Sword Master

Sword Masters train to become one with their blades, eventually imbuing their weapons with a spirit.

The art of sword craft is everything to Sword Masters, they wear light armour and their movements dictate the field of battle. As they gain in experience the essence of their swords awaken and form a symbiotic relationship between blade and wielder.  They learn sword forms and stances which can enhance their speed, attack and defence. They specialise in wielding their blades with two hands and many of their stances and skills rely upon this.

Sword Master's Path

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level,  you set foot on the path of the Sword Master. You begin to learn varying different ways to use your blade, for the strength of the swing, to the angle of the cut and the skill of cutting as you draw your blade. You gain the following abilities when wielding 1 long sword (or variant Katana, rapier etc.) two handed.

Drawing strike: As you pull you blade from their scabbard you can immediately strike. You can perform one attack before the first round of combat begins.

Overhead Strike: Gripping your weapon with both hands you learn to strike downwards with incredible force. Two handed strikes do an additional 1d8 damage.

Footwork: When using one sword and wearing no or light armour gain +2 to your AC as your footwork confounds you foes.

Elegant Spirit

Starting at 7th level,Your attacks with your sword count as magical when wielded two handed, for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Your discipline and attention to detail allow you to excel in combat, for each CHR attribute bonus you gain 1d8 . Each of these dice, known as elegance points can be used in different ways.

They can be rolled and added to your:

Initiative,

Armour Class,

You must be using your weapon two handed, only 1 die can be used per battle and only one choice can be made per battle. These dice reset after a long rest.

 

Sword's Spirit

 

Starting at 10th level, you learn to commune even more effectively with your sword's spirit. It becomes an almost sentient. You can assign one Elegance die and on a roll of 1-2 you gain +1 to hit and damage, 3-4 +2 to hit and damage, 5-6 +3 to hit and damage. Your blade must be wielded two handed to gain these benefits.

Archery

You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

Defense

While you are wearing armor, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Dueling

When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Protection

When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Mastery of Spirit

At 15th level your sword gains a spirit and a bond with you from years of use and respect. You gain the ability to use elegance die to effect hit rolls and damage rolls, the previous restrictions still apply.

Spirits Entwinded

Starting at 18th level, your spirit and the swords unite and flow through your blades, this changes the damage profile of your weapons. Your weapon gains an additional die of damage e.g long sword would become 2d8 or 2d10 two handed. You can use this effect twice per long rest and has a duration of one hour.