Sword & Fist is the first of the character builder series of supplements for
Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition. As the title implies, this supplement focuses upon playing fighters and monks; the link is that both classes rely upon martial prowess as the primary means for making one’s way through the world. As I prefer to play fighters when I play
Dungeons & Dragons, I snatched up this book not long after its release. I expected that it would be a mixture of good and bad, but overall it would be useful. I wasn’t far from the mark.
The book is a slim softcover with a cover dress that mimics the look of the Player’s Handbook. This signifies that Sword & Fist is a supplement aimed at players first and Dungeon Masters second. The cover piece is a painting depicting both Iconic fighters and the Iconic monk—Tordek, Redgar and Ember, respectively—as they move into action over some rubble. They look rather ridiculous in doing so, mostly due to the absurd design of their equipment. The interior artwork is, on the whole, far better as it’s not so silly. The layout is easy on the eyes, and the maps are a mix between those useable as-is and those that require redrawing to fit the tactical scale of “1 inch = 5 feet”. The charts, where not marred by errors, are just as easy to read and use.
Okay, so it looks nice. How useful is this book? Well, the answer is “If you’re big on this stuff, then it’s useful.” In brief, the book begins with an overview of its content and intended use. From there—in this order—the book introduces new feats & prestige classes, talks about playing fighters & monks, introduces new organizations related to a few of the new prestige classes, talks about planning ahead for such classes, goes over a few tactical combat details, addresses monstrous fighters & monks, goes over some more combat details with examples, and then finishes with new magic goodies and vehicles (and the variants to go with them).
The new feats are a mixed bag. Expert Tactician, in particular, received a lot of attention and errata; the correct version is now found in Song & Silence. Opinions vary, but I saw none of the others that stuck out as much as Expert Tactician did; the closest that I perceived were a few feats that, if chained appropriately, could be rather potent: Pin Shield goes a long way towards making rangers more capable melee combatants, Lightning Fists does for monks what Multifire does for gunbunnies and Hold The Line is a nasty feat when used by a Dwarven Defender w/ Great Cleave at a choke point. The errata put most of these feats on the fighter’s list of eligible bonus feats.
The prestige classes are definitely a mixed bag. The Ghostwalker, Master of Chains, Lasher and Warmaster are questionable at best. The first is a lame attempt at mimicking The Man With No Name from Clint Eastwood’s days with Sergio Leone, the second two are poor excuses for a weapon-specific variant of the Weapon Master and the last has as class abilities the granting of fortifications. All of them are lame, and they shouldn’t be in print. The best classes are the Ravager, the Fist of Hextor, Knight Protector of the Great Kingdom, the Red Avenger and the Duelist. This is because all of them are either tied to an organization—the first four, three of which are specific to Greyhawk—or it makes an otherwise-unplayable concept playable (the Duelist, which grants abilities to make up for the use of the rapier and little or no armor w/o using magic). The others are in the middle; either they fit the criteria of a worthwhile class but required errata (Ninja of the Crescent Moon, Cavalier) or they lack something but otherwise need few or no fixes (Tribal Protector).
The gameplay advice is the usual sort of thing. There’s a comparison of how race influences development within the class, what feats or such to favor, and so forth. The examination of tactical gameplay is instructive, if only for the reminder that being a successful warrior requires that a player fight as effectively as his character allows, and the examination of class-specific details or common details—such as when using Flurry of Blows is effective, or the odds of hitting with a 2 weapon over a 1 keen weapon—are more useful than they seem at first. For new players especially, this is worthwhile. The information about monstrous fighters and monks is meant for DMs, and it’s one of two sections so aimed; the other being the new magic items & enchantments.
The rest of the book consists of sample strongholds and new gear. This is the other big source of controversy, as almost all of the stats in the book were later corrected by errata into far more balanced versions. No weapon introduced says this more than the bladed gauntlet, which received much attention—most of it negative—for quite some time. Its present version is now just a shortsword that can’t be disarmed. The strongholds are, by comparison, not at all notable. There are some typical holdings that vary by purpose, race and size; there are price tags and construction times associated with each one, which makes this final section of equal interest to players and DMs.
In conclusion, this first book is filled with errors—you must have the current errata to make proper use of it—and I do not recommend buying it now unless you must or if you are some sort of completist. This is quite a shame, as this book is otherwise a decent supplement. Despite all of the problems and hassles, I’ve found it useful to me; your mileage will vary.
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