Krusk's ToB Hack

[Krusk]

Unplaytested - Math is half done. Went on a rant and put this together as a proof of concept. Wanted to preserve it somewhere better than google docs.


What is this?
I’ve always been displeased with the final result of ToB. I get the big direction isn’t great for 3.x in concept, and it's an obvious prototype for a combat minigame for 4e, and all the other common criticisms. This doesn’t address any of those. The solution to those problems is “So don’t use it”. This addresses a different problem. In addition to the above, ToB is also bad at what it is. I want to have schools of Tiger Claw masters who practice Tiger Claw moves, and dress in orange stripe gi’s while bringing custom tiger grip daggers to fights with their dreaded rivals, the White Raven clan, who wear white gis, and caw about as they jump from the rooftops. Instead, everyone sort of knows everything, and it's all a big mush. Fuck that.

General Rules
TOB Book
In general, the base classes, prestige classes, and anything outside of chapters 3 and 4 should be disregarded. Specific exceptions and notations below.
Chapter 2: Martial Lore: this skill exists and functions as written.
Readying Maneuvers: All maneuvers are always considered ready until they have been used. In which case they are expended.
Initiating maneuvers and stances: stances are considered maneuvers that do not expend. They count against your limit for maneuvers known.
Initiator Level: Your initiator level is equal to your class levels that grant maneuvers. If you have multiple classes that grant IL it stacks. For example, a Desert Wind Warrior 9 who takes his next level as a Setting Sun Ninja 1 selects setting sun powers as though he were a SSN of level 10.
Selecting Martial Maneuvers: Use the chart below for all classes.
Recovering Expended Maneuvers: After 5 minutes of meditation, rest, or calm activity, all expended maneuvers are recovered. All classes have an additional recovery method that works for maneuvers from that class only.
Maneuver and Stance Descriptions: Prerequisite: This line should be ignored on all maneuvers.
If your school doesn’t give enough maneuvers to reach your maneuvers known on the chart, cuss WoTC and then tell your DM to build you some new ones.

Maneuvers Known Per Level
All new classes use the following table.
Maneuvers Known
Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1st 2 — — — — — — — —
2nd 2 — — — — — — — —
3rd 3 — — — — — — — —
4th 3 1 — — — — — — —
5th 3 2 — — — — — — —
6th 3 2 1 — — — — — —
7th 3 3 2 — — — — — —
8th 3 3 2 1 — — — — —
9th 3 3 3 2 — — — — —
10th 3 3 3 2 1 — — — —
11th 3 3 3 3 2 — — — —
12th 3 3 3 3 2 1 — — —
13th 3 3 3 3 3 2 — — —
14th 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 — —
15th 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 — —
16th 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 —
17th 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 —
18th 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1
19th 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2
20th 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

New Classes
Desert Wind Warrior
Speed and mobility are the hallmarks of the Desert Wind discipline. Desert Wind maneuvers often involve blinding flurries of blows, quick charges, and agile footwork. Some maneuvers from this school, however, draw power from the supernatural essence of the desert and allow an adept practitioner to scour his foes with fire.

HD: D8
Skills - 6+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light armor, shields, simple weapons plus scimitar, light pick, and falchion.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Ref and Fort

Features
Level 1: Cleansing Flames: You regain the use of any single expended maneuver by dealing 5 points of fire damage. For each additional 5 points of fire damage dealt, you restore another maneuver of your choice. You cannot gain additional uses beyond your maximum in this manner. Note this cannot be used to restore the same maneuver that caused the fire damage. This fire damage does not have to come from a maneuver. Other sources are allowed at GMs discretion.
Yes examples: Pushing a foe into an ally's wall of fire spell. Striking with a lit torch or flaming weapon. Using your own fire breathing ability, or spells. Tripping someone into a fire.
No Examples: Being near someone who fails to jump a fire pit. Watching someone get struck with an ally's fireball.
Level 1: Desert Wind: You can choose maneuvers from the Desert Wind school.
Level 1: Deserts Defense: Gain the monk's AC Bonus with the exception that you can wield a shield or wear light armor.
Level 2: Eyes of the Desert: You can add your wisdom modifier to your initiative modifier.
Level 3: Evasion
Level 5: Fire Resistance 10
Level 7: Improved Evasion
Level 10: Superheat: Fire damage from your maneuvers can bypass fire resistance, and fire immunity.
Level 15: Fire Immunity
Level 20: Fire Body: your type becomes Elemental (Fire). Your hair ignites and won’t go out, and you can cause things you touch to catch fire. You do not gain cold vulnerability, but you still don’t like it.

Disciple of the Devoted Spirit
Faith, piety, and purity of body and mind are the wellsprings of a warrior’s true power. Devoted Spirit maneuvers harness a practitioner’s spiritual strength and her zealous devotion to a cause. This discipline includes energies baneful to a creature opposed to the Devoted Spirit student’s cause, abilities that can keep an adept fighting long after a more mundane warrior would fall to his enemies, and strikes infused with vengeful, fanatical power.

HD: D12
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light, medium, and heavy armor, shields, simple weapons plus falchion, longsword, and maul.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will and Fort

Features
Level 1: Devoted Spirit: You can choose maneuvers from the Devoted Spirit school.
Level 1: Recovery: Successfully hit with a non-maneuver attack.
Level 1: Smite: once per encounter, per 3 DDS levels, you can execute a smite attack. This attack adds your charisma to hit and initiator level to damage. Unlike a paladin, you can smite anyone you deem worthy.
Level 2: Steely Resolve: You can add your charisma modifier to saving throws.
Level 5: Turning: 3+Cha mod per day you can attempt to turn undead, devils, or demons as per the cleric class feature. You cannot rebuke.
Level 10: You can spend a turning attempt to cure any poison or disease, even magical.
Level 15: You can spend a turning attempt to restore a creature slain within the last 5 minutes to life, with a single hit point, provided you have a portion of their body.

Diamond Mind
True quickness lies in the mind, not the body. A student of the Diamond Mind discipline seeks to hone his perceptions and discipline his thoughts so that he can act in slivers of time so narrow that others cannot even perceive them. A corollary of this speed of thought and action is the concept of the mind as the battleground. An enemy defeated in his mind must inevitably be defeated in the realm of the physical as well.

HD: D10
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light, and medium armor, shields, simple weapons plus rapier, bastard sword, and trident.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will and Ref

Features
Level 1: Diamond Mind: You can choose maneuvers from the Diamond Mind school. Note, that when the school calls for a +str to a saving throw DC, this class instead uses Intelligence.
Level 1: Diamond Surge: You recover a maneuver whenever you successfully make a saving throw.
Level 1: Intelligent Warrior: You can add your int modifier to initiative, and defenses against trip, bull rush, grapple, or overrun attempts.
Level 3: Spot the Illusion: you always get a saving throw vs illusions, even if you haven’t interacted with them yet.
Level 5: Intelligent Warrior: When flanking, you add your int modifier to your attack and damage rolls.
Level 10: Intelligent Warrior: Your allies that can see you can add your int modifier to their initiative scores and saving throws vs enchantment and illusion. (you gain the bonus to enchantment and illusions, but not a second bonus to initiative).
Level 15: Measured Attack: you can take 10 on one attack roll per round.
Level 20: Master Diviner: you can take 10 on any rolls you want.

Master of the Iron Heart
Absolute mastery of the sword is the goal of the Iron Heart discipline. Through unending practice and study, the Iron Heart adept achieves superhuman skill with her weapons. Iron Heart maneuvers are demonstrations of uncanny martial skill—weaving patterns of steel that dizzy, confuse, and ultimately kill with no recourse.

HD: D10
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor, shields, simple weapons plus bastard sword, dwarven waraxe, longsword, and two bladed sword.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Fort and Ref

Features
Level 1: Iron Heart: You can choose maneuvers from the Iron Heart school. Note, that when the school calls for a +str to a saving throw DC, this class instead uses Intelligence
Level 1: Recall Lessons: When an enemy misses an attack against you, you recover a maneuver for your choice.
Level 1: Parry: As an immediate action, you can add your intelligence modifier to your AC against the next attack against you.
Level 2: Uncanny Dodge
Level 3: Subtle Correction: 3+int mod per day, you can quickly correct your mistake. When you roll damage, you can reroll and use the new result instead.
Level 7: Subtle Correction: When you roll an attack roll, you can reroll it and use the new result instead.
Level 10: Improved Uncanny Dodge
Level 11: Subtle Correction: When you roll a saving throw, you can reroll it and use the new result instead.
Level 15: Subtle Correction: You can tell the GM to reroll any of the things you can reroll yourself, for a roll they have just made.
Level 20: Not so subtle: once per day, you can just tell the GM the result of a die roll they are about to make.

Seeker of the Setting Sun
Strength is an illusion. Adherents of the Setting Sun philosophy understand that no warrior can hope to be stronger, quicker, and more skillful than every one of her enemies. Therefore, this discipline includes maneuvers that use an adversary’s power and speed against him. Setting Sun maneuvers include throws and imitative strikes. The highest forms of the Setting Sun require an adept to empty herself of preconception and impulse to become a hollow vessel unhindered by want.

HD: D8
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light armor and simple weapons plus shortsword, nunchaku, and unarmed strikes.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will and Ref

Features
Level 1: Setting Sun: You can choose maneuvers from the Setting Sun school. Note, that when the school calls for a +str to a saving throw DC, this class instead uses charisma
Level 1: Recovery: At the end of each of your turns, you recover a maneuver for every 30ft you move, or cause an enemy to move.
Level 1: Fleet of Foot: You can add your cha bonus to your AC against attacks of opportunity.
Level 2: Fast Movement: you gain an increase to all of your base movement speeds of 10ft. This increases again at levels 8, 14, and 20. It does not increase movement speeds you do not possess.
Level 3: Attacking Blur: When spending a move action for movement, you can break the movement up around any swift or standard actions you may take. For example, moving 10ft, spending a swift to enact a stance, moving another 20, spending a standard to attack, and then spending the remaining 10 (assuming a 40ft move speed), to move away.
Level 5: Master Positioner: In addition to your normal 5ft steps, you can take an extra 5ft step each turn as a swift action. If for some reason it would be helpful, you can give up your move and/or standard for a third or fourth that round.
Level 10: Perfect Balance: You can move across water, and other liquids without a balance check. This does not grant fire or acid immunity, if you are running across a pool of flaming acid.
Level 15: Perfect Balance: You can move across air, and other gases without a balance check. This does not grant fire or acid immunity, if you are running across a cloud acid. This in effect grants a flight speed equal to your base land speed if you do not have one.
Level 20: Planar Traveler: By spending 20ft of movement, you can travel to any coterminous or coexisting plane.

Shadow Hand Ninja
Never show an adversary what he expects to see. The Shadow Hand discipline emphasizes deception, misdirection, and surprise. The most effective blow is one struck against an enemy who does not even know he is in danger. Because the study of deceit as a philosophy often leads into darker practices, some Shadow Hand maneuvers employ the supernatural cold and darkness of pure shadow.

HD: D8
Skills - 6+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, hide, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light armor, simple weapons plus shortsword, sai, siangham, spiked chain, and unarmed strikes.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will and Fort

Features
Level 1: Shadow Hand: You can choose maneuvers from the Shadow Hand school.
Level 1: Recovery: Whenever an attack that would hit you, misses due to concealment or any other miss chance, you recover a maneuver.
Level 1: Unarmed Strike: You gain the monk's unarmed strike class feature.
Level 2: Ki Step: As a move action, you can teleport 10ft. You do not need line of sight, but if you teleport into an occupied location, you will be shunted to the nearest open space.
Level 3: Aligned Strike: Your unarmed strikes bypass DR as though they were magic, and bypass all alignment based DR.
Level 5: Ki Step: The range increases to your move speed.
Level 7: Focused Strike: Your unarmed strikes bypass all DR with the exception of DR /-. They also automatically bypass hardness.
Level 10: 5 Finger Death Punch (Su): You can set up vibrations within the body of another creature that are fatal. You can use this death punch as a full round action. If you strike successfully and the target takes damage from the blow, the target makes a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + ½ IL+ the Wis modifier), or is slain. This is a death effect.
Level 11: You can travel to the ethereal or shadow planes at will as a standard action.
Level 15: Master Strike: Your unarmed strikes bypass all DR.
Level 20: Shadow Master: You gan the Incorporeal subtype, but can extend your reach to the material if you desire. You can choose to affect solid objects at your discretion.

Stone Dragon Berserker
The strength and endurance of the mountains epitomize the Stone Dragon discipline. The methodical and relentless application of force allows a student of this philosophy to defeat any foe. Strikes of superhuman power and manifestations of perfect, idealized force make up the Stone Dragon maneuvers.

HD: D12
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light, medium, and heavy armor, simple weapons plus greatsword, greataxe, heavy mace, and unarmed strikes.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will and Fort

Features
Level 1: Stone Dragon: You can choose maneuvers from the Stone Dragon school.
Level 1: Into Battle: Whenever you successfully hit with a charge attack, you can regain the use of a maneuver.
Level 1: Dungeon Crasher: When making a bullrush, if you move an opponent into a solid wall, they stop as normal, but also take 4d6+2X str bonus in bludgeoning damage.
Level 2: Powerful Build.
Level 3: Dungeon Crasher: Targets now take 8d6+3X str damage.
Level 7: Dungeon Crasher: Targets now take 12d6+4X str damage.
Level 10: Size Doesn’t matter: opponents do not gain size bonuses to oppose your grapple, bull rush, or trip attempts. They do get size penalties.
Level 11: Dungeon Crasher: Targets now take 16D6+5X str damage.
Level 15: Dungeon Crasher: Targets now take 20D6+6X str damage.
Level 19: Dungeon Crasher: Targets now take 24D6+7X str damage.

Tiger Claw Assassin
Consciousness is the enemy of instinct. The Tiger Claw discipline teaches that martial superiority can be achieved by discarding the veneer of civilization, along with the higher
thoughts that fetter a warrior’s actions. Tiger Claw maneuvers emulate the strikes, leaps, and pounces of animals. When infused with ki power, some Tiger Claw maneuvers also allow a martial adept to take on animalistic characteristics, speed, and bloodlust.

HD: D8
Skills - 6+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Light armor, simple weapons plus kukri, kama, greataxe, and unarmed strikes.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Ref and Fort

Features
Level 1: Devoted Spirit: You can choose maneuvers from the Devoted Spirit school.
Level 1: Blood in the Air: whenever you score a critical hit, you recover a maneuver.
Level 1: Claws: You gain 2 natural claw attacks that deal 1d4+½ str damage each and crit on an 18-20.
Level 1: You can critically hit any creature. Undead, oozes, constructs, whatever.
Level 2: Improved Critical: You are treated as having the improved critical feat for any weapon with which you are proficient.
Level 3: Cleave and Great Cleave: you get the feats.
Level 6: Perfect two weapon fighting: You can attack equally as well with your offhand as your main hand. You can two weapon fight without penalty. If you had any two weapon fighting feats previously, retrain them now.
Level 10: Leaping Cleave: Whenever you slay a creature, you can make an immediate charge attack at a creature within range of your move speed, provided you make a successful jump check to cover the distance. If your jump check is not enough to close the distance, you instead simply move as far as you were able.
Level 15: Superior Critical: your critical threat range is tripled. This does not stack.
Level 20: Perfect Critical: you don’t have to confirm critical hits. They always confirm.

White Raven General
No warrior fights in isolation. Cooperation, teamwork, and leadership can give two warriors the strength of five, and five warriors the strength of twenty. The student of the White Raven masters maneuvers that combine the strengths of two or more allies against a common foe. Shouts and battlecries infused with ki are the signature maneuvers of the White Raven discipline.

HD: D8
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, sense motive swim, tumble.
Prof: Light, medium, and heavy armor, shields, simple weapons plus longsword, battleaxe, warhammer, greatsword, and halberd.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will and Ref

Features
Level 1: White Raven Tactics: You can choose maneuvers from the White Raven Tactics school.
Level 1: Teamwork: Whenever you or an ally make an attack of opportunity, or whenever you successfully attack a foe you are flanking, you regain the use of a maneuver.
Level 1: Reposition: Instead of taking a 5ft step, you can adjust a willing ally within 30 ft’s position by 5ft as though they took a 5ft step.
Level 3: Rally: As a standard action, you can grant all allies within 30ft an additional saving throw against any ongoing condition affecting them whose duration is measured in rounds.
Level 6: Leadership.
Level 7: Push Through It: As a standard action, once per encounter, you can cast Heal with a CL = IL on all allies within 30ft.
Level 11: Recognition: People begin to know you and defer to you as though you were a ranking member of nobility at the baron, count, or duke equivalent. You aren’t a king, but people take your guidance and direction with ease. This ability has 2 main effects.
NPCs recognize you. Even if you’ve never been to that country or plane before, you still manage to be recognized in a bar or on the street. If you’ve been somewhere before, you can assume everyone has at least heard of you.
All NPCs begin with an attitude one step better than normal to a maximum of helpful. Even if they would normally your enemy, they still respect you, and tend to adopt an “it's just business” attitude.
Level 15: Easy Mode: Your renown as a general is far and wide. Everyone knows you, even in the far reaches of the multiverse. Any NPC always begins with an attitude of at least friendly. If they would normally be friendly or less, they are increased to helpful.
Level 20: Epic Leadership

New Other Stuff
New Feats
Dabbler
Prereq: None
You gain a maneuver known from a class that you normally would not have access to at no higher level than your current max level at the time this feat is taken. This is an extra maneuver in addition to your class chart. If you do not normally have access to maneuvers, you can gain access to a single one of first level. You can take this multiple times, and can select a different maneuver each time.

Master of a School
Prereq: IL 6
Pick one initiator class in which you have levels. You are considered a master of that style. This allows you to do one of two things chosen when this feat is taken.
Pick one maneuver. This maneuver is considered one level lower for you. You can pick a new maneuver whenever you would learn a new level of maneuver, but can only have one at a given time.
Design a custom maneuver with your GM. If you are designing a maneuver, you should balance as though it were one level less powerful than it actually us. EX: if designing Rallying Strike, it should be a level 5 maneuver, not level 6.

New Prestige Classes
Master of the Nine
You can effortlessly mix and match fighting styles on the fly as the situation calls for it.

Prereq: IL 5, must know a maneuver from at least 3 schools.
HD: D8
Skills - 4+Int - balance, climb, concentration, craft, diplomacy, intimidate, jump, martial lore, swim, tumble.
Prof: Any one weapon of your choice.
BAB: Good
Saves: Good Will.

Level 1: Adaptable Style: When choosing new maneuvers gained by the Master of the Nine class, you have access to any school. Note that Diamond Mind and Iron Heart are Int based and Setting Sun is Cha based.
Level 1: Extra Maneuver: You gain an extra maneuver known at each level you are capable of learning. This does not increase as you gain access to more levels of maneuvers.
Level 2: Fancy Footwork: When you are in a stance from one school, and use a maneuver from another school, the next melee attack against you suffers a 20% miss chance due to your unorthodox movements.
Level 3: Orthodox Defense: You are innately familiar with any and all maneuvers, their execution and more importantly, their defense. You gain +2 to saving throws, AC, and counter skill checks against maneuvers if you are in a stance of that school.
Level 4: Extensive Knowledge: +Levels in MotN to Martial Lore checks.
Level 5: Perfect Flow: You can shift between stances without pause. You can change stances as an immediate action.
Level 6: To be Continued: You can continue taking levels in this class, but it does not grant any new features, with the exception of improved initiator level and adaptable style.

[OgreBattle]

I like the unique recovery of each maneuver, but I'm not sure how often some of them will come up, like diamond mind needs saving throws to be made

I like the "make a charge attack" "deal fire damage" "move 30ft" recoveries as that's within player control and the latter suits the moment a ninja runs circles around someone before doing a big attack

[Krusk]

I struggled with the specific recovery mechanics for a few. Some seemed too common and others not common enough. One day id like to playtest it and see how they fair in real scenarios. If you have suggestions or feedback i am open to them.

Example: as written diamond mind probably allows someone to spam easy to pass saves to recover all their stuff. It could also rarely ever come up, if your dm never uses casters and its all animal fights. Which is more common than it should be.

Ultimately i decided that I didn't care about it a whole ton, because most fights I see sit in that 3-5 round range, and i dont think anyone will actually run out of maneuvers all that often when you factor in other “misc” encounter rounds (not being an arena fight and asking people to position for example) . I erred to “post something” vs keep bouncing the idea around in my head for another year.

The recovery being a different fiddly knob to twist was mostly added to give a little resource minigame for people who want one. But id be surprised if past say 5th level any given warrior ran out of maneuvers and felt bad about it. Even if class A spams their best, and you cycle through all of yours.

[OgreBattle]

I struggled with the specific recovery mechanics for a few. Some seemed too common and others not common enough. One day id like to playtest it and see how they fair in real scenarios. If you have suggestions or feedback i am open to them.

Example: as written diamond mind probably allows someone to spam easy to pass saves to recover all their stuff. It could also rarely ever come up, if your dm never uses casters and its all animal fights. Which is more common than it should be.

Ultimately i decided that I didn't care about it a whole ton, because most fights I see sit in that 3-5 round range, and i dont think anyone will actually run out of maneuvers all that often when you factor in other “misc” encounter rounds (not being an arena fight and asking people to position for example) . I erred to “post something” vs keep bouncing the idea around in my head for another year.

The recovery being a different fiddly knob to twist was mostly added to give a little resource minigame for people who want one. But id be surprised if past say 5th level any given warrior ran out of maneuvers and felt bad about it. Even if class A spams their best, and you cycle through all of yours.

Perhaps tie it to the action economy?

You recover a lot or a little depending on doing something with your Standard/Swift/Movement

So the fast ninja running class gets recovery from making a move action, the flame class perhaps gets some swift "kindle flame" ability to enhance their flame damage or make fire places explode that also recovers an ability