Acupuncturist

The gentle art of acupuncture, when weaponized, can become a deadly art. This art demands little in the way of brawn- instead requiring a careful academic study of the body. Acupuncturist are as physicians, curing many ills while still inflicting maximum accuracy with their attacks. They can strike with the speed of a cobra and the precision of a scalpel.

Becoming a truly skilled acupuncturist takes decades of study, trial and error, and practicing before their art can become truly effective. Still, even a young acupuncturist should not be taken lightly. Initially an acupuncturist requires the use of needles but, as they mature in their art, they can project their own ki and impart the same effect as a needle with but a finger.

HIT DICE: D6

ROLE: Acupuncturists are delicate fighters but effective when used correctly. What they lack in the ability to inflict damage they more than make up for in their ability to incapacitate enemies. An acupuncturist requires a high Intelligence and Dexterity score.

ALIGNMENT: Any Non-Chaotic While not inherently lawful, an acupuncturist needs to exacting in their study

STARTING WEALTH: 3d6 × 10 gp (average 105 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

CLASS SKILLS: The acupuncturist’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), and Stealth (Dex).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier

CLASS FEATURES: The following are the class features of the acupuncturist.

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+0	+2	+2	Acupuncture strike, de qi, physician
2nd	+2	+0	+3	+3	Alternative medicine, bonus feat, de qi
3rd	+3	+1	+3	+3	De qi, ki pool
4th	+4	+1	+4	+4	De qi
5th	+5	+1	+4	+4	Acupressure, bonus feat, de qi
6th	+6/+1	+2	+5	+5	De qi
7th	+7/+2	+2	+5	+5	De qi
8th	+8/+3	+2	+6	+6	Bonus feat, de qi
9th	+9/+4	+3	+6	+6	De qi
10th	+10/+5	+3	+7	+7	De qi
11th	+11/+6/+1	+3	+7	+7	Bonus feat, de qi, precision
12th	+12/+7/+2	+4	+8	+8	De qi
13th	+13/+8/+3	+4	+8	+8	De qi
14th	+14/+9/+4	+4	+9	+9	Bonus feat, de qi
15th	+15/+10/+5	+5	+9	+9	De qi
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+5	+10	+10	De qi
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10	Bonus feat, de qi
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+11	De qi
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11	De qi
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12	De qi, fallen star strikes

WEAPON AND ARMOR PROFICIENCY

The class is proficient with all simple weapons and light armor. They are also proficient with darts as melee weapons (i.e they are improvised weapons that they do not take the normal penalty for).

ACUPUNCTURE STRIKE (EX)

Starting at 1st level, an acupuncturist can make an “acupuncture strike” in place of a normal attack. This causes them to strike with hyper-precision but inflicts little to no damage. This can be used as part of a fullround attack. When making an acupuncture strike it is a touch attack that uses the acupuncturist’s Dexterity modifier in place of their Strength modifier for all attack rolls. An acupuncture strike is a melee touch attack that always only deals 1 point of non-lethal piercing damage (unless otherwise noted). This damage cannot be increased by any means except by de qi effects. To make an acupuncture strike the acupuncturist must do so with a needle.

An acupuncture strike deals precision damage, and has no effect on creatures that are immune to precision damage. Critically hitting on an acupuncture strike does not increase the damage. Instead, the DC of any associated de qi effect increases by +4.

SIDEBAR: “NEEDLES” A needle is identical to a dart (which is fired from a blowgun).

DE QI (SU)

When an acupuncturist successfully hits their target with an acupuncture strike (even if they don’t deal damage) they can apply one de qi effect to the target. The creature receives a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 acupuncturist level + Intelligence modifier) to negate the effect. A creature suffering from a de qi effect receives a new Fortitude save as the end of each of their turns to end all ongoing de qi effects. The acupuncturist may only apply one de qi effect per acupuncture strike. Subsequent applications of the same de qi effect do not stack, with the newest application replacing any older applications of the same effect. Typically all de qi effects last until the end of the creature’s next turn. However, starting at 3rd level an acupuncturist can pay 1 ki point when they select a de qi to increase the duration to a number of rounds equal to their Intelligence modifier. Some de qi effects are noted as “[Instant]” effects. These effects allow no Fortitude save and cannot have their duration increased with ki points. There are two kinds of de qi effects: Bu and Xie effects. At 1st level and every level thereafter an acupuncturist learns one de qi (either a bu or a xie effect) they can apply to acupuncture strikes. (Find De Qi Effects here)

SIDEBAR: WHAT IS DE QI? “De Qi” (得气) literally translates to “the arrival of qi” (“qi” being the Chinese spelling of “ki”) and describes the “electric” sensation when a needle punctures the skin in acupuncture. The effects caused by an acupuncture strike are called de qi. There are two major types of de qi: bu (补, or “tonifying”) and xie ( 泄 or “sedating”). Bu effects tend to be stimulating or overwhelming and xie effects tend to cause the body to freeze up or otherwise relax.

PHYSICIAN (EX)

At 1st level, the acupuncturist can use Intelligence in place of Wisdom on Heal checks and Will saves. A multiclassed acupuncturist loses this benefit unless the character has at least 4 levels in acupuncturist.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE (EX)

At 2nd level the acupuncturist gains all skill unlocks for the Heal skill, so long as they have sufficient ranks in the skill. Alternatively, if not using the skill unlock system, the acupuncturist gains Skill Focus (Heal) as a bonus feat. In addition, they add 1/4th their acupuncturist level as a bonus on Heal checks.

BONUS FEAT (SU)

At 2nd level and every 3 levels thereafter an acupuncturist gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. They must meet the prerequisites for these feats and must be selected from the following list: Acrobatic, Alertness, Athletic, Agile Maneuvers, Catch Off-Guard, Combat Reflexes, Critical Focus, Dodge, Deflect Arrows, Deft Hands, Mobility, Fleet, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Lightning Stance, Nimble Moves, Persuasive, Self-Sufficient, Snatch Arrows, Skill Focus (any skill on their skill list), Wind Stance.

KI POOL (SU)

At 3rd level, an acupuncturist gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy they can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in an acupuncturist’s ki pool is equal to 1/2 their acupuncturist level + their Intelligence modifier. At 3rd level an acupuncturist can spend 1 ki point after making a successful acupuncture strike to increase the duration of its de qi effect from 1 round to a number of rounds equal to their Intelligence modifier. An acupuncturist gains additional powers that consume points from their ki pool as they gain levels. The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.

SIDEBAR: MULTIPLE KI POOLS If the acupuncturist gains a ki pool from a separate source, levels in ki granting classes stack for the purpose of determining the size of their ki pool but only one modifier would apply to it. (Example: An acupuncturist 8 / monk 8 would have an effective level of 16 but would have to pick either Wisdom or Intelligence as the basis for their ki pool.)

ACUPRESSURE (SU)

At 5th level the acupuncturist can impart their energy into their foes without a pin thanks to their increased control over their ki. They can make acupuncture strikes with unarmed or primary natural attacks. In addition, they gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. Even with this feat, the acupuncturist only ever deals 1 point of non-lethal piercing damage with their acupuncture strike.

PRECISION (EX)

Starting at 11th level, all non-acupuncture strikes count as confirmed critical hits for the purpose of triggering critical feats (not for damage or other effects).

FALLEN STAR STRIKES (SU)

If the acupuncturist spends 1 ki at the start of their turn the 1st successful acupuncture strike made during that turn counts as a coupe de grace.