Maneuvers: As with other students of the arts martial, a defender learns maneuvers. A defender initially knows two maneuvers of 1st-level, and gradually gains access to more maneuvers and higher levels. A defender must have a Constitution score of 10 + maneuver level to learn a maneuver.

A defender uses armor tokens (see below) to fuel his abilities. In order to use a maneuver, he must expend a number of armor tokens equal to its maneuver level.

When learning a new maneuver, a defender may select any maneuver from the defender maneuver list.

You can use reaction maneuvers whenever their trigger arises, regardless of whether or not you having immediate actions and/or attacks of opportunity remaining. There is no limit to how many reaction actions you may take in a round, nor do you suffer any penalties for using them.

Armor Pool (Ex): The defender learns various skills and techniques that make the most of his knowledge of armor. As a defender, you are trained to deflect blows on your armour and catch them on your shield, all the while waiting for opportunities to make a devastating riposte. You gain access to a pool of armor tokens, which you use to pay for your maneuvers.

• If an attack hits you, but your armour's damage reduction negates at least 5 points of damage, you gain 1 token.
• If an attack misses you, and the roll is lower than your flatfooted AC, you gain 1 token. In this case the attack makes contact but skims off your armour or deflects off the surface of your shield, causing you no damage but further luring your opponent into giving you an opening.

You may only have a number of armor tokens up to the amount listed on the table above, and gain a bonus to the maximum amount equal to your Constitution modifier. You always begin an encounter with zero armor tokens. At the end of an encounter, you lose all remaining armor tokens.

Armor tokens are used for maneuvers.

If you use a defender maneuver as a reaction to an attack, you do not gain any armor tokens for that attack.

Armor Mastery (Ex): You are better able than others to take advantage of the benefits of armour, and mitigate its drawbacks. When you wear armour, you improve its abilities according to the table below.

	Max	ACP		Speed
Level	Dex	Reduction	Category
1	+0	0		1 category
2	+0	0		1 category
3	+0	0		1 category
4	+0	0		1 category
5	+0	1		1 category
6	+1	1		1 category
7	+1	1		1 category
8	+1	1		1 category
9	+1	2		1 category
10	+1	2		1 category
11	+2	2		2 categories
12	+2	2		2 categories
13	+2	3		2 categories
14	+2	3		2 categories
15	+2	3		2 categories
16	+3	3		2 categories
17	+3	4		2 categories
18	+3	4		2 categories
19	+3	4		2 categories
20	+3	4		2 categories

• Max Dex: The maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by any armor worn by the defender increases by the listed amount.
• ACP Reduction: The armor check penalty imposed by any armor worn by the defender decreases by the listed amount, to a maximum of a -0 ACP.
• Speed Category: Any armor worn by the defender is treated as this many categories lighter for purposes of speed reduction, to a minimum of light.

Tough as Nails (Ex): When determining how much equipment you can carry, use either your Strength score or your Constitution score + your Strength modifier, whichever is higher.

AC Bonus (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, the defender begins to make the best of his armor's defensive capability. The armor bonus granted by any armor he wears is increased by 1/2 his defender level, rounded down. The defender must be wearing at least light armor to gain this benefit.

Defensive Stance (Ex): At 2nd level, the defender gains the ability to take a defensive stance. When he adopts a defensive stance, a defender gains phenomenal strength and durability, but he cannot move from the spot he is defending. He gains +2 to Strength, +4 to Constitution, a +2 resistance bonus on all saves, and a +4 armor bonus to AC (this armor bonus stacks with any armor worn; in effect, it improves the armor value of the armor worn by the defender). The increase in Constitution increases the defender’s hit points by 2 points per level, but these hit points go away at the end of the defensive stance when the Constitution score drops back 4 points. These extra hit points are not lost first the way temporary hit points are. While in a defensive stance, a defender cannot use skills or abilities that would require him to shift his position. A defensive stance lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. A defender may end his defensive stance voluntarily prior to this limit. At the end of the defensive stance, the defender is winded and takes a -2 penalty to Strength for the duration of that encounter. A defender can only use his defensive stance a certain number of times per day as determined by his level. Using the defensive stance takes no time itself, but a defender can only do so during his action.

While in a defensive stance, if you have an armor token pool, you gain one armor token each round, plus an additional armor token for each defensive stance you have remaining that day.

While in a defensive stance, you can still have a single maneuver with the [stance] descriptor active.

Reinforced Defenses (Ex): At 2nd level, the defender becomes able to make the most of his armor, allowing him to gain DR from armor worn. The DR he gains is dependent upon the armor he is wearing.

Armor
Type	DR
Light	1d3/-
Medium	1d4/-
Heavy	1d6/-

Each time the defender is attacked by an attack form that allows for DR, he rolls for the amount of DR he has against that attack. If the armor worn already grants DR (such as from a special material, like adamantine), the DR granted by this ability is in addition to the armor's previous DR (so, if the defender is wearing an adamantine breastplate, his DR is 1d4+2/-).

Defensive Focus (Ex): At 2nd level, and every four levels after, the defender gains improved skill in defending himself. At each of the indicated levels, choose one of the following abilities. Unless otherwise specified, you may take each ability multiple times.

• Armor Mastery: When rolling to determine your damage reduction against an attack, you gain a +1 bonus to the result. In addition, if you have an armor pool (see below), when your armor's DR negates at least 5 points of damage, you gain an additional armor token, to a maximum of the damage negated by your DR - 5.

Example: You have chosen Armor Mastery twice, and so you gain a +2 bonus to any DR rolls you make. When your armor negates 5 points of damage, you gain 1 armor token; 6 points yields 2 tokens; and 7 or more points yields 3 tokens.

• Shield Mastery: When you wield a shield, the shield bonus to AC it grants improves by +1. In addition, if you have an armor pool (see below), when an attack misses you, and the attack roll was lower than your flatfooted AC, you gain an additional armor token, to a maximum of the difference between the attack roll and your flatfooted AC.

Example: You have chosen Shield Mastery three times, so you gain a +4 bonus to the shield bonus to AC your shield grants. When a creature misses you by 1, you gain 1 token; by 2, you gain 2 tokens; by 3, you gain 3 tokens; by 4 or more, you gain 4 tokens.

Unyielding Defense (Ex): Beginning at 4th level, on your turn you can take a -4 penalty to attacks to gain a +2 bonus to your damage reduction for 1 round. The penalty applies to all attacks you make for that round, including any attacks of opportunity. The bonus damage reduction only applies to attacks from opponents you are aware of, and against whom you do not lose your Dexterity bonus to AC. You must be wearing at least light armor to benefit from this ability.

Polearm Mastery (Ex): At 4th level, the defender has learned how to wield a polearm with one hand, allowing him to also use a shield. A defender can wield any two-handed melee weapon with reach that he is proficient with in one hand; if he does so, the damage dealt by the weapon is reduced by one step.

Armored Redoubt (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, you grant a +6 cover bonus to AC against ranged attacks to allies who are adjacent to you. You gain a +4 bonus to AC, checks, or saves against any attack that would force you to move or knock you prone. You must be wearing at least light armor to benefit from this ability.

Endurance: At 6th level, a defender gains the Endurance feat.

Mobile Defense (Ex): At 9th level, a defender can adjust his position while maintaining a defensive stance. While in a defensive stance, he can take one 5-foot step each round without losing the benefit of the stance.

Improved Reinforced Defenses (Ex): At 10th level, the DR a defender gains from armor improves.

Armor
Type	DR
Light	1d4/-
Medium	1d6/-
Heavy	1d8/-

Defender Talent: At 10th level, and every two levels thereafter, the defender develops a new ability that improves one aspect of his approach to combat. He may select one of the following special features; unless otherwise specified, each ability can be selected only once.

• Ablative Shields (Ex): On your turn as a free action, you can reduce your shield's bonus to your AC by any amount, and gain that amount in DR. You do not need to take further action to maintain this change.
• Bones of Iron (Ex): You gain an additional healing surge. You can take this talent multiple times.
  • Nerves of Steel (Ex): As a reaction to being attacked, you can spend a healing surge to gain five additional armor tokens. (Prerequisites: Bones of Iron, at least four healing surges)
• Consistent Defense (Ex): Instead of rolling for your DR when attacked, your DR becomes static. Consult the table below for your static DR.

Roll	Static
d4	3
d6	4
d8	6
d10	7
d12	9

• Defensive Focus (Ex): You gain another instance of defensive focus. You can take this talent multiple times.
• Endless Reserves (Ex): Your max armor token pool size increases by 2. You can take this talent multiple times.
• Extensive Training (Ex): You learn another two defender maneuvers of your choice, from any level you can access. You can take this talent multiple times.
• Like A Rock (Ex):You gain an additional use of defensive stance each day. You can take this talent multiple times.
  • Absorptive Stance (Ex): While in a defensive stance, you gain +2 to your DR. You can take this talent multiple times. (Prerequisites: Like A Rock)
  • Supreme Stance (Ex): The benefits of your defensive stance improve. While in a defensive stance, you gain +4 to Strength, +6 to Constitution, a +4 resistance bonus to all saves, and a +8 armor bonus to AC. These bonuses overlap (do not stack with) the normal benefits of your defensive stance. (Prerequisites: Like A Rock)
  • Inexhaustible (Ex): When you use a defensive stance, you are no longer winded after it ends. (Prerequisites: Like A Rock)
• Lower Guard (Ex): Once per round, on your turn as a free action, you can set your AC to any number between 10 and your actual AC.
• Powerful Defenses (Ex): Increase the DR you gain from wearing armor by one step.

d4 => d6 => d8 => d10 => d12

• Quick Bash (Ex): When you make a shield bash attack, you do not lose that shield's contribution to your AC.
• Shield Wall (Ex): You have mastered the art of using two shields at once. When wielding two shields, both shields contribute their shield bonus to your AC. (Prerequisites: Two-Weapon Fighting)
• Sword as Shield (Ex): You have learned how to use standard weapons as defensive measures. In order to do so, you must be wielding two weapons, and you must designate one as your shield weapon. A weapon cannot be designated as your shield weapon if it is a reach weapon. You can use maneuvers with the [shield] descriptor as though you had a shield; any reference to a shield bash attack you instead treat as a normal attack with your shield weapon. If your shield weapon has an enhancement bonus, you gain that bonus as a shield bonus to your AC. (Prerequisites: Two-Weapon Fighting)
• Feat: A defender can gain a bonus feat in place of a special ability.

Improved Unyielding Defense (Ex): At 12th level, when you use unyielding defense, the bonus to your damage reduction increases to +4.

Supreme Reinforced Defenses (Ex): At 19th level, the DR a defender gains from armor improves yet again.

Armor
Type	DR
Light	1d6/-
Medium	1d8/-
Heavy	1d10/-