Misericorde

Warriors trained in this combat style favor speed, precision, and light weapons over brute force and slower, clumsier weapons. When they fight, the Misericorde often wields long, thin blades designed to pierce gaps in an opponent’s armor.

When they attack, they aim their strikes to weaken and fatigue the enemy, sapping that foe’s ability to fight one splash of blood at a time. When the time comes for the coup de grace, the Misericorde delivers a quick, merciful killing strike.

Find Weakness

When you select this archetype at 3rd level, you gain the ability to identify flaws in a target’s armor, combat style, or defenses. Select one enemy as your nemesis for the combat. As an action, make your choice of an opposed Wisdom (Insight) or (Perception) check against your nemesis. If you win the opposed roll, you gain advantage on your next melee attack roll against that target. You can only use this feature against a single opponent per encounter.

If your attack hits, on your next turn as an action you can select one of the following melee strike maneuvers against your nemesis. If this initial attack misses, however, you cannot use a strike maneuver until after you hit with a standard melee attack.

You must be able to see your chosen nemesis in order to identify his weaknesses.

Saving Throws. If one of your strike maneuvers requires the target to make a saving throw to resist the attack’s effects, determine the saving throw DC as follows:

Special Attack save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice)

Strike Maneuvers

Launching a strike maneuver requires an action.

Each maneuver involves making an attack roll and rolling damage against the target on a hit, but with an added effect.

Blinding Strike. If you hit, your target must make a Constitution saving throw or become temporarily blinded. The creature can attempt another saving throw at the end of each of its turns to remove the blinded condition, or it can spend an action to end the effect.

Brutal Strike. If you hit your target, you score an additional weapon die of damage.

Delay Foe. If your attack hits, your target must succeed at a Wisdom saving throw or its next turn is delayed until last in the initiative order. After the creature’s next turn, it returns to its original place in the initiative order.

Demoralizing Display. If your attack hits, your nemesis must succeed at a Charisma saving throw or suffer disadvantage on its attacks until the end of its next turn.

Fatiguing Strike. If your attack hits, the target must make a Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. If you accept disadvantage on your attack roll and hit, you can instead inflict two exhaustion levels if the target fails the save.

Flawed Defense. Your nemesis loses any Dexterity bonus to AC against your next attack.

Goading Strike. You can move your opponent 5 feet in any direction you choose. This forced movement does not provoke opportunity attacks and cannot be used to maneuver your foe into dangerous terrain.

Hobbling Attack. If you hit, the creature must make a Constitution saving throw or have its speed reduced by one-half. The creature can attempt another saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end this effect.

Painful Strike. If your attack hits, the target must make a Constitution saving throw or else it suffers disadvantage on your choice of Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throws and ability checks until the end of the creature’s next turn. Creatures that do not feel pain (e.g., constructs and undead) are immune to this effect.

Vicious Wound. If your strike hits, your foe loses one weapon die’s worth of damage from bleeding at the start of each of its turns. The creature or one of its allies can staunch the bleeding as an action.

Creatures that don’t bleed, such as constructs and undead, are immune to this effect.

Sharp Eye

Starting at 7th level, you gain a bonus equal to half your proficiency bonus to your Insight and Perception skills. In a combat situation, that bonus is doubled for any ability check using either skill.

Improved Critical

At 10th level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Devastating Assault

Starting at 15th level, as a bonus action, you can double either your Strength or Dexterity modifier to damage for every attack that round. This feature can be used once, and you regain spent uses after finishing a short or long rest.

Overwhelming Strike

Starting at 18th level, you ignore any damage resistance your nemesis has to your weapon attacks.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Fighter Folio © 2018 Total Party Kill Games; Authors: Brian Berg, Mark A. Hart.