Trinity:Martial Arts

This additional ruleset has been added to Trinity for a few reasons. First off, the majority of my players think that the monk is overpowered; while I disagree with them, I believe that the monk is underpowered, meaning that - no matter how you look at the monk - something needs to be fixed. Also, the flavor of the monk's attack style is just plain bland. There's nothing interesting about it, and it doesn't actually represent anything that a real-world martial artist of any style could do.

I have therefore taken it upon myself to replace the monk with something more flavorful and customizable than the standard monk. I believe I have found it: Ken Hood's martial arts system. Ken Hood did much amazing work while he was interested in the d20 system, and I am glad to use yet another of his resources to expand upon my setting.

While Ken Hood heavily advises that his system is only intended for settings that would heavily make use of the material, I don't feel that that is a requirement. There are plenty of other aspects of Trinity that not everyone can deal with, and it makes no sense that everyone would be trained in heavy martial arts. There are those that dabble, those that master, and those who have absolutely no idea how to deal with it.

This page will detail my changes to the system, as well as provide a convenient non-pdf version of Ken Hood's rules.

Differences

Unlike Ken Hood, I do not feel that the removal of the noted feats (Deflect Arrows, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist) is necessary. However, I will note that these feats do not stack with any martial arts maneuvers. Feats represent something different than maneuvers, and I feel that characters who have no interest in the martial arts should still be capable of these things.

Acquiring Martial Arts

The martial arts system is based upon the Technique skill, described below. Technique is an exclusive skill, meaning that only certain classes can put skill points into it (this is a throwback to 3.0, but I feel that the idea of the exclusive skill is not a bad one).

The assassin and the ninja can purchase ranks in the Technique skill as a cross-class skill. Technique is always a class skill for the karateka class. In addition, the lunari are always able to treat Technique as a cross-class skill.

Any character may take the Humanoid Weapon feat. Should a character do so, he can gain ranks in Technique as a cross-class skill.

Technique [Exclusive, Trained Only]

Technique represents the breadth and depth of your knowledge of the martial arts. The more ranks in Technique you possess, the greater the number and power of martial arts maneuvers you know.

The Technique skill does not work like standard skills; instead, it is most similar to the Speak Language skill. You do not make Technique checks, nor do you need to keep track of your Technique bonus. Instead, each rank in Technique lets you learn a single martial arts maneuver.

For each rank in Technique you possess, you may learn one maneuver. You learn a maneuver immediately upon acquiring a full rank in Technique. You cannot save up "undedicated" ranks in this skill.

Maneuvers

Given the rather large number of maneuvers, please refer to Ken Hood's actual manual.