Know Your Enemy (Ex)

As a move action, a student of war can study a foe she can see and attempt a Knowledge check appropriate to the creature’s type (DC = 10 + the target’s HD). Success grants her a +1 insight bonus against her enemy, which can be applied via one of the following stances (chosen when the check is attempted) to the indicated statistics and rolls. Defensive Stance: The bonus applies to Armor Class and on saving throws against the target’s attacks. At 6th level, the student of war is treated as having the Mobility feat when provoking attacks of opportunity from the studied foe. If she already has Mobility, the bonus she gains to her AC in this case increases to +6.

Martial Stance: The bonus applies on attack and damage rolls against the target. At 4th level, the student of war is treated as having the Critical Focus feat for the purpose of attacks against the studied foe. If she already has Critical Focus, the bonus she gains when confirming her critical hits in this case is +6 instead.

Tactical Stance: The bonus applies on combat maneuver checks and to CMD when initiating or defending against bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, and trip combat maneuvers. At 8th level, the student of war no longer provokes attacks of opportunity from a studied foe when attempting to bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, or trip that target; this does not affect attacks of opportunity made by any creature other than the studied foe.

A student of war can change her stance as a move action. The bonus lasts for 1 minute per class level or until the character uses this ability on another target. The bonus increases to +2 at 4th level and +3 at 7th level. At 7th level, the student can use this ability as a swift action rather than a move action.