 After an arduous campaign, four mighty adventurers enter the climactic final battle in their journey. Arcane power launches from the wizard's hands, disfiguring their mighty foe. Striking from the shadows, the rogue attacks vital points on the opponent, weakening it and preventing potential escape. A beam of light shines on the cleric as she calls forth her deity's power to seek divine justice. Shining sword in hand, the warrior closes the distance and... rolls for damage.
One of the weaknesses of Dungeons and Dragons' v3.5 ruleset is the relatively small number of ways to play a raw melee warrior. Standard classes such as the paladin and barbarian alleviate this somewhat, adding a new angle to the character. Numerous feats empower the warrior and broaden his options, especially those from the Player's Handbook II. But even with all of these variations on the warrior theme, a simple wizard has far greater breadth through his diverse spell list. Enter the Tome of Battle.
Clerics and wizards get massive spell lists, and even rogues gain access to a bevy of abilities that allow them to apply their talents to many different specialty attacks. But the warrior is almost always relegated to the simple task of dealing damage. The Tome of Battle introduces dozens of combat maneuvers for melee combatants, giving what was once an average warrior access to extraordinary powers of martial prowess. Though these abilities can be acquired by almost any adventurer, the true power available in the Book of Nine Swords comes to the three new melee classes: the Crusader, the Swordsage, and the Warblade. They are sometimes also referred to as martial adepts.
Each of the new classes possesses a number of unique abilities, but the common component is in their access to martial maneuvers and stances. A martial maneuver is, in a sense, like a spell for warriors: only a select list is available at any given time, each requires some sort of action, they are prepared beforehand, and they can have many similar effects to those of spells. However, one of the most important aspects to consider is that martial maneuvers are almost all extraordinary abilities rather than magical -- that is, they can function even where magic cannot and ignore spell resistance. Additionally, it takes only five minutes to regain access to all spent maneuvers, rather than eight hours. Stances are passive forms that are maintained freely and provide bonuses to combat or grant additional powers to the user. Unlike maneuvers, stances are always available, and do not have to be prepared or refreshed.
Martial maneuvers and stances are divided into nine disciplines, similar to spell schools. Each of these disciplines has a particular focus; for instance, Desert Wind features a number of attacks that add fire damage to the strike. Each class has access to a different combination of disciplines; most are only available to one of the three classes. Additionally, there are differences in how each class can regain access to used maneuvers within combat.
The Tome of Battle also adds a number of new feats to the game, most enhancing the abilities of the martial adept classes. One notable pair of feats allows other classes access to some of the martial maneuvers and stances provided in the book. There are also a few new skill options provided to augment the martial adept role. Rounding out the traditional set of new content are eight prestige classes that add a new dimension of play to new and old classes alike.
The eponymous Nine Swords are also described in the later sections of the book, with lore and statistics for each. Every sword has a detailed history waiting to be discovered by adventurers, and those histories have strong ties to certain rituals and situations which must be visited to fully unlock the swords' powers. The swords are also legacy weapons, as presented in the supplement Weapons of Legacy. The weapons' histories are also intertwined with new creatures offered in the final chapter of the book, complete with their own lore.
Closing comments
Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords is a great sourcebook for spicing up the melee combat in any gaming group. With dozens of useful new combat abilities, the book easily makes the cut even based on its core content. The inclusion of new creatures and lots of lore tied into many elements of the book only add to the book's value and really round it out. Anyone but the most diehard anti-melee player would be able to make great use of a copy of the Tome of Battle.
The Wizard thinks:
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