Profound Insight


Profound Insight [Defense, Lore, Arcane]

The mind is far more powerful than most imagine. The subconscious mind gives us insight when a problem seems insurmountable, nudges us when we're unaware of a looming threat, and clears your vision when nothing seems certain. It speaks even louder when the conscious mind is quieted, usually through sensory deprivation.

 

This mastery may be taken as an Arcane, Defense, or Lore feat. If taken as a Defense feat, it represents giving up conscious control and learning to fight using only your instincts. If taken as a Lore feat, it represents the use of powerful meditation techniques learned and practiced over time. If taken as an Arcane feat, it represents looking forward into time itself and selecting a single certainty from the infinite possibility of the future. Note that EM4 has three forms, one for each mastery category. You may take this mastery multiple times, as long as you have at least Mastery 4 in the appropriate category; it is not required that you take the BM again.

 

Base Mastery 1:

You may use Wisdom instead of your key ability for attack rolls with ranged (Dexterity) and melee weapons (Strength). You abandon conscious intention and let your intuition select the one future that will come to pass, showing you just where to strike.

 

Expanded Mastery 2:

Allowing your expanded consciousness to act in concert with your reflexes, you learn to place yourself precisely where your enemy doesn't expect. Whenever you make an AoO, you may declare it to be a Profound Strike. A profound strike gains no Str bonus to damage, but it forces the enemy to succeed at an opposed base attack check or lose their active defense against your AoO. Profound strikes still use an AoO attempt as normal. If you are blind, you gain a +4 bonus on the base attack check.

 

Expanded Mastery 3:

Select a single opponent. You match your fighting style to theirs, unconsciously countering every move they make. You gain a +1 insight bonus to Defense against that opponent. This bonus is neither active nor passive. You may change the target of this ability once per round as a free action. If you are blind, you do not have to select a target - you gain this bonus against all opponents.

Special: Note that the benefits for expanded mastery levels 5, 7, and 9 are all identical. They are listed as separate mastery abilities because you can't take the same ability more than once. However, their effects all stack.

 

Expanded Mastery 4 (Defense):

Anytime you would lose active defense, you gain a +2 insight bonus to Defense, as your visions give you a glimpse of the unexpected attack. This bonus is neither active nor passive. This does not in any way reduce or negate the normal effects of losing active defense. If you are blind, you gain a +4 insight bonus instead.

 

Expanded Mastery 4 (Lore):

By setting your unconscious mind to a task, you can overcome great obstacles. If you meditate on a subject for 8 continuous hours, you may make a single Knowledge check at a +20 bonus. You may even make the Knowledge check in a field you do not have, without a limit on the DCs you can make.

Normal: For knowledge fields that you do not have, you add only your Int bonus to the check, and cannot learn anything with a DC higher than 10.

 

Expanded Mastery 4 (Arcane):

The myriad visions of the future contain all possibilities. You see yourself fail miserably, succeed immensely, and everything in between. Using this foreknowledge, you can avoid the worst outcome of any situation. You make Take 5 on any skill check. This functions exactly like Take 10, except you are treated as having rolled a 5. As well, you may Take 5 at any time; distraction does not stop you as it does when you Take 10. If you are blind, you may instead Take 10 on any skill check, regardless of distraction or injury.

 

Expanded Mastery 5:

Prereq: EM3

The insight bonus granted by EM3 increases by +1, and you may apply it to an additional target.

 

Expanded Mastery 6:

You allow your insight to guide your style, rather than dominate it. Apply your Wisdom modifier and your Strength or Dexterity modifiers, as appropriate, to melee and ranged attack rolls.

 

Expanded Mastery 7:

Prereq: EM3

The insight bonus granted by EM3 increases by +1, and you may apply it to an additional target.

 

Expanded Mastery 8:

Your inner eye delivers visions of conquest and death, allowing you to strike exactly where it will cause the most damage. You may apply your Wisdom modifier as a bonus to damage with melee and ranged attacks. You gain the bonus to ranged attacks even if your weapon does not normally grant a Strength bonus to damage.

 

Expanded Mastery 9:

Prereq: EM3

The insight bonus granted by EM3 increases by +1, and you may apply it to an additional target.

 

Expanded Mastery 10:

Expanding your inner vision to its limit, you gain a complete understanding of the flow of the next few seconds of a battle. You may delay without losing your place in the initiative order. For example, if the original initiative count had you going on count 2, a monster on count 5, and another player on count 10, you may delay until count 6 or even count 11, and then act again on count 2 in the next round.

 

 

 

Note: Many of the feats in this mastery grant additional abilities if you are blind. For the purposes of this mastery, you must be blind for at least a full round before you can gain the additional benefit. You may simply close your eyes to be counted as blind, but you must remain blind for at least one full round before you gain the extra benefits from these feats.