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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SteveC" data-source="post: 3685537" data-attributes="member: 9053">From the experiences I have had, no, they really don't outshine the other characters one bit. The current game I'm playing in has reached 5th level, and has a Paladin, Greenbond, Rogue and a Crusader in it. I'm playing the Crusader.The one thing that I have done better than any of the other characters is take a beating and stay alive. In terms of offense, I've been extremely weak, because the Crusader is built almost entirely on having to hit his target in order to use their special powers. If you're running against monsters with high AC or simply rolling poorly, your days as a Crusader will be long one.In a typical combat, I'll start off with a charge or bullrush maneuver to get up into contact with the enemy, and then turn on my stance that makes opponents I threaten take a penalty to attack characters other than me. At that point, I end up trying to hit my opponents to activate different strikes, combined with generating extra temporary hit points to keep myself standing.I've just gotten White Raven Tactics (the ability that gives bonus actions to other characters) and this is a very nice ability. At higher levels, it will be an excellent ability, but it has made little impact on the game at this point.So far, there is nothing that's game breaking about the Crusader in the least. If I rewrote the character from the ground up, or did some multiclassing, I can see how I might be more effective, but I wanted to play one "by the book," first.I am not sure where a lot of the negative comments have really come from...there are several abusive combinations to the classes, but they require about the same level of GM intervention as other non-core (or powerful core) materials. For example, if I were to be able to easily make my attacks into touch attacks, I imagine I would be a lot more effective. As it is, I can give my group a significant boost with White Raven Tactics about every three to four rounds, draw a lot of attacks to myself and take quite a beating, and do some impressive damage every few rounds when I have a good damaging maneuver available and hit the target. I spoke with the group's paladin, who thought I complimented his character very well: drawing attacks to me gave him more ability to move around and effectively engage the bosses, for example. Our rogue absolutely loves the fact that he gets an AC boost while flanking with me and tends to get attacked a lot less. The greenbond appreciates the fact that I can act as a limited healer, allowing him to reserve those powers for the rest of the group. It's been a win all around for us.Another campaign I am aware of has a Swordsage in it, and the player has reported similar results at 5th level: the character is effective and useful, but no one is crying foul. I will see if I can get that player to come by and make his comments.--Steve</blockquote>

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