Tome of Battle: Anyone know anything about it yet?

glass · May 10, 2006

Well, the title says it all.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that there is a class in it called the 'swordsage', but aside from that info seems to be a little thin on the ground.

glass.

Razz · May 10, 2006

Richard Baker stated the "Swordsage" class from Tome of Battle in a post on the Forgotten Realms Official Message Boards under a thread titled "Ask Richard Baker".

Other than that, no idea what else is contained within.

Alzrius · May 10, 2006

Here's the blurb from the Buyer's Guide section of Dragon #344:

TOME OF BATTLE:
The Book of Nine Swords
by Richard Baker, Matthew Sernett, Frank Brunner, and Joseph Carriker Jr.

The world of the [smallcaps]dungeons & dragons[/smallcaps] game is filled with characters and creatures that study the ways of battle. The highest and most spectacular of the warrior's arts is known as the Nine Disciplines, or the Sublime Way. A master of the Nine Disciplines can perform martial exploits that are nearly superhuman... and, in fact, might actually transcend the natural.

Like the fighter, students of the Nine Disciplines learn special maneuvers and strikes to defeat their foes. But, while a fighter's list of feats represents a number of different techniques he can use for attack or defense, the maneuvers of the Sublime Way represent small moments of clarity, self-knowledge, piety, or perfection. A fighter uses Power Attack to strike harder, but a disciple of the Sublime Way who wants to do the same thing instead performs a very specific mental and physical exercise that will result in a mighty blow - if it is executed just right.

Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords introduces three new standard classes devoted to the study of the Nine Disciplines - the crusader, swordsage, and the warblade. The mechanics behind the Sublime Way look and feel different from the normal combat rules, and each of the Nine Disciplines comes with an array of martial maneuvers thematically tied to the discipline. This supplement also presents new feats, prestige classes, legacy weapons, and monsters tied to the secrets of the Sublime Way.

ISBN-10 0-7869-3922-2
ISBN-13 978-0-7869-3922-0
U.S. $29.95
On Sale in August 2006

JoeGKushner · May 10, 2006

Like the fighter, students of the Nine Disciplines learn special maneuvers and strikes to defeat their foes. But, while a fighter's list of feats represents a number of different techniques he can use for attack or defense, the maneuvers of the Sublime Way represent small moments of clarity, self-knowledge, piety, or perfection. A fighter uses Power Attack to strike harder, but a disciple of the Sublime Way who wants to do the same thing instead performs a very specific mental and physical exercise that will result in a mighty blow - if it is executed just right.

Sounds very much like the ritual warrior to me. Anyone else?

Razz · May 10, 2006

Hmm, if this is similar to Tome of Magic then I'll buy it but it will grate on my nerves to no end if I don't see epic material for it. I tend to run my games into epic level and a few epic feats dedicated to the classes would be a nice starter for the players that hit 21st in the new classes.

GuardianLurker · May 10, 2006

Yah. My guess is that the "combat rites" will be a little closer to feats than spells (in the way they're handled), and that they'll be grouped in domain-like mechanisms (a la' Ardent, Shadow Magic, etc.). Further guessing that we have crusader = paladin-like (divine/arms blend), swordsage = probably pure arms, but a psionics/arms blend'd be great), and warblade = warmage/eldritch knight/etc. (arcane/arms blend).

Vanye · May 10, 2006

I wonder if any of these are inspired by the Sword books by Jennifer Roberson? Or if we'll see material inspired by them, things like how to forge a jivitma...though I think that from what I've heard of the weapons of legacy book, the theory behind those would be a good start...

Nightfall · May 10, 2006

I'm semi-intriged by the weapons but I am curious to see how closely this book mirrors a lot of AE/AU concepts presented by the Swordsage and such.

JVisgaitis · May 11, 2006

JoeGKushner said:
Sounds very much like the ritual warrior to me. Anyone else?

Indeed it does. Also, I'd expect a book similar to Incarnum but focusing on warrior types.

Odhanan · May 11, 2006

JoeGKushner said:
Sounds very much like the ritual warrior to me. Anyone else?

Well, I'd certainly would like something similar to the ritual warrior, but not exactly the same. I'd like character classes to go on being great at something rather than just decent at a few different things. I've seen quite my share of the later. What I want is the former.

The blurb sounds good though. I'm interested in the Crusader so far.

Tome of Battle: Anyone know anything about it yet?

glass

(he, him)

Razz

Banned

Alzrius

The EN World kitten

JoeGKushner

Adventurer

Razz

Banned

GuardianLurker

Adventurer

Vanye

Explorer

Nightfall

Sage of the Scarred Lands

JVisgaitis

Explorer

Odhanan

Adventurer

Similar Threads