Ascetic Characters

Expand Your Mind, Expand Your Game Introducing “Alternate Paths: Ascetic Characters”. This book is designed with the very experienced player in mind as it presents alternate rules and classes that are more suited to their needs. Overview: Awakening System: This system allows a character to reach “enlightenment” by accepting (on a personal/spiritual level) certain universal truths. When gained, they are a vulnerability (as accepting them is painful and difficult to one’s self-identity) that, once they reach a certain level of realization, is replaced by a powerful bonus. Once several have been “realized” all realized awakenings become “Enlightenments”, as it takes the realization of many fundamental truths to reach oneness with the universe. Chakra System Revamp: Christos Gurd has retooled the Chakra system and made it a lot easier to implement, a lot more practice to use. If you already use the current chakra system, this one is very easy to convert over to it. There are also rewritten chakra feats and 2 chakra-based archetypes. Investiture System: This is a sort of replacement for the magic item system in Pathfinder, but it can be used in conjunction with it too. It allows characters to “invest” part of their own aura/soul into items to give them magical power. Philosophy System: This new sub-system replaces the current alignment system with philosophies (Absolutism, Nihilism, Consequentialism, Virtuism, Logicism, Machiavellianism, etc) that plays nicely with the current alignment system (so, yes, you can “Smite Nihilism” as an Absolutist Paladin). The system has optional interplay with the verbal duel system from Ultimate Intrigue. It’s very easy to use and we think that it has a more depth than simple good and evil / law and chaos morality. New Feats: This book includes class support feats, but also a slew of new “chakra feats”, and some thematically appropriate new feats. This includes one that grants you the ability to “detect hostility”, some stuff relating to past life regression, a Heal-centric feat that allows you to cure mental conditions, and an “Opera Style” of martial arts that allows you to “fake it” (you are more a stunt-man than a martial artist). We also bring back the Qinggong Feats from Dragon Tiger Ox and give them some love! New Base Classes: Flowmaster: An absurdist, “drunken-master”, improvisational martial artist. Drawing from inspirations like Jackie Chan, Voldo, Bruce Lee, and many more- the flowmaster knows how to roll with the punches! You can think of them as “chaotic monks”, but that doesn’t really sum them up. They lack the supernatural powers and rather rely on their own martial philosophy and eccentricities. They are masters of improvised weapons, able to counter-strike foes with debilitating blows, and have a unique style of combat that can hurt yourself if you are unlucky or destroy your opponent quickly if you are (may the RNGs ever be in your favor...)! (d10, full BAB, 4 + Int, good Fort & Ref) Ajna: The Ajna is a psychic martial character with a powerful third eye. They are competent fighters on their own but when they allow their spirit to leave their body- they become an unstoppable astral warrior. However, they have an achilles heel. They leave their body behind, unprotected, while they do this. On top of their powerful “projections”, they have 6 level psychic casting, a mastery of telekinetic martial arts, limited astral projection, and unique perceptive abilities. (D8, medium BAB, 4 + Int, good Will, 6 level psychic casting) Kashun: In this book we introduce a power source we hope to harness again in the future. This power source, “Kashoom” is a pervasive “cosmic energy”. Kashun are martial artists who can contort their body like an old TV antenna to get the best “reception” of this cosmic force. They strike odd, dramatic, poses and charge their kashoom energy- unleashing it in powerful and decisive ways. This class features a host of unique poses and effects that can be generated by way of those poses.