Note: This archetype makes use of rules from Path of War by Dreamscarred Press.
Primal Disciples draw on the strength and wisdom of
their ancestors to grant them the insight to use powerful
martial techniques during their furious rages.
Maneuvers
A primal disciple begins her career with
knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines
available to her are Golden Lion, Piercing Thunder,
Primal Fury, and Thrashing Dragon. A primal disciple
gains Diplomacy as a class skill.
Once the primal disciple knows a maneuver, she must ready it before she can use it (see Maneuvers
Readied, below). A maneuver usable by primal disciples
is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise
noted in it or its discipline’s description. A primal
disciple’s maneuvers are not affected by
spell resistance,
and she does not provoke
attacks of opportunity when
she initiates one.
The primal disciple learns additional maneuvers
at higher levels, as indicated on Table: Archetype
Maneuver Progression. The maximum level of
maneuvers gained through primal disciple levels is
limited by those listed in that table as well, although
this restriction does not apply to maneuvers added to
his maneuvers known through other methods, such as
prestige classes or the Advanced Study feat. A primal
disciple must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it.
See the Systems and Use chapter in Path of War for more
details on how maneuvers are used.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even numbered
initiator level thereafter (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), the
primal disciple can choose to learn a new maneuver in
place of one she already knows. In effect, she loses the old
maneuver in exchange for the new one. She can choose
a new maneuver of any level she likes, as long as she
observes the restriction on the highest-level maneuvers
she knows; the primal disciple need not replace the old
maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. She can
swap only a single maneuver at any given level. A primal
disciple’s initiation modifier is Wisdom, and each primal
disciple level is counted as a full initiator level.
Maneuvers Readied
A primal disciple can ready
all three of her maneuvers known at 1st level, and as
she advances in level and learns more maneuvers,
she is able to ready more, but must still choose which
maneuvers to ready. A primal disciple must always
ready her maximum number of maneuvers readied.
She readies her maneuvers by practicing weapon drills
or communing with her ancestors for ten minutes. The
maneuvers she chooses remain readied until she decides
to meditate again and change them. The primal disciple
does not need to sleep or rest for any long period of time
in order to ready her maneuvers; any time she spends
ten minutes in communion with her ancestors, she can
change her readied maneuvers.
A primal disciple begins an encounter with all her
readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how
many times she might have already used them since she
chose them. When she initiates a maneuver, she expends
it for the current encounter, so each of her readied
maneuvers can be used once per encounter (unless she
recovers them, as described below).
In order for the primal disciple to recover maneuvers,
she must draw on the strength of her ancestors as a full-
round action. When she does so, she recovers a number
of expended maneuvers equal to her primal disciple
initiation modifier (minimum 2), regains one round of
rage, and if she is fatigued as a result of her rage class
feature, she can make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the
number of rounds the fatigue would last). Alternately,
the primal disciple may focus inward and recover a
single maneuver as a standard action.
Stances
A primal disciple begins play with
knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to
primal disciples. At 4th, 7th, 11th, and 13th levels, she can select an additional stance to learn. The maximum
level of stances gained through primal disciple levels
is limited by those listed in Table: Archetype
Maneuver Progression. Unlike maneuvers, stances
are not expended and the primal disciple does not have
to ready them. All the stances she knows are available
to her at all times, and she can change the stance she
is currently maintaining as a swift action. A stance is
an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the
stance or discipline description.
Unlike with maneuvers, a primal disciple cannot learn
a new stance at higher levels in place of one she already
knows.
This ability replaces the rage powers gained at 4th, 6th,
8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, and 20th levels.
Ancestral Style (Ex)
Primal disciples draw their skill
and strength from longstanding traditions of combat
and skill in their tribes. At 1st level and again at 6th
level, a primal disciple gains one of the following feats
as a bonus feat: Enduring Protector, Martial Charge,
Martial Power, Prodigious Two-Weapon Fighting, Seize
the Opportunity, or Victorious Recovery. She must meet
the prerequisites for these feats as normal.
This ability replaces fast movement and trap sense.
Maneuver Skill Checks and Rage
Why do maneuvers use such seemingly odd skills like Perform, Craft, Sleight of Hand, or Survival as part of initiating their maneuvers? Warriors the world over would practice actions that imitated their fighting style to improve their efficiency, from the swordsman who learned dances to improve his footwork to the spearman whose gentle and precise touch could craft a beautiful vase, or pierce an artery in a flash.
As such, maneuvers which require skill rolls to function are atypical of normal skill checks and do not always follow the normal rules for using skill checks.
If an initiator performs a maneuver that requires a skill check when normally that skill check would be disallowed (such as during a rage) he may still initiate
the maneuver and perform the skill check as normal.