Path of the Sword

[Messageboard Golem]

Introducing the legendary class, a new option for high-level characters who want to make a true impact on their world
A dozen new prestige classes, each with a unique organization and guidelines for integrating it with your campaign
More than two dozen new feats, including rage feats that make barbarians even more fierce in the frenzy of battle
Several alternate core classes that can be used to add flavor to characters from 1st to 20th level
Fully detailed rules for mounted combat and high-flying acrobatic combat
A new system of fighting schools that gives characters new options for building balanced and unique combat styles
More than a dozen new mounts as well as information on mount equipment and combat capabilities
A section devoted to describing fantastic locations and the effects of different terrains and environments on combat
New templates describing the benefits and drawbacks for characters who join an organization
New equipment and weapon modifications
A section on running tournaments and games that might be found at a local faire or royal competition, including rules for holding a joust

 

[HalfElfSorcerer]

Path of the Sword is the first in Fantasy Flight Games' "Path" seiries. As the cover says,

it is a classbook for barbarians, fighters, monks, and rangers. It is very well-written, and

as with the other FFG book I own, Spells and Spellcraft, it has a wide enough range of

material that nearly anyone would be able to use something from it. What follows is a

chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book. It is not a playtest review.

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Chapter 1: The Fighting Classes

This chapter introduces new combat-oriented classes. There are twelve new prestige classes,
each with its own accompanying organization. The organizations add spice to the already flavorful prestige classes, but are not required to use them. Within them you start to see the where the book starts to provide options for archetypeal fantasy elements, such as with the pit fighter class. Pit fighters are the ultimate arena fighters, and have abilities such as skewering opponents with their weapons. The blade of the emperor is the ultimate "elite royal task force" class. They gain abilities related to fighting the "enemies of the empire." All the classes seem fairly well-balanced.

The next part of chapter one details legendary classes, a new concept created by FFG. These are different from prestige classes in that they are always just five levels, require specific quests to obtain, and usually only one is found in every generation. One feat from the class requirements is left open to the GM, allowing feats to be used from non-OGC sources. The class abilities are also freeform, allowing the player to choose his abilities at whatever level of the class he desires, which affects their power. An example class is the slayer, a ranger who takes favored enemies to the point where he sees himself as a more efficient purveyor of natural selection. Lengendary classes are an excellent concept, and I hope to see more good ones in future "Path" books.

The last part of the chapter contains various alternate core classes, including - can you guess? - an alternate ranger. This ranger is called the outdoorsman. He is non-magical, has a fighter's BAB, and gains abilities related to his favored terrain rather than his favored enemies. It may be a bit overpowered, but since I am no expert in balance issues, I can't really say. There are also a few "short" alternate core classes which alter existing classes in very minor ways.

Chapter 2: The Fighting Arts

This is the book's feats 'n' stuff chapter. The first section contains 27 new feats, six of which are "Rage" feats aimed towards barbarians. The feats are all quite interesting. The Parry feat, for example, allows you to deflect opponent's blows by sacrificing attacks during your turn. The Rage feats provide a twist by allowing you to sacrifice rounds of raging for added effects. The Savage Health feat, for example, allows you to sacrifice rounds of rage for temporary hit points. These feats are balanced and add a cool element to barbarian rage.

Acrobatic Combat provides mechanics for characters to do all the fun things fantasy heroes do in books and movies. Now your fighter can run up walls, swing on chandeliers, leap from rafter to rafter, and cartwheel over opponents. Each maneuver can be used by any character who meets the prerequisites. Some, but not all, require skill checks. The Mounted Combat section provides similar moves for characters on horseback.

Chapter 3: Schools of Combat

The first section of this chapter is a digression on tactics and character development for the fighting classes. It contains "Meelee Archetypes," tactics, and tips on bringing down spellcasters. This is a very good section for people (like me) who don't usually play martial classes and want to give it a shot.

The rest of the chapter is devoted to schools of combat. This is a great new mechanic that allows fighters to earn interesting combat abilities without picking up any prestige classes. It allows for creating characters who studied with such-and-such a teacher, as in many fantasy movies and novels. A school of combat basically allows a character to participate in ten "lessons" throughout his career. Each has a minimum level, an XP cost, and takes a certain amount of time. A character could learn just one lesson from a school after a chance encounter from a traveling master, or study the arts of his chosen school from first through twentieth level. As an example, the first lesson of the Soldiers of the White Shield earns the character a +4 stability bonus versus trip attacks and improved grabs. The fifth lesson imparts a +1 to all will saves. The 10th lesson grants the student damage reduction of 2/-. Eight sample schools are included, each with a "traveling master" the players might encounter. Schools of combat are an excellent way of creating versimilitude by making training actually pay back in game terms. This section should not be passed up.

Chapter 4: The Warrior's World

This chapter deals with some subjects on the life of combat classes. Sections include:
Mounts, Organizational Templates, Combat Locations, New Equipment, Personalizing Arms and Armor, and Tournaments and Games. Some recieve more detail below.

The Organizational Templates section contains a system for creating organizations with multiple rankings. A few sample orgainizations are given, listing prerequisites, benefits, and drawbacks for each rank. This section provides an easy way to have the organizations a character belongs to affect a party's day-to-day life.

The Combat Locations section provides details for the effects of terrain conditions on combat. Conditions detailed include: slipperiness, slope, close quarters, obstacles, glare, gravity, and fighting while climbing. Various sample locations using the rules follow. The example locations are interesting, and the rules are well-thought out.

The Tournaments and Games section has rules for various games of combat prowess a fighter may find himself competing in. The most interesting is the weapon display, with a breakdown of the bonuses a character gets for various feats. The jousting section is taken from Natural 20 press' "Tournaments, Fairs and Taverns."

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Conclusion: Path of the Sword is an excellent book. I have absolutely no problems with it. As far as I could tell, everything was balanced and well-written. The plethora of new ideas contained within show the innovation of the Fantasy Flight Games developers. No player who plays martial characters and no devious DMs should be without this book. It is well worth the money.

 

[Simon Collins]

This is not a playtest review.

Path Of The Sword is the sixth in the Legends & Lairs line by Fantasy Flight Games. This book focuses on fantasy combat, offering a range of optional rules for barbarians, fighters, monks, and rangers.

Path Of The Sword is a hardcover book coming in at $24.95 for 176 pages. This is fairly good compared to other products of similar size and type. Though font is slightly larger than most other products, margins are average and there is little wasted space. The internal mono art ranges from average to superb, with most being good. As with others in the Legends & Lairs series, the cover is a simple symbolic design reminiscent of the core rulebooks. The writing style is efficient, if a little bland. Editing seems good.

Chapter One: The Fighting Classes, begins with 12 new prestige classes, each accompanied by an appropriate organisation. Its a sign of the times that its not the other way around. Each prestige class is 10 levels. Each organisation has information on purpose, leader stats, current activities, and campaign integration.
* Brother Of The Cloak - Fighter BAB, saves and HD, thief-like fighting abilities using a blade and a cloak. The Brotherhood Of The Cloak organisation trains members in the use of this unusual fighting style but has a secret mission to destroy drow.
* Champion Of The Shining Light - monk-orientated PrC specialised in unarmed combat, able to focus energy through their fists. The Champions Of Light organisation is dedicated to a fight against undead.
* Dragon Warrior - barbaric warriors who serve dragons, with barbarian/sorcerer-type class abilities and a touch of dragon blood in their veins. The Brood Of Verthaxis is an example organisation that follow the destructive whims of a red dragon.
* Blade Of The Emperor - fighters under secret orders from an Emperor, who make use of the empire's powerful resources to defend it. The Twenty Shards Of Glory is an example organisation who unfailingly obey the emperor's orders.
* Frontier Marshal - ranger-type that rides the frontiers dispensing justice. The Order Of Jurats is an example organisation that moves into newly conquered areas to ensure law and order is secured.
* Guardian Of The Way - diplomatic monk-type. The Guardians Of The Way ensure that by liasing with the outside world, the monastery remains aware of any growing evils in the outside world.
* Ki Warrior - uses ki to perform animal-influenced feats of combat. The Dragon's Breath School attempt to maintain balance and order in the world.
* Order Of The Unicorn - chaotic-good paladin type who ride unicorns. The Order Of The Unicorn is a loose affiliation of these unicorn-riding knights of justice.
* Pit Fighter - gladiator type using a number of dirty fighting techniques. The Stable of the Outlander is an example group of pit fighters with some political influence.
* Reaver - nomadic bandits skilled in the wilderness with riding and ambush abilities, that gain a spirit horse as a mount at 10th level. Troovad's band is an example organisation.
* Shadow Tiger - assassin monk-type with ability to use tiger transformations for unarmed combat, and can gain a shadow tiger companion at higher levels. The Shadow Tigers are an organisation that explore the expanding Plane Of Shadow.
* Tribal Protector - tribal barbarian type with an example organisation, Sword Children, that defend the tribal lands.

The next section introduces Legendary Classes. Legendary Classes are similar to Prestige Classes with two major differences - firstly, they have a high-level set of prerequisites (normally minimum 12th level), and secondly they are usually unique to one (or very few) beings who have a destiny that will stamp their mark on history. The character must announce his intention to take a legendary class two levels before he actually takes it. During this time, the character must perform a series of quests which he must succeed in before he can take on the mantle of the legendary class. Each of the legendary classes offered are 5-level classes, and all 5 levels must be taken before the character can take another class.
* Adamantine Warrior - a warrior who faces armies on his own and defeats them; with the ability to take huge amounts of damage (physical and magical) and still survive.
* Black Knight - an evil general working for a dark lord. He rides a nightmare and brings wrath down upon entire communities.
* Demonic Servant - evil character into mass blood sacrifice and demonic worship.
* The Dragon - master martial artist who has defeated all challengers and has preternatural awareness.
* The Great Teacher - font of knowledge regarding combat, the Great Teacher has learned from hard experience, including allowing opponents to hit him in order to understand their combat techniques.
* Justicar - wandering vigilante.
* The Slayer - no, not Buffy, rather a supreme hunter and slayer of a range of favored enemies.
* Stormwalker - warrior with the powers of elemental lightning, granted by lightning demons.
Can summon lightning mephits.

The next section offers Variant Classes. These are new versions of the base core classes with 20 levels.
* The Commander - leader version of fighters, with reduced bonus feats but combat tactic abilities.
* The Hunter - non-magical ranger variant with a bounty hunter slant.
* The Outdoorsman - another ranger variant with favored terrains rather than enemies, reduced fighter bonus feats, and bestial and magical companions.

Also given is a less detailed variant, the Urban Warrior, with a larger skill choice and points, but with no bonus feat at 1st level. A new skill, Urban Lore is described (elsewhere known as Streetwise). Two more shorter monk variants are also given - the Seeker Of Wisdom who has a different skill set with reduced weapon proficiencies, and the Ghost Hunter with a more limited alignment choice, a different skill set, the ability to turn undead at 1/2 his class level, but reduced Fort save progression.

Chapter Two: The Fighting Arts, offers twenty-seven new feats, though that includes a re-written form of the Two-Weapon Defense feat from FFG's Seafarer's Handbook (and six others from previous FFG releases). The feats include six that can be used by Barbarian's only whilst raging such as Raging Jump and Warcry. Other feats include Taunt, Master Tracker, and Weapon Trip.

The next section covers acrobatic combat. The section offers a number of combat manoeuvres that have prerequisites such as skill ranks, feats, or minimum ability scores. The manoeuvres include Attack From Above, Rappelling, Swing Kick, and Running Up Walls. Similar manoeuvres for mounted combat are also given, and include Deft Dodging, Jumping On Horseback, and Straddling Two Horses. There is also a sidebar giving a ruleset and advice for knocking a rider from his mount.

Chapter Three: Schools Of Combat, is aimed at newer players to the game, with advice on tactics for melee combat. There are recommendations for abilities, skills, feats, and tactics for three different combat styles - swordsman, destroyer, and grappler. There is some commentary on melee tactics, such as flanking, positioning, and knowing when to run. Similar advice is given for mounted combat, ranged combat, and melee combat vs. magic combat. There is some further advice and suggestions for good feat combinations for combat-orientated classes.

The next section in the chapter deals with the schools of combat, aka fighting styles. There is a brief discussion of fighting academies and travelling masters (with a table showing costs in XP and time, and a level cap) before getting on to the schools themselves. Each school has ten lessons a student can learn - each lesson gives an advantage whilst fighting, gaining in power as more lessons are learnt.
* Soldiers Of The White Shield - defence orientated style from Lead Footing (a stability bonus against trip attacks), up to Damage Reduction (2/-).
* The Vinekeepers - focuses on remaining hidden in a wilderness environment, with lessons granting from Natures' Clothing (+2 to Hide), up to One With Nature (full concealment against attacks in a forest).
* Order Of Illianel - focuses on strength of striking, from Focused Attack (+1 to attack and damage), up to Screaming Attack (+4 for an attack where the student leaps screaming at their opponent).
* The Veruthian Slayers - focuses on destroying undead, with lessons that range from gaining Undead Lore (a bonus to Knowledge (Undead) skill checks, up to Spectral Blast (a blast of positive energy that rips through hordes of undead).
* Anrath Betrayers - animal is blended into the student, giving powers from Animal Magnetism (animal frienship) to Dire Transformation (the ability to polymorph into a dire animal).
* Talaxian Duelists - focus on one-on-one duels, with lessons ranging from Calm Demeanor (giving Concentration as a class skill), up to Barrier Of Reflection (being able to cast spell turning once per day).
* Fists Of Ramos - uses unusual unarmed combat style to confuse opponents, ranging from Tipsy Demeanor (+4 to Perform), up to Tornado Kick (like an unarmed Whirlwind Attack, with a possibility of knocking foes unconscious).
* The Jadan Spearmen - specialists in reach weapons, with lessons ranging from Spear Expertise (gain Weapon Focus (Longspear)) up to Superior Spearfighting (using a spear like a quarterstaff with reduced penalties)
Each school has details of the leader of the school, and some discussion of the academy itself.

Chapter Four: The Warrior's World, begins by looking at mounts. Six types of mounts are discussed (stock, trail, recreation, show, hunter, and war), and several different mount species are described, giving an example of each. Species include horse, donkey, and elephant, as well as more fantastic species such as unicorn, riding dog, and dragon. Different mount equipment is listed and discussed, including barding and mount weapons (such as bladed shoes).

The next section looks at organisations for fighting classes. After offering a template for creating these types of organisations (ranks, membership requirements, benefits, drawbacks, and causes for expulsion, the text goes on to give a few examples using this template - the guild for adventurers, the contemplative order, wardens of the great wood, and the servants of ice (barbarians who worship ice demons).

The next section discusses the influence of the environment on combat. There is a discussion of slipperiness, slope, reduced space, obstacles, glare, and gravity. Different levels of these five factors are given, and advises modifiers based on the extent of the environmental influence. There is also a short discussion of fighting while climbing. Some examples of actual locations where these rules might be used are given, from the icefields of South Akatan to a ship at sea during the winter storms.

Some new equipment such as elven warpaint, bladed cloak, and harpoon crossbow are described. There is then a section discussing personalising arms and armour, such as precise fitting, embossing and decorating, functional modifications (e.g. hollow hilt, weighted, armour-piercing). The next section gives rulesets for fighting tournaments and games, and covers footraces, archery contests, hammer throw, axe/knife toss, gypsy knife fight, hunkerhausen (a two man tug of war), weapon display, mounted racing, and jousting tournaments.

Conclusion:
When I first picked up this book, I presumed that it was going to be a class-orientated book as it mentions the four combat-orientated core classes on the front. This is a bit deceiving, as what it really is, is a wealth of options for expanding combat. I guess it might have been a hard book to give a title to but the Path Of The Sword, does not really accurately capture the concept of its contents. The plus side of this, is that there is a reasonable amount of information in here that can be used for other classes than those mentioned on the cover.

Indeed, what is inside is actually pretty good. It has plenty of crunchy stuff in the form of prestige classes, feats, combat manoeuvres, fighting styles, and the tournament and games rulesets at the end of the book. It is also useful for players running the four combat-orientated classes with the plethora of tactical advice and character-building suggestions it gives. It also provides plenty of ideas for a GM, since some of the prestige classes seem designed for NPCs, the organisations are fairly generic and should be readily integratable into most standard fantasy campaign settings.

On the downside, a GM is only likely to pick bits here and there to introduce into her campaign setting. I found some of the prestige classes a bit bland - I'm unsure of how much use is made of Prestige Classes really suitable for NPCs. Full playtesting of the advantages that lessons from the Combat Schools give would be required before a fair assessment of their power could be made.

But all in all, this book should have something for everyone. Whether there is enough to warrant the cost is up to you - hopefully the detail above will help you make a more informed decision.

 

[Khur]

Okay, let's face it; D&D is about fighting. Yes, one can use the rules to tell beautiful fairy tales, or gritty yarns of dark, godless worlds. Yet, even in those stories, the meat is conflict, and a strong sword arm often decides the victor. Taking this idea to heart, Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) brings us the Path of the Sword, a tome full of ideas and mechanics to make a character a better warrior, and a DM better equipped to handle the inevitable battle.

Path of the Sword starts with the old standby in the current d20 marketplace: the prestige class. Don't get me wrong here, I love a good prestige class, and Path of the Sword has more than a few. In fact, the very first one had me wanting to keep reading. Many of these classes are colorful, balanced, and thoughtfully designed. What's more, all are tied to organizations, for which I applaud FFG. Still, there are flaws.

There are weird requirements, some classes are too powerful (or have abilities that are), and others seem like the writer was grasping to find class abilities to fill gaps. For the Champion of the Shining Light, which is a great idea (a monk that's good against undead), a clever player will note that good selection of abilities for her character allows entry at 3rd-level. A half-elf Mnk3 has all of the required feats as "metafeats", except Great Fortitude, which may be acquired at 1st level. By 3rd level, that same character can have 3 ranks in Knowledge (religion), and she's in. That is, as long as the elders of the monastery approve her ascension. I don't really object to this, but according to DMG a character's not supposed to be able to qualify for prestige class until 5th level.

As further examples, the Frontier Marshal grants a character a whopping +20 to Wilderness Lore checks to Track by 10th level. While this bonus is limited to the character's "native terrain", it still seems too high, is certainly more than would be granted by a feat, and serves to unhinge certain scenario possibilities. The Pit Fighter can (under limited circumstances) gain an unwieldy number of additional attacks per round, and the Ki Warrior reads like a hodge-podge of video game powers. It's very hard to generalize though, because many of the classes, like the Brother of the Cloak, Order of the Unicorn, Blade of the Emperor, and Guardian of the Way were excellent. That these classes had organizations developed to go with them was a big bonus.

Some of those organizations are flat or trite, while others are first-rate. The Pit Fighter class didn't impress me, but I quite enjoyed the Stable of the Outlander group tied to it, because it was bold enough to define itself virtually completely. Other classes were great, but the association was hollow. The Guardians of the Way come off as generic monks with some ethereal philosophy that the author was too afraid (or lazy) to share with us. Ambiguity in a gaming product is not a virtue. Had the writer presented a philosophy that didn't suit me, I could change it. As it is, I have to make it up.

Another thing that was odd to me was the fact that the book contains a feature called Organizational Templates, yet none of the organizations in the other sections use the template format. The template itself is a great idea, allowing a DM to design guilds and groups that have unique flavor and offer special benefits to members without a prestige class. Further, the sample groups presented are innovative.

Other original items include the legendary classes, which are for high-level characters that complete epic quests, soaring to positions of singular power. The requirements are suitably tough, and the restrictive nature of qualifying makes the task hard on the player as well. Flexible ability selection is something that a normal prestige (or core) class doesn't offer, and serves to make each legendary character different.

About half of these classes are quite nice, but the Black Knight and Demonic Servant don't seem "legendary" at all. The Justicar has powers that are poorly composed (like an aura power that can, as written, evoke fear in allies), while some classes have abilities that are just too game breaking for my taste (like the Slayer's ability to become immune to a number of attack types, such a red dragon's breath weapon, per day). Perhaps if all of the legendary classes had backgrounds like the Adamantine Warrior or the Stormwalker, their capabilities would be easier to swallow--legends shouldn't be generic. Though I like the creativity behind the legendary classes, I caution their use due to the power a PC of this caliber wields.

Path of the Sword offers up variants for low-level heroes too. One such advance in the d20 arena is a selection new classes that a character can start with at 1st level, while another is a group of alternate ways to look at an existing core class. The latter item is better than the former, and the writers may have improved the section by making all of the variants short alternates to the core classes. These tidbits on manipulating an existing class to get the type of character you want were far more valuable than the fully developed variants. As for the full classes, the Commander did point out a flaw in the fighter as a leader and strategist, but fell into the same trap by not including some relevant skills in the Commander's repertoire, such as Knowledge (war). Other things seem silly, like that the ranger-variant Hunter hates his foes utterly, rarely showing any mercy, yet has a specific class ability that allows the easy subdual of those same enemies. The fact that there is only three of each of these things in the book disappointed me as well. Compared to the twenty class variants one gets in Mongoose's The Quintessential Rogue, three of each concept is hardly enough. But FFG did do something that few other entities have done. They added a new skill (Urban Lore) that actually has merit, without falling under the purview of other core skills.

Where they succeeded with that one skill, they also did well with the new feats. Almost all of the feats are balanced and playable, while those few that aren't stick out plainly. Some, such as Hunter's Wisdom, are even what I'd call underpowered. The feat Parry is an interesting one, but I wonder how valid it paired with the likes of the fighting defensively combat action (and Expertise). The Player's Handbook admits that combat is abstract, and feats like Parry and Riposte take battle to a defined level. I'm not decrying that quality, but looking at them and the section of the book that follows got me thinking.

You see, the next section includes fighting maneuvers, like those in swashbuckling movies, or the mounted escapades of cowboy heroes. I wondered why Parry wasn't created as a maneuver, or why some of the maneuvers weren't executed as feats. Maneuvers have prerequisites and benefits like feats, but supposedly any character that meets the prerequisites, and makes the required skill checks, can perform the maneuver. The thinking behind the maneuvers is both logical and skillful. Yet, while they are certainly fun, and they'll add color to combat, the prerequisites of some are too high to be an accurate reflection of what it takes to complete the act. Polework, a routine commonly performed by amateur gymnasts, requires 21 ranks worth of skills, something I doubt those gymnasts could meet. The wording of some others makes them near useless, like the fact that anyone can remove a lasso as a move-equivalent action before the rope tightens. Shouldn't that require a Reflex save?

My first reflex, upon reading the "Schools of Combat" section of Path of the Sword, was to gasp in disbelief at how powerful this stuff makes the already feat-laden fighter, regardless of the XP and gold costs. With a more critical eye, I saw that FFG might have been trying to break out of the prestige class mold with these organizations and abilities, which is a bold and laudable experiment. The abilities granted for pursuing a school's training aren't that unbalancing. Still, since each school is essentially an organization, here was another prime opportunity to use Organization Templates, but the writers didn't. The schools may be novel, but prestige classes probably provide a better venue for fitting these academies into an existing world.

That world will be made all the richer, however, if the DM decides to use the material found in "Chapter Four: The Warrior's World". The mount material is largely superior, though the mount types seemed to have some nonsensical abilities, like the show mount's 10 ranks in Perform. While, in our world, Lipizzaner Stallions are certainly graceful animals, without their trainers or riders to guide them, they don't perform tricks on their own. Perhaps the material already in the core rulebooks about teaching animals could have been expounded upon in such a way that things, such as show mounts, were elucidated without the strange mechanics.

Better-executed mechanics describe fighting environments, which are useful, enjoyable, and Open Game Content. A few pages of equipment fall into the same category, followed by some (predominantly) excellent closed-content rules for customizing fighting equipment. The final pages of the book are a treasury, storing rules on how to run contests and tournaments. Some of the mechanics are unwieldy, especially the footrace rules. These unintentionally point out how, according to the core rules, a creature with the same base speed as another never catches the other creature in a race (barring fatigue), thus some rule has to be made to simulate races. Still, such a rule is nice to have, rather than being forced to wing it. Further, the system for jousting is from Natural 20 Press's Tournaments, Fairs, and Taverns. I really like to see this kind of cross-pollination, because it standardizes the d20 rules.

Everything in Path of the Sword still works to arouse the imagination, even if it isn't "plug-and-play", thus allowing creative persons to expand the ideas in the book. If you don't like "Schools of Combat" that's fine, they can be useful in creating great prestige classes. The whole volume worked this way for me. I'm sure some DMs (and munchkins ... er ... players) will have a field day with the more experimental parts of the tome as is, while the straightforward parts bid to ease adjudication burdens. Path of the Sword is a solid piece of work, has real bite, but a few rough edges...just like that 12th-level half-orc barbarian you've been playing.

This review was originally written for Gaming Frontiers on 10/29/02.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Bruce Boughner, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack

Sizing Up the Target
Path of the Sword is a 172-page hardcover accessory published by Fantasy Flight Games in their Legends & Lairs series. The authors are Clay Breedlove, Shaun Cashman, Lizard, Michelle Lyons, James Maliszewski, and Brian Patterson. The cover is done by Brian Schomburg and is done in the faux-tome cover style and is available for $24.95.

First Blood
Legends & Lairs is a staple in the D20 Universe. The Path of the Sword is the first of Fantasy Flight Games' foray into Class-specific Prestige Handbooks. This tome is intended for Barbarians, Fighters, Monks and Rangers. Paladins are covered in Path of Faith and Bards in Path of Magic. All four are similar in layout and cover the same topics, Prestige Classes, and introduce the concept of Legendary Classes.

There are only four chapters in this book, classes, fighting arts, schools and the Warrior’s world. A dozen new Prestige classes grace the first chapter. Eight of the new Legendary Classes and several variant core classes are outlined here. As I have said in other reviews, the classes have been well thought out, but on the flip side, some of the classes were designed to combat certain threats that have as yet remained unpublished.

Prestige classes include the Brotherhood of the Cloak, who fight with bladed cloaks, or the undead slaying Champions of Light. Dragon Warriors carry the blood of dragons in them, while the Frontier Marshal is similar to the sheriff of the Old West. Ki Warriors and Shadow Tigers seem to be a take off from the first edition Oriental Adventures. Pit Fighters are gladiators of incredible bloodthirstiness.

Legendary Classes include the barbaric Admantine Warrior, the ruthless Black Knight and the diabolic Demonic Servant. Monks can achieve the class of Dragon and Great Teacher. The Justicar, the Slayer and the Stormwalker all protect the innocent from evil in the wild.
Variant classes include the Commander, the Hunter, and the Outdoorsman to start but also have the Urban Warrior for fighters and Ghost Hunter for Monks.

The Fighting Arts chapter focuses on feats. A new class of feats are included here, Rage feats. This category is given to Barbarians and others who are able to Rage. Six feats are given for this category including feats like Warcry, Holy Fury, and Savage Health. General feats include things like Lionhearted, Bull’s Strike, Parry, and Riposte.

Different styles of combat are also discussed with styles like Acrobatic Combat, fighting from the rigging of a ship or Oriental martial arts, maneuvers for these styles like beam fighting and blade ballet show how the style can be applied to game use. The other style is Mounted combat with Hit and Run and Sideswipe as some of the maneuvers.

Schools of Combat are essays on options for building unique fighting styles by having the fighter train in a school environment to develop the unique style. It starts with the mechanics of melee, melee, mounted, ranged and magic melees are discussed with maneuvers for each and the best way to develop feats for them. Then the schools themselves are given. Defense masters like the Soldiers of the White School and wilderness experts like the Vinekeepers to undead slayers like the Veruthian Slayers. The schools cover a wide variety of fighting styles from dueling to unarmed combat to beast fighters.
The Warrior’s World deals in the accoutrements of a fighter. Developing mounts with determining factors of stock, trail, recreation, show hunter and war considerations. Then unique mounts like zebras, pegasi and griffons are described, then their equipment like barding and mounted weapons are given. Then organizational templates to develop schools or mercenary companies to provide campaign hooks and character flavor and development are outlined.
Combat conditions like slippery terrain, fighting on slopes, glare, obstacles and other conditions with modifiers for running under these conditions. Then several examples of each of those conditions are given to show their use. New equipment, armor and weapons are then shown and modifications to common items like basket hilts for swords as means of personalizing items for the fighter’s characterization. The book ends discussion various tournaments and giving samples of them.

Critical Hits
Path of the Sword covers a number of common topics in great detail, however most of the classes given here fell short of my expectations as commonplace. Later books in this series spoiled me as I acquired them before this one, but this volume sets the tone and the following books steadily improved. While the classes left me dry the schools and combat situations were really what made me feel I hadn’t wasted my dollar. Having been in single and melee combat for many years I recognized real effort made to give a game play mechanic for difficult situations.

Critical Misses
Better classes, like I stated, I felt like the classes given here were design for a specific world milieu that has yet to see print as opposed to classes that could be easily dropped into any world.

Coup de Grace
As the first of the series, this book set the tone for those that followed, but it was weaker than the others in the series. There was however a lot of good equipment and combat information that made up for the weakness of the classes.

To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.

 

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Review of Path of the Sword by Fantasy Flight Games.

Path of the Sword is the first of Fantasy Flight Game’s line of class books. It offers the usually material of prestige classes, feats, and some new equipment. However, unlike the Wizard’s class books, they also include new options that can only enhance one’s game even farther. This book is geared towards Fighters, Barbarians, Monks, and Rangers. I think tackling four classes in one book may have been too much as they really only focus on the combat sides of these classes. I would have liked to see some content on the magical abilities of the Ranger and the many different class abilities of the Monk. That is my biggest problem with the book, as it is well done. I really like the descriptions throughout the book. It makes the new rules easier to use. There are six different people given writing credit. Having that many different writers on one project and still having it come out this great is really something Wil Upchurch (Lead Developer) should be proud of. This is one of the few books beside the Core Books that I believe is a must have.

Chapter one is called the Fighting Classes. This chapter is the meat of the book and has many good ideas in it. In here we have Prestige Classes, Legendary Prestige Classes, and Variant Classes. The first thing I noticed about this chapter is that every prestige class, all twelve of them, have an organization attached to them. I really like this and the way it was done. Each organization is given a purpose, a leader (no stat block just a name and levels), the current activities, and campaign integration. The Campaign Integration is the key for using any of these organizations. It gives examples on having the PCs be part of the organization, an ally of them, or even the enemy of them. It also gives advice for what sort of campaign the organization best fits. Here are some of the prestige classes and organizations.

Brother of the Cloak: This is a very interesting class that deals with the bladed cloak, an exotic weapon defined elsewhere in this book. This class has a lot of style. It’s fairly easy to get into; one only needs 2 feats, BAB +5, and sponsorship. The class abilities are very stylish and easy to envision in combat. The organization is also really cool. One the surface they seem to be just promoting an odd fighting style with this unique weapon, however they are actually training warriors to fight the Drow. The history of why they do this is all here and I think it fits in easily to most games that use the Drow. Even with out the Drow it would be simple to substitute another race for them to be targeting.

Champion of the Shining Light: This is a prestige class geared toward the monk. It focuses the monk’s fighting ability towards the undead. The only problem with this class is that one can easy qualify for it by third level. It does require the one to be chosen by the elders of the monastery, but all the feats and skill requirements can be gotten by level three.

Blade of the Emperor: This is a very nice secret police type class. The organization gives good advice for many ways to use them in a game.

Order of the Unicorn: I really like this class and any organization that is actually run by the unicorns and not the people riding them is a very interesting idea to place in a role playing game. It reminds me a little of the Heralds of Valdemar from the Mercedes Lackey books. Also, it is not limited to only females or even to just humans and elves although they are the most common to be part of this group.

Next in this chapter we get to the Legendary Classes. These are more powerful prestige classes that are not easy to qualify for. One needs to be at least 12th level, at least two quests must be done to qualify, the decision to take any one of these classes must be done at least a few levels in advance, and once you take one level of the class you must take all five levels before going to any other class. However, it is worth it. These classes have character and power. They are more versatile then any other class. A character can truly become a legend with one of these classes.

Black Knight: This is a great higher-level nemesis for any good party. One of the quests to become a one is to convince a Nightmare to become your mount.

The Great Teacher: This is a great Monk class for one that wishes to become that high level character that truly understands combat. One of the abilities that can be chosen for this class is called Style Mastery. Basically, the character chooses one opponent and that opponent cannot use any of his feats in combat against the Great Teacher. It is powerful yet very stylish.

Stormwalker: This is another great Legendary Class. One of the quests is to be reduced to below zero hit points by an electrical attack. One does get some impressive electrical attacks in return, though like the ability to cast Chain Lightning once a day as a 20th level caster.

Now we get to the Variant Classes. I think all of them are pretty good. The Commander is a good leader type Fighter. The hunter is a variant Ranger more focused on a particular enemy. The outdoorsman is another variant Ranger that is more terrain based. Then it has three shorter variants. They are a few simple changes that can be made to a class (one fighter, two monk).

Chapter two is called The Fighting Arts. It starts with a decent selection of feats. Some of the feats like Barroom Brawler (+4 HP for subdual damage only, increase unarmed attack damage to 1d4) are good for style but really not that powerful. My favorite feats are Furious Strength (forgo normal rage to get +20 strength for a single action) and Raging Jump (+10 to jump check, but shorten rage by one round).

Next in this Chapter we come across Acrobatic Combat and Mounted Combat. This is just cool. There are different classical movie attack options like Beamwork (running across rafters), Cart wheeling, and Running up Walls. Each gives a requirement of certain skill ranks before the attempt can be made. Most maneuvers require some type of skill check. A lot of these maneuvers are things players will want to try in and out of combat. They are easy to use and I think it will add a level of fun to anyone’s game.

Chapter three is Schools of Combat. First it goes into different classic archetypes of melee fighters. Next it goes into melee tactics, mounted combat tactics, archer tactics, and other advice. It is a small section and make a good read for some good advice.

Then we get to the schools of Combat. These are an additional way for characters to gain abilities outside of the normal level system. It does cost XP and time to get. Also, requiring role-playing to find the school and to get taught would be addition and give the characters a sense of earning these abilities. Each school has ten lessons. Schools of combat are a good addition to a combat character. However, it does increase their power at the cost of some XP. So, the character will hang back in level but have some additional powers that make him a little stronger.

The final chapter is the Warrior’s World. It gives some good examples of mounts, some new weapons, and even goes into odd places to hold battles. As usual there are some good ideas here and the fighting locations can make a routine fight extraordinary.

Overall this is a very solid book. The prestige classes are the strength of the book, but I feel that there really is no weak area. Nothing in this book strikes me as being too powerful. I do think that covering four classes in one book made it a little thin for the sheer amount of possibilities each individual class can achieve. Other then that, there is very little that I found wrong with this book.