Spada Palermitana

“It don’t matter even if I’m just a pale imitation. Gettin’ stronger ain’t what I’m trainin’ my Palermitan Style for, anyway.”

The Palermitan Sword style is an art that few have learnt, and fewer have mastered. Being famous for its ability to draw opponents in one-on-one fights and through a series of escalating strikes bring the fight to a swift, victorious end. Those who embody the Spada Palermitana are just that, pupils coming to not only become masters in such a style, but also becoming objects of power in their own right.

They usually are devout and perfectionists in their practice, being fast learners and unusually dedicated at their best but also easily creating bad tendencies to overwork or even reach the depths of their own self-worth, seeing any miniscule failure as a shame without equal.

Level 3: La Spada di Palermo.

3rd-level Spada Palermitana feature

“… But she took me in and put a roof over my head. Fed me. Taught me this… bloody incredible sword fighting style, the sort a lowly vagrant like me would never have had the chance to learn.”

The Palermitan Style of Swordplay is an art form that you’ve got etched deep in your bones, your muscles swerving in pendulum arcs as naturally as you draw out your opponent’s breath. This is done through dual weapons, allowing you to make perfected use of Two-Weapon Fighting:

• You may wield two weapons without the prerequisite of one of them being Light, instead only requiring that neither weapon is Heavy.
• Whenever you make an Attack as per Two-Weapon Fighting rules you still add half your ability modifier to the damage dealt. Whenever you do so, you inflict one count of Severed Tendon on your target.
• When you Attune to a pair of magical weapons, they both count as a singular Attunement, taking only one slot and becoming Unattuned if either Attunement is broken.

Additionally you may use; once per turn, the Force Into an Adequate Question attack in place of one of your Attacks as part of the Attack Action or Bonus Action. You may do so an amount of times equal to your proficiency bonus per short or long rest.

Force Into an Adequate Question. You perform a swirling flurry of blows that aim not to hit the target, but instead funnel them toward a better positioning for you to benefit from. You perform an attack roll against the target, dealing damage as usual on a hit and having them instantly move up to 15-ft. in a line of your choice, or only 5-ft. on a missed attack roll. You instantly move to follow them. You both must move into unoccupied spaces and will not directly move into a space that would directly harm them, such as blazing ground or off a cliff.

Custom Condition: Severed Tendon 

A creature suffering from Severed Tendons has had their movement options sliced clean through, reducing their movement speed by 5-ft. per count of the Condition. Furthermore, this debilitation hinders them further the worse it gets, having the creature suffer a cumulative negative modifier to Dexterity saving throws and skill checks for each 2 count.

One count is removed per hour spent without gaining more count or upon recovering any amount of Hit Points. All counts are removed upon being the target of the Restoration or Greater Restoration spells 

Level 3: Il Cacciatore

3rd-level Spada Palermitana feature

“I’ll show you an infinitely close approximation of your angle an’ speed.”

A hunter’s discipline comes into effect not just with creating the perfect situation but with live studies of their prey, taking in their movements, their mistakes and their weaknesses as the hunt rages on, and you’ve made yourself adept at doing just that. While there is no more than one hostile creature within 5-ft. of you and no friendly creatures within the same range, you gain a count of  Escalating Duel whenever you first hit a creature during your turn.

Custom Condition: Escalating Duel 

The rush of an Escalating Duel is that of a hunt going through its crescendo, building up for a magnificent climax. You gain the following effects according to your current count:

• 1 Escalating Duel. You deal an additional 1 damage on melee weapon attacks 
• 2 Escalating Duel. You gain a +1 bonus modifier to hit and deal an additional 2 damage on melee weapon attacks. Additionally, you inflict your choice of Burn or Tremor count on hit
• 3+ Escalating Duel. You gain a +2 bonus modifier to hit and deal an additional 3 damage on melee weapon attacks.

Additionally, you inflict 2  Burn or Tremor count on hit and may choose to trigger Tremor Burst on the first melee weapon attack you hit during your turn.

Custom Condition: Burn

A Burning creature is set ablaze constantly, taking an amount of d4 fire damage equal to their Burn  Count at the end of their turn, also halving their current total Count, rounded down. When at one Burn  Count, it extinguishes at the end of the creature's turn.

Custom Condition: Tremor

A creature suffering from Tremor is one suffering from immeasurable shaking and vibrations inside their body.

When a Tremoring creature suffers Tremor Burst by other means, they take a number of d4 thunder damage equal to their current Tremor count, then losing all remaining count. The Condition is also lost after combat is over or at the end of the next short or long rest, if it was gained outside of combat.

Level 7: Manuale in Maturazione

7th-level Spada Palermitana feature

"*exhale* What'd I tell you? Other styles ain't keepin' up with how fast the Palermitan style accelerates in a duel."

 As a fight rages on your body becomes a better and better blade to cut down your quarry, tempered in bloodshed and moved by sheer willpower. You gain additional effects per each passing round in combat:

• 2nd Round. You gain an additional 5-ft. of movement speed.

• 3rd Round. Your Armor Class increases by a bonus modifier of 1 and you may now spend your Bonus Action to perform two melee weapon attacks instead, but you inflict one less count of any Condition you would inflict and do not add your ability modifier to their damage rolls. (If you would deal greater than 2 counts of any Condition, you deal only half instead.)

• 4th Round. You gain an additional 5-ft. of movement speed.

• 5th Round. Your attacks deal an additional Condition count whenever you would inflict them through melee weapon attacks.

These effects are cumulative and end alongside a combat. Additionally, your knowledge-gathering ability has extended beyond simply going through the motions in a short-term manner, instead also focusing on amassing the needed knowledge to support your general repertoire. You gain proficiency in one Skill of your choice.

Level 11: Hunter of the Finish Line.

11th-level Spada Palermitana feature

"Witness a demonstration of the Palermitan dismantling technique."
"Sezionatura di Cervo!"

The Palermitan style is flashy, often being considered one without restraint or even an oblique facsimile of swordsmanship as an art form to ill-tongues. You've grown to show them wrong, perfecting a series of movements and blocks to make them swallow such words of disrespect toward your tradition. You may perform a Finisher Move that replace the last attack you could make in your turn, requiring you to have hit the same target twice before attempting to your choice of one of the following Finishers:

• Broken Spear. Much like a butcher will find a means to use bone and marrow alike, you treat your weapons as tool shards to drive in the sides of your target. You instantly make two melee weapon attacks against a target within reach, then dealing an additional damage die and inflicting one more Condition count on a hit.

• Death Mask. You prepare a series of feints and deceptive strikes to hide your aim for the true goal, a decisive lobotomy through a pierced head. You perform a melee weapon attack against a target within reach at the start of your next turn, reducing your Critical Threshold for each time you were targeted by a hostile creature's attack or spell until then. (You deal a Critical Hit on a roll of 19-20 if targeted once, 18-20 if twice and so on.)

• House as a Fortress. You ready your blades, not for the sake of attacking the target themselves but instead debilitating their every blow so they may truly feel helpless. You gain a bonus modifier to your Armor Class equal to your proficiency bonus until the start of your next turn.

• Sea Urchin. You deliver deft strikes to the opponents feet, binding them to this duel and of course, their early demise. You perform a melee weapon attack against a target within reach. On a hit their movement speed and Dexterity Saving Throw modifier are halved until the end of your next turn.

You may use your Bonus Action Attack for this finishing blow, and may make use of them for an amount of times equal to your proficiency bonus per short or long rest. Whenever you kill a creature using one such Finisher move you regain its use.

You may instantly trigger a Tremor Burst on the target of your Finisher when you deal damage to them, or instead choose to convert all their Tremor and Burn count into Tremor-Scorch instead.

Custom Condition: Tremor Scorch

A creature suffering from Tremor-Scorch is one currently suffering from a blazing inferno that is eating them from inside out, with each flicker of flame reverberating across their entire being.

A creature with Tremor-Scorch counts suffers an amount of d4 fire damage equal to their current Tremor-Scorch count divided by 5, to a maximum of 8d4 per turn.

When a creature with Tremor-Scorch suffers Tremor Burst by other means, they take a number of d6 fire damage equal to the total count of Tremor-Scorch they currently have, then losing all counts of Tremor-Scorch. The Condition is also lost after the creature is knocked Unconscious, if they are fully submerged in non-flammable liquid or combat is over or on the next short rest, if it was gained outside of combat.

Level 15: Sezionatura di Inefficienza

15th-level Spada Palermitana feature

"As the propriety of honorable combat dictates... One daft prick at a time."

Slicing at enemies isn't enough. Your blade has turned inward to chop off any little mistakes you would once commit in your swordplay, disregarding any weight that may come to be unbearable on you. You gain the following:

• You make sure your opening strikes are as dazzling and damaging as your finishing blows. Whenever you deal damage to a creature, they suffer 2 Severed Tendon count if they were not suffering from the Condition.

• Although a cadence must still be built, you always draw your first move with the upper hand in mind. You add your proficiency bonus to your Initiative modifier, and you may replace any one of your attacks with a Finishing Move during your first turn, despite how many times you have hit a target.

• Constant exhaustion from your relentless training in the style has led you to be more resistant than most, granting you the ability to reduce your current Exhaustion Points by one at the end of combat, for a maximum of twice per short or long rest.

• There is an undeniable rush to being in constant combat, moving from duel to duel in the battlefield. Whenever you kill a creature, you may use your Reaction to instantly recover 1d8 plus your proficiency bonus' worth of Hit Points.