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General Overview

Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords is, at its most basic, one of the most innovative products to be released by Wizards of the Coast in the last couple of years. This book introduces a new element into the game, what the book calls “sword magic.” While the name is somewhat misleading (most of the abilities are actually extraordinary or supernatural in origin), it is a good description of the basic mechanic in this book: a way to give melee fighters additional options and some flashy moves that can enhance nearly any game.

First Impression

Upon opening my shiny new book, the first thing that struck me was how beautifully the book was laid out. Even the first protective page, generally just a thicker weight paper, had a pleasant fabric-like texture and a royal purple color. The title page was beautifully laid out in full color, as is the rest of the book. Most of the artwork is of excellent quality (like most of the new d20 books), though some of it is a bit hit and miss. I loved the page borders in particular, as they give a great feel to the book. In short, even just thumbing through the book, the quality of layout and design is evident. It’s a very pretty book to look at, which helps to keep you reading.

Introduction

The introduction starts out with a short story told from the perspective of the narrator, Harran Turiyeshor. Harran is a master of the sublime way (the sum of the nine martial disciplines) and serves as a nice introduction into this new melee combat system. The introduction also includes the standard what you need to play section and a quick primer on all the new terms. It was nice to see this primer at the beginning, as you immediately begin to understand all the new terms. The introduction finishes up with another passage by Harran, this time on the Nine Swords (which are provided later in the book as Weapons of Legacy). Finally, you have a nice little sidebar about blending genres in Dungeons and Dragons. All in all, it’s a fitting introduction into blade magic.

Chapter One: Disciples of the Sword

This chapter is introduced once again by Harrhan, offering a short amount of insight about the three martial adept classes (martial adept classes are the three new base classes in this book: Crusader, Swordsage, and Warblade). A brief description of all three martial adept classes is provided before we get into the meat of the chapter: the base classes (Crusader, Swordsage, and Warblade). It’s worth mentioning that these base classes get a very full write up that has become common in the newer books, including information on their placement in the world, their history, and even how to adept them to other purposes. I really like this trend, as it offers a player a lot more ideas for potential characters.

The Crusader is the martial adept answer to the paladin or cleric. It’s the most heavily armored of the three martial adept classes and it’s also the only class that gains full martial weapon proficiency. The main role of the Crusader seems to be taking damage and then channeling that pain into martial prowess. This class is very attractive to players who’d like to play a Paladin but don’t want the stringent roleplaying requirements or the ability to summon a horse from the sky. Of all the martial adept classes, the Crusader is the most “resilient” and “tank-like.” The Crusader is also the only martial adept class that gains access to the Devoted Spirit discipline out of the box.

The Swordsage is the most skilled and learned of the martial adept classes. Unlike the other base classes, it gains a moderate base attack bonus and a meager d8 hit die. However, the Swordsage gains access to the most disciplines and can initiate more maneuvers than anyone else. The Swordsage is really going to appeal to players who want characters with a lot of “special moves” and those who like fighters who are more skilled than powerful. The Swordsage is the only martial adept class that gains access to the Desert Wind disciple immediately.

The Warblade is the most offensive of all the martial adept classes. It gains a beefy d12 hit die and the best base attack progression. The Warblade is also the only martial adept class that gains bonus feats (though these feats come few and far between and are drawn from a rather small list). The Warblade is going to be very appealing to those who like playing barbarians and fighters, or any class that deals a large amount of damage. The Warblade also gains a nifty ability that lets him change the focus of such feats like Weapon Specialization or Improved Critical. In games where good weapons are few and far between this can make the class especially attractive. Finally, the Warblade can qualify for fighter only feats like a fighter two levels lower than his class level.

In general, I have to say that each class is well designed and fits a definite niche in the game. Each class focuses on a particular role in combat and sticks with it. While the base classes don’t get a lot of special abilities, it’s easy to customize each class through careful maneuver selection (more on that later). All in all, the new base classes provide an excellent foundation for this new system.

Chapter Two: Skills and Feats

This short chapter adds a new use for the Intimidate and Knowledge (Local) skill, as well as adding a new skill: Martial Lore. The new use of Intimidate, the battle of wills, was a nice touch to a somewhat underused combat skill. The bonuses provided are meager but useful, adding new dimension to a one-dimensional skill. The new Martial Lore skill simply lets you identify maneuvers, as well as gaining more information about martial adepts in general. Personally I would have liked to see this skill as a new use for an existing skill (most likely Knowledge (History)), but that’s more personal preference.

This chapter introduces 28 new feats, most of which are based around the nine disciplines. The feats are well written and easy to understand, and there are even two new psionic feats and nine new tactical feats (one for each discipline). There are a few feats that really caught my attention, though.

First of all, the Martial Stance and Martial Study feats allow anyone to learn a new maneuver or stance. As an added bonus, both of these feats are bonus fighter feats. The good thing about these feats is that it allows any character who just wants to dabble in sword magic a path other than dipping a class. This is also good news for games that are already in progress, as a fighter can start picking up a few maneuvers. The other interesting feat was Superior Unarmed Strike, which finally makes a non-monk brawler possible (though it’s also quite good for monks). In short, this short chapter includes something for everyone.

Chapter Three: Blade Magic

This chapter explains all about blade magic and is a much needed primer on this interesting new system. This chapter is short, but it provides all the detail you need to learn about blade magic. It’s also a good primer on swift and immediate actions (which were introduced in the miniatures handbook).

Chapter Four: Maneuvers and Stances

This is the meat and potatoes of the book. This chapter lists all the stances and maneuvers of blade magic. A stance of maneuver superficially resembles a spell, but at a closer glance they’re much different. Each maneuver and stance is detailed by discipline, though a list of maneuvers and stances by level precedes this (much like spells). There are four types of blade magic: boosts (which are like buffs), counters (which let you respond to certain effects), strikes (which are like attacks), and stances (which are like permanent buffs). In addition, each discipline has favored weapons, which was a nice touch.

There are nine disciplines of blade magic. Each one is unique and quite flavorful. The nine disciplines are:
Desert Wind: The Desert Wind discipline focuses on speed and mobility. In addition, some of the maneuvers let summon forth the scorching heat and fire of the desert. This discipline features strikes like Burning Blade (Level 1), which lets you deal extra fire damage until the end of your turn or stances like Fiery Assault (Level 8), which lets you deal an extra 1d6 of fire damage to all your attacks.
Devoted Spirit: Devoted Spirit is all about focusing on toughness, endurance, and spiritual power. It is the discipline that most closely mimics divine magic and even has ways to heal you or our allies. It has strikes such as Divine Surge (Level 4), which lets you deal an extra 8d8 damage or a stance like Martial Spirit (Level 1) that heals you or an ally 2 hit points each time you make a successful attack.
Diamond Mind: The Diamond Mind is all about using your intellect in a fight, as well as the ability to slow down time with your thoughts. It features boosts like Moment of Alacrity (Level 6), which improves your initiative count by 20, or strikes like Time Stands Still (Level 9), which lets you take an extra full round action in a turn.
Iron Heart: Iron Heart is all about pure weapon skill. It allows wielders to perform feats of swordplay that are nearly supernatural. It features stances like Dancing Blade Form (Level 5), which grants you more reach as long as it’s active, or strikes like Steel Wind (Level 1), which lets you make two melee attacks against different foes.
Setting Sun: This discipline is all about counters and turning a foe’s strength against him. It’s great for fighters who want to play a more reactive type character. It features counters like Counter Charge (Level 1), which allows you to redirect a charge, or strikes like Hydra Slaying Strike (Level 7), which allows you to prevent your foe from making a full attack for a round.
Shadow Hand: Shadow Hand is the discipline for players who like to strike from the shadows. It’s the most stealthy of all the disciplines and might just give a rogue a little extra edge. It features stances like Assassin’s Stance (Level 3), which grants you 2d6 points of sneak attack damage, or strikes like Stalker in the Night (Level 6), which lets you keep the results of a hide and move silently check even after attacking.
Stone Dragon: The Stone Dragon discipline is all about power and toughness. It’s easy to think of it as a dwarven discipline, though anyone who wants to be strong and tough would like this discipline. It feature strikes like Adamantine Bones (Level 8), which grants you DR 20/adamantine for a round after an attack, or stances like Giant’s Stance (Level 5), which lets you deal damage like a creature one size larger so long as you don’t move.
Tiger Claw: Tiger Claw is all about unleashing the beast within, and a lot of the moves are great for natural weapon fighters or those who want to be a more bestial warrior. It features stances like Hunter’s Sense (Level 1), which grants you scent, or boosts like Dancing Mongoose (Level 5), which lets you take up to 2 extra attacks in a round.
White Raven: White Raven is all about leadership. It focuses on powers that enhance the abilities of your allies. It features strikes like Battle Leader’s Charge (Level 2), which lets you deal an extra 10 points of damage on a charge, or stances like Swarm Tactics (Level 8), which grants a +5 damage bonus to all allies adjacent to you.

As you can see, each discipline has a unique shtick. They’re all quite flavorful and it’s easy to tell one discipline from another. I think this new style of melee combat really adds a lot any sort of melee fighter and was a needed addition to the combat system.

Chapter Five: Prestige Classes

While the prestige classes were flavorful, not many of them really caught my eye. They’re solid and offer some nice choices, but compared to the new blade magic and the core classes, they just seem almost unneeded. However, I would like to mention that the Bloodclaw Master specifically went out of it’s way to be useful for shifters (via a sidebar). It’s also a way to add the shifting mechanic to a non-shifter, which was great. Nearly all of these prestige classes advance your initiator level and add more stances and maneuvers, which is nice. This chapter was nice, but I think it was one of the weakest in the book, if only because we’ve all seen dozens of prestige classes by now.

Chapter Six: The Nine Swords

Call me a sucker for magic items, but I thought that this section was an excellent addition. It presents legacy items of the Nine Swords, which were supposedly the original weapons which embodied one particular discipline. They all have a great deal of flavor, and you can actually use this section without owning Weapons of Legacy, which is nice. What’s nice is that this section is equally useful for those who do and do not own the book. I would like to state, though, that I am a big fan of Weapons of Legacy, so consider yourself warned of a bias.

Chapter Seven: Magic Items

This chapter introduces Martial Scripts, which are like scrolls for martial maneuvers. They’re nothing special, but it does add a nice little extra to the game. There are also a few weapon abilities presented that are attractive to martial adepts. The rest of this chapter has one new wondrous item. Otherwise this chapter was a nice addition, but far from the best part of the book.

Chapter Eight: Nine Swords Monsters

This short (and I mean short) chapter introduces three new monsters: a new Rakshasa, the Reth Dekala (a sort of immortal warrior), and a Valkyrie, a chaotic outsider. The monsters were just new monsters in my book, to be honest. The new Rakshasa has a nice nine swords slant, but personally I think we didn’t need another Rakshasa (ironically, there’s a sidebar on this subject: they suggest locking his forms and making it a bunch of unique monsters instead. This was a great touch!). Honestly, I’d have rather had an index instead of this chapter, though some DMs might really enjoy the new monsters.

Good Points

This book gets major points for being stylish and well produced. The ideas of the book are excellent and innovative, which is great. It really adds some flash and dimension to melee characters, one of the most neglected aspects of combat (at least in my opinon). Overall, I was supremely pleased to have bought this book, I really felt like I got my money’s worth for once.

Bad Points

For the love of Pelor, how many small puppies must I kill to get an index in the books I like?! That’s the main downfall of this book: with so many new maneuvers, it would have been excellent to have an index. But instead of an index this book has a page of adds. I hate this new trend of adds for books I already own in the back of books. Aside for the issue of the lacking index, the only bad things about this book are a few editing errors.

Final Recommendation

I would highly recommend this book at anyone who wants to add a little extra pizzazz to a melee fighter. I’m happy to have it in my library. In addition, if you liked exalted, this book adds a little exalted flavor to your D&D.