Tome of Battle preview

[glass]

Much better than what I expected.

I haven't studied the details in, er, detail. But the general principals seem to be exactly what I expected, I'm pleased to say.


glass.

 

[Sammael]

Admittedly, my expectations were very, very low.

 

[green slime]

Admittedly, my expectations were very, very low.

Mine still are.

 

[Staffan]

You can splash some Nine Swords abilities into any character by means of a "learn a martial maneuver" feat, but the system really shines when you build a warblade, crusader, or swordsage from the ground up.

That seems to be par for the course with the add-on systems. Magic of Incarnum let you add a soulmeld for a feat, and Tome of Magic let you have minor Binder and Truenamer abilities for feats as well (can't recall if they had an equivalent for Shadowcasters).

 

[Knight Otu]

Well, Wizards have finally done it - released a feat that allows your Dex modifier to damage. Why have a good Str now? Carrying Capacity/Encumbrance?

Because you might not always be in a Shadow Hand stance? Because the preferred weapons suck/don't fit your character image? Because you have better things to do with your feats? Because your DM does not allow Tome of Battle/this specific feat? I'm sure there's some more reasons, but that's all I can think of from the top of my head.

Then again the feat adds the Dex modifier, it doesn't replace the Str modifier.

I'd say that also helps.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Someone mentioned Ritual Warrior.

To me, they seem a lot more like those weird little abilitys from Mystic Eye Games Mystic Warrior book.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Well, Wizards have finally done it - released a feat that allows your Dex modifier to damage. Why have a good Str now? Carrying Capacity/Encumbrance? Then again the feat adds the Dex modifier, it doesn't replace the Str modifier.

Let's see. I can have a high strength and get a bonus to both damage and to hit rolls, or I can have a high dex and then spend two feats to get the equivalent. If I'm playing a vanilla melee type, I know what route I'm going with here. It IS a nice boost for dex based melee types, but it's not replacing the standard brawler by a long shot.

 

[Greg K]

Mine still are.

Mine too.

 

[Mercule]

Looks like it could be a nice cap system. I'm afraid that it might just be that one extra level of complexity that I don't want to take, though.

Actually, considering how much like the Hero martial arts system those entries look, it makes me wonder why I'm playing D&D instead of Hero.

 

[el-remmen]

I like the elusive reflexes feat - but the rest seems like dross to me.

No interest.