Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DM-Scott 12-06-07, 01:10 PM	I'm not sure this should be asked here, or on the Unearthed Arcana board, but I opted for this one, so here goes. I recently acquired the Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords from a friend of mine, and while I've liked the book when he was playing classes from it in our game, I have found I absolutely love it since I have total access to it at the moment. It's really nice for building NPCs and such as well. :D This post is regarding the crusader's maneuver recovery and how it functions. Essentially the crusader has X maneuvers and Y of them are usable in a round (a 1st level crusader has 5 and 2 usable for example), and they switch around from round to round. The most commonly accepted method of handling this is with cards (flash cards, for example) marked for the crusader's maneuvers and then dealt to the crusader each round. My thing is, we don't always have a deck of flash cards (actually, we don't even have a deck of flash cards) and it'd be nice to fine an alternate mechanic to this, while keeping the same effect and flavor of the crusader's own special recovery method. I've been pondering over some sort of dice combinations to determine readied maneuvers, or considered trying to find some way to allow a crusader to do it without randomness (though this may affect crusaders in a power changing way). Would anyone have any ideas of how to adjust the crusader so that the idea behind his combat maneuver inspiration (the shuffling of readied maneuvers) could be kept, but made easier to do without having to shuffle/deal/draw out of a hat something? I'll be trying to come up with something in the meantime. I would prefer whatever mechanics presented either function the same as the crusader's recovery already does (just with a different means to that end), or at least not create a significant power creep in either direction. Thank you in advance. ^_^ Peace out, Game on.
ProjectA 12-06-07, 01:14 PM	I just number my readied maneuvers 1 through 5 and use regular playing cards A through 5 and draw 2 at the beginning of combat and draw one every round thereafter until my 'deck' runs out and I reshuffle them all together again and draw 2.
Salla 12-06-07, 03:07 PM	There's always rolling dice ... d10/2 for the first, d4 for the second, then d3, d2, and just grabbing the last one. I use Index Cards, myself. I write down all the pertinent information on the cards so I can easily reference them and know what they do without having to check the book. :)
ProjectA 12-06-07, 05:11 PM	Really, I can't think of a simpler way of doing it than using index cards. It takes care of the randomness and also the elimination of expended maneuvers until they are readied again. It's not that hard or expensive to just grab a pack of index cards for a dollar. Go with the index cards.
Tempest Stormwind 12-06-07, 05:23 PM	Index cards also happen to be suggested in the Tome of Battle itself. (Look at the first sidebar in chapter 3.) I just keep all my maneuvers face down (withheld), face up (granted), or turned sideways (expended; since only granted maneuvers are expended they're always face-up). Alternatively, these (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20061225a) can save you a lot of time and effort. The method I use in OpenRPG is to look at the number of withheld maneuvers you have and roll a die that size. (This works because OpenRPG allows for impossible die rolls, like 1d5.) When combined with a maneuver-tracking node, it takes care of much of it for you.
Novacat 12-07-07, 01:44 AM	Alternatively, these (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20061225a) can save you a lot of time and effort. Interestingly, the copyright information at the end of those PDFs legally disallows printing them. Not sure if they did that on purpose, but until I read it I was all ready to take them to Kinkos and get em double-side printed on cardstock.
kalstrand 12-07-07, 05:42 PM	Actually they specifically say you can photocopy them for personal use. Under the copyright paragraph are 2 bold lines. The first grants permission to photocopy for personal use the second is something with Wizards of the Coast in it.
Novacat 12-07-07, 07:47 PM	Actually they specifically say you can photocopy them for personal use. Under the copyright paragraph are 2 bold lines. The first grants permission to photocopy for personal use the second is something with Wizards of the Coast in it. That'll teach me to not read the whole thing.
DM-Scott 12-08-07, 12:21 PM	Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your help. :) Sorry I didn't get to reply sooner, but I've been busy (and haven't really gotten a chance to tinker with their recovery mechanics myself because of being busy) with life stuff. It looks like I'll probably print out those ToB cards, so thanks on that note as well. Those are pretty spiffy. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to use them as NPCs without keeping a ton of cards with me (particularly in regards to groups of crusaders) when it comes to determining maneuvers they have left. Again, thank you all so far. ^_^