As a sword saint gains experience, he learns a number of talents that aid him and his allies. Starting at 2nd level, a sword saint gains one sword saint talent. He gains an additional sword saint talent for every 2 levels of sword saint attained after 2nd level. Unless noted, a sword saint cannot select an individual talent more than once.
Table: Sword Saint Talents
| Sword Saint Talent | Prerequisites | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Additional Practiced Skill (Ex) | Practiced Skill class feature | The sword saint may pick a swordskill to gain its Practiced effect. This talent can be selected multiple times. |
| Area-Focused Swordskill (Ex) | — | When a sword saint uses a swordskill that affects multiple enemies, he can choose to reduce the number affected equal to his Charisma modifier. For each enemy ignored this way, increase the DC of the swordskill by 1. |
| Armored Confidence (Ex): | — | The sword saint gains a +3 (untyped) bonus to Intimidate checks while wearing armor. This increases by 1 at 7th level and every four thereafter. The sword saint adds half of this bonus (rounded down) to the DC required to affect him with Intimidate. |
| Athlete (Ex) | — | The sword saint gains a bonus to Acrobatics skill checks equal to half of his sword saint level (rounded down). Additionally, he may choose to take 10 on any Acrobatics check, and may take 20 on them in half of the normal time. |
| Charismatic Swordplay (Ex) | — | The sword saint may use his Charisma modifier for his hit bonus (instead of Strength or Dexterity) for swordskills that make attacks. |
| Combat Feat | — | A sword saint may select any Combat feat instead of a talent. A sword saint must still meet all prerequisites for this feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums. This talent may be selected only once. |
| Extreme Effort (Ex) | Strength 15 | A sword saint that selects this talent may perform feats of extreme physical effort. When making a Strength check, the sword saint doubles his Strength bonus. At 11th level, triple the Strength bonus, and at 16th level, quadruple the Strength bonus. The sword saint may always take 10 on any Strength checks. |
| Fast Movement (Ex) | — | A sword saint that selects this talent increases his base speed by 10 ft. |
| Focused Strength (Ex) | Sword Saint 8 | A sword saint with this talent adds his Strength modifier to his Focus Sword damage in addition to his Charisma modifier. |
| Improved Swordplay (Ex) | Sword Saint 6 | A sword saint is able to produce an additional swordskill at a -5 penalty to attack rolls as a full-round action (if a swordskill doesn't have an attack roll, it instead suffers a -1 to DCs). |
| Man Down (Ex) | — | Once per round, when an ally is knocked unconscious or killed, the sword saint may move towards them as a free action usable outside of his turn. Once per encounter, the sword saint may also retrieve and use an item on the downed ally as part of this action, even if his hands are occupied. This ability’s actions don’t provoke attacks of opportunity. |
| Melee Defense (Ex) | — | When wielding a melee weapon, a sword saint gains a +1 shield bonus to his AC. This shield bonus stacks with that granted by any shield he wields. If fighting with two weapons and no shields, he gains a +2 shield bonus to his AC instead. |
| Melee Power (Ex) | — | A sword saint with this talent adds +2 to damage with all melee weapons he wields. |
| Melee Tenacity (Ex) | — | A sword saint with this talent may reroll 1s for damage with all weapon dice with all melee weapons he wields. |
| Mighty Swordskill (Ex) | Melee Power sword saint talent | A sword saint with this talent adds +2 damage to his Focus Sword damage. |
| Offensive Verbiage (Ex) | Antagonize feat | When using the Antagonize feat, you can use the same check against all enemies within a 30-ft.-radius as a full-round action. Talents or feats that reduce the action cost of Antagonize have no effect on this ability. |
| Parry (Ex) | Sword Saint 4, Melee Defense | The sword saint can negate a melee attack by rolling an opposed attack roll, DC = the opponent's attack roll. This uses one of the sword saint's attacks of opportunity (if he has more with Combat Reflexes) for the round in which it is used. He receives a -5 penalty to his attack roll every time he uses this after the first. He must declare the use of this maneuver after the creature’s attack is announced, but before its attack roll is made. He must have a melee weapon in hand, and he must be aware of his foe and not flat-footed. |
| Provocative (Ex) | — | The sword saint adds (2 + half of his sword saint level, rounded down) as a bonus to Intimidate checks to Antagonize. |
| Reaching Form (Ex) | — | Select a swordskill form. The sword saint increases the range of all swordskills of that form by 15 feet. This talent does not affect the size of burst effect swordskills, but does affect line effect swordskills. This talent can be selected multiple times. Each time it’s selected the sword saint chooses a different swordskill form. |
| Riposte (Ex) | Sword Saint 6, Melee Defense, Parry | Once per encounter, as an immediate action, a sword saint may make a melee attack against an opponent whose attack the sword saint successfully parried this round. |
| Saint's Vigilance (Ex) | — | The sword saint gains Endurance as a bonus feat. If he already has that feat, he may select another feat for which he meets the prerequisites which lists Endurance as a prerequisite. In addition, he may sleep in medium or heavy armor without becoming fatigued, he requires half as much sleep as normal, and can survive twice as long without food and water before needing to make checks. Finally, the penalty for Perception checks made while the sword saint is sleeping is halved. |
| Specialized Form (Ex) | — | Select a swordskill form. The sword saint increases the DC of all swordskills of that form by 1. This talent can be selected multiple times. Each time it’s selected the sword saint chooses a different swordskill form. |
| Steel Headbutt (Ex) | — | While wearing medium or heavy armor, a sword saint can deliver a headbutt with his helm as part of a full attack action. This headbutt is in addition to his normal attacks, and is made using the sword saint’s base attack bonus – 5. A helmet headbutt deals 1d3 points of damage if the sword saint is wearing medium armor, or 1d4 points of damage if he is wearing heavy armor (1d2 and 1d3, respectively, for Small creatures), plus an amount of damage equal to half the sword saint’s Strength modifier. Treat this attack as a weapon attack made using the same special material (if any) as the armor. The armor’s enhancement bonus does not modify the headbutt attack, but the helm can be enchanted as a separate weapon. |
| Swordman's Training | — | This talent may be taken multiple times and grants the sword saint a bonus feat he qualifies for from the following options: • Armor Focus, Weapon Focus, Antagonize, Combat Reflexes, Bodyguard, Endurance, Diehard, Vital Strike, Improved Critical and any combat feat that lists those feats as prerequisites. • Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, Provoke, Stand Still, Combat Patrol, Intimidating Prowess, Martial Focus, Weapon Adept, Modified Weapon Proficiency. • Proficiency feats for any of the following: Armor, any weapon in the Light Blades or Heavy Blades fighter weapon group. |
| Tempered Will (Ex) | — | The sword saint may reroll a failed Will save. This power is used as an immediate action after the first save is attempted, but before the results are revealed by the GM. The sword saint must take the second result, even if it is worse. This power can only be used once per encounter. |
| Tenacious Swordskill (Ex) | Melee Tenacity sword saint talent | The sword saint may reroll all 1s for damage from swordskills. |
| Threat Control (Ex) | — | The sword saint gains the Antagonize feat as a bonus feat; additionally, if the sword saint fails an Intimidate skill check with the Antagonize feat, he may attempt the check again against the same creature. |
| Uncanny Dodge (Ex) | Sword Saint 6 | The sword saint can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He cannot be caught flat-footed, even if the attacker is invisible. He still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A sword saint with this ability can still lose his Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action against him. If a sword saint already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead. |
| Unexpected Strike (Ex) | — | The sword saint can make an attack of opportunity against a foe that moves into any square threatened by the sword saint, regardless of whether or not that movement would normally provoke an attack of opportunity. This power can only be used once per encounter. |
Sword Saint Advanced Talents
Starting at 12th level, a sword saint gains one advanced sword saint talent or can pick a sword saint talent. He gains an additional sword saint talent for every 2 levels of sword saint attained after 12th level. Unless noted, a sword saint cannot select an individual talent more than once.
Table: Advanced Sword Saint Talents
| Sword Saint Advanced Talent | Prerequisites | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Adaptable Training (Ex) | — | The sword saint gains 1 extra skill point per level in sword saint. This talent may be selected four times. |
| Additional Perfected Skill (Ex) | Perfected Skill class feature, Additional Practiced Skill sword saint talent | The sword saint can pick an additional swordskill that he has chosen with the Additional Practiced Skill sword saint talent and now gains its Perfected effect. This talent can be selected multiple times, each time selecting a swordskill selected by Additional Practiced Skill sword saint talent. |
| Advanced Specialized Form (Ex) | Specialized Form sword saint talent | Select a swordskill form chosen with specialized form. The sword saint increases the DC of all swordskills of that form by an additional 1. This talent can be selected multiple times. Each time it’s selected the sword saint chooses a different swordskill form from which was chosen with specialized form. |
| Advanced Swordplay (Ex) | Improved Swordplay sword saint talent | The sword saint is able to produce a third swordskill at a -10 penalty to attack rolls (or -2 to Dcs if no attack roll). |
| Armed Maneuver (Ex) | — | The sword saint chooses a combat maneuver - he adds his Charisma modifier as a bonus to all checks for that maneuver. If the sword saint attempts that maneuver without provoking, he adds the enhancement bonus of a wielded weapon from the Light Blades or Heavy Blades fighter weapon group to the check. This talent may be taken multiple times to apply it to more maneuvers. |
| Armor Specialization (Ex) | — | While wearing armor, the sword saint increases its AC bonus by (1/4 of his sword saint level, rounded down, capped at +5). |
| Armored Sprint (Ex) | — | The sword saint gains Run as a bonus feat. He ignores movement penalties of medium and heavy armor, and can choose to count medium armor as medium or light, and heavy armor as heavy or medium, whichever is more beneficial, for any sake. |
| Devastating Melee Smash (Ex) | Melee Power sword saint talent | Once per encounter, before making the sword saint's attack roll, he may choose to add his sword saint levels to damage with a melee weapon. If he misses, this attempt is wasted. This talent may be selected multiple times, each time granting one additional attempt per encounter. |
| Ferocity (Ex) | Diehard feat | A sword saint that selects this talent may continue fighting without penalty until his hit points reach -10 + his Constitution score. |
| Heroic Assault (Ex) | Improved Critical feat | The sword saint can choose to take cumulative –2 penalties on all attack rolls to increase their critical threat range by 1 per -2 penalty imposed, up to a maximum of a -10 penalty and increase by 5. This bonus is applied after doubling critical threat range (such as from Improved Critical or Keen), and after any other such bonuses. |
| Hustle (Ex) | Fast Movement sword saint talent | Whenever the sword saint would be allowed to take a ‘5 ft. step’ he may take a ‘10 ft. step’ instead. Any ability, effect, feat, or rule that applies to a ‘5 ft. step’ now applies when he takes a ‘10 ft. step’. |
| Improved Fast Movement (Ex) | Fast Movement sword saint talent | A sword saint that selects this talent increases his base speed by 10 ft. |
| Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex) | Uncanny Dodge class feature or sword saint talent | The sword saint can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a thief the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more thief levels than the target does. If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from another class, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum thief level required to flank the character. |
| Indomitable (Ex) | Saint's Vigilance sword saint talent | This talent allows a sword saint to add his Constitution modifier to his Will saving throws instead of his Wisdom. |
| Item Mastery | — | The sword saint gains an item mastery feat as a bonus feat, which functions with any magic weapon he wields, even if the magic weapon does not meet the feat's normal requirements. He must meet all of the feat's prerequisites. |
| Knockout Training (Ex) | — | The sword saint takes no penalties on attack rolls when attempting to deal nonlethal damage. The sword saint may deal nonlethal damage even to enemies that are normally immune to it. He also bypasses any resistances that specifically apply to nonlethal damage (normal resistances unaffected). The sword saint may also choose to make his swordskills deal nonlethal damage. |
| Protect the Meek (Ex) | — | Once per turn, as an immediate action, the sword saint can move up to his speed (or his ridden mount's speed). This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. After moving this way, he may perform one attack against a target within range. The sword saint must end his movement adjacent to an enemy or ally. Using this ability staggers the sword saint until the end of his next turn, and it cannot be used while staggered. |
| Reactionary (Ex) | Saint's Vigilance sword saint talent | This talent allows a sword saint to add his Constitution modifier to his Reflex saving throws instead of his Dexterity. |
| Riposte Mastery (Ex) | Sword Saint 14, Melee Defense, Parry, Riposte sword saint talents | As per riposte, however, the sword saint may make an additional riposte for each attack he has successfully parried, however, all ripostes after the first receive a -5 penalty to his attack roll for each time used after the first one |
| Second Wind (Ex) | — | Once per encounter, as a standard action, the sword saint may regain a number of hit points equal to twice his sword saint level plus his Constitution modifier. Any hit points he would gain from this ability over his maximum total are lost. |
| Staredown (Ex) | Provocative sword saint talent | The sword saint gains the Dazzling Display feat, ignoring prerequisites, and may use it regardless of which weapon/s are wielded. He may use the Dazzling Display feat as a standard or move action. |