User:MisterSinister/Martial Artist's Manual (3.5e Sourcebook)/Introduction

Introduction
Martial arts. Those words, by themselves, conjure a world of fantastic fighting styles, each less believable than the last. Many stories, movies and other sources of inspiration have one or more characters that have gained amazing capabilities (both in and out of combat) through nothing other than hard work, training and some innate power of their own, that doesn't rely on formal study of magic or the belief in a deity. Martial arts bring to us images of wise masters, plucky young adventurers keen to prove their capabilities, resistance to invading forces with better equipment and training, and of course, the ability to kill with only one's bare hands. In a co-operative storytelling game, it isn't in any way strange to want to replicate such things.

Except this is DnD, and if you're not a spellcaster, you suck.

The problems in terms of power with the non-casting adventurers in DnD have been thoroughly described elsewhere, and this introduction won't retread them. While works like the Tome of Prowess have helped address this gap, it is still a fact that ordinary combat with something like a fighter or barbarian often degenerates into a litany of 'I try to hit him again', with very little in the way of ability differentiation. This problem is even worse outside of combat. Both are in stark contrast to spellcasters, who have a range of options for both, many of which are interesting and thematic.

This sourcebook seeks to address this problem head-on. It provides a range of martial arts, as well as improved classes that use them and new feats for their use. It is also fully-integrated with the Tome of Prowess, and thus, must be used together with it.

Goals of this sourcebook

 * To create a system of abilities for Very High-balance games that allows the creation and use of fantastic martial artists in games of all levels.
 * To give action diversity and out-of-combat capability to non-spellcasting classes in a way that complements the Tome of Prowess.
 * To allow a natural progression to higher levels of play by the abilities provided.