The Archblade is a Fighter who channels magical energy into their blades to access powerful abilities that a non-magical sword - or swordsman - would never be able to achieve. You can magically manipulate the position of your swords, duplicate them and spread their strength across strategic locations, or perhaps you could surround yourself with many blades and bounce between foes like a magical sawblade of raw energy.

The features of this class are only applicable when using sword-like weaponry. For example, you can apply these features to a shortsword or a greatsword, but not a dagger, longbow, or quarterstaff. You are significantly less adept at other weaponry during later levels.

Assault Weakness

Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, if an enemy hit or missed an attack against you, you may use your reaction to roll a 3d4. You deal slashing damage to this creature equal to the number you rolled as long as that enemy is within five feet of you.

Inexperience

As a warrior with a preference for blades, you gain disadvantage on attack rolls that do not use sword-like weaponry, such as bows, daggers, or quarterstaffs.

Bounty

You may use your action to lock onto a creature within thirty feet of you, granting the next attack roll against it - from you or your party members - advantage. Creatures that you have locked onto are completely visible behind cover as long as the area is at least dimly lit. Honed Senses will further contribute to this ability. This effect ends after either ten minutes pass or an attack roll that is affected by Bounty is made against it.

You may lock onto multiple targets, though only one creature may be locked onto at a time. You may not lock onto a creature again if you have locked onto that creature previously. If you have locked onto five creatures before a short or long rest, this ability may not be used again until a short or long rest is completed.

Phantom Motion

Starting at 7th level, you can use your action to magically transport your swords to any point on the same plane within sight of you without the need to touch the sword. Using your bonus action, you can make the sword do one of the following only if it has been moved in this way and is not being touched or carried.

• Swing around in a circle, dealing 1d8 slashing damage + your Fighter level in a radius of five feet in a circle.
• Lunge forward in a line seven feet in any direction, dealing 1d8 piercing damage to any creature it comes in contact with. If a creature this targets stands at more than six feet away, it will instead deal 2d12 slashing damage to this creature.
• Stab at a selected creature within ten feet, dealing 1d20 piercing damage.
• Make the sword return to you in a straight line, dealing 1d6 piercing damage to any creature it comes in contact with.

Moving a sword counts as a separate action from creating swords via Duplication. You may not use the same action to create and move swords, and you may only move one sword per action. If Phantom Motion is used on your sword, NOT a Phantom Sword, it is effectively taken from your hands, and you may not use the sword aside from abilities granted from Phantom Motion until the sword returns to you. Only four Phantom Swords out of five total swords may be active in this way.

Duplication

At 10th level, you may use an action to magically replicate a sword of your choosing up to four times. Up to five swords may exist at a time, including the original, and the four extra swords dissipate either at your will or an hour after they are conjured.

If four swords are created in this way (five, including the original), you may not use this ability again until you have completed a long rest.

These swords function exactly as the original, however, as magical replicas, they cannot be held by you - only manipulated via what is seen in Phantom Motion. The replicated swords appear as floating swords about an inch behind your back, each sword floating an inch apart from each other, until they are moved via Phantom Motion. Swords replicated in this way are intangible - they cannot be touched or moved via non-magical means until they are moved via Phantom Motion. They do not take up physical space - they pass through objects - nor do they weigh anything.

Honed Senses

You have blindsight with a range of 15 ft. Within that range, you can effectively see anything that isn’t behind total cover, even if you’re blinded or in darkness. Moreover, you can see an invisible creature within that range, unless the creature successfully hides from you.

Blessing of the Blade

You may use your action to grant a Phantom Sword (see Duplication) to a party member of your choice, allowing you to support them in battle. You may only grant one Phantom Sword to a party member per action, and you are unable to use the abilities of Phantom Motion with the granted sword. While an ally is gifted a sword, you may use a bonus action (or they can use any of their action types, at the discretion of you and the DM) to make the sword do one of the following:

• Swing forward, dealing 1d12 + your Dexterity modifier as slashing damage to anything within a circle of four feet.
• Stab forward, dealing 2d8 + your Dexterity modifier as piercing damage to anything in a straight line with a length of six feet directly in front of the character the sword was granted to.
• Return to you in a straight line, dealing damage equal to your Dexterity modifier to any creature it comes in contact with.
• Disperse into magical energy, granting hitpoints to the character the sword was granted to equal to your Dexterity modifier + the Constitution modifier of the character the sword was granted to. This makes the Phantom Sword immediately vanish.

The sword vanishes immediately after you make three rolls relating to it. You cannot grant a sword to yourself. If you use this ability more than once before the closest dawn after you first use it, you take 1d20 psychic damage. You may only use the abilities of Blessing of the Blade if a party member was granted a Phantom Sword. Only one Phantom Sword may be granted to a specific party member at a time.

Dance of Blades

Once per long rest, as an action, you may roll a 1d20. You conjure a number of swords equal to the number you roll and deal slashing damage to a number of creatures within sight on the same - or easily reachable, such as via a slope or a jump - elevation as you up to the number of swords you conjure. The slashing damage this attack deals is equal to 1d10 + your Dexterity modifier and the number of swords you conjured. You can attack the same creature up to two times, and a separate attack roll must be made for each new attack or creature attacked. If you conjure more than two swords and only one creature is being attacked, the remaining swords attack this creature a third time for damage equal to half the number of swords + half of your Dexterity modifier, rounded down.

Swords conjured by Duplication immediately vanish before the use of this action and have no effect on it. During this action, you move between each enemy. At the end of this attack, you may choose where you end up as long as it is within ten feet of the creature you attack last.

Slash and Burn

If all four Phantom Swords are on the battlefield, you may use your action to roll a 1d20. Once with each blade, you repeatedly attack a singular creature within 20 feet of you. This attack's damage is equal to the number you rolled + 4d4. This attack deals slashing damage for the first two rolls of the d4, and piercing damage for the last two. The Phantom Swords immediately vanish after this attack. You cannot use this as an action unless all four Phantom Swords have been summoned via Phantom Motion, but they do not have to be placed down. Placed blades will return to you for this attack.

Ineptitude

Rolls relating to any form of use of weaponry (attacking, showing off, performing, intimidating, etc.) have disadvantage minus your dexterity modifier after the disadvantage.

Crown of Thorns

You may use your action to make all Phantom Swords return to you and rotate around your person, providing defense. This effect lasts for ten minutes times the number of swords circling you, for example, forty minutes if four swords are used. These swords deal 1d10 piercing damage to any creature that uses a melee attack against you during this time, and one sword will immediately vanish. If all swords vanish, this effect ends. Melee damage dealt to you while any number of swords circle you is subtracted by 1d10, and further subtracted by the number of swords (up to -14). A separate roll must be made for each melee attack countered via Crown of Thorns. You may only use this once each short rest.

If Crown of Thorns is currently active on you, you may also use an action to roll a 1d4 for each sword circling you (up to 4d4). The swords will rapidly increase the speed they spin around you, circling a full 360 degrees a number of times equal to half the number you rolled, rounded down (up to 8). Any creature within seventeen feet of you takes 1d4 slashing damage times the number of spins, plus your Dexterity modifier. You may only use this once each long rest. If four Phantom Swords are used in this way, all of them immediately vanish after this action.