Sensate (Fighter Archetype)
A classic trope in fantasy fiction is the idea of a warrior that is gifted with supernatural senses. Oftentimes this warrior is blind, with the senses being flavored as the other four senses being heightened to insane levels, but occasionally the enhances senses are more ephemeral in nature.
I think that part of the reason this trope exists is to be an indicator of skill for a sensory-deprived person, of mastering a skill and their remaining senses to the degree that they outshine those will full access to their faculties. Similarly, those who merely have extrasensory abilities have mastered not only combat but also using their senses to outpredict their opponents in ways that they can’t even conceive of.
Today, we’re looking at a mostly nonmagical archetype meant to emulate that in the form of the sensate. Though minimal, these warriors have learned to tap into a source of supernatural awareness, perhaps even psychic sensitivity, becoming more and more aware of their surroundings, using it to their advantage even when foes would attempt to use deception against them in a fight.
While not as versed with the heaviest weaponry and armors, their training into unlocking their senses begins by guarding their own senses, making them more resistant to effects that target them.
From there, they develop an uncanny ability to react quickly to danger, avoiding attacks they otherwise did not know were coming. This only improves with time.
By focusing and finding their center, these warriors can gain lethal accuracy with their weapons and resilience against mental effects, though this focus can be broken. They can recover it easy enough, and even get faster with mastery.
Agility is a must, particularly when avoiding explosions and other such area-engulfing attacks. As such, these warriors learn to take cover and roll away from such effects to neutralize the harm they cause.
At the pentultimate level of mastery, these fighters can use their focused senses to pinpoint foes that would otherwise remain undetected or concealed due to magic and the like, with only those negated to all senses having the potential to be unnoticed completely.
The most powerful sensates are so incredibly precise that they almost always confirm particularly lethal blows against foes, while foes have difficulty critically damaging them with a single blow, though of course they need to stay mobile to do so.
If you love the uncanny dodge and evasion abilities, but want to play a fighter, and also wants some additional will save protection, this archetype may be what you’re looking for, especially once they get to later levels and can just see through most illusions. A big perception is a must for this archetype, and it is begging to be paired with the Blind-Fight feat tree and the Blinded Blade Style. Also consider buffing up your dexterity, since you won’t be wearing heavy armor by default anyway. Go for a defensive build that patiently waits for foes to leave themselves open.
By default, this archetype assumes that the character has full access to the normal senses available to most races. However, it might provide a way to portray that sort of “blind warrior” motif if you wish. Just remember that the abilities granted by this archetype do not fully replace vision, so be sure to research and roleplay those unique challenges accordingly.
For the vine leshy Khrem, the path of the sensate begins with opening one’s mind to his fellow nature spirits in the world around him, hearing them whisper warnings of oncoming attacks and weaknesses in a foe’s armor. As such he has held his post of warden of Englebar Wood for half a century.
The Blasted Valley is full of the undead remanents of the civilization that once rested there, all condemned to remain as blast shadows and other forms of undeath after the great disaster took them. Those seeking to explore the palace will find it guarded by an armored warrior, a graveknight with an uncanny ability to avoid and block attempts to end the fight with magic or ambush.
The sensate warrior school in Venga houses sacred scrolls tied to the Dreamworlds, scrolls that the rawhead known as Peeler wants. While skilled, the guardians are not strong enough to face the horrible beast on their own. Yet failure to aid them likely means a horrific fate.
