Weapon Master

While they can use a wide assortment of weapons, a true Weapon Master devotes their life and training to one specific weapon type, gaining mastery over it and in doing so spreading word of their skill and renown throughout the land. Weapon masters are typically born with a natural talent for a specific weapon type and must choose the path of Marksman, Sword Master, Hammerer, Axe Fiend or Reaper.

Marksmen are the undisputed masters of conventional ranged weaponry. Their skills with bows, crossbows, and throwing knives are without peer. Why bother with the messiness and inherent risk involved in facing an enemy in close combat when you can bring them down with a well-placed shot at a hundred paces? While their dedication to their craft makes them lethal at range, it also makes them quite vulnerable in close combat. They are often found in the company of tough melee fighters that can keep foes distracted while they rain death down upon them.

A Marksman’s skill set makes them very popular among commoners. They can often be found in busy town squares dazzling the locals out of their hard earned coin by shooting apples off the town drunks head or painting a halo of knives around the head of some pretty young lady. Despite being great entertainers, their lethality should never be underestimated. With just a minor adjustment that crowd-pleasing arrow could end a life in an instant. This makes them valued among military commanders who employ Marksmen to train new recruits, take down high profile targets, and even command units of bowmen on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, melee focused Weapon Masters tend to be less concerned with proving themselves to the masses and instead seek the recognition of others masters of their craft. Often it is seen as a mark of true mastery to wield the largest and most overbearing versions of their chosen weapons. As such, Weapon Masters are often found using two-handed weapons, though some may choose to dual wield as well. Swordmasters learn to use their weapon for both offensive and defensive, a dance of impenetrable steel and deadly attacks. Hammerers bring to bear the immense power of bludgeon weapons, crushing their foe before them. Axe Fiends are feared and respected, known for brutal critical hits and a penchant for severing body parts. Reapers use the reach of their weapons to hold their enemies at bay, while delivering punishing blows.

Whatever path they choose, Weapon Masters live and die by the weapons they wield.

Class Overview

Typical Roles: Ranged Damage, Melee Damage, Tank
Damage Types: Physical
Class Mechanic: Vigor and Focus

Default Stats: During Character Creation you may choose to use the default stat line shown below, before racial modifiers. This can be instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results.

During Character Creation you may choose to use the Default Stat Line, before racial modifiers, instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results

Proficiencies

Natural Armor Proficiency: Cloth, Leather
Trainable Armor Proficiency: Mail
Natural Weapon Proficiency: Knives, Swords, Bludgeons, Axes
Trainable Weapon Proficiency: Swords (2-Handed), Bludgeons (2-Handed), Axes (2-Handed), Polearms, Staves, Whips, Bows, Crossbows, Firearms

See Equipment section for details. When using weapons or armor that your class is not proficient with, see Combat Penalties. There is no level or title prerequisite to train in a new proficiency, however you must receive the appropriate Training.

Class Skills

Class Passive Skill:  Marksman, Sword Master, Hammerer, Axe Fiend, or Reaper (choose one)
Class Secondary Skill: Fletcher, Combat Specialist, or Weapon Specialist (based on the weapon you choose to master, see Class Passives)

Primary Skills

Focus

Though not always seen as such, to gain mastery with a specific weapon is a martial art unto itself and much of a Weapon Master’s Focus is directed towards honing the skills required to wield their weapon of choice. While much emphasis is placed on either ranged or melee weapon skills, a weapon master can also be adept at defense skills as well. Though typically there is no formalized training, as a Weapon Master travels the land wowing audiences, seeking new foes to test their skills against or hiring themselves out to the highest bidder, they cross paths with many other students of the martial arts and can sometimes learn new skills from them. Weapon Masters follow the standard methods for Learning New Focus Skills.

The maximum number of skill points that can be allotted to each focus discipline are as follows:

• Fist: unavailable
• Kick: unavailable
• Armed: 30 skill points
• Ranged: 30 skill points
• Defense: 15 skill points

New focus skills require training unless they are upgrades (i.e. Rank1 Head Shot -> Rank2 Head Shot), see Learning New Focus Skills for details

Vigor

Learning new Vigor Skills is a function of training. The simplest way to learn a new Vigor skill is to pay a Combat Trainer to teach the skill that is of interest. However, a Weapon Master can also pick up new skills from an experienced fellow Weapon Master, Warrior, Soldier, Ranger or other Vigor class. Once a skill is learned, it can be improved simply though repeated use.

New vigor skills require training unless they are upgrades (i.e. Offensive Stance -> Improved Offensive Stance), see Learning New Vigor Skills for details.

Level Ups

Weapon Masters use the following chart for levelling up:

HP Dice (Regular): Small Race (1d8), Medium Race (1d10), Large Race (1d12)