Mage Masher (Brawler)
Popular culture tells us that the natural enemy of spellcasters is the brawny, half-naked barbarian who takes out his foes with his bare hands. While I personally think that martial characters get much more of a bad rap than they deserve, as far as their effectiveness is concerned, it’s true that they don’t have a lot of ways of dealing with an opponent that’s been buried in power-up spells. Well, no more! Today I give you an archetype for the brawler that can break down her opponent’s spells with her fists.
New Brawler Archetype
Mage Masher
Mage mashers are brawlers who specialize in fighting spellcasters. Through rigorous and mysterious methods, they have honed their bodies into weapons that can cut through spells in the same way that a sword slices through a body, severing the magic clean from the flesh.
Dispelling Strike (Su): A mage masher’s unarmed strikes are able to break not only her opponent’s bones, but also their spells. Whenever a mage masher makes an unarmed strike, she may choose to make it a dispelling strike. She must declare that she is using this ability before the attack is made, and if the attack misses, the use is wasted. If the attack hits, the target suffers damage as normal, and the mage masher may attempt to dispel a single spell effect that the target is currently affected by. The mage masher can specify which spell effect to target, if she is aware of them. Otherwise, the attempt affects the spell with the highest spell level. If two or more effects are tied for spell level, determine randomly between them. The mage masher makes a dispel check (1d20 + the mage masher’s class level vs. DC 11 + the spell’s caster level). If the check is successful, the spell effect is dispelled, as though with dispel magic.
At 6th level, the mage masher can select a second spell effect to dispel each time she uses this ability. She makes only a single dispel check and compares the result to the DC for each of the two spell effects.
At 10th level, the mage masher gains a +4 bonus on all dispel checks made with this ability.
At 12th level, the mage masher can select a third spell effect to dispel each time she uses this ability.
The mage masher can use this ability a number of times each day equal to 3 + 1/2 her class level. At 20th level, she can use this ability at will, and all unarmed strikes that she makes are automatically affected by this ability, unless she chooses not to use it.
This ability replaces the martial flexibility class feature.
Shattering Strike (Su): Beginning at 16th level, the mage masher gains the ability to deliver a special shattering strike, which temporarily destroys magical protections the target may be benefitting from. As a standard action, the mage masher makes a single melee attack with her unarmed strike at her full base attack bonus. If the attack hits, the target loses any deflection bonus to AC he may possess for one minute. Additionally, if the target is currently benefitting from an armor, natural armor, profane, sacred, or shield bonus to AC that is the result of a spell, spell-like ability, supernatural ability, or magic item, he loses the benefit of that bonus for one minute as well. This does not apply to the armor bonus granted by a suit of magic armor, or the shield bonus granted by a magic shield, but does apply to other magic items that grant such bonuses, such as a pair of bracers of armor.
This ability replaces the awesome blow class feature.
Improved Shattering Strike (Su): At 20th level, whenever a mage masher successfully uses her shattering strike class feature, the target suffers an amount of additional damage equal to 2d6 per point of AC bonus suppressed by the ability (to a maximum of 10d6 additional damage, for 5 points of armor, deflection, natural armor, profane, sacred, or shield bonus to AC negated by the attack).
This ability replaces the improved awesome blow class feature.