d20 Modern Conversion: Soldier and Martial Artist (Draft 1)

by Dylan Richards

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Advanced Classes

Sooner or later, your character is going to want to specialize, sending his or her heroic career in a particular direction. In addition to your character's base class, at certain levels they will gain abilities based on the advanced class they choose.

An advanced class represents a focus and a calling for a more experienced character. It provides a specialization and a range of power and ability to give a character that something extra to set them apart.

Although each advanced class naturally builds from a certain basic class, every advanced class is available to all characters, regardless of what basic classes they have gained levels in.

Advanced classes do not have any prerequisites when being chosen as a component of a basic class, but if they are being taken independently via multiclassing they may have certain requirements that need to be met before levels can be gained in them.

Soldier

The Soldier is a trained warrior, as good with a gun as they are with a knife. Some soldiers come out of formal military programs or law enforcement academies. Others acquire their skills on the field of battle.

A Soldier might be a dedicated idealist or a profit-seeking mercenary, a hired gun or a highly skilled adventurer. In all cases, the Soldier learns how to defeat their enemies, to complete their missions, and ultimately, to survive.

Select this advanced class if you want your character to be a well-rounded combat expert. It combines both melee and ranged weapon expertise, preparing the Soldier for whatever situation comes their way.

The Soldier
Level Features
3rd Additional Proficiencies, Fighting Style, Indomitable (one use)
7th Improved Critical
10th Extra Attack, Indomitable (two uses)
15th Superior Critical
18th Tactical Aid, Indomitable (three uses)

Class Features

As a solider, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points


  • Hit Dice: 1d10 per soldier level
  • Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per solider level

Additional Proficiencies

At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with all armour, all weapons, and all military vehicles.

Fighting Style

When you take this advanced class, you adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can't take the same Fighting Style option more than once, even if you get to choose again.

 
Close-Quarters Shooter

You are trained in making ranged attacks at close quarters. When making a ranged attack while you are within 5 feet of a hostile creature, you do not have disadvantage on the attack roll. Additionally, you have a +1 bonus to attack rolls on ranged attacks.

Sharpshooter

You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

Defence

While wearing armour, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.

Duelling

When you are wielding a weapon in one hand and no other Weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to Damage Rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting

When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an Attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the Two-Handed or Versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Protection

When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the Attack roll. You must have at least one free hand or be wielding a shield.

Two-Weapon Fighting

When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second Attack.

Indomitable

Beginning at 3rd level, you can reroll a saving throw that you fail. If you do so, you must use the new roll, and you can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

You can use this feature twice between long rests starting at 10th level and three times between long rests starting at 18th level.

Improved Critical

Beginning at 7th level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

Extra Attack

Starting at 10th level, you can attack three times rather than twice, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Superior Critical

Starting at 15th level, your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18–20.

Tactical Aid

As you becomes more skilled, your tactical and leadership abilities increase. Starting at 18th level, you can use your knowledge of tactics to direct his allies in combat.

When you take the Help action, you can choose to give the ally you help Tactical Aid. While the ally has Tactical Aid, they gain a bonus to their AC and their attack rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier. You must concentrate to maintain this effect, as if concentrating on a spell. This effect ends at the end of your next turn, unless you use a bonus action to maintain it.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Additionally, when you take the Help action, you may make a single weapon attack as part of that action.

Martial Artist

The Martial Artist is a student of one or more martial arts disciplines. To the Martial Artist, these disciplines represent more than self-defense and combat expertise. The training includes a profound philosophy that teaches restraint and humility. The Martial Artist works to master their mind as well as their body, attuning both to work in harmony through the techniques they have learned.

A Martial Artist might develop their combat skills and philosophy to aid their career as an agent or a law enforcer, or they may become an independent operative whose entire person is a weapon. No matter what career they choose to pursue, they possess confidence, commitment, and the means to get the job done.

Select this advanced class if you want your character to become a master of unarmed combat or close-quarters melee fighting.

The Martial Artist
Level Features
3rd Additional Proficiencies, Unarmoured Defence, Martial Arts (d6), Ki
7th Stunning Strike, Superior Technique
10th Martial Arts (d8), Tranquility
15th Perfected Focus
18th Martial Arts (d10), Quivering Palm

Class Features

As a martial artist, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points


  • Hit Dice: 1d8 per martial artist level
  • Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per martial artist level

Additional Proficiencies

At 3rd level, you gain proficiency with two martial melee weapons of your choice.

Unarmored Defense

Beginning when you take this advanced class at 3rd level, while you are wearing no armor and not wielding a Shield, your AC equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Wisdom modifier.

Martial Arts

Your practice of martial arts gives you mastery of combat styles that use unarmed strikes and monk weapons, which are shortswords and any simple melee Weapons that don't have the Two-Handed or Heavy property.

You gain the following benefits while you are unarmed or wielding only monk Weapons and you aren't wearing armor or wielding a Shield.

  • You can use Dexterity instead of Strength for the Attack and Damage Rolls of your unarmed strikes and monk Weapons.
  • You can roll a d6 in place of the normal damage of your unarmed strike or monk weapon. This die changes as you gain levels. At 10th level it increases to 1d8, and at 18th level it increases to 1d10.
  • When you use the Attack action with an unarmed strike or a monk weapon on Your Turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action. For example, if you take the Attack action and attack with a quarterstaff, you can also make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, assuming you haven't already taken a bonus action this turn.

Certain monasteries use specialized forms of the monk weapons. For example, you might use a club that is two lengths of wood connected by a short chain (called a nunchaku) or a sickle with a shorter, straighter blade (called a kama). Whatever name you use for a monk weapon, you still use the game statistics provided for the base weapon.

Ki

Your Training allows you to harness the a store of inner energy or focus known as ki. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of ki points. You begin with 3 ki points at 3rd level, and gain an additional point at each level.

You can spend these points to fuel various ki features. You start knowing three such features: Flurry of Blows, Patient Defence, and Step of the Wind. You learn more ki features as you gain levels in this class.

When you spend a ki point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you draw all of your expended ki back into yourself. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest meditating to regain your ki points.

Some of your ki features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Ki save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus +

your Wisdom modifier
Flurry of Blows

Immediately after you take the Attack action on your turn, you can spend 1 ki point to make two unarmed strikes as a bonus action.

Patient Defence

You can spend 1 ki point to take the Dodge action as a bonus action on your turn.

Step of the Wind

You can spend 1 ki point to take the Disengage or Dash action as a bonus action on your turn, and your jump distance is doubled for the turn.

Stunning Strike

Starting at 7th level, you can interfere with the flow of ki in an opponent's body. When you hit another creature with a melee weapon Attack, you can spend 1 ki point to attempt a stunning strike. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be Stunned until the end of your next turn.

Superior Technique

As you tap into your inner focus, you are able to disrupt the focus of your opponent. Whenever you hit a creature with one of the attacks granted by your Flurry of Blows, you can impose one of the following effects on that target:

  • It must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
  • It must make a Strength saving throw. If it fails, you can push it up to 15 feet away from you.
  • It can’t take reactions until the end of your next turn.

Additionally, your unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage.

Tranquility

Beginning at 11th level, you can enter a special meditation that surrounds you with an aura of peace. At the end of a long rest, you gain the effect of a Sanctuary spell that lasts until the start of your next Long Rest (the spell can end early as normal). The saving throw DC for the spell equals 8 + your Wisdom modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Additionally, you can use your action to end one effect on yourself that is causing you to be charmed or frightened.

Perfected Focus

At 15th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.

Exploding Heart Technique

At 18th level, you gain the ability to set up lethal vibrations in someone’s body. When you hit a creature with an unarmed strike, you can spend 3 ki points to start these imperceptible vibrations, which last for a number of days equal to your level. The vibrations are harmless unless you use your action to end them. To do so, you and the target must be on the same plane of existence. When you use this action, the creature must make a Constitution saving throw. If it fails, it is reduced to 0 hit points. If it succeeds, it takes 10d10 necrotic damage.

You can have only one creature under the effect of this feature at a time. You can choose to end the vibrations harmlessly without using an action.

Credits

Document and contents by Dylan Richards (Reddit: u/Altavus , Tumblr: decision-paralysis, Blogger: Decision Paralysis)

Source Material

"d20 Modern" role-playing game by Wizards of the Coast.

Built heavily upon "d20 Modern 5e Conversion" by Edward Wilson.

 

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