Sacred Artist

For Lindon, his one desire was to never be worthless again. To be Powerless. With a vision of the future, he left his home in search of that power, and to forge a path all his own. Through a stroke of luck and the help of powerful friends to push him forward, Lindon rose quickly, but still lacked the strength needed to save his home. With time running against him, Lindon raised his head to the sky, visited once again by a celestial messenger, not unlike the one who set him on his journey years earlier, and thus reaffirmed his conviction. Stop the titan. Save his home. Probably punch Eithan.

Yerin lived with her demons. Her Path was but a mere imitation of what her master before her had practiced and it was with great effort that she finally accepted the demon inside and made the path her own. Her Steelforged iron body and her master's remnant serving as her goldsign were all that was left of her master. But her blood shadow. That was all hers. And she hated it with good reason. But that was in the past. She might be the inheritor of her master's path, but she intended to surpass him in every way, even if that meant siding with the thing she hated most.

It was only a black marble, but for one who could see all things, this marble represented something he thought he left behind. Eithan was among the strongest in his clan, or even among the empire, but he'd hit a plateau. There were higher peaks to climb, a few more stages of advancement before he could truly be among the best of the best. But he realized all too well that path was a lonely one. Imagine his surprise when another one of those marbles showed up on his doorstep. What more, when he learned that it belonged to a celestial traveler. Just like his. Suddenly the man who couldn't be surprised was not only surprised, but felt reinvigorated to walk the path of advancement once again. Only now when he walked forward, he'd do so not alone, but with friends.

Unarmored Defense

Beginning at 1st level, while you are wearing no armor, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.

Madra

Starting at 2nd level, your training has advanced enough that you can now start using the techniques of your namesake. These abilities are fueled by an inner reserve, called madra. Madra is generated through a cycling technique you cultivate through your breathing. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of madra points. Your sacred artist level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Madra Points column of the sacred artist table.

You can spend these points to fuel various sacred arts. You start knowing three such features: Counter Step, Empty Palm, and Parry Stance. You learn more abilities as you gain levels in this class.

When you spend a madra point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you replenish your expended madra back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of downtime cycling to regain your madra points.

Some of your madra features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Counter Step
Whenever you are hit, as a reaction, you can spend 1 madra point to take a 5 foot step. At 7th level, you can also make a melee weapon attack before moving.

Empty Palm
As an action, for 1 madra point, you can make a single attack. On a hit the creature has disadvantage on a saving throw of your choice until the start of its next turn.

Parry Stance
Whenever you take damage, you can spend 1 madra point, as a reaction, to reduce the damage taken by 1d4. This reduction increases to 2d4 at 6th level, 3d4 at 11th level, and 4d4 at 16th level.

Sacred Arts

At 2nd level, you've learned to perform supernatural feats that allow you to augment your natural fighting talents. Your sacred artist level determines how many sacred arts you can perform as shown on the Sacred Arts Known column.

Sacred arts are fueled by madra, but unlike basic madra techniques that can be used by anyone, Sacred Arts go one step further adding elemental manipulation to your core. When choosing a sacred art, choose from the following elements: acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, or radiant (subject to DM approval).

All of your sacred arts abilities are tied to your chosen element, and once per level, you can retrain a sacred art for another. These techniques are detailed below.

Iron Body

An iron body is the second foundation to advancement. Iron bodies have varying states, but are essential to laying the ground work for the path you will eventually take. When you reach 3rd level, you can choose one of the following iron bodies:

• Bloodforged. You gain immunity to the poisoned condition, and gain resistance to poison damage.
• Drifter. You become light on your feet, allowing you to use feather fall and levitation once per short rest. In addition, you are unaffected when moving through rough terrain.
• Raindrop. You gain a +10 bonus to your move speed, and empty palm can be used as a bonus action.
• Pupeteer. You gain proficiency in either Athletics or Acrobatics, and can use disengage as a reaction. If you already have the skill, you gain expertise instead.
• Steelforged. You have advantage when making grapple checks against creatures up to one size category larger than you, and add 1d4 to all weapon damage dealt.

Artist's Path

When you reach 3rd level, you find yourself well on your way down your Artist's Path. There are as many paths as there are grains of sand. Your path grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 18th level.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Jade Advancement

At 6th level, you complete the final foundational step towards advancement. Your unarmed strikes are treated as magical for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction, and once per day, you can use any 1 point Sacred Art without expending any madra.

Scripting

Even sacred artists recognize the need to come prepared to a fight, and scripts provide a much needed utility to this end. At 7th level, you gain two 1st level spells that you can cast as a ritual. You gain a 2nd level ritual at 11th level, and a 3rd level at 15th level.

Goldsign

Beginning at 9th level, you gain your goldsign. Gaining your goldsign is a mark that you've reached the first tier of true advancement, which typically involves the incorporation of a remnant. Your goldsign is personal to you and can take on many forms. This goldsign changes you physically, conferring benefits to further you along your path detailed below:

Madra Binding

By 10th level, you've learned to harness your madra so that it can be channeled into your weapon. As an action, you can store a striker technique for 1 madra point. Whenever you make an attack with a weapon, you can unleash the madra binding as a bonus action.

Soulfire

Harnessing the power of Soulfire is essential to advancing to the Lord Stage. At 11th level, you gain the ability to use soulfire in the following ways:

• You gain a soul space that acts as a miniature bag of holding, being able to hold up to 100lbs, but not exceeding a volume greater than 10 cubic feet. Items can be stored or retrieved from your soul space as a bonus.

• Once per short rest, you can use a sacred art that you know without expending the madra cost to use it. Using a sacred art in this way, deals an additional 1d6 damage or allows the ability to last one round longer than it's normal duration.

• When using a sacred art, you can augment the ability by either making an additional attack, declaring it a critical hit, or increasing its value by +1. This ability can be used a number of times a day equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1) before needing a long rest.

Lord Stage

Advancing to the Lord Stage is another leap in advancement and power. When you reach 13th level, your health is increased by another 1d8 to your maximum hit points, and you effectively stop aging, and can't be aged by magical means. You also have resistance to poison damage, though you can still be killed by normal means.

Lord's Strength

By 14th level, the soulfire within you has catalyzed giving you incredible strength. You can lift objects equal to your carrying

Path Icon

A defining power behind a sacred artist's abilities finally reveals itself. When you reach 15th level, you discover your Icon. Your Icon isn't tied to a single ability, but an acknowledgment of power beyond your mortal abilities.

This Icon allows you to combine your 7th or level 11th level path ability with a point equivalent Striker or Enforcer Technique that you know, combining the two features. Once this feature is used, it can't be used again until after a short or long rest.

Herald

Heraldry marks the peak of advancement for most Sacred Artists, and confers many great benefits. Upon reaching 17th level, You gain 1d8 hit points and increase your AC by +1. In addition, all sacred arts damage dealt by sacred martial arts deals an additional 1d6 damage or 2d6 on a critical hit.

Monarch

At 20th level, you have achieved the pinnacle of your power. Becoming a Monarch is less a title and more an expression of the end of your path. Once per day, as a bonus action, you can expend a use of soulfire to heal yourself for an amount equal to twice your level, or use an ability that requires a long rest to use again, even if you have used that ability already.

In addition, you do not expend any madra when using your goldsign ability.

Artist's Path

A Sacred Artist's life is one of constant conflict and training. As such, these conflicts are are the forge on which Sacred Artists are created. Below are but a sampling of the myriad paths that a sacred artist might find themselves on.

Resonant Vitality

At 7th level, whenever you heal an ally via Vital Touch, as a bonus action, you can spend 1 madra point to heal every ally within 30 feet of you for half of that amount.

If you chose to inflict poison on a creature, you can spend 1 madra point as a bonus action, to impose a penalty on its next saving throw equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Rush of Blood

Beginning at 11th level, if an ally was healed via Vital Touch or Resonant Vitality, as a reaction, you can spend 2 madra points to heal each affected ally by an additional 6d6.

If a creature was poisoned by either ability, as a reaction, you can spend 2 madra points to deal an additional 6d6 poison damage.

Once this feature is used, it can't be used again until after a long rest.

Curse of Blood/Bloody Rejuvenation

At 18th level, the Blood Noble path reaches completion. Whenever you hit a creature with vital touch to cause poisoning, you can instead expend a use of soulfire to begin curse of blood. For each round that the target fails to make its save to end being poisoned, all attacks against the creature deal an additional 1d6 poison damage.

By contrast, if you use vital touch to heal an ally, you can expend a use of soulfire to begin bloody rejuvenation. For a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier, the effected ally is immune to death and cannot fall below zero hit points. For each hit the target suffers while at 0 hit points, the target still makes a death saving throw. If the target fails 3 death saving throws, the target will not die until Bloody Rejuvenation has ended.

Once this feature has been used, it can't be used again until after a long rest.

Storm Crow

The path of the storm crow focuses on harassing their victims with a steady barrage of destructive attacks meant to decimate their target before they ever make it within striking distance. Of course it helps when you can fly.

Strength of the Hecaton

Starting at 7th level, your carrying capacity is doubled. In addition, for every 2 arms you possess you can spend 1 madra point to make a grapple check against each creature within 5 feet of you, or spend 1 madra point for a creature one size category larger than medium for every two arms you possess, up to gargantuan (4 madra points).

Endurance of the Asura

When you reach 11th level, as a bonus action, you can spend 2 madra point to gain temporary Hit Points equal to your Wisdom modifier for every enemy within 5 feet of you that lasts until the start of your next turn. In addition, you have resistance to all non-magical damage while you have temporary hit points.

Emergence of Kali

You become the arbiter of the gods, embodying the agent of death. At 18th level, you can expend a use of soulfire to take full control of all of your extra limbs for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. While active, you can make a melee weapon attack with each arm against any creature within 5 feet of you that you can see. On a hit, that creature's movement is reduced to 0. In addition, you can use a reaction against every creature that moves through your threat range so long as each target is a different creature.

Once this feature has been used, it can't be used again until you take a long rest.

The Prism

A ruler path dedicated to elemental destruction. Able to change elements on the fly, prisms enjoy exploiting enemy weaknesses while putting everything on the line for the sake of victory.

Sacred Arts

Below are various sacred arts available to a sacred artist. Sacred arts, often mistaken for magic, are a demonstration of the supernatural heights a sacred artist has arisen to. All of the techniques described below can be performed unarmed. However, in the case of ranged attacks, if you have a ranged weapon, you can use the range of the weapon instead of the range listed to perform that sacred art.

Forger Techniques:

Forger Techniques are capable or creating objects or effects on the fly. They're often used to complement existing abilities, or in conjunction with other techniques to create varying combos.

1 Madra

• Reinforce: as a bonus action, you reinforce your melee weapon. All attacks made with that weapon deals one additional die of damage.
• Extension: as a bonus action, you can extend the reach of your next melee weapon attack by 5 feet or extend the ranged of your next ranged weapon attack by 30 feet.
• High Caliber: as a bonus action, you reinforce a projectile. Whenever you make a ranged attack, each creature within 30 feet, in a line, is subject to the same attack roll. However, on a hit, you roll damage against each creature separately.

2 Madra

• Body Cloak: as an action, you gain resistance to all non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, in addition to gaining a +10 bonus to move speed.
• Mind Cloak: as an action, you gain advantage on saves against charm, fear, and illusions in addition to gaining +1 bonus to AC.
• Go with the Flow: as an action, you are no longer hindered by rough terrain, do not provoke attacks of opportunity, and are treated as taking 10 whenever performing an athletics or acrobatics ability.

Ruler Techniques:

Ruler techniques are powerful abilities that embody both the power and philosophy of the sacred artist. Their power takes a lot of energy out of the sacred artist, however, and require a long rest before they can be used again. Unless otherwise specified, all ruler techniques last for a number of turns equal to your Wisdom modifier.

4 Madra

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• Devastation Mark: as an action, you mark a number of creatures you can see with Devastation Mark. While active, whenever you deal damage to a creature with a Sacred Art, if the attack would also hit the marked creature, they take the same damage as well.
• Wall Stance: as an action, you adopt a powerful defensive stance. While active, you have advantage on checks to retain concentration but your movement speed is reduced to zero. Any creature you hit also has their movement reduced to zero. In addition, you reduce all damage taken by 1d10 + half your sacred artist level.
• Resonant Bell: as an action, you target an enemy you can see within 60 feet. You can make a melee or ranged weapon attack against the target. On a hit, you deal damage as normal, but all creatures within a 15 foot radius must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they take damage equal to the original damage dealt or none on a successful save. Immediately after, as a bonus action, you can force a Dexterity save again on all creatures within 10 feet of any creature who failed their first save. On a failure, those creatures take half as much damage as the original or none on a success. This cascading effect can hit the original targets again.
• Flicker Stance: as an action, your movement speed is doubled. While active, as part of the move action, you can teleport to any location you can see, that isn't occupied, up to a distance equal to your move speed. Moving in this way gives you advantage on your next attack roll.