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MARTIAL ARCHETYPE: BATTLE MAIDEN

This is a conversion of a 3e prestige class into a martial archetype. The Unicorn Clan Utaku unit would be an example of a battle maiden.

 

MARTIAL: BATTLE MAIDEN

Harnessing ki energy is an essential ability for many characters in Oriental Adventures. For battle maidens, the harnessing of yin (a type of feminine ki) allows – along with the use of agility – to stand their own against male warriors and otherworldly threats like oni. Battle maidens seek to unite a single weapon of choice with her yin, to make them one, and to use the weapon as naturally and without thought as any other limb.

There is no formal school for this fighting technique it is nearly always a father teaching his daughter or a weapon master with a pupil.

Being female is a prerequisite for this martial archetype.

Optional Rule: Additionally, if the character is a maiden (virgin) and wishes to belong to the Utaku Lancers she can use the Cavalier archetype. These are two expressions of the same idea and cavaliers tend to become martial battle maidens after their service in the Utaku is complete. Unicorn Clan Utaku gain access to the find steed at 5th level and greater find steed at 13th level that they can cast once per day. Your mount always appears as a kirin – though it has the statistics of a warhorse and unicorn respectively.

Bonus Proficiency
3rd-level Battle Maiden feature
You become proficient in Acrobatics and Performance skills.

Yin
3rd-level Battle Maiden feature
You gain 3 yin points. You can spend these points to fuel various yin features. When you spend a yin point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended yin back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your yin points.

Awaken the Kami
3rd-level Battle Maiden feature
You learn a ritual that awakens the dormant kami in your weapon creating a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.

Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to teleport instantly to your hand.

You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.

Leap of the Clouds 
3rd-level Battle Maiden feature
You make a DC 20 Acrobatics check, if you succeed, you may add your acrobatics skill value as bonus damage on your next attack.  This costs 1 yin point to use and consumes your bonus action.

Yin Damage
7th-level Battle Maiden feature
After scoring a hit with your bonded weapon, you can choose not to roll dice to determine the damage. Instead, you figure the normal maximum damage (not a critical hit) you can inflict and deal that much damage to the target. This costs 1 yin point and your reaction to use.

Enchanted Blade
7th-level Battle Maiden feature
You can spend a 1 yin point to temporarily enchant your blade to achieve a specific effect. The effect lasts for 1 minute, and you can change your weapons nature to jade or crystal or add an addition 1d4 energy damage to the weapons normal damage. You can choose from the following energy types  to bestow on your blade: cold, fire, lightning or thunder.

The damage for this ability increases to 1d6 at level 14th level and you may chose any energy type at level 18th. At 20th level you can add two enchanted blade traits to your, either simultaneously or separately.

Yin Critical I
10th-level Battle Maiden Warrior feature
You can deal extra damage with a critical hit. You can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with your bonded weapon Attack. The effect lasts 1 minute or until discharged.  This costs 1 yin point and your bonus action to use.

Ride the Wind
10th-level Battle Maiden Warrior feature
You may spend a yin point to cast wind walk.

Superior Combat Reflexes
15th-level Battle Maiden feature
You have a number of Reactions in a round equal to your Dexterity modifier. You may only use the extra reactions to make one melee attack as part of an attack of opportunity with your bonded weapon.

Yin Critical II
18th-level Battle Maiden feature
Your bonded weapon’s critical range increases by 1. For example, a weapon that scores a critical hit on a natural 20 would score a critical hit on a natural 19 or 20.


Banner Credit: Sword Maiden from Goblin Slayer.

Posted in 5e, Class, Dungeons & Dragons, Oriental Adventures

7 Comments

  1. Jonathan Walton

    Pst ~ You say it’s Yin points….but them you switch to Chi in the next line.

    You need some uses for Yin points in that 3rd level feature.

    Awaken the Kami isn’t bad here, but I think you still need the ribbon feature somewhere. Especially at 3rd level you need something more unique to really set them apart from the EK.

    If you only get three Yin points, do you really want to spend it on doing the average damage for a critical hit?

    Yin Critical…hello 3e wording! I’d just take the Barbarian’s Brutal Critical wording:

    “…you can roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the extra damage for a critical hit with a melee Attack”

    Superior Combat Reflexes is a bit strong. I’d make sure that you promote Dex somewhere in level three if you’re going to do it this way.

    Are we doing Chi, Ki or Yin?

    This really depends on the Yin uses at level 3.

    I’m a little surprised that it isn’t a Monk subclass as that seemed to be where the feat was going.

  2. Jonathan Walton

    Was this based on the Blade Dancer? The only Battle Maiden I see is the Unicorn cavalry.

    So I’d take that Enchanted Blade from Blade Dancer, but that’s not quite Yin… If you go Ki, I’d do that, add some damage, starts at 1d4 then up to 1d6 elemental damage (your choice) at…15? Maybe have a Brutal Critical at 10, Movement speed boost, A ribbon as performance or persuasion.

    If you want to go Yin, then that’s tricky. 1 Point to Counterspell, 1 Point to negate a successful weapon attack, Maybe those are high level effects. Maybe 1 Yin for Evasion until the start of your next turn or Uncanny Dodge. 1 Yin to move unseen until the beginning of your next turn. The ribbon could be deception or insight. You need the push hands idea maybe getting into the really epic “things just stop” as legendary qigong masters can get.

    • solomani

      I am not familiar with the blade dancer. Is that 3e or L5r? I like your ideas. Will revisit this when I get time. Currently working on a geisha-as-class as opposed to an archetype which takes priority since I have a game on Monday and my wife is play testing it so need to get it done before then 🙂

        • solomani

          This is true. But she has already play tested the geisha and Geiko to level 10 so have a lot of it mapped out already. It’s the song list that is time consuming (but a fun challenge). Playtested yesterday, worked well, but need more sessions to flesh it out. Will publish it here after a bit more refinement.

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