Legendary Brawler

No two classes fit the bill of the stereotypical martial combatant more strongly than the fighter and the monk. They each represent a different style of fighting; fighters are heavily armored warriors, often wielding weaponry suited for melee combat, who possess a great variety of combat feats to bolster their martial prowess, while monks are highly disciplined pugilists capable of high mobility. They are both restricted to a degree, however. Fighters are generally less mobile and more dependent on their equipment. Monks must adhere to strict edicts else they lose their ability to advance and are less versatile when it comes to feat selection.

This is where the brawler hybrid class comes in. Brawlers take the broad array of feats available to fighters and blend them with the damaging techniques inherent to monks without locking them into an alignment. In doing so, they become even more versatile by gaining the ability to grant themselves the benefits of combat feats on a temporary basis, letting them adjust to the enemies present on the fly.

In addition to this, they gain bonuses to combat maneuvers in the same fashion that fighters gain bonuses to weapons, giving them a number of options for incapacitating their foes.

Brawlers are not without their own limitations, however. They lose the fighter’s variety of weapon choices, forced to either fight barehanded or with close ranged weaponry, as well as losing the traditional monk’s all-good saving throw bonuses and its higher hit die or the unchained monk’s access to style strikes. This doesn’t make them any less potent on the battlefield, but the fact is they are quite lacking in options that make them as highly variable as it seems they were intended to be.

Brawler Arts

There are two special techniques that are unique to most brawlers: awesome blows and knockouts.

However, there may be cases where a brawler wishes to train themselves in different techniques, or has been taught special combat styles. The following are a list of new special techniques – called brawler arts – which can be selected in place of these class features when they would normally be gained.

Unlike archetypes, brawler arts function even with archetypes which alter the awesome blow and knockout class features (such as the weapon specialist archetype). If a feat or ability would affect or alter knockout or awesome blow or would require it as a prerequisite, it instead affects any aspects of the brawler art which replaces that ability which are applicable (for example, a brawler with the awesome fling brawler art can use it in place of awesome blow to qualify for Awesome Charge, and if that brawler possesses Awesome Charge, they can apply its effects to their awesome fling brawler art).

Awesome Disarm (Ex)

At 16th level, when performing a disarm combat maneuver on an item designed for use by creatures of the brawler’s size category or smaller, the brawler can choose to take a -10 penalty to their CMB to attempt an awesome disarm instead. If successful, the item takes damage as if it had been sundered, the owner takes half as much damage, and the item is knocked 10 feet away from them in the direction opposite the brawler’s position from them. If this would cause the disarmed object to collide with an obstacle, both it and the obstacle take 1d6 additional damage and the object lands in a space adjacent to the obstacle. This combat maneuver is affected by feats and abilities which would affect either disarm or sunder combat maneuvers.

This replaces awesome blow.

Awesome Drag (Ex)

At 16th level, as a standard action, the brawler can perform an awesome drag combat maneuver against a creature of their size or smaller. If the combat maneuver check succeeds, the target takes damage as if hit by a close weapon wielded by the brawler or an unarmed strike, and both it and the brawler are moved up to 10 feet in the direction of the brawler’s choosing, so long as both remain adjacent during the movement. The brawler’s movement during this action provokes attacks of opportunity, but not from the target; the target’s movement as a result of this ability does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If this movement would place the target into harm’s way (such as being moved onto a space containing a deep pit or fire), the target receives an additional Fortitude save (DC = 15 + ½ the brawler’s level + the higher of the brawler’s Strength or Dexterity modifiers); succeeding this save allows the target to fall prone in the nearest safe space to that which the brawler intended it to be moved.

This replaces awesome blow.

Awesome Fling (Ex)

At 16th level, as a standard action, the brawler can perform an awesome fling combat maneuver against a creature of their size or smaller. If the combat maneuver check succeeds, the target takes half as much damage as they would take if hit by a close weapon wielded by the brawler or an unarmed strike, and it is flung into any space of the brawler’s choosing within 10 feet and knocked prone. The opponent cannot land in a space closer to the brawler than the square it started in. If an obstacle is in the space where the opponent is flung, both it and the opponent take 1d6 damage and the opponent is forced prone in a random space adjacent to the obstacle.

This replaces awesome blow.

Gut Blow (Ex)

At 4th level, once per day, the brawler can perform a powerful strike that nauseates their target. They must announce their intent before making their attack roll. If the brawler hits and the target takes damage from the blow, the target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + ½ the brawler’s level + the higher of the brawler’s Strength and Dexterity modifiers) or become nauseated for 2d4 rounds. Each round on its turn, the nauseated target can attempt a new saving throw to end the condition as a full-round action that does not provoke actions of opportunity.

Creatures immune to critical hits or nonlethal damage are immune to this ability. At 10th level, the brawler can use this ability twice per day, and at 16th they can use it three times per day.

This replaces knockout.

Head Trauma (Ex)

At 4th level, once per day, the brawler can clobber a foe’s skull so severely that it muddles their senses. They must announce their intent before making their attack roll. If the brawler hits and the target takes damage from the blow, the target must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + ½ the brawler’s level + the higher of the brawler’s Strength or Dexterity modifiers) or become confused for 1d6 rounds. Each round on its turn, the confused target can attempt a new saving throw to end the condition as a full-round action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Creatures immune to critical hits or nonlethal damage are immune to this ability. At 10th level, the brawler can use this ability twice per day, and at 16th they can use it three times per day.

This replaces knockout.

Reeling Smash (Ex)

At 4th level, once per day, the brawler can spin their foe around with the force of their blow, forcing them to lower their guard momentarily as they recover from its impact. The brawler must announce their intent before making their attack roll. If the brawler hits and the target takes damage from the blow, the target is considered flat-footed against the next attack made against them until their next turn.

Creatures immune to critical hits or nonlethal damage are immune to this ability. At 10th level, the brawler can use this ability twice per day, and at 16th they can use it three times per day.

This replaces knockout.

Tackling Takedown (Ex)

At 4th level, once per day, the brawler can tackle an opponent to the ground. They must announce their intent before making their attack roll. If the brawler hits and the target takes damage from the blow, the brawler can make a grapple attempt against that target as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If the brawler succeeds this check, they initiate a grapple with the foe and it automatically becomes pinned. At 10th level, the brawler can use this ability twice per day, and at 16th they can use it three times per day.

This replaces knockout.

Will Strike (Ex)

At 4th level, once per day, the brawler can perform a strike fueled by their willpower. They must announce their intent before making their attack roll. If the brawler hits and the target takes damage from the blow, the target must succeed at a Will saving throw (DC = 10 + ½ the brawler’s level + the brawler’s Wisdom modifier) or take additional damage equal to twice the brawler’s Wisdom modifier. This damage is multiplied if the attack is a critical hit. Creatures immune to critical hits are immune to this ability. At 10th level, the brawler can use this ability twice per day, and at 16th they can use it three times per day.

This replaces knockout.

Variant Multiclassing

The optional Variant Multiclassing system allows a character to trade out half their feats in order to gain the benefits of a secondary class. These rules enable characters to gain many of the benefits of multiclassing without sacrificing advancement in their primary classes, and creates opportunities to explore novel character concepts, such as a barbarian whose rage stems from being afflicted by the gods with an oracle’s curse and revelations.

Under the standard rules, multiclassing can lead to a wide disparity in character ability. With this system, each character can choose a secondary class at 1st level that they train in throughout their career, without giving up levels in their primary class. Once selected, this choice is permanent (though if using the retraining rules, the secondary class can be retrained by paying half the cost of retraining all their class levels). A character who selects this option doesn’t gain feats at 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th levels, but instead gains class features from their secondary class as described on the Multiclass Character Advancement Table. It is probably a good idea to use either this variant system or normal multiclassing, but it’s possible for the two systems to be used together. In a game using both systems, a character can’t take levels in the secondary class she gains from this variant. See Pathfinder Unchained for more details on variant multiclassing.

A character who selects brawler as their secondary class gains the following secondary class features:

  • Armor: At 1st level, they lose all secondary brawler class features when wearing medium or heavy armor or carrying a medium or heavy load.
  • Martial Flexibility: At 3rd level, they can take a move action to gain the benefit of one combat feat they do not possess for 1 minute. They must still meet the prerequisites for this feat. This can be done a number of times per day equal to ½ their character level.
  • Close Weapon Mastery: At 7th level, when wielding a weapon from the close fighter weapon group, they can have it deal damage as an unarmed strike from a monk of their character level -6 if that amount is higher than the weapon’s normal damage. In addition, if they possess the ability to make a flurry of blows, they can use close weapons to do so, even if those weapons do not possess the “monk” weapon property.
  • Knockout: At 11th level, they can use the brawler’s knockout ability once per day. At 19th level they can instead use it twice per day.
  • Martial Flexibility: At 15th level, they can use martial flexibility to gain one combat feat as a swift action or two as a move action.
  • Awesome Blow: At 19th level, they gain the Awesome Blow feat, ignoring its prerequisites.
Section 15: Copyright Notice

Legendary Classes: Sword and Fist © 2022, Legendary Games; Authors: Jason Nelson, N. Jolly, Alex Augunas, Jesse Benner, Siobhan Bjorknas, Clinton J. Boomer, Robert Brookes, Kieran Easter, Jeff Gomez, Matt Goodall, Elise Gott, Cerise Herndon, Hal Kennette, Blake Morton, Dave Nelson, Adam Ricks, Wren Rosario, Samuel Saylor, Onyx Tanuki.

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