Harmful Hand Adept (3.5e Prestige Class)

Harmful Hand Adept

The Harmful Hand fighting style is up-close, bloody and gruesome. No one really wants to be up-close to something that's bloody and gruesome - maybe that's why this fighting style works so well. Adepts of this style have mastered the art of using their fingers to reach into the weakest parts of the enemy. And reach in is the right way to describe it. They literally claw and tear their enemies with their bare hands, driving their outstretched palm into the softest parts of the bodies of their opponents, violently grasping wrists, necks, wherever the skin was thin, ripping with musclebound fingers, thrusting hands into chests of their enemies, leaving fist-sized holes and massive lacerations from which few opponents recovered.

The fighting style of this class shares much in common with monks and street fighters.

Prerequisites

• Alignment: Any Non-lawful

Table: The Harmful Hand Adept

Hit Die: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+1	+2	+1	Damage Mitigation, Vital Thrust, Unarmed Strike, Close Fighting
2nd	+1	+2	+3	+2	Damage Blunting, Practiced Toughness
3rd	+2	+2	+3	+2	Close Fighting Boost
4th	+3	+3	+4	+3	Close Fighting Boost
5th	+3	+3	+4	+3	Extended Threat
6th	+4	+4	+5	+4	Close Fighting Boost
7th	+5	+4	+5	+4	Close Fighting Boost
8th	+6/+1	+5	+6	+5	Close Fighting Boost
9th	+6/+1	+5	+6	+5	Extended Threat
10th	+7/+2	+6	+7	+6	Close Fighting Boost
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Balance, Climb, Hide, Jump, Knowledge(anatomy), Listen, Sense Motive, Swim, Tumble

Class Features

All the following are class features of the Harmful Hand Adept:

Damage Mitigation (Ex): The Adept can reduce damage from blunt weapons and falling by 1 point of damage per level of Adept class.

Practiced Toughness (Ex): The Adept may act without penalty in negative hit points if the negative hit points were caused entirely by physical damage (such as falling, being struck by an arrow, bleeding, being grasped by a Crushing Hand spell, and so on). This ability functions for one negative hit point per level of Adept. For example, consider a level 5 Adept (currently at 10 hit points) who was struck with an arrow - the attack dealt 12 damage. The Adept would still be able to function, and he would be at -2 hit points. If the Adept was then struck by another arrow dealing 5 damage, he would then be at -7 hit points. The Adept's Toughness ability would then no longer be in effect (since it only functions up to -5 hit points) - the Adept would be unconscious and dying.

The Adept does not automatically lose hit points when in negative levels while this ability is in effect, and does not have to roll to check for stabilization while this ability is in effect. In addition, he also adds his Adept class level to the d% when rolling checks to see if he stabilizes.

Damage Blunting (Ex): When the Adept has been damaged by an attack from a nonblunt weapon (such as a scimitar, longsword, dagger and so on), he can make a Reflex save (DC attack damage - Adept class level) to "blunt" the damage. If the save is made, the damage is considered "blunt" damage. A natural 1 on this Reflex save is not considered a failure. Damage from ranged attacks (including rays) cannot be mitigated in this fashion. Any condition that causes the Adept to lose their dexterity bonus to AC causes him to lose this ability as well.

In-game, this ability could be extrapolated like so, for example: The Adept is being attacked by an enemy weilding a sword. The Adept lunges at the enemy, and at the same time, the enemy swings his sword at the Adept's torso. The Adept's body weight connects with the enemy's sword hilt, and the Adept's half-bent over posture and weight on the sword hilt cause the wide edge of the sword to connect with the Adept's thigh, rather than the blade edge on the midsection.

Unarmed Strike (Ex): At 1st level, the Adept gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. Adepts can make unarmed strikes with their hands only. An Adept's unarmed strike is considered a natural weapon and a manufactured weapon, similar to a Monk's ability.

Vital Thrust (Ex): Adepts of of the Harmful Hand instinctively reach for vital spots on an enemy. When the Adept scores and confirms a critical hit while unarmed, the hit deal an extra 1d3 damage at second level, an addtional 1d3 damage at fifth level (for 2d3 total), and an additional 1d3 damage at eighth level (for 3d3 total). All unarmed attacks by the Adept also cause 1 hitpoint of bleeding damage per round for a number of rounds equal to the class level of the Adept. The target can make a Fortitude saving throw to negate this bleeding damage (DC 10 + Adept class level + Adepts Strength bonus).

Close Fighting (Ex): During combat, Adepts can enter a square occupied by an opponent. They can end their movement in a square occupied by an opponent. The Adept can leave a square occupied by an opponent and move to the last square they were in (if unoccupied) as a swift action any time during their turn. An Adept gains the benefits of the Vital Thrust, Extended Threat, Close Fighting Boosts and Damage Blunting abilities only when attacking an opponent in the same square they are currently in, and only while unarmed.

Close Fighting Boosts (Ex): # At 3rd level the Adept gains a +4 bonus to avoid a grapple, and his unarmed attacks do piercing damage against unarmoured foes or foes in light armour.

At 4th level the Adept's penalty to attack while grappling unarmed drops to -2.

At 6th level the Adept's penalty for prone fighting drops to -1.

At 7th level the Adept's penalty to attack while grappling unarmed drops to 0.

At 8th level the Adept gains the Improved Trip feat, whether or not he had the prerequisites. His penalty for prone fighting also drops to 0.

At 10th level the Adept gains the ability to make an attack of opportunity against an opponent with Improved Grab or Improved Grapple who initiates a grapple attempt. If the attack hits, any damage dealt is added to the Adept's grapple check to avoid being grappled.

Extended Threat (Ex): At level 5, the critical threat range is extended by one. At level 9, the critical threat range is extended again by one (for a total of +2). This ability is subject to the conditions of the "close fighting" ability.

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