Ok, being a rampant fan of the Tome of Battle and currently in the process of running a d20 Modern game with a lot of potential uses for the book, I decided to run a conversion process for it, allowing it to be used in my campaign.
To do this, I had to transplant a couple of the new DnD rules over into d20 Modern - the Swift & Immediate actions. For those of you unfamiliar with these, they're actions that take up a tiny bit more time than free actions. Swift actions are essentially a quickened spell - a free action doable once per round. In fact, Quickened spells have been errataed to use Swift actions instead. Immediate actions can be taken outside of turns, but take up the Swift action of the next turn.
Aside from those bits of information, the only thing you'll need for this conversion (in the blatantly narcissistic assumption that you might decide to use it) is either the ToB itself or the maneuver cards that describe all the maneuvers. In any case, here's what I've put together. I rejected the flavour of the Crusader altogether as being a bit too much on the DnD scale for d20 Modern & packaged it's one exclusive school into the Warmaster (the remake of the Warblade).
Finally, any GMs unwilling to import the Martial Lore skill into their games are recommended to use Knowledge (Tactics) instead.
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Awesome Quotes
Quote:
Originally Posted by Far_Traveler
I am not the GM, i am the Game Ordiance Director, or G.O.D.
I like this idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Gygax
The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules.
Full supporter of whatever it takes to get Full BAB for Monks and Soulknives. Because melee warriors without Full BAB was a stupid idea to begin with.
Superior Unarmed Strike: The final Nail in the Monk's coffin. Goodbye dear friend, we shall miss you. It won't stop us taking Fighter-Rogues or Swordsages with SUS, but we'll still miss you.
We need a forum collection for magic systems. This includesthe Magic & Spells and Psionics boards, and should also include the Incarnum and 'Tome of' books.
F.R.A.S. - Forgotten Realms Appreciation Society. Remember all the good times you had in the Forgotten Realms playing Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights? Let't never forget the Forgotten Realms! Copy this into your sig. to show support for the BEST CAMPAIGN SETTING EVER.
Warmaster, a Modern Master of the Sublime Way
Wherever war arises, there inevitably arise a rare few whose instinctive grasp of the nature of combat leads them down the path of the Warmaster, taking up one of the paths of combat to allow them total mastery of a given situation. Even in modern warfare, with it's heavy influence on ranged combat, the core of their abilities remains in the close-combat that defined the traditions of their schools. Although Warmasters grow out of widely disparate traditions and combat concepts, they are all united in their desire for ever greater challenges, their skills in combat and the small chance of them dying in bed.
Class Skills (5 + Int modifier per level): Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (Tactics), Martial Lore, Profession, Speak Language, Swim, Tumble.
Class Features
Maneuvers: You begin your career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are Devoted Spirit, Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw, and White Raven.
Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by Warmasters is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Your maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when you initiate one.
You learn additional maneuvers at higher levels, as shown on Table 1-3. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. See Table 3-1, on page 39 of the Tome of Battle, to determine the highest-level maneuvers you can learn.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered Warmaster level after that (6th, 8th & 10th), you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. In effect, you lose the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. You can choose a new maneuver of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level maneuvers you know; you need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. For example, upon reaching 10th level, you could trade in a single 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd- or 4th-level maneuver for a maneuver of 5th level or lower, as long as you meet the prerequisite of the new maneuver. You can swap only a single maneuver at any given level.
Maneuvers Readied: You can ready all three of the maneuvers you know at 1st level, but as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you must choose which maneuvers to ready. You ready your maneuvers by exercising for 5 minutes. The maneuvers you choose remain readied until you decide to exercise again and change them. You need not sleep or rest for any long period of time to ready your maneuvers; any time you spend 5 minutes in practice, you can change your readied maneuvers.
You begin an encounter with all your readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you chose them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (until you recover them, as described below).
You can recover all expended maneuvers with a single swift action, which must be immediately followed in the same round with a melee attack or using a standard action to do nothing else in the round (such as executing a quick, harmless flourish with your weapon). You cannot initiate a maneuver or change your stance while you are recovering your expended maneuvers, but you can remain in a stance in which you began your turn.
Stances Known: You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to Warmasters. At 4th and 10th levels, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you are currently using as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description.
Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.
Battle Clarity (Ex): You can enter a state of almost mystical awareness of the battlefield around you. As long as you are not flat-footed, you gain an insight bonus equal to your Intelligence bonus (maximum equals your Warmaster level) on your Reflex saves.
Weapon Aptitude (Ex): Your training with a wide range of weaponry and tactics gives you great skill & flexibility with particular weapons. Each morning, you can spend 1 hour in weapon practice to change the designated weapon for any feat you have that applies only to a single weapon (such as Weapon Focus). You must have the newly designated weapon available during your practice session to make this change. For example, if you wish to change the designated weapon for your Weapon Focus feat from greatsword to longsword, you must have a longsword available to practice with during your practice session.
You can adjust any number of your feats in this way, and you don't have to adjust them all in the same way. However, you can't change the weapon choices in such a way that you no longer meet the prerequisite for some other feat you possess. For instance, if you have both Weapon Focus (longsword) and Weapon Specialization (longsword), you can't change the designated weapon for Weapon Focus unless you also change the weapon for Weapon Specialization in the same way.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, you gain the ability to react to danger before your senses would normally allow you to do so. You retain your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if you are caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, you still lose your Dexterity bonus to AC if you are immobilized. If you already have uncanny dodge from a different class (Fast Hero, for example), you automatically gain improved uncanny dodge (as the Fast Hero ability) instead.
Battle Ardour (Ex): The sheer love of battle lends uncanny strength to your blows. Starting at 3rd level, you gain an insight bonus equal to your Intelligence bonus on rolls made to confirm critical hits.
Embrace of Steel (Ex): At 4th & 8th levels, a Warmaster develops their skill in a single school, gaining an ability associated with the strengths of that school. Devoted Spirit - Endless Spirit: Whenever you use a maneuver, you can grant an amount of Temporary Hit Points equal to your Initiator Level to yourself or any one ally within 10ft. Diamond Mind - Instant Reaction: When rolling initiative, you roll two dice and take the better result. Iron Heart - Cleaving Iron: When attacking with a Melee weapon, you may increase your Strength score by your initiator level for the purposes of determining damage. Stone Dragon - Rooting Stone: Your Massive Damage threshold is increased by your Initiator level. Tiger Claw - Biting Claws: When attacking with an unarmed strike, you deal an additional 2d6 points of damage. White Raven - Guiding Teacher: All allies within 10ft of you gain the benefit of one feat that you possess. They need not meet the prerequisites for this feat, and you may switch the granted feat as a Swift action.
Bonus Feat: At 5th & 9th levels, you gain a bonus feat from the list given below. You must meet the prerequisite for the feat you select.
Bonus Feat List: Acrobatic, Armour Proficiency (Light, Medium), Athletic, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Damage Threshold, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse
Battle Cunning (Ex): Your instinct for seizing the moment gives you a significant advantage over foes unprepared for your attack. At 7th level, you gain an insight bonus equal to your Intelligence bonus on melee damage rolls against flat-footed or flanked opponents.
Stance Mastery (Ex): At 10th level, you can have two stances active simultaneously. When you use a swift action to initiate or change your stance, you can initiate or change one or both stances.
Notes: This refers to the 'Swift' & 'Immediate' action mechanics found in Dungeons & Dragons, and requires reference to either the Tome of Battle or the maneuver cards for usage of individual maneuvers & stances. Incidentally, table 3-1 essentially tells you that the highest level maneuver you can use is the same as the highest level spell usable by an equal-levelled wizard. The Martial Lore skill can be found in the Tome of Battle; DMs unwilling to add an additional skill are recommended to use Knowledge (Tactics) instead.
Bladelord, a Modern Master of the Sublime Way
Bladelords, unlike their fellow students of the Sublime Way the Warmasters, dedicate themselves to a deeply spiritual and philosophical approach to combat, believing that true understanding of the Sublime Way is through deep contemplation and introspection. As such, their's is a far more mystical world-view, often dominated by powerful truths & spiritual forces which they dedicate their lives to understanding.
Unlike their Warmaster fellows (who can be found wherever the fires of war burn), these highly mystical warriors are most often found in the far east, particularly in the eastern Himalayas and northern China, where a number of secretive spiritualist orders still practice these arts. Until recently, many of the arts practised by these strange warriors were considered entirely mythical (even by the jaded operatives of Department 7), but since encountering a number of Chinese agents trained in their use, secret agencies across the globe have been forced to accept that perhaps there was more to these myths than they had first suspected.
Maneuvers: You begin your career with knowledge of six martial maneuvers. The Disciplines available to you are Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon & Tiger Claw. Once you know a maneuver, you must ready it before you can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A Maneuver usable by Bladelords is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in its description. You learn an additional maneuver at each level above first in Bladelord. You must meet a maneuvers prerequisite to learn it. See table 3-1 in the Tome of Battle to determine the highest level maneuver you can learn. Upon reaching 4th level and every two levels thereafter, you can choose to forget one maneuver and learn another in it's place. You must meet all prerequisites for the new maneuver, exactly as if you were learning it normally.
Maneuvers Readied: You can ready any four of the maneuvers you know at 1st level. You ready your maneuvers by meditating for 5 minutes. The maneuvers you choose remain readied until you decide to exercise again and change them. You need not sleep or rest for any long period of time to ready your maneuvers; any time you spend 5 minutes in meditation, you can change your readied maneuvers.
You begin an encounter with all your readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you chose them. When you initiate a maneuver, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (until you recover them, as described below).
You can recover one expended maneuver with a full-round action that does not provoke Attacks of Opportunity.
Stances Known: At first level, you acquire knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to Bladelords. At 2nd level and every three levels beyond, you can choose additional stances. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended, and you do not have to ready them. All the stances you know are available to you at all times, and you can change the stance you are currently using as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance description.
Unlike with maneuvers, you cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one you already know.
Quick to Act (Ex): Bladelords possess incredible reflexes, allowing them to react to danger with incredible alacrity. You gain a bonus equal to half your level (round up) on Initiative checks.
Discipline Focus (Ex): At first level, you select a single discipline which you know at least one maneuver from. You gain the benefits of the Weapon Focus feat for the purposes of all of that discipline's favoured weapons.
AC Bonus: Starting from 2nd level, you can add your Wisdom modifier to your Defence while lightly encumbered and wearing only light or no armour.
Bonus Feat: At 3rd & 6th levels, you gain a bonus feat from the list given below. You must meet any prerequisites for the feat you select.
Bonus Feat List: Acrobatic, Armour Proficiency (Light, Medium), Athletic, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Improved Damage Threshold, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse
Discipline Insight (Ex): At 4th level, you select a single discipline which you know at least one maneuver from. You may add your Wisdom bonus to damage rolls whenever you use a Strike from this discipline.
Embrace of Steel (Ex): At 5th level, a Bladelord develops their skill in a single school, gaining an ability associated with the strengths of that school. Desert Wind - Searing Wave: When making a tumble check to pass through an opponent's square, you can choose to let loose a searing blast as a Swift action, dealing 1d6 points of Fire damage per two Initiator Levels (Reflex DC 10 + 1/2 IL + Wis Mod). Diamond Mind - Instant Reaction: When rolling initiative, you roll two dice and take the better result. Setting Sun - Palm Throw: When making a Bull Rush, you may add your Initiator Level to the check and do not have to move with your opponent to Bull Rush them. Shadow Hand - Shadow Cloak: You may make Hide checks even while observed and while lacking cover. Stone Dragon - Rooting Stone: Your Massive Damage threshold is increased by your Initiator level. Tiger Claw - Biting Claws: When attacking with an unarmed strike, you deal an additional 2d6 points of damage.
Ki Sense (Sp): From 7th level, a Bladelord develops a keen instinct for the strength of those around them. As a Swift action, you may make a Sense Motive check against a DC of (11 + Target's Level); if you succeed, you learn their level and classes (although not their levels in those classes). This is a Divination effect.
Discipline Defence (Ex): At 8th level, you select a single discipline which you know at least one maneuver from. You may add your Wisdom bonus to all saving throws while in a stance from this discipline.
Evasion (Ex): From 9th level, a Bladelord's mastery over their body and reflexes reach a peak, granting them the ability to escape harm with ease. As the Fast Hero ability of the same name.
Dual Boost (Ex): At 10th level, a Bladelord's mastery over the Sublime Way surpasses all previous limitations. One per encounter, you may activate two boosts in a single action. You may also spend an action point to gain a further use of this ability.
Action Points & Maneuvers
OK, the presence of Maneuvers allows access to a number of new uses for action points. Instant Adaption
By spending an action point, you can instantly change and ready your maneuvers as a Swift action. Moment of Awakened Potential
By spending one Action Point, you may activate any Maneuver that you meet the prerequisites for (although you do not need to possess a high enough initiator level).
That is quite awesome, I love the tome of battle (specifically the Swordsage). the only problem that i see with what you've got here is the dead levels, as no Advanced Classes in Modern have them.
For the Bladelord might i recommend increasing the bonus from Discipline focus to a +2 or higher at 5th level
For the Warmaster, I would alter the Weapon Aptitude ability to read Your training with a wide range of weaponry and tactics gives you .... You can adjust a number of feats equal to 1/2 your Bladelord level in this way, though ....
Then I would give them the unlimited version of Weapon Aptitude as the 8th level ability.
Lastly I would move Battle Ardour down to fill up the empty 5th level slot.
That however is simply my opinion as to how I would let my players progress in these classes
Hm... The thing is, how often are we talking about for Weapon Aptitude? It's already been cut back from it's DnD form and (in case you hadn't noticed) the various magical and psionic Advanced classes are actually more powerful than their DnD equivalents (level for level). Cutting the Sublime classes any further back feels a bit cheap by comparison.
Its not cutting them back per se, what it is is spreading out their abilities in order to preserve game balance as well as give the player a chance to get something new and/or nifty at every level as is the standard practice with d20 Modern
Hi! I'm not dead. Sorry this took so long - I've finally gotten around to updating both advanced classes with a range of abilities called 'Embrace of Steel', each of which grants a benefit closely related to the capabilities of the relevant schools. What do people think?
Moment of Awakened Potential
By spending one Action Point, you may activate any Maneuver that you meet the prerequisites for (although you do not need to possess a high enough initiator level).
This needs to be edited somewhat, we don't need Time Stands Still and Raging mongoose in modern.
From what I remember though when I thought of converting, was that there were a couple of low level maneuvers that would be way to powerful in a modern setting.
__________________ 4E had better be good...
My 3 year old daughter asked me what DnD was
On the contrary, I don't see any problem with allowing the top level maneuvers in Modern, given that they're all fairly limited in utility anyway. I might be tempted to increase the cost to one Action point per level of the maneuver.
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any truly dangerously powerful maneuvers within the setting (save possibly the Shadow Hand teleportation maneuvers), but I'll have a look through the book.
The Modern Sublime Way
I like this idea.
Linear Mode
