Brute
Brute.png

Brutes like to throw their weight around, jostling and battering foes to move them about the battlefield. When you gain the Brute sphere, you gain proficiency with the Athletics skill. If you are already proficient, you instead gain a bonus talent from this sphere.

All practitioners of the Brute sphere gain the following ability:

Brutal Shove

Whenever you shove a creature, you can move the target an additional 5 feet per 5 points they fail the contested check by, even if you chose to knock them prone instead of moving them. Additionally, if the shove is successful, the target suffers bludgeoning damage equal to your Strength modifier.

As a special attack, you may perform a shove and apply the effects of one (manhandle) talent you know to that creature.

Combat Rule Reminders

Disarm

A creature can use a weapon attack to knock a weapon or another item from a target’s grasp. The attacker makes an attack roll contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) check or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. If the attacker wins the contest, the attack causes no damage or other ill effect, but the defender drops the item.

The attacker has disadvantage on its attack roll if the target is holding the item with two or more hands. The target has advantage on its ability check if it is larger than the attacking creature or disadvantage if it is smaller.

Overrun

When a creature tries to move through a hostile creature’s space, the mover can try to force its way through by overrunning the hostile creature. As an action or a bonus action, the mover makes a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the hostile creature’s Strength (Athletics) check. The creature attempting the overrun has advantage on this check if it is larger than the hostile creature or disadvantage if it is smaller. If the mover wins the contest, it can move through the hostile creature’s space once this turn.

Shove Aside

A creature can use the shove action to force a target to the side rather than away. The attacker has disadvantage on its Strength (Athletics) check when it does so. If that check is successful, the attacker moves the target 5 feet to a different space within its reach.

Brute Basic Talents

Manhandle Talents

Dizzy Spin (manhandle)

The target must pass a Constitution saving throw or take disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks until the end of their next turn.

Humiliate (manhandle)

You flip the creature into positions where it can’t effectively move. The target must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or have its movement reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn.

Perpetual Motion (manhandle)

You may immediately make a second shove against the same target, although you cannot add (manhandles) to this additional shove.

Robbery (manhandle)

You may attempt to disarm the target or steal something from them with Sleight of Hand. If you possess the Scoundrel sphere, you can apply a (trick) talent to this steal.

Takedown (manhandle)

You may make a grapple check against the target at the end of your shove if they are still in range.

Throw (manhandle)

You may expend your martial focus to throw the creature. The creature travels an additional 10 feet in any direction and must pass a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

Other Talents

Alternative Maneuvers

You do not suffer disadvantage when using the shove aside variant of shove. When making an overrun attempt, you may deal damage and apply a (manhandle) talent as if it were a brutal shove.

Break Defenses

Whenever you successfully shove a creature, the next attack made against that creature before the beginning of that creature’s turn has advantage.

Brutal Manhandle

When applying a (manhandle) talent, you may expend your martial focus to apply a second (manhandle) talent. You cannot apply the same (manhandle) twice with this talent.

Dominoes

When you use shove to push a creature into another creature, you may immediately make a free shove attempt to knock the second creature prone even if that creature is not within your reach. You cannot add a (manhandle) talent to this second shove.

Dropkick

If you end a long or high jump within reach of a creature, you gain advantage on the next shove you make against the target that round, provided you have moved at least 10 feet before or during the jump.

Focused Might

Whenever you successfully perform a shove, you may regain your martial focus as a bonus action.

Follow-Through

Whenever you damage a creature with a melee weapon attack, you may shove the target as a bonus action.

Get Over Here

When you control one end of a tether, such as holding the trailing end of a net or lasso, anchoring a rope swing onto a creature, or through the use of a Tether talent (see the Destruction, Telekinesis, or Universal (manabond) spheres in Spheres of Power), you may make shove attempts as if the tethered creature were within your reach. On a success, these shove attempts move the target closer to you instead of away, and even if using the shove aside variant you must move them at least diagonally in your direction. You may apply (manhandle) talents to these shoves, though any talents which require the target to be within your reach (such as the Robbery or Takedown talents) only function if the creature is brought within your natural reach.

Greater Brute

You add twice your proficiency bonus to Strength (Athletics) checks. This does not stack with similar effects.

Hammer

As long as you have martial focus, whenever you would shove a creature into a space occupied by a wall, creature, or object no more than one size smaller than the creature, the target of the shove stops its movement in the adjacent space and both the creature and the wall, other creature, or object suffer 1d6 bludgeoning damage. This damage is increased by 1d6 for every 5 feet the creature would have traveled beyond the wall, other creature, or object.

Muscular Surge

As a bonus action, you can psych yourself up to greater and greater heights of strength. For 1 minute, you may add your proficiency bonus to your Strength score when determining your carrying capacity, as well as to the number of feet you can leap when performing a running long jump. You may treat yourself as being one size larger when determining who you can shove and grapple.

You may end this effect early to gain advantage on one Strength check made to climb, swim, jump, or perform feats of strength such as breaking open a door, breaking bonds, or shoving over a statue. This cannot not apply to attack rolls nor contested rolls, such as checks made to shove.

You gain 1 level of exhaustion for 10 minutes after this effect ends. You cannot use this ability if you have any levels of exhaustion.

Shift Weight

When a creature fails on an attack roll or contested Strength check against you, you may expend your martial focus to shove that creature as a reaction.

Brute Legendary Talents

Soul Sunder (manhandle)

Prerequisites: Brute sphere, 15th level or higher.

The target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be hurled into the ethereal plane, becoming ethereal for a number of rounds equal to your proficiency bonus. They may attempt a new saving throw each round at the end of their turn to end this effect early. During this time, it can move in any direction. If it moves up or down, every foot of movement costs an extra foot. It can see and hear the plane it originated from, but everything there looks gray, and it can’t see anything more than 60 feet away.

While on the Ethereal Plane, it can only affect and be affected by other creatures on that plane. Creatures that aren’t on the Ethereal Plane can’t perceive it and can’t interact with it unless a special ability or magic has given them the ability to do so. It ignores all objects and effects that aren’t on the Ethereal Plane, allowing it to move through objects it perceives on the plane it originated from.

When the effect ends, it immediately returns to the plane it originated from in the spot it currently occupies. If it occupies the same spot as a solid object or creature when this happens, it is immediately shunted to the nearest unoccupied space that it can occupy and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet it is moved.

This ability has no effect if you use it while you are on the Ethereal Plane or a plane that doesn’t border it, such as one of the Outer Planes.

Once a creature has become ethereal via this talent, you may not affect them with it again until you complete a long rest. This is a magical effect.

Earthquake Stomp

Prerequisites: Brute sphere

As an action, you can stomp the ground so furiously that nearby creatures fall prone.

All creatures within 5 feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

The affected area increases its radius by an additional 5 feet at 5th level (10 feet), 11th level (15 feet), and 17th level (20 feet).

Terrain Trasher

Prerequisites: Brute sphere, 11th level or higher.

You may expend your martial focus as an action to grab a solid surface such as a wall, door, or floor within your reach and attempt to destroy it. Unsolid surfaces such as loose dirt cannot be broken in this fashion, nor surfaces made of iron or harder substances. If breaking a target thicker than 1 foot (such as trying to break through a castle’s outer wall or a mountain), you only break through 1 foot per use of this talent.

Make a DC 10 Strength check. If successful, you rip out a section from the wall, door, or floor the same size as yourself (roughly 5-ft diameter hole for a Medium creature).

Thunderous Clap

Prerequisites: Brute sphere, 5th level of higher.

You may expend your martial focus as an action to slam your palms together, creating a thunderous shockwave that blows down anything in its path. Creatures within a 30-foot sphere suffer 1d8+Strength modifier thunder damage (increasing by 1d8 at 5th level (2d8), 11th level (3d8), and 17th (4d8) level)) and are deafened for 1d4+1 rounds. A successful Constitution saving throw halves this damage and negates the deafened effect. All nonmagical sources of fire within the affected area are instantly extinguished.

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