Ogrork the Mighty
Explorer
A player wants to be a crusader from the Book of the Nine Swords (which I don't have). Can someone give me the rundown?
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Tell me about the Crusader class...
- Thread starter Ogrork the Mighty
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VirgilCaine
First Post
Are you familiar at all with the Book of Nine Swords? Does he HAVE the book? If he doesn't, he won't be doing much. You need the maneuvers in the book to do anything, it's a whole new system.
Instead of choosing their readied maneuvers like other classes, when an encounter begins, crusaders have two randomly chosen maneuvers readied, and each round they gain another randomly chosen readied maneuver. When all their maneuvers are readied, all their maneuvers are unreadied and they get another two randomly chosen ready maneuvers and the whole thing starts again.
They can't be True Neutral, and they get access to the Devoted Spirit discipline (in addition to White Raven and Stone Dragon), which has some alignment-based maneuvers.
I don't really favor them, they don't have access to my favorite disciplines and the random thing would be too annoying for me.
Instead of choosing their readied maneuvers like other classes, when an encounter begins, crusaders have two randomly chosen maneuvers readied, and each round they gain another randomly chosen readied maneuver. When all their maneuvers are readied, all their maneuvers are unreadied and they get another two randomly chosen ready maneuvers and the whole thing starts again.
They can't be True Neutral, and they get access to the Devoted Spirit discipline (in addition to White Raven and Stone Dragon), which has some alignment-based maneuvers.
I don't really favor them, they don't have access to my favorite disciplines and the random thing would be too annoying for me.
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Ogrork the Mighty
Explorer
He has the book, I don't. I'm just looking for a headsup before we meet to discuss.
Sejs
First Post
Personally - don't allow anything without first having a chance to give the material a good, solid review and decide if you want to include it in your game.
The Bo9S represents a whole new system and resolution mechanic. Something on the level of integrating psionics or incarnum just off the cuff. Better to take your time now than to have to find out later that it's not right for your game and have to do roll-backs. *nod*
The Bo9S represents a whole new system and resolution mechanic. Something on the level of integrating psionics or incarnum just off the cuff. Better to take your time now than to have to find out later that it's not right for your game and have to do roll-backs. *nod*
JustKim
First Post
The classes in Nine Swords are fairly powerful. Generally, the warblade is focused on offense, the swordsage is focused on customization and the crusader is focused on defense. Powergaming defense in D&D is more difficult and offers little reward compared to powergaming offense, so I wouldn't worry too much about that class. Crusader class abilities allow them to make saving throws and delay the effects of damage, primarily. Their maneuvers are largely for healing, AC, and party benefits.
kigmatzomat
Hero
Crusaders can be very hard to kill and in fact get bonuses in combat for having taken damage. You can do more damage than they have hit points and they may not fall down until AFTER they take their next turn. They have a number of defensive abilities but also have access to some excellent party-buff maneuvers.
They are sort of like more violent paladins who can be more than just LG. They don't have a code per se but they are supposed to be religious and have cleric-like restrictions on their actions.
They are sort of like more violent paladins who can be more than just LG. They don't have a code per se but they are supposed to be religious and have cleric-like restrictions on their actions.
FireLance
Legend
The first thing you should look at is the new system. It is essentially magic that refreshes per encounter and puts some rather powerful effects into the hands of fighting characters. If you are familiar with the almost supernatural martial arts abilities that can often be found in Chinese wuxia movies and literature (Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero), the new system has a similar flavor. I happen to think it's one of the most interesting and fun systems I've seen in years, but I can see why it might not appeal to everyone.
Next, have a look at the three main schools that the crusader will be drawing most of his maneuvers and stances from: Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon and White Raven. Devoted Spirit has maneuvers that can deal or heal significant amounts of damage. White Raven has maneuvers that buff allies or create openings for them to exploit. Stone Dragon has moderately good offensive and defensive abilities, but some of its higher-level meneuvers can be quite devastating. The question to be asked here is whether you are OK with the character being potentially (though not reliably) able to produce the effect in question at (2 x maneuver level - 1) level once every four or so rounds per encounter (three or so rounds with the right feat).
Finally, have a look at the crusader class itself. The main pain with the crusader is that its maneuvers are randomly granted at the start of combat, and a new maneuver is randomly granted each round after that. Unless you make use of cards to keep track of which maneuvers are granted and used (a method suggested by the book), it can get very messy.
Allow yourself a few days to a week to fully digest the material in the book. If possible, borrow it off your player before making a decision. If you're running a game in the interim, you might allow him to run the character during that session as a trial before you make your final decision (but do not use this as a substitute for reading the book).
Hope it works out for you and your group.
Next, have a look at the three main schools that the crusader will be drawing most of his maneuvers and stances from: Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon and White Raven. Devoted Spirit has maneuvers that can deal or heal significant amounts of damage. White Raven has maneuvers that buff allies or create openings for them to exploit. Stone Dragon has moderately good offensive and defensive abilities, but some of its higher-level meneuvers can be quite devastating. The question to be asked here is whether you are OK with the character being potentially (though not reliably) able to produce the effect in question at (2 x maneuver level - 1) level once every four or so rounds per encounter (three or so rounds with the right feat).
Finally, have a look at the crusader class itself. The main pain with the crusader is that its maneuvers are randomly granted at the start of combat, and a new maneuver is randomly granted each round after that. Unless you make use of cards to keep track of which maneuvers are granted and used (a method suggested by the book), it can get very messy.
Allow yourself a few days to a week to fully digest the material in the book. If possible, borrow it off your player before making a decision. If you're running a game in the interim, you might allow him to run the character during that session as a trial before you make your final decision (but do not use this as a substitute for reading the book).
Hope it works out for you and your group.
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