Golden Blade

Unlike Champions who relentlessly pursue victory by any means, Battle Masters who collect a broad repertoire of versatile tactics, or Samurais who fight to endure and overcome impossible odds, there exists a rare caliber of swordsman whose ambition transcends ordinary triumph. These warriors do not seek cheap victories, nor are they motivated by mere glory, coin, or conquest. They enter the battlefield to hone their pride on a singular, unyielding obsession: strict and technical perfection.

In whispers across dueling arenas and war halls, legends speak of combatants who remain entirely untouched, or masters who leave their foes without a single opening to retaliate. These individuals are known as Golden Blades—artists of the sword who treat combat as an uncompromising discipline, pursuing the ultimate zenith of martial mastery where failure is unthinkable.

This obsession, however, is a double-edged sword. To the most fanatic adherents of this path, a single flawed strike or a clumsy parry is a stain worse than death itself. Some zealots of the Golden Blade doctrine would rather fall in combat than live with the shame of having made a fundamental mechanical error, and a few radical grandmasters have been known to forfeit their lives or break their own swords in disgrace should their guard break even once.

While not every Golden Blade carries this fanaticism to such fatal, tragic extremes, all who walk this path share an unyielding, radical devotion to the absolute mastery of their craft. When a Golden Blade steps onto the battlefield, they do not merely aim to defeat their enemies—they intend to prove, beyond a shadow of a mathematical doubt, that their technique is divine and unassailable.

Level 3: Perfect Counter

"With this little stunt, your attack will be your gravest mistake."

When a creature you can see makes an attack against you, you can use your Reaction to attempt a counter. Roll a d20 and compare it with the attacker's d20 attack roll (the rolled d20 cannot be rerolled). If the difference between both d20s are equal or less than half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down), that attack automatically misses and you may perform one of the two counters:

• Sunsplit Parry. If the attack was a melee attack, you may make a melee attack. On hit, this attack automatically deals critical hit and deals bonus Radiant damage equal to your fighter level. If the target is vulnerable to Radiant, they are also Blinded for 1 minute.
• Flash Sunup. If the attack was a ranged attack, you may teleport or move up to 30 feet towards the attacker without provoking opportunity attacks. Until the end of your next turn, you have advantage on all of your attacks against the attacker.

You can attempt a Perfect Counter a number of times equal to your Proficiency Bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Short Rest or a Long Rest. Perfect Counter's d20 roll is not an attack roll and cannot be rerolled or affected by advantage or disadvantage.

Reference: For a normal Fighter with Proficiency Bonus of +6, it is expected that their chance of successfully using Perfect Counter to be 32% without using other features. At level 3 with Proficiency Bonus of +2, it has an average of 15.5% chance of success per attempt. As an example for succeeding Perfect Counter, when an enemy creature rolls a 15 their attack roll's d20, if your Proficiency Bonus is +6, you will need to roll between 12 to 18 to succeed in using this feature. A difference total of 3 between your d20s.

Level 3: Blinding Glory

"When you are bright enough, people will be too blind to see you fail."

 When a hostile creature with Blinded condition makes an attack or forces you to make a Saving Throw, you may add your Charisma modifier to your Armor Class or Saving Throw for that instance. You can increase your bonus this way a number amount of times equal to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down), and regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

If you use your Action Surge, you may shine a brilliant light and target a creature of your choice within 60 feet of you. The targeted creature must succeed a Constitution saving throw with a DC of [8 + Charisma Modifier + Proficiency Bonus] or become Blinded. At the end of each of its turns, the target repeats the save, ending this condition on success.

At 15th Fighter level, the blinding feature may target any amount of creatures within 30 feet of you.

Level 7: Unblemished Hits

"Missing my attacks? That is so unlike me."

 When you miss a melee weapon attack on your turn, you may expend a use of your Second Wind to achieve the unblemished record of hitting all your strikes. Rather than regaining Hit Points, you roll 1d10 and add the number to the attack roll and the damage roll as Radiant damage.

Level 10: Flawless Cadence

"The more I succeed, the more I can't afford to fail."

Whenever you score a natural Critical Hit with a melee weapon attack or trigger Perfect Counter, a blinding solar flash erupts from your strike. The target must succeed a Constitution saving throw with a DC of [8 + Strength or Dexterity Modifier + Proficiency Bonus] or become Blinded until the start of your next turn. In addition, you also regain 1 expended use of your Perfect Counter if it was a natural Critical Hit.

At 15th level, if the target creature is immune to Blinded and would have gained it from this feature, you may still consider them as Blinded for the purposes of triggering your abilities and features until the end of your next turn. This does not mean the target creature is affected by Blinded.

Level 15: Brilliant Glory

"Only through success are you able to find perfect opportunities."

 When you take the Attack action that uses Extra Attack feature, if every weapon attack you make as part of that action hits a target, your flawless tempo restores your momentum. You regain 1 expended use of Blinding Glory. You can use this feature a number of times equal to half your Proficiency Bonus (rounded down), and you regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Level 18: Blazing Horizon

"At the peak of brilliance, a single stroke dictates how I end things."

 Your mastery over technical perfection had developed into something artistically beautiful.

• Amplified Margin. Whenever you score a natural Critical Hit with a melee weapon attack, your focus reached its peak. Until the start of your next turn, the margin threshold for succeeding in your next Perfect Counter is doubled.
• Sunstride. You can step through the glare of broken vision. On your turn, you can take a Bonus Action to teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space adjacent to a creature that has the Blinded condition. Additionally, when you trigger Flash Sunup, you can replace its default movement with this feature, replacing the Flash Sunup's original target into the chosen Blinded creature to teleport adjacent to.

 

Reference: With the Amplified Margin feature, the Perfect Counter's success chance for a normal Fighter with Proficiency Bonus of +6 is increased from 32% to 52%.