The Blademaster is the person who walks into a corridor full of hostiles with a monoblade in each hand and leaves with the blades still humming. In a verse where firearms are cheap and ubiquitous, choosing to fight with edged weapons is either insanity or a statement. The Blademaster makes the statement. Nobody carries a monoblade because it out-damages a rifle. They carry it because a missed shot in a pressurised habitat, a fuel depot or a reactor room punctures the hull, and the blade never misses that way. The Kadiss grid does not track blade proficiency the way it tracks firearms registration; a Blademaster with clean prints and no Kadiss flags can walk through a checkpoint with a monoblade on their hip and nobody blinks. They operate on the Combat chassis (d10 HD, full BAB, Fort good, Ref/Will poor) because melee range means taking hits. Medium armour -- heavy plate kills the mobility that the Blade Dance demands. The stance system is not technique for its own sake; it is the difference between living and dying when the other person has a gun and you do not. Prime requisites: STR and DEX.
Rules Reference
Field
Value
Armor Allowance
Light, Medium
Bab Tier
full
Base Skill Points
4
Hd
d10
Hd Sides
10
Max Level
20
Primary Abilities
STR, DEX
Prime Requisites
STR, DEX
Save Tiers / Fortitude
good
Save Tiers / Reflex
poor
Save Tiers / Will
poor
Weapon Allowance
All melee weapons, Thrown weapons
Notes
Archetype Niche: The Blademaster is the highest melee damage-dealer in the game. Blade Dance provides a stance-switching system that lets the Blademaster adapt to the tactical situation round-by-round: more attacks for clearing mooks, more defense for tanking, more accuracy for high-AC targets. Dual-Wielding Mastery eliminates the penalties that make two-weapon fighting suboptimal for other classes, and the extra off-hand attack at level 13 gives the Blademaster the most attacks per round of any class. Sever the Nerve provides melee control -- crippling, disarming, and blinding -- turning critical hits from pure damage into tactical shutdown.
Multiclass Notes: Blademasters can multiclass with Duellist and Soldier archetypes. Non-human blademasters use simultaneous multiclassing rules.
Level Table
Sword Hand
Field
Value
bab
1
fortitude
2
level
1
reflex
0
skillPoints
16
title
Sword Hand
will
0
xp
0
Blade Dancer
Field
Value
bab
2
fortitude
3
level
2
reflex
0
skillPoints
4
title
Blade Dancer
will
0
xp
2000
Dual-Blade
Field
Value
bab
3
fortitude
3
level
3
reflex
1
skillPoints
4
title
Dual-Blade
will
1
xp
4000
Steel Whirlwind
Field
Value
bab
4
fortitude
4
level
4
reflex
1
skillPoints
4
title
Steel Whirlwind
will
1
xp
8000
Blademaster
Field
Value
bab
5
fortitude
4
level
5
reflex
1
skillPoints
4
title
Blademaster
will
1
xp
16000
Blade Savant
Field
Value
bab
6
fortitude
5
level
6
reflex
2
skillPoints
4
title
Blade Savant
will
2
xp
32000
War Dancer
Field
Value
bab
7
fortitude
5
level
7
reflex
2
skillPoints
4
title
War Dancer
will
2
xp
64000
Grand Blademaster
Field
Value
bab
8
fortitude
6
level
8
reflex
2
skillPoints
4
title
Grand Blademaster
will
2
xp
125000
Steel Lord
Field
Value
bab
9
fortitude
6
level
9
reflex
3
skillPoints
4
title
Steel Lord
will
3
xp
250000
High Steel Lord
Field
Value
bab
10
fortitude
7
level
10
reflex
3
skillPoints
4
title
High Steel Lord
will
3
xp
500000
Cutting Master
Field
Value
bab
11
fortitude
7
level
11
reflex
3
skillPoints
4
title
Cutting Master
will
3
xp
750000
Blade Authority
Field
Value
bab
12
fortitude
8
level
12
reflex
4
skillPoints
4
title
Blade Authority
will
4
xp
1000000
Blade Paragon
Field
Value
bab
13
fortitude
8
level
13
reflex
4
skillPoints
4
title
Blade Paragon
will
4
xp
1250000
War Shaper
Field
Value
bab
14
fortitude
9
level
14
reflex
4
skillPoints
4
title
War Shaper
will
4
xp
1500000
High War Shaper
Field
Value
bab
15
fortitude
9
level
15
reflex
5
skillPoints
4
title
High War Shaper
will
5
xp
1750000
Sword Saint
Field
Value
bab
16
fortitude
10
level
16
reflex
5
skillPoints
4
title
Sword Saint
will
5
xp
2000000
High Sword Saint
Field
Value
bab
17
fortitude
10
level
17
reflex
5
skillPoints
4
title
High Sword Saint
will
5
xp
2250000
Death Dancer
Field
Value
bab
18
fortitude
11
level
18
reflex
6
skillPoints
4
title
Death Dancer
will
6
xp
2500000
High Death Dancer
Field
Value
bab
19
fortitude
11
level
19
reflex
6
skillPoints
4
title
High Death Dancer
will
6
xp
2750000
Supreme Blademaster
Field
Value
bab
20
fortitude
12
level
20
reflex
6
skillPoints
4
title
Supreme Blademaster
will
6
xp
3000000
Special Abilities
Blade Dance
Field
Value
level
1
name
Blade Dance
description: The Blademaster may enter a Blade Dance stance as a free action at the start of their turn. Choose one: Whirlwind Stance (extra melee attack at -2 to all attacks, +10 feet movement -- for clearing a room), Iron Stance (+2 AC, +2 damage, -10 feet movement -- for holding a chokepoint), or Viper Stance (+4 to attack rolls, -2 AC, cannot use Power Attack -- for putting the blade through a specific gap in armour). Changing stances is a free action once per round. At level 7, the Blademaster may benefit from two stances simultaneously. At level 14, three stances simultaneously. The stance system is the Blademaster's education: every engagement teaches a different lesson about where to stand, how to move, and when to commit.
Dual-Wielding Mastery
Field
Value
level
3
name
Dual-Wielding Mastery
description: The Blademaster treats all one-handed melee weapons as light weapons for the purpose of two-weapon fighting penalties. The penalty for fighting with two weapons is reduced to -1/-1 (from the standard -2/-2 with the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, or -2/-4 without it). At level 8, the penalty is eliminated (0/0). At level 13, the Blademaster may make one additional off-hand attack per round (total: main hand attacks as per BAB, plus two off-hand attacks). Two blades means two chances to find the seam in the armour, and a Blademaster who has spent years training with both hands can put steel in places a single-sword fighter cannot reach.
Sever the Nerve
Field
Value
level
5
name
Sever the Nerve
description: When the Blademaster confirms a critical hit with a melee weapon, they may forgo the extra critical damage to instead impose a crippling effect. Choose: Hamstring (target's speed halved, no running or charging, Fortitude save DC = 10 + Blademaster level + STR mod to end after 1 minute -- the tendon-cut that makes runners fall), Disarm (target drops weapon, Reflex save to catch it before it hits the ground), or Blind (blood in the eyes, target is blinded for 1 round, no save). Usable once per encounter. At level 11, usable twice per encounter. At level 17, the Blademaster may Sever the Nerve on any melee hit, not just critical hits. This is the ability that makes Blademasters valuable to the Nine: a blade can do things a bullet cannot. A bullet kills. A blade controls.