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Shou disciples are martial artists who have studied or observed the monks of Kara-Tur and seek to emulate their style.

Requirements

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shou disciples are proficient with martial weapons and light armor, as well as with the following monk weapons: kama, nunchaku, and siangham. Light armor does not interfere with any of a Shou disciple's class abilities, but shields and medium or heavy armor do. When wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield, the Shou disciple loses his class dodge bonus and any flurry of blows ability.

Dodge Bonus (Ex): Shou disciples are highly trained at dodging blows. When a Shou disciple designates an opponent for his Dodge feat, this bonus replaces the normal +1 dodge bonus to AC against that opponent. A condition that makes him lose his Dexterity bonus to AC also makes him lose this dodge bonus.

Unarmed Strike (Ex): As the monk ability, except that a Shou disciple deals unarmed damage as shown on Table 2—10. A Shou disciple with levels in the monk class can take the better of the two damage ranges, or he can add his Shou disciple levels to his monk levels and use the unarmed damage of a monk of the resulting level if that produces a better result.

Martial Flurry (Ex): At 3rd level, a Shou disciple gains the ability to use any light melee weapon for his flurry of blows, not just special monk weapons. At 5th level, the Shou disciple may use any melee weapon for his flurry of blows.

Bonus Feat: At 2nd and 4th level, a Shou disciple gets a bonus feat, which must be drawn from the following list: Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Endurance, Expertise, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse, and Weapon Specialization. The character must meet all the feat's prerequisites to select it.

Advancement