Scion of the Martial Clan
Duelist reflavor, based on an idea from Mihau
Secluded on the highest mountain in the world, the Khaki Clan studies and trains all the ways to claim human life. When a child comes of age, they are sent out into the world, to make a name for themselves, and find a worthy mate. You return either a victor, a corpse, or by buying the 20$ estate tour ticket.
Start with: foreign clothing; family stamp; a collection of letters; a downpayment for a coffin; homing raven in a cage, trained to return to Khaki mountain
Choose 2 per template: +1 to-hit, +1 damage, +1 HP.
Complex Ancestry; Family Techniques
Family Business; Khaki Blood; +1 attack per turn
Fear What You Know
Like a Wolf; One of the Greats
A: Complex Ancestry
The members of Khaki Clan are only allowed to marry those renowned for their martial prowess. As all other qualities are secondary, the family is quite diverse, accepting any fighter regardless of their origin. At character creation, choose 2 species (human, orc, kobold, so on) instead of 1, and gain the traits of both.
Each Khaki is born with sharp black birthmarks all over their face. Each Khaki can read the marks of another Khaki to learn how exactly they’re related.
A: Family Techniques
Choose a direct ancestor of yours from the list at the end of this class, and establish your relation (an Elder you look up to, distant relative who saw potential in you, parent you want to kill, so on). You gain one stance and one technique of theirs.
Stances are passive, and have constant effects. You can only be in one stance at a time, but changing your stance can be done as you please (or at the start of your turn in combat).
Techniques are active moves for fights. You can use each Technique once per fight against intelligent enemies, as afterwards, they get wise to your shit.
Some ancestors might have lessons, permanent changes to your character, many of which are useful beyond combat.
Each level, you can learn a new technique, style or lesson from your ancestor OR from an ancestor whose name is next to theirs on the list - their styles are just close enough to make it work.
B: Family Business
The Elders finally found you worthy. Each season there’s a 2-in-6 chance you will be called to partake in family business in your area: this usually entails killing a person of interest in the city. The Elders care not for your allegiances, and might require you to kill a NPC ally. There’ll be some family drama if you can’t handle it.
Each season you can write a letter requesting help of a family member. If you were fulfilling your duties, and carrying yourself with respect, the Elders will send someone. They will stay in the city for no more than a week, and help in one activity of your choosing. If they feel like their time was wasted, they will report it upon returning home.
B: Khaki Blood
Your dormant genes finally activated.
You can keep your balance perfectly while running, jump your own height from standing, slide down bannisters without falling over, climb anything it’s possible for a human to climb free-handed, and can do sick backflips.
You are immune to high blood pressure and indigestion.
C: Fear What You Know
Your name is beginning to be passed around between those in the know. You get +2 to reactions from criminals and martial artists. Introducing yourself triggers morale among the people who know you by reputation.
D: Like a Wolf
You deal double damage to enemies with less HD than you.
D: One of the Greats
From here on out, whenever you get a chance to learn a technique, stance or lesson, you can instead workshop your own with the GM. You can do this up to 4 times.
Rana Sedmar-Khaki, the Poisoner
It’s said each day since the age of 5 she dipped her left hand in a bowl of poison, moving to a more potent one whenever she grew immune. She was proposed to after administering a deadly amount to a young Khaki scion. His family accepted [name] with open arms, when she came to their doorstep carrying a child, and the body of their son. She remarried 8 times since.
Stance: Through Me To You
Your moves are reminiscent of a snake, flowing and slithery. If your attack were to miss, it instead hits, dealing 0 damage, and applying any on-hit effects as normal.
Lesson: Dead Hand
One of your hands is necrosed and disfigured. It administers a fast acting poison to any living being it touches, dealing 1d6 damage a turn until they succeed a constitution save. You get -2 to any roll that’d require fine control.
Technique: Rapid Transit
You can perform ranged attacks with a fistful of any liquid. Rana once poisoned everyone at an outdoor wedding without even coming close to the venue.
Technique: The Box
If nobody sees you, you can teleport to any other nearby location where you wouldn’t be seen. Run into an alley, reappear behind the enemy’s back - this sorta thing.
Kamîran Khaki, the worst Martial Artist in the World
Cursed at birth, making him weak and unable to carry any weapon, he struggled for years to develop a fighting style which befits his delicate body. Nowadays he is widely known for personally taking down some of the hardest assignments in the family’s history, including one wyrm. The Elders think he’s a loser nerd.
Stance: Shadowwalk
You subconsciously synchronize your movement to the saccades of other people. You are always fully invisible to exactly one person of your choice.
Lesson: Humbling Experience
You deal +x damage to enemies stronger than you, and receive +x to reaction rolls from people weaker than you, where x is twice the difference in your strength scores. You lose this lesson if you ever disrespect someone weaker than you.
Technique: Pinpoint Strike
You perform a series of quick attacks, dealing no damage, but create an opening to strike, halving the target’s AC until they take an action to compose themselves.
Technique: Redirected Energy
If an opponent in melee range deals damage to you, you can halve the damage you receive, and deal the rest to them. You can push them away from you in a straight line in any direction.
Şelal Khaki, the Illusionist
Married to a witch, she developed a unique fighting style that combines magic and illusion with her family’s traditional assasination techniques. Her children are considered odd, and are often called the black sheep of the Khaki clan.
Stance: 72 Offsuit
You purposefully make yourself seem as nonthreatening as possible. As long as another valid target exists, enemies will always attack you last in combat.
Technique: Rip It
Pull out a small doll, and slash its throat - each opponent you’ve damaged this combat suffers 1d6 damage. Every 2 people affected by this adds another d6 to the damage.
Technique: Borrowed Time
Snap your fingers. Skip the movement and attacks of one enemy. Every combatant has a distinct feeling like they forgot something.
Technique: Ten of Swords, Reversed
You’ve had a vision about this one - reroll the damage dice of any attack.
Malachy Cinnabar-Khaki, the Brawler
All official records show he died at the age of 5, during a Khaki assasination at his family. Years later, he climbed the Khaki mountain, and snapped the neck of the woman who “killed” him. You can’t even be mad at that. That’s a prime marriage candidate right there.
Style: Hustler
You have prehensile muscles. Any single muscle in your body is as capable of holding and manipulating objects as your hands. You could solve a rubik’s cube or climb a wall with your back, that sort of thing. It looks very offputting. You get +2 to grappling. You may still perform one attack each turn while grappling.
Technique: Sucker Punch
If you missed an attack against an enemy, it was actually just a feint. Knock them prone while they’re distracted.
Technique: Pounce
If any opponent within melee range of you gets reduced to 2 HP or less without dying, you instantly get a chance to finish them off in an efficient and terrifying way. Every opponent checks morale.
Technique: Get it Right
If someone were to escape your grapple, you can push yourself to the limit, and suffer d6 damage, stopping them from doing so.
Rehwan Khaki, Undefeated
The golden child. While most other ancestors are all sorts of freaks and outliers, he embodies the Trve Khaki Way. Strong, self-assured, fearless. He died at 21 due to a bullet wound in the head - guns were still new back then, you see.
Stance: Rich Gift
Rehwan Khaki always walked unarmed into every fight, and emerged the only survivor. Any object held by you counts as a heavy weapon for the purposes of dealing damage, but breaks after one use.
Technique: Khaki Mirrors
Disarm an opponent in melee range, and instantly perform an attack against them using their weapon.
Lesson: Weapon of the Enemy
Guns are for pussies. The damage dice of all firearms aimed at you come up as 1. The damage dice of all firearms used by you come up as 0.
Technique: No Escape
Requires a grappling hook and rope. Pick one opponent - as long as they’re within range of your rope, pull yourself next to them. You can instantly perform a free attack.
MARAUDER
Came out of nowhere, defeated a small army of Khaki for fun, and married into the family. Since then, she performed 0 jobs for the clan. Strongest martial artist in the world, if she ever cared to do anything about it.
Stance: Blood Orgy Homicide
The blood of each enemy killed by you solidifies over your skin, adding +1 AC to your defense, up to 20. Stinks. Resets after a shower.
Technique: Suns Out, Guns Out
Put all your power into one single strike, dealing damage equal to your AC on your next attack. Any armor worn by you, including the blood from your Stance, shatters at the end of your turn.
Technique: Bitchslap
Her fists move faster than lightning - you can deal xd6 damage to yourself, to get +x to-hit and +xd6 damage on all of your attacks this turn.
Lesson: Rawdogging It
Your fists are the only weapons you’ll ever need. They deal d12 damage, and count as magic weapons. You lose this lesson, if you ever hold or carry ANY weapon, however briefly.
