Open Hand Sphere

Main > Combat > Martial Spheres > Open Hand Sphere

Masters of unarmed combat, Open Hand practitioners are known for their varied styles and unorthodox combat technique. Open Hand practitioners are unarmed fighters who deal additional damage with their unarmed strikes as described in the unarmed strike practitioner table.

Associated Feat: Improved Unarmed Strike.

Practitioners of the Open Hand sphere gain the following abilities:

Sweep

You may attempt a trip combat maneuver with a -2 penalty as a move action, although you may not use a manufactured weapon to make this trip attempt.

This does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Unarmed Combatant

Practitioners with the Unarmed Combatant ability, deal additional damage with their unarmed strikes based on the total number of unarmed spheres and talents they possess, as shown in the following table. The number of talents stack from different spheres granting the Unarmed Combatant ability.

Level	Damage (Small Practitioner)	Damage (Medium Practitioner)	Damage (Large Practitioner)
1-3 talents	1d3	1d4	1d6
3-7 talents	1d4	1d6	1d8
8-11 talents	1d6	1d8	2d6
12-15 talents	1d8	2d6	3d6
16-19 talents	2d6	2d8	3d8
20+ talents	2d8	2d10	4d8

Practitioners from a class that already grants an unarmed damage progression, such as the brawler or monk, may treat their unarmed strike as one size category larger if they have 3 or more talents in an unarmed combat sphere, but receive no further benefits.

In addition, any practitioner with at least 1 talent in an unarmed sphere gains the benefits of the Improved Unarmed Strike feat.

Base Talents

Open Hand Talents (Up and Down)

Capoeira Spin

Whenever you make an attack with an unarmed strike while prone, the penalty to attack rolls is reduced by 2.

In addition, you may spend an immediate action to stand up from being prone without provoking an attack of opportunity as a part of an attack action made with an unarmed strike, dealing an additional +2 damage.

At +10 base attack bonus, this additional damage increases to +5 and you no longer take a penalty on attack rolls made with unarmed strikes while prone.

Fading Slide

When you have martial focus, when a creature makes a melee attack or combat maneuver against you, you may spend an immediate action to make a touch attack against that creature, dealing damage equal to your practitioner modifier + your base attack bonus.

Regardless of if your attack is successful or not, you then immediately fall prone (you may not use this talent if you are unable to become prone or already prone).

At +10 base attack bonus, this talent instead deals damage equal to your unarmed strike.

Sliding Heelkick

Whenever you make a successful attack with an unarmed strike at the end of a charge, you may attempt to trip the target of your attack as a free action. Regardless of if your trip attempt is successful or not, you then immediately fall prone (you may not use this talent if you are unable to become prone or already prone).

Open Hand Talents (Trip and Prone)

Axe Kick

When making an attack action, attack of opportunity, or additional attack granted by a class feature or talent with an unarmed strike, you may add 1.5x your Strength bonus on the damage roll rather than just your Strength bonus (this talent does not apply to off-hand attacks or other attacks where a half Strength modifier is specified).

On attacks targeting prone creatures, you instead deal 2x your Strength modifier on the damage roll for your unarmed strikes.

Counterbalance

Whenever a creature within your threatened area misses you with a melee attack, you may expend your martial focus to perform a trip attempt against that creature as an immediate action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

If the creature’s attack roll was penalized by an ability such as Power Attack, that creature’s CMD to resist this trip attempt suffers an equal penalty.

Grasping Hand

Once per round when you make a successful unarmed strike against a prone creature using the attack action, you may attempt a grapple combat maneuver against that creature with a -2 penalty as an immediate action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Judo Throw

As long as you have martial focus, you may make a trip attempt as a standard action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity. If this trip attempt is successful, you may choose for the creature to land in any square adjacent to you. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and you cannot throw the creature into a space occupied by other creatures.

You may expend your martial focus as a free action when you trip a creature with this talent to deal damage equal to your unarmed strike.

In addition, for every 5 points your trip attempt exceeds the target’s CMD, you deal +1d10 bludgeoning damage to them.

At +10 base attack bonus, you may instead choose for the creature to land in any square within your natural reach.

Snap Kick

Whenever you succeed on a trip combat maneuver against a creature, they provoke an attack of opportunity from you (you can choose to wait until the creature is prone before resolving this attack of opportunity). If your attack of opportunity is successful, the creature must make a successful Reflex save or become staggered until the end of their next turn.

This attack of opportunity considers “whenever a creature lands prone” and “whenever you succeed on a trip combat maneuver” to be part of the same trigger, and you can not take more than one attack of opportunity due to this circumstance.

Sweeping Kick

Whenever you make a successful unarmed strike against a creature using the attack action, you may make a trip attempt against that creature with a -2 penalty as an immediate action that doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity.

Open Hand Talents (Debuffer)

Joint Lock

Whenever you deal damage with an unarmed strike to a grappled creature, that creature gains the entangled condition for 1 round.

At +10 base attack bonus, the duration increases to 2 rounds.

Shattering Palm

The first time you make a successful disarm or sunder attempt in a round using an attack action with an unarmed strike, you can make an additional disarm or sunder attempt as a free action which does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

Also as long as you have martial focus, your unarmed strikes gain the sunder and disarm weapon special properties.

Suppressive Rush

As a special attack action, you may expend your martial focus to make two attacks with your unarmed strike, targeting the creature’s touch AC and dealing 1/2 damage on a successful attack (making more than one successful attack with this talent still only counts as a single successful attack for the purpose of feats and class features which grant bonuses upon landing multiple successful attacks); each attack after the first is made as a free action.

The creature may choose to automatically block all of these attacks, in which case your unarmed strikes automatically miss, but that creature then takes a -2 penalty to all attack and damage rolls until they take a Total Defense action or until they are not subject to any hostile actions for one round.

For every 4 points of base attack bonus you possess, you may make an additional unarmed strike as part of this attack action, and the penalty that creature takes for blocking your Suppressive Rush increases by -2.

Waving Hand

You may spend a swift action to cause a creature damaged by your unarmed strike to gain the battered condition until the end of your next turn.

Also as long as you have martial focus, your unarmed strikes gain the distracting and performance weapon special properties.

Open Hand Talents (Other Attacks)

Hurricane Kick

As a full-round action, you may move up to 10 ft. in any direction (this movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity); each time you move 5 ft. while using this talent, if a creature is within your reach, you may make an unarmed attack against them with a -2 penalty; you may only make a single attack against a creature with this talent.

For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess, you may move an additional 5 feet.

Kick-Off

Whenever you make a successful attack with an unarmed strike using an attack action, you may spend a swift action to move 10 ft. away from the target of your attack. This movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the target of your attack.

For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess, you may move an additional 5 ft. with this talent.

Spinning Heel Kick

Whenever you make a successful unarmed strike against a creature using the attack action, you may make an additional attack with a -2 penalty against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within your reach.

Open Hand Talents (Damage Types)

Iron Fist

Your unarmed strikes ignore an amount of hardness equal to 1/2 your base attack bonus (minimum 1) (this stacks with similar effects).

You can take this talent a second time, instead allowing your unarmed strikes to ignore an amount of hardness equal to your base attack bonus.

Mystic Fists

When you have martial focus, your unarmed strikes are treated as though they were magic for the purpose of damage reduction and damaging incorporeal creatures.

For every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess, you can select a material or component of your alignment, treating your unarmed strikes as the chosen material or alignment for the purpose of damage reduction. Once chosen, these choices cannot be changed.

Tear Flesh

You may deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage with your unarmed strikes, rather than only bludgeoning damage, chosen each time you make an unarmed attack.

Whenever you deal unarmed strike damage to a target as an attack action, you may spend a swift action to rip the damaged creature’s flesh; the creature takes 1 bleed damage and has their natural armor reduced by 1 (minimum 0) for as long as they are suffering this bleed damage.

For every 6 base attack bonus you possess, the bleed damage and natural armor reduction caused by this talent increase by 1.

Open Hand Talents (Other)

Focusing Breath

As a move action, you may regain your martial focus and end the battered condition, if you have it.

Greater Trip

You gain a +1 competence bonus to your trip combat maneuver checks, as well as to your CMD vs. that maneuver. This bonus does not stack with the bonus to this maneuver provided by the Improved or Greater Trip feats.

The bonus increases by +1 for 4 points of base attack bonus you possess.

Associated Feat: Improved Trip.

Advanced Talents

Open Hand Talents (Other Attacks)

Air Cannon

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +5.

You can make unarmed strikes with such force that it creates howling winds. As a standard action, you may expend your martial focus to create a cone of air. This deals bludgeoning damage equal to twice your base unarmed strike damage die to all creatures within a close range cone (25 ft. + 5 ft. per 2 base attack bonus). Targets are allowed a Reflex save for half damage.

Open Hand Talents (Damage Types)

Air Cannon

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.

You may spend a move action to rapidly spin in place, generating heat and friction that cause the next unarmed strike you make before the start of your next turn to deal an additional amount of fire damage equal to your base attack bonus. While this talent is active, the hellish flames around your limbs cause your unarmed strikes to be treated as magical weapons when attacking incorporeal creatures; if your unarmed strikes would already be magical, such as because you are currently wearing an amulet of mighty fists, they instead deal full damage against incorporeal creatures.

Creatures killed while this talent is active require those attempting to resurrect them to make a caster level check equal to 10 + your base attack bonus or fail.

This is a supernatural effect.

God Hand

Prerequisites: Mystic Fists, base attack bonus +10.

Your unarmed strikes cause all fast healing and regeneration a creature may possess to cease functioning for 1 round.

Whenever you deal damage to a creature or object with your unarmed strike using an attack action, if that ability would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, it is instantly killed and transformed into fine dust. If you deal damage in this manner to an object, reducing the object to 0 hp disintegrates the object (or a 10 ft. cube, if the object is particularly large).

This is a supernatural effect.

Soul Sunder

Prerequisites: Mystic Fists, base attack bonus +15.

When making an attack action with an unarmed strike, you may expend your martial focus. Any creature struck must make a Will save or become ethereal for 1 round per point of base attack bonus you possess. They may attempt a new Will save each round as a full-round action to end this effect early.

Once a creature has become ethereal via this talent, you may not affect them with it again for 24 hours, though other creatures may use it on them normally. This is a supernatural effect.

Open Hand Talents (Other)

Yoga Strikes

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +5.

On your turn, whenever you use the attack action to attack with an unarmed strike or perform a combat maneuver, you may spend a move action to treat your reach as being 5 ft. larger than it actually is for every 5 points of base attack bonus you possess.

Drawbacks

Sphere-specific drawbacks must be chosen when a practitioner first gains the associated sphere, and grant the practitioner an extra combat talent in the prerequisite sphere.

Drawbacks may be removed in place of gaining a new talent through your class progression or by taking the Extra Combat Talent feat. You cannot gain multiple drawbacks that remove or augment the same ability.

Savage Combatant

You do not gain the sweep ability. You gain Tear Flesh with this drawback.

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