Thousand Daggers (3.5e Martial Discipline)

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Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Date Created: 9-6-14 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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After the fall of the school of nine swords, other groups took their teachings for their own and mixed them into new styles befitting their needs. Such as the case for the Obake-Shi clan, a group of female assassins who adopted arts such as Diamond Mind, Shadow Hand, and Tiger Claw to their own needs. Thus was born the Thousand Dagger school, which persisted long after the clan disbanded through strife.

The thousand dagger school trained with small slashing and piercing weapons, using their small size and easy concealing in deadly assassinations, as well as mobility training to stay light on one's feet or to flee the scene. It is has a few supernatural elements from its shadow hand roots, delving into the shadow plane to conjure duplicates and other functions, though most of it works with mundane elements to handle even the most paranoid abjurists. Swordsages typically pick it up, as well as the rare dexterity focused warblade, though it is not so common with the more zealous and direct crusaders. You can choose to substitute one of your class disciplines for the thousand daggers discipline, or you can learn it from other means (such as through a feat or through roleplaying interactions).

The thousand daggers style was supposedly brought out into the world by a ninja named Oiwa Mochizuki, who betrayed and abandoned the clan shortly before its destruction. It's original creator is unknown, but what is known is that Oiwa's mother was one of the most dangerous practitioner of the art, and willing to sell out to the highest bidder.

The weapons associated with the Thousand Daggers are daggers, kukris, punching daggers, rapiers, short swords, shuriken, spiked armor, spiked gauntlets, spiked shields, and generally any dagger-like exotic weapon. The skill associated with Thousand Daggers is Tumble (Dex).

Game Mechanics of the Thousand Daggers

Available To: Swordsage, Warblade

Discipline Skill: Tumble (Dex) - The art of knife-fighting requires mobility to move in and out, making up for short range.

Discipline Weapons: Dagger, Kukri, Punching Dagger, Short Sword, Shuriken, Spiked Armor, Spiked Gauntlet, Spiked Shield, any dagger-like exotic weapon. - Thousand Daggers is focused on daggers and dagger-like slashing or piercing light weapons. 

Saves: 10 + maneuver level + Dex 

Legacy Weapon: Heartstinger 

Maneuver Granting Item: Cloak of a Thousand Daggers 

Discipline Feat: Art of Flying Daggers 

Tactical Feat: Demon's Nail

Maneuvers of the Thousand Daggers Discipline

To see the full, expanded description of every maneuver, click here.

1st-Level Maneuvers

• Bristling Blade: Counter — If someone strikes you in melee, you can hit them back for retributive damage.
• Earth Axe Rush: Rush — Briefly gain a climb speed by climbing with your knives in the walls. Must be using two discipline weapons.
• Hundred Blade Dance: Boost — Gain an additional attack with discipline weapons at your full attack bonus as a swift action.
• Irritating Injury Strike: Strike — Make a melee attack. If it hits you cause an irritating wound which deals a -2 penalty of attacks, saves, and skill checks.
• Stance of Flying Daggers: Stance — All weapons now have a throwing range, and throwing and ranged weapons benefit from Far Shot and a superior Returning enhancement.

2nd-Level Maneuvers

• Flexible Steel Needle: Counter — Your Tumble check result becomes your Reflex save, and you gain evasion against the attack.
• Flying Dagger Trick: Strike — Attack and make a combat maneuver, such as disarm or trip, from a distance. You may use your Dex in place of your Str for these checks.
• Iron Raptor Snap: Counter — You gain the benefits of Snatch Arrows against one attack.
• Rapid Assassin Rush: Rush — Make an attack as a move action, moving during the attack as if using Spring Attack.
• Vivisectionist Stance: Stance — Gain a form of sneak attack which scales with initiator level.

3rd-Level Maneuvers

• Forceful Drill Dagger: Strike — Attack all creatures in a 60 ft line, and bull rush targets, possibly knocking them prone.
• Parry and Sting: Counter — Parry with an offhand weapon or buckler, light shield, or heavy shield. Then riposte for massive damage.
• Rain of Screaming Blades: Strike — Spray an area of effect attack out in a line or cone, dealing damage as your weapon type.
• Sharpness Cry: Boost — Increase your weapon's threat range, and your weapon deals bleedout damage for 1 round.
• Threatening Hedgehog Roll: Rush — If an opponent takes an attack of opportunity on you due to movement, you may attack them back and they are flatfooted against your attack.

4th-Level Maneuvers

• Air Axe Scramble: Rush —
• Cut the Vital Strings: Strike — Attack a creature and sever an important tendon, applying penalties.
• Thousand Blade Dance: Boost — Gain two additional attacks with discipline weapons at your full attack bonus and -5 as a swift action.
• Twisted Scissor Grasp: Counter — Pinch an opponent's weapon in between your own blades, disrupting their attack routine.
• Unlimited Dagger Works: Stance — Produce an unlimited number of enhanced daggers which scale with initiator level.
• Waltz of Slight Sleight: Boost [X-Discipline] — DCs and opposed checks are more suited to your build.

5th-Level Maneuvers

• Frozen Steel Rain: Strike [Time] — Delay a ranged attack to go off later, creating opportunities for traps.
• Legion Assassin Dash: Rush — Make an attack as a move action, moving during the attack as if using Spring Attack. You make attack once for every creature you pass.
• Needle Point Purification: Boost — Deal a minor amount of non-lethal damage in order to purge a great deal of staus effects from a creature.
• Rebounding Steel Dagger: Counter — Your Tumble check result becomes your Reflex save, and you gain improved evasion against the attack, and you may move up to your speed.
• Storm of Screaming Blades: Strike — Spray an area of effect attack out in a line or cone, dealing damage as your weapon type and creating difficult terrain.
• Vortex Blade Shield Stance: Stance — Gain the benefits of Improved Deflect Arrows without consuming attacks of opportunity. You can even deflect rays and siege weapons, provided you have a magic weapon.

6th-Level Maneuvers

• Dagger to the Heart: Strike — Make a death attack like an assassin.
• Nuclear Sharpness: Boost — Double your critical threat range on your weapon, and all your critical threats are automatically confirmed. You can even critical things normally immune to critical hits, and ignore hardness and DR.
• Rolling Around at the Speed of Sound: Rush — Make a Tumble check. The result is your new movement speed (if higher) for the round. You do not provoke for your movement, and you can pass through difficult terrain and effects which slow your movement speed for 1 round. You also have overland travel applications.
• Sudden Termination: Counter — Make an attack as an immediate action, and the attack can be a strike maneuver with a standard action or less.
• Weeping Wound Strike: Strike — Make a melee attack. If it hits you cause an weeping wound which deals a -5 penalty of attacks, saves, and skill checks, and causes the creature to bleed profusely.

7th-Level Maneuvers

• Assassin Acupuncturist: Stance [X-Discipline] — Use Assassin Needles with legendary proficiency.
• Black Bladestorm Wave: Rush — Transform into a swarm of blades as you move, dealing swarm damage that leaves brutal bleeding wounds.
• Million Blade Dance: Boost — Gain three additional attacks with discipline weapons at your full attack bonus, -5, and -10 as a swift action.
• Ricocheting Steel Sword: Counter — Your Tumble check result becomes your Reflex save, and you gain improved evasion against the attack, you may move up to your speed. If you end up next to an opponent, you may make an attack against them as part of this maneuver.
• Sonic Driver Stance: Stance — Gain the benefits of Distant Shot with a few limitations, and a thundering side effect. You can make sneak attacks out to any range, and attacks are devastating in close range.
• Torrent of Screaming Blades: Strike — Spray an area of effect attack out in a line or cone, dealing damage as your weapon type and creating difficult terrain. Then the debris animates and keeps attacking each round.

8th-Level Maneuvers

• Crimson Geyser Slash: Strike — Your attack causes instant bleedout, removing 20% of its hit points. If the attack is a critical hit, it deals 50% hp damage instead.
• Infinite Assassin Rain: Rush — Make an attack as a move action, attacking all creatures within your movement range once.
• Tornado of Blades: Stance — You are surrounded by a cloud of daggers which deal damage to anyone starting their turn next to you. It also provides some defensive benefits.
• Vanishing Glimmer: Counter — Dodge anything perfectly, though you take Con burn for your troubles.

9th-Level Maneuvers

• Bladewraith Storm: Strike — A massive hurricane of blades cut up everything around you.
• True Death Fang: Strike — A creature subject to sneak attacks must make a Fortitude save or die. If they don't, they still take heavy damage. Creatures who are weak enough do not get a save.

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