Add your rank to all attack and defense rolls made with natural attacks. Increase your base damage to 1d4.
Attack sequence: Using natural attacks now cost you a move action and instead of attacking you can choose to do combat maneuvers, such as push, disarm, trip or grapple. You will also gain a +1 bonus to priority, which will increase again at ranks III and V.
Martial defense: You are capable of using your martial arts skills to parry enemy attacks, even those made by weapons. This ability works in a similar way to parry, but if you attempt to block a slashing blade weapon or one with the spikes trait you will immediately gain the bleed status effect.
Stunning fist: Whenever you successfully hit with an attack you can force your target to roll CON against your attack. If you succeed they will immediately be stunned. This ability can only be used once per round and if you spend an additional move action on it your target will be staggered until your next turn even if it succeeds in its save.
Punishing kick: The strength of your attacks is capable of pushing back your targets. Whenever you successfully hit with an attack your target will be pushed 10 feet back and if they have less strength than you they will immediately fall prone. This ability can be used against a target that successfully parries your attack by spending an additional move action. Punishing kick will not work against creatures in defensive position or form.
Increase your critical threshold to 19-20
Deflect projectiles: You are capable of blocking high-speed projectiles with your martial arts mastery. This ability lets you use parry to defend yourself against ranged attacks not made by firearms. If you roll a critical defense or your target rolls a critical miss you can deflect the attack to target a creature of your choice up to 15 feet away.
Precise strike: Through intense focus you can target your enemy’s weak points, sacrificing accuracy for the chance to inflict greater damage. To do a precise strike you will gain a -2 penalty to attack rolls in exchange of increasing the level of all permanent injuries you inflict by one step. If you spend a move action to aim you can reduce the penalty of precise attacks by 2, including the penalty to target specific body parts.
Devastating strike: Your fists are capable of breaking wood and even iron. Whenever you hit a target with a precise strike you can reduce the DEF of its armor by 2. This reduction can be removed by repairing the armor, and if the armor’s defense is reduced to 2 or less it becomes unusable. This ability allows you to make a Sunder maneuver against your target’s armor as an attack, for which you use your weapon’s bonus against your target’s heroism and on success you will reduce its DEF by 2. If your target successfully blocks with a shield you can spend an additional move action to reduce its shield’s defense modifier by 1.
Pressure point: You can strike your target’s pressure points to disable certain parts of their body, stopping them from attacking and even using magic. Whenever you hit an unarmored target’s arms, legs or head with a precise strike the targeted limb will become temporarily disabled. If you disable a leg your target will immediately fall prone and their speed will be halved, and if you disable an arm they will drop their weapon and be unable to attack or use magic with it. If you disable your target’s head they will immediately fall unconscious (this effect can be avoided with Resist death). Disabled limbs do not count as if they are injured and to enable them again another character must spend a use of first aid to heal them.
Increase your critical threshold to 18-20
Deathblow: You are able to deal death with only your fists. Whenever you successfully strike a creature’s head with a precise strike multiply the damage you inflict by 2 and all permanent injuries by 1 step. If you manage to reduce your target’s HP to 0 they will die instantly (if they have a way to keep fighting at 0 HP, they will fall unconscious instead).
Opportunistic strike: Every weakness in your target’s defense provides a golden opportunity to strike. Once per round you can make an additional attack as a reaction against a target which suffers a harmful status effect or permanent injury. This ability also works against enemies that have taken damage from another source.
A natural attack consists of any attack made using a part of your body, as is a punch, kick or slam. All natural attacks will deal 1 + STR damage. A natural attack can be modified with the following traits to vary the type of abilities you gain, which either come from your body’s physiology or certain weapons.
Gauntlet: Your fists are reinforced with metal gauntlets, increasing the power of your attacks. While wearing gauntlets you increase your base damage to 1d6 and gain the capacity to block slashing weapons without taking bleed. Gauntlets also make it harder for your hands to do precise movements, granting you disadvantage in all sleight of hand and magic-related rolls (this includes elemental magic too). A gauntlet can be enhanced with the claw and pierce traits.
Claw: You have sharp claws capable of rending the flesh of your enemies. A creature that attacks with its claws will deal slashing instead of bludgeoning damage and all permanent injuries inflicted with them will also cause bleed. Certain weapon attributes will be substituted with those from slashing blades as indicated in the following table:
| Attribute | Substitution |
|---|---|
| Stunning fist | Fierce slash |
| Precise strike | Cleave |
| Deflect projectiles | Trap blade |
| Pressure point | Whirlwind of steel |
Bite: You are capable of inflicting grievous wounds with your jaw. Once per turn as a bonus action you can bite a grappled or incapacitated target. a bite will deal 1d6 + STR piercing damage and all permanent injuries inflicted with it will increase by 1 step. The abilities Stunning fist, punishing kick, pressure point and precise fist will not function on a bite.
Tentacle: You possess a flexible tentacle with which you can attack and grapple your foes. A tentacle has a reach of 10 feet deals as much damage as a base bludgeoning attack. Instead of dealing damage a tentacle can be used to grab a part of your target’s body, causing them to become entangled and impeding them from moving more than 15 feet away from you. Escaping from a tentacle grab works the same way as escaping from a grapple. Certain weapon attributes will be substituted with those from chains as indicated in the following table:
| Attribute | Substitution |
|---|---|
| Stunning fist | Circular strike |
| Precise strike | Chain grab |
| Devastating strike | Human shield |
| Pressure point | Shifting chain |
| Deathblow | Hangman’s noose |
Pierce: You have a sharp spine on a certain part of your body capable of stabbing your foes. A pierce attack inflicts 1d6 + STR piercing damage and it will be able to inflict permanent injuries on unarmored creatures even if they reduce your damage to 0. Certain weapon attributes will be substituted with those from piercing blades as indicated in the following table:
| Attribute | Substitution |
|---|---|
| Stunning fist | Sneak attack |
| Punishing kick | Feint |
| Deflect projectiles | Disarm |
| Devastating strike | Greater feint |