of the two spells, not the combination of the two as would be normal.

Only one Metamagic spell can be woven together in this manner although the caster is free to cast a different Metamagic spell before the combined spell. The Metamagic spell cast like this has to be different than the Metamagic spell that is being combined.

Monkey Style
Any character trained in this bizarre fighting style cannot have any non-passive Melee feats used against him. The character is also unable to use any non-passive feats while he is using the Monkey style feat.

Mounted Attack, <missile or two-handed weapon> [Riding]
Characters with this feat don't suffer any penalties when firing a missile weapon from the back of a creature type they have a riding skill with. This skill also allows the character to use two-handed weapons from a mounted position and still steer their mount, as long as they have stirrups.

Night Strike, <melee weapon type>
This feat can only be used with an Attack from Surprise. This feat grants the character a point of Armor Piercing for every rank the character has in this feat. This feat is common among assassins and others who backstab.

Pack Tactics, <style>
Characters that share the same style specified by this skill gain bonuses when attacking the same victim. There must be at least 2 characters with this skill attacking the same target to gain this bonus. Each attacker with this skill gains an AC bonus equal to their ranks in this skill. This is above and beyond any bonus gained from multiple attackers on one defender.

Perfect Form, <spell sphere>
A spell caster with this feat automatically has his casting time for all spells in the selected sphere reduced by 1. So a spell that normally has a casting time of 7 would instead have a casting time of 6.

Peripheral Vision
This feat negates any bonus's opponents would receive for attacks en masse but the character still receives the normal penalty to hit.

Precise Shot, <thrown or missile weapon type>
This feat allows the character to ignore the penalty imposed by shooting or throwing into melee.

Prepared Strike
An archer wishing to improve his chances of hitting can try a Bull's-eye Shot. This must be declared prior to rolling initiative in the round, and it improves the archer's chance to hit by +2, but also the archer suffers a +6 on his initiative. Along with his +2 to hit the archer has another advantage that his Crit range in increased by 1.

Prone Fighting
The character doesn't suffer the penalties for being prone when fighting from a prone position.

Quivering Palm, Hand
Quivering Palm is a slow attack, +6 more than the character's normal hand attacks. In order to use this skill the character must declare this as his attack and during the time he is using this attack (the initiative leading up to the strike) he suffers a -4 Armor Class penalty. If the character suffers any damage (either Body or Dodge) during this time the attack is spoiled and the character can begin a new attack at the initiative he is damaged on.

If he doesn't suffer damage during his initiative, then he rolls a normal to hit against his victim. If the attack hits and the character does Body damage the victim must make a Body check or be knocked unconscious for 1d4+4 Turns. If the save is successful the victim only takes the character's normal hand damage.

Rage
This Feat gives the character the Berserk condition for 2 rounds per rank the character has learned this feat at. This Feat cannot be used more than once per day per rank the character has in this Feat and cannot be used more than once per Turn no matter how many ranks the character has in this Feat. After the duration of this effect wears off the Character is automatically Fatigued.

The DM has a special option for characters with this skill. When the character is taunted or otherwise harassed he may force the character to make a Willpower check to resist using this Feat and attacking the source of the harassment.

A character with 6 or more ranks of Willpower can't use this feat.

Shield Use, <shield> [2 Rank Maximum]
This skill is similar to becoming proficient with a shield. This allows a character to better use it to defend. For every rank of this skill learned the Armor class bonus granted by that shield type is increased by 1.

Sneak Attack, <weapon type>
Sneak attack can only be used along with an Attack from Surprise. It grants the character an additional +2 to hit above and beyond the bonus granted by Attacking from Surprise. Also the characters get to multiply his weapons base damage by his ranks in this skill. This multiplying does include the weapons magic bonus but doesn't include any strength bonus or additional damage from rolling a critical hit. This skill does not affect creatures without any vul nerable areas.

Spell Specialization I-IV, <spell> [All preceeding Spell Specializations]
This feat is always operating and increases the effective rank of the selected spell when the caster casts it. So a character with Spell Specialization III, Blindness who casts Blindness at rank 4 would have that Blindness spell take effect at rank 7. The spell point cost is as if he had cast it at rank 4 but in all other ways (including difficulty in dispelling) it acts as a rank 7 spell.

Spell Strike I-III, <spell> [All preceeding Spell Strikes]
Spell Strike can never lower a spells casting time below 5 (1 segment casting time with a 4 segment preparation time).

This feat is always operating and reduces the character's casting time with the selected spell by the number of this skill (Spell Strike III reduces the spells casting time by 3, etc.). This feat is cumulative with all other feats.

Stay the Hand
This feat allows a character to attack his opponent with non-lethal attacks without sacrificing any of his offensive ability. If the character's last attack is enough to kill the opponent, the character may make a Stay the Hand check and if successful, the damage is instead reduced to 1 point less than would kill him.

Stun Removal [At least as many ranks of body]
This feat allows the character to attempt to remove the Stunned condition from himself before the effects normal duration would be up. To determine the success of this feat a Stun Removal check is made without modifiers. If failed this feat cannot be attempted again for at least one round.

Subdue, <blunt melee weapon type>
In order to use this skill, the character must approach the victim undetected and be able to strike before the latter can react. Should the victim be engaged in melee, the character suffers a -6 penalty to this skill. If this skill is successfully used the victim must make a Body check or be stunned for 1d10 segments +1 segment per rank the character has in this skill.

This skill only affects humanoids and won't effect victims wearing protective headgear.

Tapping the Source, <spell sphere>
A spell caster with this feat does one die higher in damage for all spells in the selected sphere he casts. So a spell that usually does 1d6 in damage per rank will now do 1d8 per rank.

The Rune Within, <spell sphere>
This feat allows the character to cast spells of the selected sphere as either Rune or normal spells.

Throw, Hand
This feat requires that the character hit the victim and do Body damage (before absorption). If this succeeds the victim must make a successful Dodge check, if successful this attack has no effect (even the damage is ignored). If the check is failed, the victim takes damage as normal and is knocked down as per the Prone condition.

This feat cannot be used on creatures of a greater size category than the character.

Torreoner Block and Strike, <melee weapon>
This feat can only be used if the character is using two weapons. The character must announce that he is using this feat prior to attacking with his secondary weapon and suffers a -4 to hit with that attack. If the attack hits and the victim fails a Dodge check, this attack does no damage but the next attack with the characters primary weapon automatically does maximum damage (if it hits) and the victims next attack is automatically parried. If the victim succeeds with his Dodge check this attack does normal damage.

Torreoner Two-Step, <melee weapon>
The character must be using two weapons to use this skill and must announce that he is using this skill prior to attacking. This attack can be used only with the character's secondary weapon attack, and the character suffers a -2 to hit with this attack. If the character hits he sets up his next attack with his primary weapon, with which he is +4 to hit with.

Trained Eye
This skill allows an archer to increase the benefit gained from a bull's-eye shot. The to hit bonus is increased to +3, the initiative penalty remains the same at +6 and the characters receives a +2 to his Crit Range.

Two-handed farewell, <melee weapon>
This skill can only be used when the character is striking with two weapons in the same segment. The player must declare he is attempting this action before he rolls either attack. The character suffers a -2 to hit with each attack but if both attacks hit the victim must make a Dodge check (DC 20) or suffer maximum damage from both attacks. If the save is successful the victim suffers only the normally rolled damage.

Vital Strike, <weapon>
Vital Strike must be learned with a specific melee weapon (long sword, battle axe, etc) that has a base damage of at least 1d8 (so 2d4, 1d10, 2d6, 3d4, 1d12, etc.) or damage category 8. All the character's damage with that weapon becomes open ended. So if the character rolls maximum damage he gets to roll that damage again and keep going until he no longer rolls maximum damage. The character's strength, magic, and other bonuses are only calculated once; this is just weapon damage.

This ability does not work in conjunction with magic or abilities that automatically give maximum damage.

Way of Earth, <weapon>
The maximum amount of ranks of Way of Earth that can be used with any weapon is equal to that weapon's base damage class. So a damage class 6 weapon could only use 6 ranks of Way of Earth with it (bringing it up to a damage class of 12).

This skill allows the character to increase his damage with a specific weapon. This skill is learned only with that weapon (a character who has learned this skill with short sword couldn't use that knowledge to teach himself Way of the Earth with hands or even with a long sword). Each rank purchased increases the weapon damage up one rank on the Weapon Damage Chart in the weapons section.

When the first rank of Way of Earth is purchased with Body weapons (hand and foot) the -1 to damage is immediately dropped. So they are considered to do 1d2 and 1d3 points of damage respectively, then the ranks of Way of Earth are applied normally.

Way of Fire, <weapon>
This skill increases the character Critical Range by +1. So instead of scoring a critical hit on the roll of a 1 a character with this skill would Crit on the rolls of a 1 or 2.

Way of Water, <melee weapon> [At least as many ranks in Dodge]
This feat allows the character to assume a very defensive posture that only moderately impacts his fighting ability. The game effect of this is that the character and all opponents attacking the character all suffer an initiative penalty equal to the characters rank in this skill. An eastern school of Wu Jen is said to have mastered this skill along with spell casting instead of melee weapons although no others have been ab le to mimic their success.

Way of Wind, <melee weapon>
Way of wind allows the character to reduce his initiative to 1 for one blindingly fast strike. For doing this the character takes 2d6 dodge hit points in open ended damage (so each 6 is rerolled and the result added to the total). If this total is greater than the character's dodge hit points he loses all his Dodge hit points and attacks at his normal initiative. This feat can only be used once a day per rank in the ability and can only be used once each tu rn.

Weapon Mastery, <weapon>
This Feat entitles the character to two benefits. Primarily the cumulative rank increases of all feats and skills selected with this weapon have their cumulative cost reduced by one (so a skill that cost 05+03 would cost 05+02 instead) to a minimum of 1. Secondly this skill makes the Ironskin skill grant cumulative absorption bonuses, instead of base absorption bonuses.

This skill does carry a serious handicap. If a character possessing this skill wields a magical weapon or uses any sort of magic to make his combat skill better, he loses this skill. The character's knowledge of his own combat skill with this ability is great enough that he will be able to immediately identify such weapons and armor and won't be able to be tricked into using such items. It is up to the DM's discretion to draw the line between combat effecting magic and non-combat effecting magic, of c ourse any sort of magical weapon or armor is not allowed. This could also include abilities that let the character heal in combat, where as a spell that heals the character outside of combat may be allowed.

Whirlwind Attack, <melee weapon>
With this feat, the character is able to launch an incredible sweeping attack striking once at each opponent within 10' of the character. The character can strike at as many opponents as he has ranks in this ability. Using this ability causes the character to lose 2d8 dodge points, and 2d8 dodge points for every missed attack. If the character cannot pay the dodge points the character goes down to 0 dodge points and collapses exhausted to the ground fo r 2d8 rounds.

Note that this skill doesn't give any special effect at the first rank but still must be purchased at that rank to proceed to the others. Whirlwind attack is cumulative with all other feats. This feat is so exhausting that it cannot be used more than once per day.

Spending Points in Game:

Players may choose before a roll to spend a character point to help the particular action they are attempting. For every character point they spend they gain an additional die they can use for the roll.

Gaining Points in Game:

At the DM's discretion when the player rolls a 1 (perfect success) on a d20 roll where the player is making a skill check (not stat checks), the character may attempt to get bonus characters points for the ability he is using in the roll. To do this the character rolls 2d6 with results as follows:

Party Pool:

At any time a player may spend character points to put a single character point in the parties shared pool. The amount spent is equal to the amount of party pool that the character is increasing it to. All withdraws from this pool must be approved of by the majority of the party (where the party is members that have contributed to the pool).

The maximum size of any party's pool is dependent on their cohesiveness and training together. As a general rule parties that grew up together should have a maximum pool size of 1 point per member up to a maximum of 5 points. Any members outside the first 5 to participate must simply wait for the pool size to grow before contributing and therefore be able to draw from the pool as well. After that, the DM may award increases to the maximum pool size after the party undergoes significant bonding or tra ining experiences.

Points in the pool can be used in two ways.

1. Players may borrow point