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Message: <blockquote data-quote="comrade raoul" data-source="post: 3042968" data-attributes="member: 554">So I think the <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060802a&page=2" target="_blank">warblade</a> (from the "Tome of Battle") is a pretty crazy class. In fact, one of the craziest things about it is its name, which impressively manages to be simultaneously uninformative (no, we're different than all those people who use their blades for peace) and trite, in sort of a munchkiny, inner-twelve-year-old sense. To make matters worse, it's sort of flavorless (how are warblades supposed to be thematically different from fighters who just really like fighting? What coherent fantasy archetype or niche do they fill?) and prima facie overpowered. Moreover, I bet you (if you've looked at that book) feel more or less the same way I do.On the other hand, I'm sort of taken with it, because it provides a nice way to for characters to use the martial maneuvers without the mystical trappings of the swordsage or crusader. I want to fix it. Moreover, I'm betting I can fix it such a way that solves all of these problems in a neat, unified way. Here's how.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Change the class's name to weapon master. (The warblade is now a character who "dedicates herself to mastery of a particular melee weapon.") Note that all further references here will be to the "weapon master," not to the "warblade." </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Reduce the class's hit die to d10. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Require the class to designate a favored weapon at first level. The character may only use the strikes and counters she learns and readies as a weapon master with her favored weapon. In addition, the battle ardor, battle cunning, and battle mastery abilities only apply to her favored weapon. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The weapon aptitude ability only applies to the weapon master's favored weapon. (She can only take the fighter-specific feats with weapon she chooses.) Because a weapon master can't change the weapon she takes this feat with, she can't (unlike the warblade) select different weapons with weapon aptitude. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Here is the big change, loosely based on the token rules from Iron Heroes. Weapon masters power their abilities with tactical points. Tactical points measure a combination of adrenaline and poise that the weapon master gains from forethought and preparation and improves as she participates in combat and adjusts to the actions of her enemies. Because a weapon master requires tactical points to be effective, and because she gains tactical points by being attacked, weapon masters tend to seek out the most dangerous parts of a battlefield. They like to be in the thick of things. Here are the mechanics. At the beginning of an encounter, a weapon master gets a number of tactical points equal to her Intelligence bonus or half her class level, whichever is lower. (First-level weapon masters, or those without Intelligence bonuses, start encounters without any tactical points.) Each time that the weapon master is attacked, the weapon master gains a tactical point (regardless of whether the attack hits or misses). Any offensive action that requires an attack roll counts as an attack for purposes of this ability. Starting at 8th level, a weapon master gets two tactical points every time she's attacked. Starting at 14th level, she gets three points. Whenever the weapon master wants to initiate a maneuver that she's readied as a weapon master, she must expend a number of tactical points equal to the maneuver's level. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Finally, weapon masters recover expended maneuvers in a slightly different way. A weapon master recovers a maneuver as a free action (rather than a swift action), and doesn't need to make a melee attack or anything like that. However, in order to recover a maneuver, she must expend tactical points equal to the maneuver's level. (Thus, in order to use a 4th level maneuver and then recover it in the same round, a weapon master must spend 8 tactical points.)</li> </ol>Tell me what you think. If you're curious, and you think these changes are neither really silly nor completely intuitive, I'd be happy to discuss the rationale in a future post. For the moment, though, I want to go to sleep.</blockquote>

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