When I homebrew, I often try to fill what I feel are unfulfilled or under-explored. This may be one reason why I have avoided making Warlock homebrew, as there’s really no shortage of those.

One under-explored arena is Non-Magic Martial Options for Martial Classes. Not a day goes by when a new homebrew spell is made publicly available. Spellcaster options are always increasing. But, outside of subclass options, Martial Classes are for the most part stuck swinging their Extra Attacks.

Combat Arts is my attempt at rectifying that. They sacrifice damage for utility, and makes weapon type matter more, so you will finally have a reason to carry multiple types of weapons beyond melee and ranged. As you can see by the table below, there are currently 17 At-will Combat Arts. However, there are only 4 Combat Arts available to view. I will post more as I develop them.

To create a more Narrative foundation, I decided to write these Combat Arts as a record of the fictional character Mushin Miyashina history of battles. Each Combat Art will be accompanied by a short story, and sometimes an creature statblock, about where or how Mushin Miyashina encountered it.

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Combat Art Battle Record

Welcome to the Mushin Miyashina Battle Record, a collection of memories describing unique battles and warriors, and the martial techniques I encountered within them. In my desire for power, I fought desperately time after time, tempering my blade in the blood of my foes. My school’s motto is “Victory by any means”, which means my school has no hard and fast rules. Explore the world, dance on the edge of death, and take your opponent’s skills for your own.

Combat Arts

Combat arts are martial techniques and weapon skills available to the following classes: Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue. When for the first time a character gains their first level in one of these classes, they learn one Combat Art. They learn an additional Combat Art at the 2nd and 3rd level of that class, for a total of 3 Combat Arts at 3rd level. Afterwards, whenever they reach their subsequent subclass level in that same class, they learn 1 additional Combat Art. For example, both a Fighter and a Rogue will know 3 Combat Arts by 3rd level, but a Fighter will learn its fourth Combat Art at 7th level while a Rogue will learn theirs at 9th.

Whenever they gain a level in one of these classes, they can replace one of their Combat Arts with a different one.

Combat Art At-Will

Combat Arts with the “at-will power” tag can be used as frequently as one wants, but any one at-will Combat Art can only be used once per turn and can only be applied to weapon attacks made via the Attack Action.

Each Combat Art can only be used with certain types of weapons. You meet a combat art’s prerequisite when you make a weapon attack using the Attack Action with a weapon listed under Weapon Type. If the weapon type says “No Restriction”, then you can use any kind of weapon attack for that Combat Art. Each Combat Art can be used once per turn, and only on weapon attacks that would normally apply a positive ability modifier to weapon damage.

When you take the Attack Action, you can use certain Combat Arts if you are attacking with a weapon of an appropriate type. The type of weapon required is described under the tag Weapon Type. Each Combat Art can be used once per turn, and only on weapon attacks that would normally apply a positive ability modifier to weapon damage.