Book of 9 Swords:Have you gone back to base classes?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Not that impressed by Bo9S- don't use it at all.

 

[Sitara]

Well dannyalcatrez, from the look of things 4e martial classes will all favor bo9s elements, i.e. all martial classes will have menuver/powers every level. I can understand why people don't like this, but it does seem to be the case for 4e.

 

[shilsen]

Extra smite, does that give you one extra smite per feat slot? And is that in PHB 2? ANyhow the crusader already getsso few feat slots, and bo9s already gives a lot of great things (such as the tactical feats). Plus, things like divine might are also vying for a slot.

Two extra smites a day. It's in Complete Warrior.

 

[Bad Paper]

I'm pretty happy with the book. I have played one of each base class, and the crusader got the most play. Lots of fun. When the dice are having a bad day, you don't want to run into a spectre. Ouch.

Also, the crusader is just too much of a pain in the butt [for the DM] to play as an NPC.

 

[Jhulae]

I love the Bo9S classes. I've never played a straight PHB fighter before as I found the class to be too... boring. I always ended up multiclassing.

However, I'd play a Bo9S class all the way to 20th.

 

[Nail]

So now that you have had tme to play them, how do you find the Bo9s classes?

My group (APL = 11) has a Mnk 2/Warblade 8/Swordsage 1 and a Rog 9/Swordsage 2. The players have been enjoying the martial stances and manuevers.

-Have you gone back to playing regular fighters and paladins after playing bo9s?

That's "ToB:Bo9S". (What a silly book title!) Anyway.....we have a Ftr 11 in the group, and he's doing fine in comparison. Of course, that's after house-ruling some things about both the Ftr and the ToB:Bo9S.

-Which was your favorite bo9s class and why?

Both the Warblade and the Swordsage are equally good. Both are easy to play, and have an affective list of abilities. The Martial Adepts have both had fun pulling out their manuevers in unexpected ways.

-Fave stance/maneuver?

The manuevers Insightful Strike, Shadow Garrote, Mountain Hammer, Bonecrusher, Shadow Jaunt, and Iron Heart Surge have all seen lots of play time. Shadow Jaunt - in particular - has been giving the Bad Guys(tm) a hard time.

Least Favorite (as in: Nerfed): Moment of Perfect Mind (et al.)

-How do the classes really compare to regular PHB classes. How does the fighter now compare to the warblade? Crusader vs Paladin? Swordsage vs Monk?

With a few tweaks on both sides, the Martial Adepts compare well with the regular PH classes. I was concerned that the Warblade would overpower the Ftr, but with the house rules in place, that's not happened. They are about the same level of effectiveness.

I must say that the few levels of Swordsage has really helped the Rog player enjoy her PC more.



FWIW:
******House Rules, abbrieviated*******
Warblade: HD d10, no Weapon Aptitude

Manuevers: Moment of Perfect Mind (etc) +6 morale save bonus, not Conc. roll

Ftr: 1 bonus feat per level
********************************

 

[Henry]

I've played (still playing!) a Crusader, and I'm still enjoying him. I almost feel ashamed of enjoying it as much as I do, because in terms of power and versatility, he cuts Rangers, Paladins, and Fighters to ribbons with his array of special abilities. In some ways, he's TOO powerful. (His only weakness is tramping around in full plate armor; he'd drown in a heartbeat if he fell in water.) He has only a +1 magic weapon at 9th level, and yet he deals out damage that would shame a fighter (about 60 damage, with a 20 foot move, in one strike, with a divine surge? YEOWTCH!)

I can definitely see going back to paladins, fighters, etc. for the flavor of the classes, but to be honest, the crusader really does outclass a paladin, even to the point of healing repeatedly in combat.

 

[Tock Chandler]

I honestly have learned to hate the Bo9S stuff and have outlawed any further use (original users are grandfathered in, much to my chagrin). If I wanted to listen to people rattle on the same two stances or whatever all night I'd watch DragonballZ or something.

 

[shilsen]

I honestly have learned to hate the Bo9S stuff and have outlawed any further use (original users are grandfathered in, much to my chagrin). If I wanted to listen to people rattle on the same two stances or whatever all night I'd watch DragonballZ or something.

Sure beats the hell out of "I attack, I do X damage, I attack, I do X damage," as the fighters, barbarians, and paladins usually do.

YMMV, and evidently does.

 

[Nail]

Sure beats the hell out of "I attack, I do X damage, I attack, I do X damage," as the fighters, barbarians, and paladins usually do.

I know it's for hyperbole's sake, but you're missing all the things Ftrs, Bbns, and Pals do with feats and class abilities.

In our group (as explained above), a Ftr with feats can hold his own with a Martial Adept....and by "hold his own", I don't *just* mean doing similar damage per round. There are options out there.

And as you said, YMMV.