Infamous Class: Soldier of Armok (Blademaster)

 The Soldier of Armok / Blademaster

The Soldiers of Armok are an elite group of warriors who serve directly under one of the most powerful evil deities in the world. This deity is widely known as Armok, the god of creation, death, and most importantly, blood. Armok himself appears as a Dwarf with a beard of adamantine. His power is the widely accepted reason for the existence of adamantine, a legendary metal found mostly in legend as an impossibly light, impossibly durable, and incredibly sharp metal. Armok is thus also associated with metal, but to a lesser degree. Records kept of Armok are few, but those that do exist show a strong activity where he chooses to reveal himself. He is rumored to dwell deep underground, far past where any searchers, Dwarven or otherwise, could ever find him.

Among his disciples are many great warriors and weaponsmiths, both Dwarven and not. Among the most skilled warriors who followed him was Dusk, a Half-Orc with great ambition. He spent many of his years forging a perfected blade, and after a long while he achieved this goal. He had acquired a small shard of adamantine, which he forged and melted over and over again until his perfect weapon was created. After mastering his craft he mastered his blade, becoming more skilled in his own weapon more than anyone else could ever be. With his mastery of skill, many other followers of Armok dedicated themselves to train under Dusk, and thus a new class was born. This class, known by some as the Soldier of Armok, though these warriors are more modernly called Blademasters.

In order to play a Soldier of Armok, one must first have an evil alignment. Most Soldiers of Armok are neutral evil, though there are many lawful and chaotic Blademasters as well. Blademasters must also have no less than 12 strength, at least 10 wisdom, and never less than 19 dexterity. If the character's strength and wisdom are in excess of 15, an additional 10% experience will be awarded to the character.

Class Level Limitations	Class Requirements:
Humans: U	Strength: 12
Half-Orcs: U	Wisdom: 10
Dwarves: 9th Level	Dexterity: 19
Half-Elves: 7th Level	Evil alignment

Blademasters will begin the game with 2 available weapon proficiencies, as well as 1 free non weapon proficiency as all characters do. Blademasters will however gain access to two proficiencies automatically, being Blacksmith and +Swordsmith. This class is allowed the use of any sword or dagger weapon, though only a weapon which was forged and made by the character can be used. Even if the character is proficient in, say, a longsword, if he uses a longsword that he did not make, the character will suffer a penalty of -4 to hit and -2 to damage. On the other hand, Blademasters are capable of utilizing their weapon with a much higher level of mastery than normal Fighters. Throughout the gaining of experience and levels, the character gains additional weapon actions. This may be used to attack, parry or utilize a fighting style is one is available. Note that while Blademasters do qualify as a Fighter archetype, and they are allowed the use of weapon specialization, they may not use any form of fighting style that does not exclusively list Blademaster as an available class. Blademasters are also prohibited from ever using any sort of armor or shield.

Blademasters will gain proficiencies at the rate of 1 every 3 levels, giving them the same proficiency gain as Fighters. Note that when starting possessions are rolled, the character may never begin the game with a weapon. One must be forged after character creation. Blademasters will use the attack and saving throw tables of Thieves.

Soldiers of Armok / Blademasters Table 1

Experience Points	Experience Level	D10 Hit Dice	Level Title	Weapon Actions
0-2,250	1	1	Armok's Initiate	1
2,251-5,000	2	2	Bloodsmith	2
5,001-9,500	3	3	Bloodborn	3
9,501-17,550	4	4	Bloodsworn	4
17,551-32,500	5	5	Bloodsword	4
32,501-60,000	6	6	Soldier of Blood	5
60,001-100,000	7	7	Master of Blood	5
100,001-160,000	8	8	Master of Daggers	6
160,001-250,000	9	9	Master of Blades	6
250,001-450,000	10	9+3*	Servant of Armok	7
450,001-675,000	11	9+6	Warrior of Armok	7
675,000-925,000	12	9+9	Soldier of Armok	8
925,001-1,175,000	13	9+12	Soldier of Armok (13th level)	8
1,175,001-1,425,000	14	9+15	Soldier of Armok (14th level)	9
1,425,001-1,675,000	15	9+18	Soldier of Armok (15th level)	9
1,675,001-1,925,000**	16	9+21	Soldier of Armok (16th level)	10***

*Blademasters will gain +3 hit points for each level after the 9th.

**+250,000 experience per level for each level beyond the 12th.

*** Blademasters never gain more than 10 weapon actions.

Firstly, when it comes to armor ability all Blademasters will gain a bonus of +1 (though this technically refers to a -1 seeing as lower AC is better) to their armor class for every point of dexterity above 14. This is as opposed to normal, not in addition to the normal dexterity armor class modifiers. Blademasters attack and save on the same table as Fighters do, though they will always be treated as 1st level when attacking.

As Blademasters are servants under Armok, they will eventually gain access to some abilities relating to his obsession with blood. Beginning at 3rd level, Blademasters will be able to fully sustain themselves by consuming blood as opposed to normal food. If a pint of blood is consumed, the character will be fully sustained for one day, and will regain additional hit points through resting equal to their level. At this level the character is also less likely to be attacked by Vampires, as their mutual interest in the consumption of blood promotes a form of kinship between Blademasters and Vampires.

5th level Blademasters will attack with more tenacity when spilling the blood of another. For every character or monster (that bleeds) is downed by the Blademaster, a +1 bonus to the character's "to-hit" roll is given. This bonus increases further with each downed opponent, and this bonus will fully dissipate from the character once combat ends. In addition to this, their immense speed has increased to the point of attacking psionic using opponents. When attacking a character concentrating on psionics, they can make one full attack against them to break concentration as soon as the second segment of combat.

7th level Blademasters become even more fierce with their swords, being allowed 1" of movement after every attack if the need to move arises.

As soon as 10th level is reached, Blademasters must seek out an Organ Master in order to become a true Soldier of Armok. This Organ Master must perform a sacred ritual, one that will involve the consumption of an Organ Feast in order to truly recognize the Blademaster.

at 10th level, and when a Blademaster is officially recognized by others as a Soldier of Armok, the character gains limited magical ability as a form of initiate Cleric of Armok. Similar to Anti-Paladins, Soldiers of Armok can use a "lay on hands" like ability to cause harm. The damage dealt through this is equal to 1 hit point per level of the Soldier of Armok, though unlike the Anti-Paladin's ability the character may transfer this damage through his weapon in addition to normal weapon damage. This ability may be used once each day.

At 12th level, Soldiers of Armok gain a small spellcasting ability granted directly by Armok himself. Any spell from the Organ Master spell list may be chosen, including the reverse variants of some Cleric spells.

Soldiers of Armok / Blademasters Table 2

Experience Level	1st Level Organ Master Spells	2nd Level Organ Master Spells	3rd Level Organ Master Spells	4th Level Organ Master Spells
12th	1	0	0	0
13th	2	0	0	0
14th	2	1	0	0
15th	2	2	0	0
16th	2	2	1	0
17th	3	2	1	0
18th	3	2	2	0
19th	3	2	2	1
20th*	3	3	2	1

 *- Maximum Spell Ability

-Guide to Blademaster coming soon!-