Wuxian Sage

Any mention of "a sage" is an abbreviation of "a Wuxian Sage".

Characteristics

A master of martial maneuvers, the swordsage is a physical adept—a blade wizard whose knowledge of the Sublime Way lets him unlock potent abilities, many of which are overtly supernatural or magical in nature. However, a Wuxian Sage also excels at physical expression similar to the traditional monk, honing the mind body and spirit and combining them on the battlefield as well as the coffee table. It is of note that many Wuxian Sages go on to become psionic adepts as well, as their training forces the limits of the mind as well as the body.

Abilities

As with both the Swordsage and Enlightened Monk, a Wuxian Sage relies on his Wisdom to enhance his AC and Power Point pool. Dexterity is important for helping with AC and physical skills as well, though a high Strength can lend a higher damage potential. As always, a good foundation of Intelligence can help a Wuxian Sage hone their skills.

Alignment

Any.

Hit Die

d6.

Class Skills

The Wuxian Sage's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (DEX), Climb (STR), Concentration (CON), Craft (INT), Heal (WIS), Hide (DEX), Intimidate (CHA), Jump (STR), Knowledge: Local (INT), Knowledge: Martial Lore (INT), Listen (WIS), Move Silently (DEX), Profession (WIS), Ride (DEX), Sense Motive (WIS), Swim (STr), Tumble (DEX).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Maneuvers Known	Maneuvers per Encounter	Stances Known	Class Features	Unarmed Strike	AC Bonus	Speed Bonus
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	4	4	1	Unarmed Strike, Ki Style (Lesser Art, Bonus Feat), Ki Psionics, AC Bonus	1d6	+0	+0
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	5	4	2	Ki style (bonus feat)	1d6	+0	+0
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	6	5	2	—	1d6	+0	+10
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	7	5	2	—	1d8	+0	+10
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	8	6	3	—	1d8	+1	+10
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2	9	6	3	Ki Style (bonus feat, greater art)	1d8	+1	+20
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	10	6	3	Sense magic	1d8	+1	+20
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	11	7	3	—	1d10	+1	+20
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3	12	7	4	Evasion	1d10	+1	+30
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	13	8	4	—	1d10	+2	+30
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3	14	8	4	—	1d10	+2	+30
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4	15	8	4	—	2d6	+2	+40
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+4	16	9	4	—	2d6	+2	+40
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+4	17	9	5	—	2d6	+2	+40
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+5	18	10	5	—	2d6	+3	+50
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+5	19	10	5	—	2d8	+3	+50
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	20	10	5	Improved evasion	2d8	+3	+50
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6	21	11	5	—	2d8	+3	+60
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	22	11	5	—	2d8	+3	+60
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	23	12	6	Dual boost 3/day	2d10	+4	+60

Class Features

All the following are class features of the Wuxian Sage.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Wuxian Sages are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling. Wuxian Sages are not proficient with any armor or shields.

Maneuvers

You begin your career with knowledge of four martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon, and Tiger Claw. Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by a Wuxian Sage is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one.

You learn additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on the above table. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered swordsage level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. In effect, you lose the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. You can choose a new maneuver of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level maneuvers you know; you need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. For example, upon reaching 10th level, you could trade in a single 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd- or 4th-level maneuver for a maneuver of 5th level or lower, as long as you meet the prerequisite of the new maneuver. You can swap only a single maneuver at any given level.

Maneuvers Per Encounter

You have four maneuvers per encounter at level 1, and as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you are able to use more in a single encounter.

You begin an encounter with all your maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you chose them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your maneuvers can be used once per encounter unless you recover them. You can recover an expended maneuver by using a fullround action to quickly meditate. Doing this does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If you complete your meditation, you can choose one expended maneuver to refresh. It is now available for use in a subsequent round.

Stances Known

You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to you. At 2nd, 5th, 9th, 14th, and 20th level, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you currently use as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description. Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.

AC Bonus

Starting at 1st level, you can add your Wisdom modifier as a bonus to Armor Class, so long as you wear light or no armor, are unencumbered, and do not use a shield. This bonus to AC applies even against touch attacks or when you are flat-footed. However, you lose this bonus when you are immobilized or helpless. In addition, a Wuxian Sage gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC at 5th level. This bonus increases by 1 for every five Wuxian Sage levels thereafter (+2 at 10th, +3 at 15th, and +4 at 20th level). These bonuses to AC apply even against touch attacks or when the sage is flat-footed. Any class which increases any specific monk class features, such as AC bonus, unarmed damage, speed, or flurry of blows, stacks with her Wuxian sage levels for the purpose of AC bonus.

Fast Movement (Ex)

At 3rd level, a sage gains an insight bonus to her speed, as shown on the Wuxian Sage table. A sage in armor or carrying a medium or heavy load loses this extra speed. Any class which increases any specific monk class features, such as AC bonus, unarmed damage, speed, or flurry of blows, stacks with her Wuxian sage levels for the purpose of Fast Movement.

Ki Psionics

The Wuxian Sage's internal mastery brings forth her psionic potential in the form of Ki. Through intense training and meditation, she opens up more and more of her psionic self. The Wuxian sage gains bonus power points from her Wisdom score as if her manifester level was equal to her enlightened monk level. These power points can be spent to fuel some Ki styles, as well as allowing her to attain psionic focus, among other uses. Any class which increases any specific monk class features, such as AC bonus, unarmed damage, speed, or flurry of blows, stacks with her Wuxian Sage levels for the purpose of Ki psionics.

Unarmed Strike

At 1st level, a sage gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A Wuxian Sage’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a sage may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a sage striking unarmed. A sage may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes. Usually a sage’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but she can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on her attack roll. She has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.

A sage’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons. A sage also deals more damage with her unarmed strikes than a normal person would, as shown on the Wuxian Sage table. The unarmed damage on the table is for medium-sized sages. A small sage deals less damage than the amount given there with her unarmed attacks, while a large monk deals more damage.

Any class which increases any sage monk class features, such as AC bonus, unarmed damage, speed, or flurry of blows, stacks with her Wuxian sage levels for the purpose of Unarmed Strike damage.

Ki Style

A sage chooses a Ki style at 1st level, a school of thought and combat which defines how he fights and thinks, acts and reacts. You can also choose to forgo a Ki style and instead choose a number of bonus feats. The different Ki styles are detailed at the bottom of this page.

Bonus Feats

Some sages are not trained in a certain Ki style and thus gain bonus feats instead. At 1st level, she may select Stunning Fist, Improved Grapple or Form Mind BladeMBF as a bonus feat. At 2nd level, she may select either Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Psionic Fist, or Psionic Weapon as a bonus feat. At 6th level, she may select either Deep Impact, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, or Unavoidable Strike as a bonus feat. A Wuxian Sage need not have any of the prerequisites normally required for these feats to select them. Feats introduced here are labeled with an asterisk (*), while those marked with a MBF are from The Mind Unveiled: Mind Blade Feats.

Sense Magic (Su)

Beginning at 7th level, you can spend 10 minutes focusing upon a weapon or suit of armor. If you succeed on a level check (DC 10 + the caster level of the weapon or armor), you can identify the properties of that item, including its enhancement bonus and special abilities. This ability does not reveal the properties of artifacts or legacy weapons, though it does indicate that such items are significantly powerful.

Evasion (Ex)

At 9th level, you can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If you make a successful Refl ex saving throw against an attack that normally deals damage on a successful save, you instead take no damage. Evasion can be used only if you are wearing light armor or no armor. If you are helpless, you do not gain the benefit of evasion.

Improved Evasion (Ex)

From 17th level on, you gain the benefit of improved evasion. You still take no damage if you make a successful Reflex save against an attack, and even if you fail the Reflex save, you take only half damage from the attack. If you are helpless, you do not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Dual Boost (Ex)

When you reach 20th level, you can use two boost maneuvers simultaneously. Whenever you initiate a boost maneuver, you can also initiate any other boost maneuver that you know as a free action. Both boosts you initiate are expended normally. You can use this ability three times per day.

Ki Styles

Ki styles are a representation of a certain school of combat or martial arts. Each style has their own background and they are meant to portray different styles from all around the world, though many of them are ‘Eastern’ in their feel and naming convention. None of these are meant to correctly portray modern martial arts maneuvers, but rather collect the parts which are special for each style into an easily understandable format. Each Ki Style gives a bonus on a certain skill, bonus feats at levels 1,2 and 6 (which do not require the character to meet the prerequisites) as well as a Lesser Art (available at 1st level) and a Greater Art (available at 6th level).

Diamond Fist Style

The school of the Diamond Fist was once a tribe of fierce warriors, who accepted only the strongest among them. Their history tells of how one of their leaders, a mighty chieftain, once battled a female warrior from a nearby monastery to a standstill. Intrigued by their inability to defeat each other, they accepted that they were equals in combat, but not in style. The fierceness of the man and the dedicated attacks of the woman were blended into a single style over the coming years, as the two warriors married not only each other, but their styles as well. While the School of Diamonds has several fortresses to train via sparring, the order prefers to train against fearsome animals or armed warriors, as they believe that only in true combat can one learn the inner secrets of the Diamond Fist.

Skill Bonus: +2 on Concentration checks
Lesser Art: Expend your psionic focus to get a +1 bonus to the damage and DC of a Stunning Fist attack. This effect is also active whenever you expend your psionic focus for Psionic Fist or Greater Psionic Fist.
Bonus Feat 1: Stunning Fist
Bonus Feat 2: Psionic Fist
Bonus Feat 6: Greater Psionic Fist
Greater Art: For each power point you spend, you get a +1 insight bonus to the damage and DC when performing a Stunning Fist attack. You cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.

Feral Beast Style

The School of the Feral Beast teaches multiple similar styles which all take their names and stances from the animal kingdom. The ferals are trained to trust their instincts explicitly, attacking not with well-placed blows but animal ferocity. They take their stances and attacks from studying animals fight and they are often found sneaking through streets or jungles, coming upon their enemies as an unexpected assault from the darkness, like the feral beasts they take their name from. The most feared styles of the Feral Beast are merciless ones like the Ape, the Snake and the Hawk - those who practice these particular styles are known for reverting to animal behavior, tearing the dead apart and even eating the hearts of their enemies at times. The School itself is located in many locations, often found as a collection of tents arranged in a temporary campsite in a forest, on a mountainside or by a lake.

Skill Bonus: +2 to Hide checks
Lesser Art: While psionically focused, the bonus from the feats granted by this Ki style (and only when granted as bonus feats from this Ki style) are doubled. This means that the monk counts as being two sizes larger for the Improved Natural Attack feat while psionically focused.
Bonus Feat 1: Aggressive Combat Instinct
Bonus Feat 2: Defensive Combat Instinct
Bonus Feat 6: Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike)
Greater Art: You can spend 2 power points to change the type of damage your unarmed strikes does (from bludgeoning to either slashing or piercing) for 1 minute as a free action.

Ki Focus Style

The School of Inner Balance was founded by a group of monastic warriors who sought to understand their inner self and how they were connected to the world around them. What began as meditations soon became laborious training exercises to come into contact with one’s inner powers. They secluded themselves high in inhospitable mountains, both to protect themselves from raiders, and to allow them to contemplate in loneliness, away from the hustle of the nation. There they awakened deepseated psionic powers within themselves which allowed them to enhance their combat potential, as their bodies were suddenly in tune with the world. These monks now accept all those who can find their hidden monasteries, stand the Vigil until the doors open, and make it one month without speaking. Most of the time in the monastery is spent performing the necessities of daily life, from fetching water to taking care of plants, for it is only when one accepts one’s place in the world that one awakens the power within. Once this power is awakened, it allows these monks to perceive things slightly before they happen, but while this isn’t true precognition, it often seems that way on the battlefield since these monks react almost before something happens.

Skill Bonus: +2 on Balance checks
Lesser Art: +2 to Initiative checks and Reflex saves while psionically focused.
Bonus Feat 1: Wild Talent Devotion (Psychometabolism)
Bonus Feat 2: Focused Sunder
Bonus Feat 6: Wounding Attack
Greater Art: When rolling for initiative, you may spend power points to gain a +1 insight bonus to initiative for each point spent. You cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.

Mind Blade Style

The school of Darkblades mastered the mind blade before they turned to the ascetic traditions. At first, they were dedicated slayers for the local royalty, hunting down monsters and enemies of the crown alike. However, in time, after watching generation after generation of royalty die, they began to devote themselves to something greater. The Darkblades soon faded from the view of the common man, leaving behind their days as slayers and inquisitors for the kings and queens of their nation, instead becoming a secret society of warriors dedicated to protecting the law and order which makes civilization possible. At times, the Darkblades would present themselves to a prospective royal, to ensure that their wish for peace, law and order was respected; at other times they have struck down princes before their disregard for the law became a problem. Some claim that the Darkblades are evil, other that they are good - but those who are accepted into the school are swept up not because they were especially good or evil, but because they would defend the principles of law.

Skill Bonus: +2 on Concentration checks
Lesser Art: +1 to hit with your mind blade while psionically focused.
Bonus Feat 1: Form Mind BladeMBF
Bonus Feat 2: Shape Mind BladeMBF
Bonus Feat 6: Monastic BladeMBF
Greater Art: For each power point you spend, you get a +1 insight bonus to the attack roll and damage roll with your mind blade. You cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.

Mountain Style

The School of Stone cares little for the weakness of the flesh and strives to punish themselves to such a degree that their bodies become like the stone from which they take their name. This school was not founded by some masters of an ancient martial art, but rather by flagellants who whipped themselves into a religious frenzy from the pain. Some of these flagellants achieved an epiphany during these whipping sessions and strove to teach others about the weakness of the flesh and the strength of the mind, but they were seen as pariahs and driven out. Eventually, one of these pariahs refused to flee before the assaults of his comrades, but rather struck back to prove to all others that his mind was stronger than their flesh. This was the birth of the School of Stone - by proving themselves to be capable fighters, many began coming to the school to learn from the flagellants, but were not admitted until they had donated funds to the school. Most students eventually drop out due to the difficult nature of the training, but those few who graduate are a part of a widespread brotherhood which supports and helps one another, no matter what. Some graduates continue their path as flagellants or monks, while others return to take up the reigns of the noble duties, but all become fierce leaders
and strong warriors.

Skill Bonus: +2 on Autohypnosis checks
Lesser Art: You gain Damage Reduction 1/- while psionically focused which stacks with other forms of Damage Reduction of the same type.
Bonus Feat 1: Psionic Body (special: all feats in this style counts as psionic for the purpose of the Psionic Body feat)
Bonus Feat 2: Improved Natural Armor (their natural armor improves by +1 or they gain natural armor +1 if they previously had none)
Bonus Feat 6: Diehard
Greater Art: As a free action, for every power point you spend, your damage reduction from this Ki style improves by 1 point. This lasts for 1 minute and you cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.

Steel Style

The School of Seven Swords has a history reaching far back to a time where madness and slavery ruled. At that time, an insane and paranoid king believed that his nobles were conspiring to strike him down and so instituted a law against anyone bearing any kind of weapon in his kingdom. But, in his insanity, he also offended many former allies and while the alliances were crumbling, the nobles were hard-pressed to come up with a way to defend the country against the inevitable war which was coming. The rumours of the mad king’s decree had escaped their borders and soon their enemies would come riding in hard, knowing that no soldiers were there to defend the lands. One noble had once trained among monks and mastered the style of unarmed combat, which he sought to teach - but his idea was too little, too late. The kingdom was smashed between its former allies, the king slain and the people enslaved - but it was during this enslavement that the Seven Swords rose to prominence. Seven disciples of this one noble who had survived the war gathered peasants and former soldiers, teaching a combat style which relied on one strike being enough to take down a single enemy warrior. This was the foundation and the beginning of the School of Seven Swords.

Skill Bonus: +2 on Intimidate checks
Lesser Art: While psionically focused, your unarmed damage increases as if you had 4 additional monk levels.
Bonus Feat 1: Weapon Focus (unarmed strike)
Bonus Feat 2: Weapon Specialization (unarmed strike)
Bonus Feat 6: Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike)
Greater Art: As a standard action, you can make one unarmed attack and for each power point you spend, your damage increases by 2 points. You cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.

Transient World Style

The School of the Transient World teaches that the world is an illusion, limited by our senses but limitless to the power of our mind’s eye, the inner fire, the beacon of truth. They teach that you must exhaust your body, strain it to the very limits of what it can do, because without knowing the limits of your physical senses you cannot learn how to expand them. They train extensively with each other, focusing primarily on tough physical exercises which bring them to the point of exhaustion before the mental training begins. This allows them to go beyond the limits of the world, as seen by “the blind” - as they call the unenlightened people. The transcients mean that it is their duty to constantly test the limits of the world, themselves and those who share it - some even go as far as attacking “the blind” just to provoke them into “waking up” and seeing the world for the illusion it truly is. The School of the Transient World also houses one of the world’s foremost institutes for teaching the Nomad and Seer devotions to Psions, sharing the view of the world as an illusion.

Skill Bonus: +2 to Jump checks
Lesser Art: While psionically focused, you are always treated as having a running start when making a Jump check. Note that this applies even if you later expend your focus for the Mental Leap feat.
Bonus Feat 1: Speed of Thought (note that the insight bonus from this feat stacks with the insight bonus from the monk class. This is an exception to the stacking rule.)
Bonus Feat 2: Mental Leap
Bonus Feat 6: Up the Walls
Greater Art: You can spend a power point instead of expending your focus to activate the Mental Leap feat. You can spend multiple power points to gain the bonus multiple times, stacking the bonus (even though this isn’t normally allowed). You cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.

Winde Style

The school of the Four Winds teaches that you cannot be conquered if your enemy cannot strike you. The style focuses deeply on constantly staying mobile to avoid being struck by the enemy, often tiring the enemy down for a while before launching a devastating flurry of kicks, known as the Storm. The school began as a group of ascetic monasteries high in the mountains where the wind never ceased to blow, storms being common - here three rebels sought refuge from the terrible wrath of the kingdom they tried to overthrow. They had escaped the lawbringers and the army hunting them and their friends for almost a year, focusing more on staying alive than fighting back. Once they reached these mountain monasteries they were admitted as students, but their fighting spirit and the hard lessons learned from a life of defeat allowed them to tire even the masters while sidestepping blow after blow in training. Once they had defeated the masters in unarmed combat, they willingly stepped down and returned the positions to the masters but instituting one common rule for all of them - all were to be equals and only defer to those whom they were trained by.

Skill Bonus: +2 on Tumble checks
Lesser Art: +1 dodge bonus to AC while psionically focused.
Bonus Feat 1: Dodge
Bonus Feat 2: Psionic Dodge
Bonus Feat 6: Mobility
Greater Art: As a standard action, for each power point you spend, you get a +1 dodge bonus to your AC for one round. You cannot spend more power points on this Art than your monk level.