Duelist Sphere

Whenever a creature lands prone in a square you threaten, you may make an attack of opportunity against them, dealing 1 additional point of bleed damage (this stacks with other bleed damage granted by the base ability of the Duelist sphere); this attack of opportunity considers “whenever a creature lands prone” and “whenever you succeed on a trip combat maneuver” to be part of the same trigger, and you cannot take more than one attack of opportunity due to this circumstance. If successful, the target of this attack must make a successful Acrobatics check to stand up as their blood slicks the ground beneath them. If the target is suffering from your blooded strike’s bleed damage, they suffer a penalty to their Acrobatics check equal to the bleed damage. Targets immune to bleed damage do not need to make an Acrobatics check.

When you succeed at a disarm combat maneuver check against a creature, instead of disarming their weapon you may choose to bind their weapon to yours. This attempt may be made against creatures even if they are wielding nothing but natural attacks or unarmed strikes. As long as the creature’s weapon is bound, they cannot move from the square they currently occupy. A creature whose weapon is bound may release the weapon as a free action or attempt to break the bind as a standard action by making a successful combat maneuver check against your disarm CMD. If the bound weapon is a natural attack or unarmed strike, the creature must succeed at a successful combat maneuver check to break the bind. You cannot attack with the weapon or limb used to bind a creature as long as the bind is in effect, but may end the bind at any time as a free action. Binding a creature’s weapon counts as a disarm for talents and abilities that require a disarm check or attempt.

Feint attempts made by creatures taking bleed damage always provoke attacks of opportunity from you, even if they would not normally do so. In addition, you gain a +1 competence bonus to Sense Motive checks, plus an additional +1 at base attack bonus +4 and every 4 points of base attack bonus thereafter.

You channel the shark, harnessing your bloodlust.

You gain a limited scent ability (which functions both inside and outside of water) that can only be used to detect creatures that are suffering bleed damage or are badly wounded (50% or fewer hit points).

Whenever you detect a creature using the scent ability granted by this talent, you may expend your martial focus as a free action to enter a blood frenzy for a number of rounds equal to your practitioner modifier (minimum 1). During a blood frenzy, you gain a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls against bleeding or badly wounded creatures but suffer an equal penalty on attack and damage rolls against all other creatures. This bonus and penalty increases by 1 for every 6 points of base attack bonus you possess.

When a ranged attack is made against you or a creature within your reach (except for unusually massive ranged weapons and ranged attacks generated by spell effects), you may cut the weapon (or ammunition) out of the air, deflecting the attack so the target takes no damage. As an attack of opportunity, make a melee attack roll at your highest bonus. If the result is greater than the attack roll total of the ranged attack, the attack is deflected. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. Associated Feat: Cut from the Air.

Addendum [Apoc]: You may take Defensive Slice a second time. If you do, whenever you use Defensive Slice, you may instead expend two attacks of opportunity when making the attack roll. If you succeed, you send the projectile back to the creature that made the attack, using your defensive slice’s attack roll. You may only use this ability once per round. ^{Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Swashbucklers}

You may spend a move action to sheathe one held weapon without provoking an attack of opportunity. If you do, you may regain your martial focus. If you have the Dual Wielding sphere, you can sheathe two light or one-handed weapons instead of one. Associated Feat: Quick Stow.

You may ready an attack action to attack a creature with a sheathed weapon, drawing the weapon as part of the triggered action. If the attack is successful, in addition to its normal effects you may perform a single disarm, sunder, or feint attempt against the target as an attack of opportunity.

^{Wiki Note: This talent can be used with the Counter Punch ability of the Boxing sphere as long as all other criteria are met. (Source: Author comment)}

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt made as an attack action, you may regain your martial focus as an immediate action.

After causing a creature to begin bleeding, you may spend a move action to regain your martial focus. As part of this move action, you may make a melee touch attack as a free action against a non-bleeding creature within reach. This attack deals no damage, but causes that creature to begin bleeding as per your blooded strike. (This does not allow you to apply a (bleed) talent.) Additionally, when an enemy causes you to begin bleeding, you may spend an immediate action to regain your martial focus.

Author's Note: For the intents of this talent, "begin bleeding" refers to any application of a new source of bleed damage that the creature did not already suffer from, rather than causing a creature to begin bleeding for the first time.

^{Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Pugilists}

You gain a +1 competence bonus to your disarm combat maneuver checks, as well as to your CMD vs. that maneuver. This bonus increases by +1 for 4 points of base attack bonus you possess. This bonus does not stack with the bonus to this maneuver provided by the Improved or Greater Disarm feats. Associated Feat: Improved Disarm.

As long as a creature is currently taking bleed damage, their disarm and sunder attempts always provoke attacks of opportunity from you, even if they have an ability that would normally prevent them from doing so.

The bleeding wounds you inflict are more difficult to close; it takes at least 5 points of healing at one time or a DC 20 Heal check to end bleed effects you cause. At base attack bonus +5 and every 5 points of base attack bonus thereafter, the amount of healing required and the Heal DC to stop bleeding from your effects increase by 5.

You are able to deal bleed damage to behemoths, constructs, elementals, and undead, bypassing their normal immunity, though all bleed damage you deal to such creatures is reduced to half of what it would normally be, to a minimum of 1 point of bleed damage whenever you would successfully deal bleed damage to such a creature.

Blood Sphere note: The Duelist sphere Ooze Ichor talent allows the user to deal bleed damage to creature types that are normally immune, but does not by itself make them susceptible to blood control.

As a special attack action, you may expend your martial focus to deal an additional 1d4 bleed damage to your target, +1d4 for every 3 points of base attack bonus you possess. This stacks with other bleed damage granted by the Duelist sphere.

Author's Note: Open Vein "stacks" with other sources of duelist bleed, but only with other Duelist sphere bleeds (such as blooded strike and Finger Cutter).

^{Source: Baron’s Glorious Arena}

Whenever you confirm a critical hit from an attack action or attack of opportunity, you may perform a single disarm, sunder, or feint attempt against the target as an attack of opportunity.

Your countless Duelist practices have built up thick scar tissue and callouses that provide you protection from bleeding wounds. You gain DR 2 / bludgeoning and reduce all bleed damage you take by 1; bleed damage cannot be reduced below 0 by this ability. For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess, the damage reduction granted by this ability increases by 2 points and you reduce any bleed damage you take by an additional 1 point.

^{Source: Tandem Talents}

Whenever you would fail a disarm combat maneuver check against a creature that is being threatened by an ally, as an immediate action, your ally can attempt a disarm attempt against that foe. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Associated Feat: Disarm Partner.

While in this stance, whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature in the same round that you draw the weapon used to deal that damage, the first melee attack a creature damaged this way makes against you within your reach provokes an attack of opportunity from you until the beginning of your next turn. You may not use this talent in conjunction with (deflect) talents or any other ability that would grant you an attack or combat maneuver due to a missed attack against you.

Blood you spill tends to splatter. Creatures suffering from your bleed damage spill blood into any squares they occupy at the beginning of their turns, causing it to become slick and slippery. Moving into a square with slippery terrain requires a Reflex save to move at more than half speed for that action. Failure causes the creature to become flat-footed until the end of their turn, and stops their movement for that action. Failure by 5 or more causes the creature to fall prone and be considered flat-footed until the start of their next turn. Slippery terrain created by this talent dries up and becomes normal terrain after 10 minutes.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature, you may expend your martial focus to open a gash near the target’s sensory organ. The creature immediately suffers from a 10% miss chance on all of their attacks. At the start of their turn, when it takes damage due to their bleeds, it increases the miss chance bestowed by this talent by 10%. When the miss chance would reach 40%, the creature is instead blinded and the miss chance ceases to increase. Stopping the bleed damage ends this effect.

You may use Clouding Cut against a creature already suffering from its effects without spending martial focus, and doing so causes their miss chance to increase by 10%, unless they are already blinded.

Whenever you use an attack action to deal bleed damage to a creature, one creature that is grappled, pinned, impaled, or swallowed whole by the target may make an immediate check to escape (such as a combat maneuver or Escape Artist check) with a bonus equal to the amount of bleed damage the target is taking (this may include yourself if you are restrained in such a way). A creature that is no longer impaled takes bleed damage as normal. Other conditions may be negated by this talent at GM discretion.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature, you may cause them to take a penalty on all weapon attack rolls equal to the amount of bonus bleed damage granted to you by blooded strike for as long as the bleed is in effect. Any healing or other ability that ends the bleed also ends this penalty.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature in the same round that you draw the weapon used to deal that damage, you may make an additional attack against each enemy within reach as an immediate action. Make a single attack roll with a -2 penalty and apply it against each target’s AC, dealing half your normal weapon damage to each creature that you hit. You may instead choose to target all squares within your reach, removing any difficult terrain in those squares for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your base attack bonus (minimum 1). At +10 base attack bonus, you instead deal your full normal weapon damage to all creatures hit with this talent.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature in the same round you drew the weapon used to deal that damage, you may expend any amount of attacks of opportunity as a free action to compare the same attack roll against the AC (or your maneuver check against their disarm CMD) of a different enemy within reach for each attack of opportunity. If your attack roll is greater than a creature’s AC, you quickly strike that creature and cause them to suffer from your blooded strike (this does not allow you to apply additional (bleed) talents).

Additionally, whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature already suffering from your blooded strike, or an enemy suffering from your blooded strike’s bleed is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, you may sheathe your weapon as a free action.

Whenever you would inflict bleed damage with your blooded strike against a bleeding creature, instead of dealing bleed damage, you may choose to gain an amount of temporary hit points equal to 1/2 your base attack bonus, which lasts for a number of rounds equal to your practitioner modifier. These temporary hit points stack with further uses of this talent, up to your base attack bonus.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature, you may slice a vulnerable point in their legs. The creature must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or fall prone.

Whenever you deal bleed damage as part of an attack action to a creature who is already suffering bleed damage from your blooded strike, you deal an amount of bleed damage equal to 1 + 1 for every 3 points of base attack bonus you possess. This bleed damage stacks with other bleed damage granted by the Duelist sphere. You can stack this bleed damage with itself once for every 6 points of base attack bonus you possess. This bleed damage is separate from your blooded strike, and does not affect other abilities that scale off of your blooded strike’s bleed damage.

When you deal bleed damage to a creature, they take a penalty to their CMD equal to the amount of bleed damage dealt by your blooded strike. This penalty is doubled when applied to the creature’s disarm or sunder CMD.

^{Source: Baron's Otherworldly Citadel}

When you deal bleed damage to a creature, they become battered for as long as they continue bleeding.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt against a creature, they take 1 additional point of bleed damage, +1 additional point for every 3 points of base attack bonus you possess. This stacks with other bleed damage granted by the Duelist sphere.

In addition, you no longer provoke attacks of opportunity for attempting the disarm combat maneuver. Associated Feat: Improved Disarm.

Author's Note: Finger Cutter "stacks" with other sources of duelist bleed, but only with other Duelist sphere bleeds (such as blooded strike and Open Vein).

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt against a creature, you may make a sunder attempt against the disarmed weapon as a swift action, treating the weapon as an unattended object for the attempt; if the disarmed creature is currently taking bleed damage, you may instead make this sunder attempt as an attack of opportunity.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt against a target, you may make a single melee attack against them as a swift action at your full base attack bonus. If that creature is currently taking bleed damage from one of your attacks, you may instead make this attack as an attack of opportunity.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt against a creature, as long as you have at least one free hand you may immediately catch the disarmed weapon and make a single attack with it against any creature within reach as an immediate action. If your base attack bonus is +10 or higher, you may instead make the granted attack as a free action that can be taken once per round, even if it’s not your turn.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt against a creature, you may flick the creature’s weapon in such a way that it rebounds against them, dealing damage to the creature equal to the weapon’s base damage dice.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt, you may immediately sheathe your weapon as a free action.

In addition, you may threaten with a sheathed or carried weapon as long as you have enough free hands to wield it, drawing the weapon as part of any attack of opportunity a creature may provoke from you.

^{Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Pugilists}

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt against a creature, you may have the disarmed weapon or object land up to 10 feet away from its previous wielder in a direction of your choice. The distance you may have the weapon or object travel before landing increases by 5 feet for every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess.

In addition, creatures you succeed at a disarm attempt against gain the battered condition until the end of your next turn. Associated Feat: Greater Disarm.

Normal: Disarmed weapons and gear land at the feet of the disarmed creature.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere(Long Cuts), base attack bonus +5.

When you deal bleed damage to a creature, your attack curses their body. Any creature that attempts a Heal check or applies healing or grants temporary hit points to a creature affected by this talent (including themselves) is sickened for 1 round (Fortitude negates). If the creature was already sickened, they are instead nauseated for 1 round. This is a supernatural curse effect.

If you have at least 10 points of base attack bonus, if you apply this talent to a creature with fast healing or regeneration, those abilities are suppressed if the total amount of bleed damage they are suffering from your Duelist sphere abilities exceeds their fast healing or regeneration (bleed damage in form of dice are treated as their minimum value for this purpose).

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere, base attack bonus +10.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature who is already taking bleed damage, you are able to twist your blade to puncture a lung or similar organ, causing the target to begin suffocating 1d4 rounds later unless they succeed on a Fortitude save. Once the suffocation begins, in the first round, the target falls unconscious (0 hit points). In the following round, they drop to –1 hit points and are dying. In the third round, they suffocate and die. The target may make a Fortitude save each round to stave off advancing to the next stage, but they continue to make saving throws each round until they die or until the condition ends.

If the target receives at least 5 hit points of healing at any point before they suffocate, the suffocation effect ends and they resume breathing as normal. The suffocation effect can also be ended as a full-round action by a Heal check with a DC equal to your normal DC for combat sphere effects. Creatures who do not need to breathe are immune to this effect. If a practitioner uses Bleed Air against a creature that is currently suffocating, they are automatically moved 1 round closer to suffocation.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere, Great Focus, base attack bonus +15.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature, you may expend two martial focuses to attempt to send the target to hell, or heck, or somewhere. If you do, that creature must succeed at a Will save or be transported to another plane that is strongly-aligned with evil (e.g. Hell, Abaddon). If the target succeeds at their saving throw, the cosmic energy you attempted to exploit backlashes and you suffer 6d6 fire damage and are fatigued. This is a supernatural effect; you can only use this talent against the same creature once every 24 hours.

^{Source: Arcforge Players Compendium}

Prerequisite: Duelist sphere.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature, you may leave fluids leaking in their skull. The target cannot use telepathy to send or receive messages so long as it is bleeding. Abilities based on telepathic connection or other linking of minds (such as a tactician’s collective or a symbiat’s mind link) do not function while the creature is bleeding.

^{Source: Baron's Otherworldly Citadel}

Prerequisites: Duelist Sphere (Defensive Slice), base attack bonus +5

While you have martial focus, you may spend an attack of opportunity to try deflecting a critical hit targeting you, reducing its damage to that of a normal hit, with a 25% chance of success. This does not stack with the fortification special ability of magical armor or similar effects.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere (Iai Slash (bleed)), base attack bonus +5.

You may spend a move action and expend your martial focus to elaborately sheathe one held weapon without provoking attacks of opportunity and glare at nearby enemies. Each enemy within 30 feet of you currently suffering from bleed damage dealt by your blooded strike suddenly spasms and hemorrhages blood, suffering 1d6 bludgeoning, slashing and piercing damage, plus an additional 1d6 for every 3 points of base attack bonuses you possess. If you possess Perforating Wounds, the creature suffers an additional 2d6 damage for every stack of that talent applied to them. After suffering this damage, any bleed damage dealt due to your Duelist sphere abilities immediately end.

If you possess Defiant Focus, you do not need to expend your martial focus to use this ability.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere, base attack bonus +6.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm attempt to cause a creature to drop a weapon they were wielding, you may use an immediate action to make a ranged attack with that weapon against any other creature within range. If the weapon cannot normally be used at range, it is treated as a thrown weapon with a range increment of 10 ft. Projectile weapons must be nocked or loaded at the time they are disarmed to be used with this ability. If the disarmed creature is currently taking bleed damage, you may instead make the granted ranged attack as an attack of opportunity.

^{Source: Spheres Apocrypha: Pugilists}

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere.

You may perform disarm combat maneuvers against creatures who are not holding a weapon or object.

Whenever you succeed at a disarm combat maneuver check against a creature, instead of disarming a weapon or object held by the target, you may choose to disarm that target’s ability to use one natural attack of your choice or the target’s ability to make unarmed strikes. The target gains the battered condition until the end of your next turn. As long as the target has the battered condition, the target is treated as though they do not possess the disarmed natural attack or the ability to make unarmed strikes and cannot make attacks or threaten with the chosen weapon.

For the purposes of this ability, unarmed strikes are considered a single weapon, and a creature disarmed of their unarmed strike is unable to make unarmed strikes for as long as they are battered.

Prerequisites: Blood sphere or Duelist sphere (Ooze Ichor); base attack bonus +1 or caster level 1st.

You can manipulate a creature’s essence as though it were blood. You may affect any creature with your Blood sphere abilities which use or target their blood (such as initiating blood control, using a (quicken) or (still), or using a blood art), bypassing any immunity to bleed damage or immunity to effects that require a Fortitude save a creature may possess. This talent does not bypass other immunities a creature may possess.

In addition, you may cause creatures to bleed even when they normally could not. Whenever you would inflict bleed damage to a creature, you ignore any immunity to bleed damage that creature may possess.

Special: Essence Manipulation may be selected as a legendary Duelist talent, and is a supernatural effect.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere, Bleed Air, base attack bonus +15.

Whenever you deal bleed damage to a creature, if that bleed damage is not ended within 3 rounds, the creature must make a Fortitude save or die. The creature must continue to make a Fortitude save each round after this to avoid death until the bleed damage is healed.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere, base attack bonus +11.

When your natural dice roll for a disarm attempt falls within your weapon’s natural critical threat range (for example, when you roll a natural 18, 19, or 20 while attempting to disarm a creature with a rapier), you can choose to expend your martial focus as an immediate action; the target must pass a Reflex save or have one hand used to wield the weapon severed. Abilities such as the keen weapon enhancement or the Improved Critical feat do not modify the threat range for this ability. The target takes 1d6 points of bleed damage from the wound, +1d6 for every 4 points of base attack bonus you possess; this stacks with bleed damage granted by the Duelist sphere’s blooded strike.

With the exception of the bleed damage (which may be stopped as normal), there are many permanent penalties associated with losing a hand that can only be removed by a spell capable of restoring the severed limb, such as a regeneration or restoration spell, natural regeneration, or the Regeneration advanced talent from the Life sphere. These include:

• -5 penalty on Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Sleight of Hand, and Use Magic Device skill checks;
• -4 penalty on grapple checks;
• Must make a caster level check to cast spells with somatic components;
• Unable to wield two-handed weapons, make two-weapon attacks, or wield a tool in the missing hand, but may still wear a shield on the affected arm;
• Carrying capacity is not reduced. However, the maximum weight a character can lift over head or off the ground is reduced by one third.

A character who has lost both hands, or one hand and one arm, cannot use any of the listed skills, make attacks, cast spells with somatic components, or handle objects, without the aid of prosthetics or magic. A severed hand counts as an object three size categories smaller than the creature it came from.

Prerequisite: Duelist sphere.

Whenever you use the attack action to make a melee attack in the same round you draw a sheathed weapon, you may target a creature within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 base attack bonus), provoking attacks of opportunity as though using a ranged attack.

Using this talent reduces the damage die of the weapon being used with this talent by 1 step, and the attack made with this weapon is treated as a projectile for the purposes of being able to be blocked or deflected by effects. This attack is treated as a melee attack for all other purposes (and may not be used with talents or abilities which would only affect ranged attacks) except for the target of the attack. At +5 base attack bonus, using this talent no longer provokes attacks of opportunity. At +10 base attack bonus, attacks made with this talent no longer have their damage die reduced.

You may take Vacuum Cut a second time. If you do, when utilizing another Duelist sphere talent that targets creatures within your reach (such as Iai Slash and Hurricane Strike, but not talents that merely grant you an attack such as Swift Slice), you may instead use the range of Vacuum Cut in place of your reach for the purpose of those talents.

Prerequisites: Duelist sphere, Vacuum Cut, base attack bonus +11.

Whenever you use the Vacuum Cut talent, you may spend a move action and your martial focus to increase the effect, targeting all creatures within a close range cone. Make a single attack roll and compare the result to each creature within the affected area; all creatures hit by the attack take damage as though you had hit them directly with a melee attack (including any bonus damage to which you would be entitled, such as from the Vital Strike feat). Only damage is dealt; no other effects granted by the attack action are applied.