Martial Artist (DFRPG)

Martial Artists are masters of barehanded combat and exotic weapons. They tend to be agile fighters who mastered the secret ways of body-control, allowing them to go above and beyond their normal limits.
== Special Martial Artist Traits ==
=== Chi Mastery Powers ===
The number one ability of Martial Artists is Chi Mastery, allowing them a range of special abilities.
* Dragon Skin [5] -- You have remarkably tough skin with DR 2, without the obvious massiveness of the Barbarian. Incidentally, this allows safe parries against projectiles -- even with the legs!
* Mantis Strike [9] -- Two levels of Striking ST!
* Regeneration [23] -- An expensive ability that regenerates 1 HP per hour automatically. Includes Rapid Healing, and HT rolls to heal will benefit from your Chi Talent level. Only recommended when going solo, as there's usually a wizard, cleric, potion, or something that can heal more effectively.
* Seven Secret Kicks [7] -- You kick at your full Karate skill and get +1 per die for kicking damage. You also roll Karate instead of DX to avoid falling down if you miss.
* Spider Climb [18] -- Who needs ladders?
* Tiger Sprint 1 and 2 [9 and 18] -- You can move at x1.5 or x2 your Movement while sprinting. Use this to flank opponents, or reach casters in the back lines!
* Unarmed Master [25] -- One of the most useful abilities for a Martial Artist. Your limbs count as Strikers -- you can't hurt yourself no matter how hard you hit with bare skin, and enemies don't get free attacks against you when you do. Furthermore, even if a foe targets your limbs, you gain a Chi Talent bonus to avoid crippling. You also gain a +1 per die basic damage for punches and kicks, and this can combine with Seven Secret Kicks!
* Uninterrupted Flurry [20] -- Use a Ready maneuver to boost yourself into Altered Time Rate. You can do a lot with all that extra time.
=== Chi Skills ===
* Trained by a Master [30] -- Halves the penalty for multiple parries, halves penalty for Rapid Strike, and allows you to use your Chi powers, below.
* Autohypnosis
* Blind Fighting
* Body Control
* Breaking Blow
* Breath Control
* Esoteric Medicine
* Immovable Stance
* Kiai -- Uses 1 FP, but can cause mental stun vs the target's Will. No mention of Fearlessness or Unfazeable, so it may be a good bypass against otherwise tougher enemies.
* Light Walk
** Move silently. Light Walk can give a bonus to Stealth against enemy Hearing. Roll vs. Light Walk. If you succeed, add half your margin of success (round down, but minimum +1) to Stealth. 
** Minimize weight. You can walk over fragile surfaces without falling through. Thin ice requires an unmodified Light Walk roll; mere paper, a roll at -8! Maximum Move under such circumstances is 1/3 normal (round down). You automatically avoid pressure-plate traps if this works. 
** Hide tracks. A successful Light Walk roll lets you leave no visible tracks. Tracking rolls to follow you fail automatically unless they rely on senses other than sight.
* Mental Strength
* Mind Block
* Parry Missile Weapons
* Power Blow
* Pressure Points
* Push -- This causes extra knockback. If using Barbarian Launches homebrew rule, the Push skill is your effective ST!
* Throwing Art
== Tactics and Considerations ==
By rules-as-written, the Martial Artist is a bit underpowered. Below is some fixes for the normal MA abilties:
Ability / Skill 	Description / Fix 	 	
Trained by a Master	Keep it as the prerequisite for chi abilities, analogous to spellcasters needing Magery and such. However, just like spellcasters, make sure Chi abilities are usable in combat. 	 	
Autohypnosis 	Normally gives a decent bonus to almost any lengthy task (good outside of combat), increasing Will (hyping up before boss fights), and negating severe fatigue. This should be combined with/have synergy with Body Control.	 	
Blind Fighting 	This should just be an Advantage (prerequisite, TbaM, any melee skill at 15+, Perception 11) that negates darkness/invisibility penalties by 2x the number of points your Martial Artist has in Perception.
{| class="fandom-table"	Perception	Max Penalty in Total Darkness
11 	-8 	 	
12 	-6 	 	
13 	-4 	 	
14 	-2 	 	
15 	0 	 	
== See Also ==
* The Dungeon Fantasy RPG
== References ==
* Dungeon Fantasy RPG: Adventurers, p.29-34