Brought forth by the desire to rule, and shaped on the battlefield through ages of conflict, Radiant Dawn is a discipline that is steeped in blood and akasha. In ages where conflict and war are common, those with this discipline watch over the battlefield like the sun in the sky, directing allies to seize victory, while hindering enemy’s powerful abilities to shift the tide of battle into their favor. In ages where conflict has been distant, Radiant Dawn has existed as an akashic meditative exercise amongst rulers and nobility. Regardless of what form it takes, practitioners of the Radiant Dawn strive to be like the sun itself: Above all.
Knowledge of Radiant Dawn maneuvers grants essence equal to the number of maneuvers and stances known, to a maximum of the highest level Radiant Dawn or maneuver stance they know. Maneuvers from the Radiant Dawn discipline are imbued and enhanced with akashic energies; as such, they are supernatural abilities.
Radiant Dawn’s associated skill is Diplomacy, and its associated weapon groups are bows, flails, hammers, polearms, and the Sun’s Gleam ability.
Essence: Every creature has a finite amount of essence in their being, referred to as an essence pool. While essence is not typically expended when maneuvers or other akashic effects are activated, a given creature can only devote a certain amount of essence to any particular maneuver. This is done by investing the essence into the chosen receptacle, which could be a Radiant Dawn maneuver, akashic feat, or other ability. Investing essence or changing where essence is invested is a swift action. Essence invested into a maneuver is temporarily bound when that maneuver is expended, and cannot be recovered or reassigned to another receptacle until that maneuver is recovered.
Essence Capacity: However large your essence pool is, you can only invest a certain amount of essence into any one Veil, feat, class feature, magic item, or other Akashic receptacle. Your character level determines this Essence capacity as shown below, though some feats, class features, magic items, or other abilities or effects may modify your base capacity:
| Character level | Essence |
|---|---|
| 1st-5th | 1 |
| 6th-11th | 2 |
| 12th-17th | 3 |
| 18th-20th | 4 |
Sun’s Gleam (Su): A Radiant Dawn disciple can choose to fire a ray of light as a ranged touch attack at a target within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 initiator levels) in place of making a ranged weapon attack as part of initiating a strike from a maneuver the initiator could invest essence into. This does not require a free hand. The initiator can choose to use their Strength modifier in place of their Dexterity modifier when firing a ray in this fashion. The ray of light deals force damage equal to 1d6 plus the initiator’s initiation modifier on a hit, plus any effects of the strike (such as additional damage or conditions). The disciple may choose to deal nonlethal damage with this attack at no penalty. As Sun’s Gleam can only be used as substitutes for attacks granted by maneuvers, an initiator cannot channel uses of it through weapons with the conductive weapon special property, or similar abilities.
Access to the Discipline: Akasha is a somewhat simplistic form of magic, generated by mixing life energy, called essence, with the small amounts of raw magic that suffuse all things and shaping them into rough physical forms. Radiant Dawn disciples follows much the same path as akashic veilweaver; but where veilweavers imbue their life energy with raw magic to give them physical form, Radiant Dawn replaces that arcane power with martial forms and prowess. Once the basics are learned, essence can easily be shifted around within the body for each form and attack with ease. As such, any character of any class can access the Radiant Dawn discipline by trading one of their available disciplines for it. If they do, they gain Diplomacy as a class skill.
Special Note: Maneuvers from this discipline are imbued and enhanced with akashic energies. As such, they are supernatural abilities. Radiant Dawn maneuvers become essence receptacles as the initiator readies them, allowing them to invest essence much like in a veil or akashic feat. Essence invested into a maneuver is temporarily bound when that maneuver is expended, and cannot be recovered or reassigned to another receptacle until that maneuver is recovered.
Associated Skill: Diplomacy
Associated Weapon Groups: Bows, flails, hammers, polearms, and the Sun’s Gleam ability.
Martial Tradition: Bank of the Sun
Style Feats:
Combo Feats:
- None
1st Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bolster | Counter | Ally gains DR for one round. |
| Decree of Mercy | Counter | Cause an attack to become nonlethal. |
| Dismiss | Strike | An attack that knocks down and knocks back a foe. |
| The Caged Sun | Stance | Turn your healing inwards to become a formidable warrior. |
| Spoils of War | Stance | Heals your allies when they attack your enemies. |
| Staunching Strike | Strike | A strike that draws from an enemy’s akasha to heal another. |
2nd Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Curate's Strike | Strike | An Akashic Arrow that causes the target to leak essence, healing allies. |
| Decree of Torment | Strike | Unbalance an enemy to set them up for failure. |
| Healer's Bane | Counter | Steal healing from others, dealing damage in the process. |
| Expose Weakness | Boost | A quick blow that exposes an enemy’s weakpoint. |
| Witness to Glory | Counter | Grant a bonus to initiative and temporary HP. |
3rd Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Armaments of the Empire | Stance | Improve you and your allies weapon with a veil of akasha. |
| Decree of Death | Boost | An opponent becomes vulnerable to one attack. |
| Lifeburst Strike | Strike | A strike that causes one’s essence to flair, healing all within range. |
| Disrupt Essence | Strike | A strike that inhibits the use of abilities. |
4th Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Decree of Silence | Counter | Force a caster to make a concentration check as if they had taken damage. |
| Lifeburst Imbuement | Boost | Your or your allies causes healing in an area. |
| Shatter Spell | Strike | A strike with a veil of akasha that disrupts magic in place. |
| Sunstroke | Boost | You or an ally strike with an improved Sun’s Gleam. |
5th Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Divide and Conquer | Strike | A blow that divides the enemy across the battlefield. |
| Decree of Purity | Boost | Immediately end an effect affecting you or an ally. |
| Noblesse Oblige | Untyped | Save an ally from certain death. |
| Stance of the Sunlight Shield | Stance | Create akashic shields to defend allies. |
6th Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Battle Against the Sun | Stance | Become like the sun and strike down foes with solar flares. |
| Decree of Freedom | Boost | Allow you or an ally to move unhindered for 1 round. |
| King's Castle | Counter | Instantly draw an ally to your side to absorb a hit and retaliate. |
| Path of the Sun | Strike | Fire off a beam of sunlight, then allow allies to traverse the area instantly. |
| Karmic Strike | Strike | Heal allies and mark an enemy for retribution. |
7th Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Awaken the Sleeper | Boost | Embolden an ally for a brief moment. |
| Push the Advantage | Counter | An ally gains a standard action and heals after defeating a foe. |
| Harsh Light of Day | Strike | A strike that reveals an enemy’s true form. |
8th Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Decree of Vengeance | Counter | You or an ally may initiate a strike against a target who has attacked you, healing in the process. |
| Sun's Zenith | Stance | Lose ability to invest essence in maneuvers, but gain scaling essence to maneuvers as you expend maneuvers. |
| Tyrant's End | Strike | A blow that crushes all defenses. |
9th Level Radiant Dawn Maneuvers[]
| Maneuver | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Judgement Day | Strike | Render judgement upon all within your presence. |