Maneuvers

Combat maneuvers are special abilities that many martial characters are able to access in order to help them and their allies both in combat and out. They reflect countless hours of practice and honing martial prowess, and are capable of enabling clutch maneuvers that can potentially changing the tide of a battle if used with expertise.

Maneuvers in Combat

Combat maneuvers, as the name implies, are techniques that can be used in combat. The number of combat maneuvers a character may know is determined by their class and level, and are chosen from the combat traditions that the character is proficient with. Whenever you learn a new maneuver, you can choose one of the maneuvers you know and replace it with another maneuver of the same level or lower.

To use a combat maneuver, you need to spend the appropriate amount of focus points (as notated next to the "cost" descriptor of the maneuver) and either an action, bonus action, or reaction. Some maneuvers are performed as part of the Attack action. The requirements of using a maneuver are noted in the maneuver description. Sometimes, a maneuver may force a target to make a saving throw to resist the effects of the maneuver. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Maneuver DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier

Combat maneuvers are nonmagical in nature.

Prerequisites

In order to learn a maneuver you must be proficient in the combat tradition it is listed under. General maneuvers can be taken by anyone, regardless of combat traditions, as long as they meet the requirements. New combat maneuvers learned through a feat or by taking levels in an additional class may be chosen up to the highest degree of combat maneuvers you are able to learn.

You cannot know more maneuvers of a degree than you know of degrees below it. This means in order to learn a second 5th degree maneuver, you must know at least two maneuvers of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.

Stances

Some combat maneuvers are of a special variety known as stances, which always require a bonus action to activate. Once activated, a stance will remain active until you are incapacitated, or until you activate a different combat stance, finish a short or long rest, or choose to end it on your turn (no action required).

Focus Pool

In order to use a maneuver, you need to expend focus points. You have a maximum number of focus points based on your class level, and you regain any spent focus points at the end of a short or long rest. Consult the Focus Pool table below to determine how much focus you have.

Level	Focus Pool	Superiority Die	Level	Focus Pool	Superiority Die
1st	2	d4	16th	11	d10
2nd	3	d4	17th	12	d12
3rd	4	d4	18th	12	d12
4th	5	d4	19th	12	d12
5th	6	d6	20th	12	d12
6th	6	d6	21st	13	2d8
7th	7	d6	22nd	13	2d8
8th	7	d6	23rd	13	2d8
9th	8	d8	24th	13	2d8
10th	8	d8	25th	14	2d8
11th	9	d8	26th	14	2d8
12th	9	d8	27th	14	d20
13th	10	d10	28th	14	d20
14th	10	d10	29th	15	d20
15th	11	d10	30th	15	d20

Alternatively, you can refill your focus pool more quickly through meditation or refocusing. By expending Hit Dice to do so, you can recover 1d4 focus points for each Hit die expended. The process takes 1 minute per expended Hit Die.

Superiority Die

Your Superiority Die is based on your total level in classes that grant Maneuvers, and is rolled for certain maneuvers. If you are multiclassing, consult the Focus Table chart above to determine your Superiority Die.

Combat Traditions

Schools of maneuvers are broken into groups of related maneuvers called combat traditions, which are as defining to a martial warrior as a preferred school of magic may be to a mage. The traditions you can pick from are determined by your character's class, and these traditions narrow down the pool of maneuvers you can select from.

General maneuvers can be taken by characters, regardless of the schools they are proficient in. However, these maneuvers all require features found in classes that learn maneuvers.