The Elegant Master [Archive] - Wizards Community

The Elegant Master [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
bkdubs123
11-03-07, 03:55 AM The Elegant Master

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n100/bkdubs123/MountainOfFire.jpg

"The fist can be a great instrument for instruction, but it can also be crude. Here, let me show you my point," - Althara Suloie, Elegant Master

Elegant Masters combine a sage-like knowledge of martial techniques with a beautiful execution in use. These warriors generally carry many different types of weaponry to use in various situations, or just to display their competence in a variety of combat styles.

Elegant Masters are always eager to discover new martial lore and to a lesser extent all other sorts of lore. They revel in the experience of a new style of fighting whether they are practicing it themselves or they are testing their impressive repertoire of skills against it.

Requirements

Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Balance 5 ranks, Knowledge (history) 5 ranks, Martial Lore 5 ranks, Sense Motive 5 ranks
Feats: Kung-Fu Genius*, Stunning Fist, Combat Expertise, Unorthodox Flurry*
Special: Proficiency with all Martial weapons, Flurry of Blows, Able to ready 1 maneuver, Able to enter 1 martial stance, Insightful Strike

*Found in Dragon Magazine Compendium

Game Rule Information

Hit Die: d8
Alignment: Any lawful

B.Atk Man. Man. Snce.
Lv Bonus Fort Ref Will Known Ready Known Special
1. +1 +2 +2 +2 2 1 1 Ki Focus, Monk Abilities, Decisive Strike
2. +2 +3 +3 +3 0 0 0 Insightful Gaze, Bonus Feat
3. +3 +3 +3 +3 1 0 0 Elegant Form
4. +4 +4 +4 +4 0 1 0 Beauty in the Blade
5. +5 +4 +4 +4 1 0 0 Demoralizing Gaze
6. +6 +5 +5 +5 0 0 1 Master's Form, Bonus Feat
7. +7 +5 +5 +5 1 1 0 Greater Flurry
8. +8 +6 +6 +6 0 0 0 Quivering Palm
9. +9 +6 +6 +6 1 0 0 Frightful Gaze
10. +10 +7 +7 +7 0 1 0 Perfect Self, Perfect Form, Bonus Feat

Class Skills (4 + Int modifier): Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty), Listen, Martial Lore, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Tumble

Weapon and armor proficiency: An Elegant Master gains no further proficiency in weapons or armor.

Maneuvers: At each odd numbered level, you gain a new maneuver known from the Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines and you know one extra maneuver at 1st level. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Elegant Master levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th levels, you gain additional maneuvers readied per day. If you have any levels in a martial adept your maneuvers have the recovery method of that class (or the class of your choice if you have levels in multiple martial adepts). If you do not have any levels in any martial adepts you recover your maneuvers as a Swordsage.

Stances Known: At 1st and 6th you learn a new martial stance from the Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines. You must meet a stance's prerequisites to learn it.

Monk Abilities: Levels in this prestige class stack with your Monk levels to determine how many times per day you can use your Stunning Fist feat, your flurry attack bonus, Ki Strike, and your unarmored AC. Your level in this prestige class also stacks to determine your unarmed strike damage, but when determining the damage count only half the levels from this class rounded up.

Ki Focus: Any weapon wielded by an Elegant Master is considered to have the Ki Focus enhancement.

Decisive Strike: As the Monk's alternate class feature (PHBII) except that it only functions while wielding a manufactured weapon the Elegant Master is proficient with and the Elegant Master could not use to flurry except by the benefit of her Unorthodox Flurry feat. This ability does not replace an Elegant Master's ability to flurry, however an Elegant Master cannot perform a Decisive Strike and a Flurry of Blows at the same time. The penalty to attack rolls is reduced to -1 at 4th level, and to -0 at 8th level. When you reach 10th level as an Elegant Master you may make two attacks while using this ability, however no more than one attack can target a single creature and both attacks use your highest attack bonus.

Insightful Gaze: An Elegant Master can size her opponent's up to best understand how to fight them. By spending 1 full round observing her opponent and succeeding on a Sense Motive check against its modified level check (provokes attacks of opportunity) the Elegant Master gains a +1 circumstance bonus to attacks and AC against that foe for the remainder of the encounter and learns information about the foe as if she had cast Know Vulnerabilities (Spell Compendium) on it. If the check fails the Master can try again on later rounds. You may only benefit from Insightful Gaze once per enemy per encounter.

Bonus Feats: At 2nd, 6th, and 10th levels an Elegant Master gains a bonus feat of your choice between Martial Study or Martial Stance. You must still meet any prerequisites of the chosen feat.

Elegant Form: Elegant Masters of 3rd level or higher may choose to forgo the benefit of any martial stance she is in to gain the following benefits: While in Elegant Form an Elegant Master gains her charisma bonus to AC, imposes an equal penalty to intelligence and dexterity based skill checks on all foes within 30 ft, and can make up to two attacks during any round in which she moves, and at any point during her move.

Beauty in the Blade: At 4th level an Elegant Master gains the ability to expend any readied maneuver to make an attack that dazes all creatures within 10ft of her. As long as this attack hits, foes within 10ft must make a Will save against a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 Elegant Master levels + the level of the expended maneuver + the Elegant Master's charisma modifier. After being expended, a maneuver used for this ability can be recovered as normal.

Demoralizing Gaze: At 5th level any foe an Elegant Master has successfully used her Insightful Gaze ability on takes a -1 penalty on its AC and attack rolls and must make exceed the Elegant Master's modified level check with a Will save in order to attack her.

Master's Form: Elegant Masters of 6rd level or higher may choose to forgo the benefit of any martial stance they are in to gain the following benefits: While in Master's Form an Elegant Master deals an extra +2d6 damage with any weapon she gained the ability to flurry with through the benefit of Unorthodox Flurry and foes she threatens take a penalty to attack rolls equal to her charisma bonus. Furthermore the DC of any maneuver she uses, her stunning fist attempts, Quivering Palm, and of her Beauty in the Blade ability, increases by +1 while in this stance.

Greater Flurry: As the Monk class feature.

Quivering Palm: As the Monk class feature. An Elegant Master can use this ability with any weapon through the benefit of her Ki Focus class feature.

Frightful Gaze: At 9th level whenever an Elegant Master successfully uses her Insightful Gaze ability on a foe that creature must succeed on a Will save DC 10 + Elegant Master levels + her charisma bonus or be shaken for the next 5 rounds. This ability stacks with Demoralizing Gaze.

Perfect Self: As the Monk class feature.

Perfect Form: Elegant Masters of 10th level may choose to forgo the benefit of any martial stance they are in to gain the following benefits: While in Perfect Form an Elegant Master gains her charisma bonus to AC, Blindsense out to 30ft, and can walk up to 5 feet above the ground (if you choose). While moving 5 ft above the ground your speed is halved and you cannot run. You ignore any terrain feature that fails to project more than 5 feet above the ground, such as difficult terrain, burning lava, water, etc. Finally you ignore the standard penalties on Hide and Move Silently for moving quickly.

Sample Elegant Master:

Althara Suloie LG
Monk 2/Fighter 1/Swashbuckler 3/Elegant Master 4 - CR 10
HP 66
Abilities - Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 17
AC 24 (+2 Dex, +5 Intelligence, +1 Monk AC, +3 Armor, +1 Deflection, +2 Natural)
Saves - Fort 15, Ref 12, Will 10
Speed - 40ft
Attacks: Unarmed Strike 1d8+5, +11/+6 (+10/+10/+5); Throwing Axe 1d6+5, 20ft range, +11/+6, Short Sword 1d6+6, +12/+7; Longspear 1d8+1 10ft reach, +10/+5 (+9/+9/+4); Longsword 1d8+2, +11/+6
Feats - Kung Fu Genius, Combat Expertise, Stunning Fist, Unorthodox Flurry (Longspear), Martial Study x2, Weapon Finesse, Martial Stance, Two-Weapon Fighting
Special - Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike 1d8, Evasion, Grace +1, Insightful Strike, Ki Focus, Decisive Strike, Insightful Gaze, Elegant Form, Beauty in the Blade
Maneuvers: 1st level - Counter Charge*, Burning Blade; 2nd level - Baffling Defense*, Cloak of Deception*; 3rd level - Death Mark* (*Readied)
Stances: 1st level - Step of the Wind; 3rd level - Roots of the Mountain
Equipment - +1 Silver Short Sword, +1 Adamantine Longspear, +2 Longsword, 3 Returning Distance Throwing Axes, 2 Holy Water, Bracers of Armor +3, Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Cloak of Charisma and Resistance +2, Headband of Intellect +4, Belt of Battle, Boots of Springing and Striding
Sagetim
11-03-07, 02:24 PM It's interesting looking. Is it based on stuff from Tome of Battle? and if so, is that where 'kung fu genius' and 'unorthodox flurry' come from? or are they custom feats taht you've come up with. If the second, you should post them, if the first, then don't. You might irk someone. I don't have access to Tome of Battle, so I can't really comment on how the class would balance out, but it seems to have a large number of maneuvers to it.

In any case, if the class is granting perfect self at level 10 in the prc, make sure that it requires a minimum level of 7ish to enter. And that means with any legal combination of classes. That's about all I've got to say. Looks nice. Did you base it off of the 'great warriors' who were fighting in the movie Hero?
Jaxgaret
11-04-07, 01:17 AM Hey bkdubs ~

This class looks mighty strong, but as a Monk PrC, that's actually a good thing, they can use the boost!

I can see a Monk2/Warblade4 doing really nicely going into the Elegant Master.

I have a question though, is this meant to be more of a Monk/Swordsage PrC? As written, it works much better with the Warblade, due to the Int synergy and the fact that there is overlap with Monk and Swordsage abilities, plus Kung Fu Genius reduces the Monk's reliance on Wisdom, which also hurts the Swordsage. You might want to make a few changes if you want more Swordsages entering this class.

I'll post a bit more later on some of the specific abilities, but they look pretty good to me at a cursory glance.
bkdubs123
11-04-07, 01:56 AM Ah, but with your cursory glance, you missed one important prerequisite: Insightful Strike.

So in order to most easily qualify for this class you must be Monk 2/Warblade 1/Swashbuckler 3!! That's the major reason the PrC is as strong as it is.

(I replied to the first person's post earlier today... it must not have stuck...)

This class isn't meant entirely for any specific build (as you'll see in the example Elegant Master I used a Fighter to get in!). What it is meant to be is a tough class to qualify for that rewards the player with powerful and versatile abilities.
Jaxgaret
11-04-07, 11:49 AM Ah, but with your cursory glance, you missed one important prerequisite: Insightful Strike.

I did indeed miss that. I think that my brain registered it as a specific martial maneuver, and not as the Swashie's 3rd-level ability.

So in order to most easily qualify for this class you must be Monk 2/Warblade 1/Swashbuckler 3!! That's the major reason the PrC is as strong as it is.

So it's a quasi-triple class hybrid - very interesting. I thought its power level was fine before, now it might even be a bit underpowered :) I would consider giving it a new maneuver known at every level, similar to the Master of Nine - it would reflect the class's status as a 'master of form'.

This class isn't meant entirely for any specific build (as you'll see in the example Elegant Master I used a Fighter to get in!). What it is meant to be is a tough class to qualify for that rewards the player with powerful and versatile abilities.

It does require you to be a Swashbuckler, as I don't think there is any other way to acquire Insightful Strike. And Monk2 is probably the best way to get the FoB, due to the PrC's heavy feat requirements. Plus it's easiest to garner the maneuver/stance with a level in an Initiator class rather than taking two more feats.

But you're right, there are options to get into it.
bkdubs123
11-04-07, 02:28 PM Master of Nine is also a 5 level prestige class that has medium bab. As this grants full bab, and has ten levels, which eventually grant more maneuvers known and readied than Mo9, and more stances known than Mo9, I'm pretty sure I can't give it maneuvers at every level.

What I might do however is throw in a couple of bonus feats which must be either Martial Study or Martial Stance. I think that would really round out the class' maneuver selection.
Jaxgaret
11-04-07, 04:15 PM Master of Nine is also a 5 level prestige class that has medium bab. As this grants full bab, and has ten levels, which eventually grant more maneuvers known and readied than Mo9, and more stances known than Mo9, I'm pretty sure I can't give it maneuvers at every level.

It's up to you. But you can't compare a 10-level PrC to a 5-level PrC and say that the 10-level one gives more stuff than the 5-level one; after the character is done with the 5-level PrC, they can take 5 more levels of something else, which could put them over the top of the 10-level PrC.

What I might do however is throw in a couple of bonus feats which must be either Martial Study or Martial Stance. I think that would really round out the class' maneuver selection.

That's actually more powerful than simply giving Maneuvers Known. Martial Study can be used to gain martial maneuvers outside of any of their "known" disciplines, and stances are given at a slower progression than maneuvers.
bkdubs123
11-04-07, 04:26 PM Right, which is why I tweaked the Stances known portion of the table after adding the bonus feats. Remember that in order to gain a stance with Martial Stance you must first have a maneuver from its school, and you still have to meet any prerequisites given by the maneuvers themselves.

Also, giving the Elegant Master the ability to learn a limited number of maneuvers from disciplines outside their own fits into the flavor better.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
bkdubs123 11-03-07, 03:55 AM	The Elegant Master http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n100/bkdubs123/MountainOfFire.jpg "The fist can be a great instrument for instruction, but it can also be crude. Here, let me show you my point," - Althara Suloie, Elegant Master Elegant Masters combine a sage-like knowledge of martial techniques with a beautiful execution in use. These warriors generally carry many different types of weaponry to use in various situations, or just to display their competence in a variety of combat styles. Elegant Masters are always eager to discover new martial lore and to a lesser extent all other sorts of lore. They revel in the experience of a new style of fighting whether they are practicing it themselves or they are testing their impressive repertoire of skills against it. Requirements Base Attack Bonus: +5 Skills: Balance 5 ranks, Knowledge (history) 5 ranks, Martial Lore 5 ranks, Sense Motive 5 ranks Feats: Kung-Fu Genius, Stunning Fist, Combat Expertise, Unorthodox Flurry Special: Proficiency with all Martial weapons, Flurry of Blows, Able to ready 1 maneuver, Able to enter 1 martial stance, Insightful Strike Found in Dragon Magazine Compendium Game Rule Information Hit Die: d8 Alignment: Any lawful B.Atk Man. Man. Snce. Lv Bonus Fort Ref Will Known Ready Known Special 1. +1 +2 +2 +2 2 1 1 Ki Focus, Monk Abilities, Decisive Strike 2. +2 +3 +3 +3 0 0 0 Insightful Gaze, Bonus Feat 3. +3 +3 +3 +3 1 0 0 Elegant Form 4. +4 +4 +4 +4 0 1 0 Beauty in the Blade 5. +5 +4 +4 +4 1 0 0 Demoralizing Gaze 6. +6 +5 +5 +5 0 0 1 Master's Form, Bonus Feat 7. +7 +5 +5 +5 1 1 0 Greater Flurry 8. +8 +6 +6 +6 0 0 0 Quivering Palm 9. +9 +6 +6 +6 1 0 0 Frightful Gaze 10. +10 +7 +7 +7 0 1 0 Perfect Self, Perfect Form, Bonus Feat Class Skills (4 + Int modifier): Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty), Listen, Martial Lore, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Tumble Weapon and armor proficiency: An Elegant Master gains no further proficiency in weapons or armor. Maneuvers: At each odd numbered level, you gain a new maneuver known from the Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines and you know one extra maneuver at 1st level. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Elegant Master levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th levels, you gain additional maneuvers readied per day. If you have any levels in a martial adept your maneuvers have the recovery method of that class (or the class of your choice if you have levels in multiple martial adepts). If you do not have any levels in any martial adepts you recover your maneuvers as a Swordsage. Stances Known: At 1st and 6th you learn a new martial stance from the Desert Wind, Diamond Mind, Setting Sun, Stone Dragon or Tiger Claw disciplines. You must meet a stance's prerequisites to learn it. Monk Abilities: Levels in this prestige class stack with your Monk levels to determine how many times per day you can use your Stunning Fist feat, your flurry attack bonus, Ki Strike, and your unarmored AC. Your level in this prestige class also stacks to determine your unarmed strike damage, but when determining the damage count only half the levels from this class rounded up. Ki Focus: Any weapon wielded by an Elegant Master is considered to have the Ki Focus enhancement. Decisive Strike: As the Monk's alternate class feature (PHBII) except that it only functions while wielding a manufactured weapon the Elegant Master is proficient with and the Elegant Master could not use to flurry except by the benefit of her Unorthodox Flurry feat. This ability does not replace an Elegant Master's ability to flurry, however an Elegant Master cannot perform a Decisive Strike and a Flurry of Blows at the same time. The penalty to attack rolls is reduced to -1 at 4th level, and to -0 at 8th level. When you reach 10th level as an Elegant Master you may make two attacks while using this ability, however no more than one attack can target a single creature and both attacks use your highest attack bonus. Insightful Gaze: An Elegant Master can size her opponent's up to best understand how to fight them. By spending 1 full round observing her opponent and succeeding on a Sense Motive check against its modified level check (provokes attacks of opportunity) the Elegant Master gains a +1 circumstance bonus to attacks and AC against that foe for the remainder of the encounter and learns information about the foe as if she had cast Know Vulnerabilities (Spell Compendium) on it. If the check fails the Master can try again on later rounds. You may only benefit from Insightful Gaze once per enemy per encounter. Bonus Feats: At 2nd, 6th, and 10th levels an Elegant Master gains a bonus feat of your choice between Martial Study or Martial Stance. You must still meet any prerequisites of the chosen feat. Elegant Form: Elegant Masters of 3rd level or higher may choose to forgo the benefit of any martial stance she is in to gain the following benefits: While in Elegant Form an Elegant Master gains her charisma bonus to AC, imposes an equal penalty to intelligence and dexterity based skill checks on all foes within 30 ft, and can make up to two attacks during any round in which she moves, and at any point during her move. Beauty in the Blade: At 4th level an Elegant Master gains the ability to expend any readied maneuver to make an attack that dazes all creatures within 10ft of her. As long as this attack hits, foes within 10ft must make a Will save against a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 Elegant Master levels + the level of the expended maneuver + the Elegant Master's charisma modifier. After being expended, a maneuver used for this ability can be recovered as normal. Demoralizing Gaze: At 5th level any foe an Elegant Master has successfully used her Insightful Gaze ability on takes a -1 penalty on its AC and attack rolls and must make exceed the Elegant Master's modified level check with a Will save in order to attack her. Master's Form: Elegant Masters of 6rd level or higher may choose to forgo the benefit of any martial stance they are in to gain the following benefits: While in Master's Form an Elegant Master deals an extra +2d6 damage with any weapon she gained the ability to flurry with through the benefit of Unorthodox Flurry and foes she threatens take a penalty to attack rolls equal to her charisma bonus. Furthermore the DC of any maneuver she uses, her stunning fist attempts, Quivering Palm, and of her Beauty in the Blade ability, increases by +1 while in this stance. Greater Flurry: As the Monk class feature. Quivering Palm: As the Monk class feature. An Elegant Master can use this ability with any weapon through the benefit of her Ki Focus class feature. Frightful Gaze: At 9th level whenever an Elegant Master successfully uses her Insightful Gaze ability on a foe that creature must succeed on a Will save DC 10 + Elegant Master levels + her charisma bonus or be shaken for the next 5 rounds. This ability stacks with Demoralizing Gaze. Perfect Self: As the Monk class feature. Perfect Form: Elegant Masters of 10th level may choose to forgo the benefit of any martial stance they are in to gain the following benefits: While in Perfect Form an Elegant Master gains her charisma bonus to AC, Blindsense out to 30ft, and can walk up to 5 feet above the ground (if you choose). While moving 5 ft above the ground your speed is halved and you cannot run. You ignore any terrain feature that fails to project more than 5 feet above the ground, such as difficult terrain, burning lava, water, etc. Finally you ignore the standard penalties on Hide and Move Silently for moving quickly. Sample Elegant Master: Althara Suloie LG Monk 2/Fighter 1/Swashbuckler 3/Elegant Master 4 - CR 10 HP 66 Abilities - Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 20, Wis 13, Cha 17 AC 24 (+2 Dex, +5 Intelligence, +1 Monk AC, +3 Armor, +1 Deflection, +2 Natural) Saves - Fort 15, Ref 12, Will 10 Speed - 40ft Attacks: Unarmed Strike 1d8+5, +11/+6 (+10/+10/+5); Throwing Axe 1d6+5, 20ft range, +11/+6, Short Sword 1d6+6, +12/+7; Longspear 1d8+1 10ft reach, +10/+5 (+9/+9/+4); Longsword 1d8+2, +11/+6 Feats - Kung Fu Genius, Combat Expertise, Stunning Fist, Unorthodox Flurry (Longspear), Martial Study x2, Weapon Finesse, Martial Stance, Two-Weapon Fighting Special - Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Strike 1d8, Evasion, Grace +1, Insightful Strike, Ki Focus, Decisive Strike, Insightful Gaze, Elegant Form, Beauty in the Blade Maneuvers: 1st level - Counter Charge, Burning Blade; 2nd level - Baffling Defense, Cloak of Deception; 3rd level - Death Mark* (*Readied) Stances: 1st level - Step of the Wind; 3rd level - Roots of the Mountain Equipment - +1 Silver Short Sword, +1 Adamantine Longspear, +2 Longsword, 3 Returning Distance Throwing Axes, 2 Holy Water, Bracers of Armor +3, Ring of Protection +1, Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Cloak of Charisma and Resistance +2, Headband of Intellect +4, Belt of Battle, Boots of Springing and Striding
Sagetim 11-03-07, 02:24 PM	It's interesting looking. Is it based on stuff from Tome of Battle? and if so, is that where 'kung fu genius' and 'unorthodox flurry' come from? or are they custom feats taht you've come up with. If the second, you should post them, if the first, then don't. You might irk someone. I don't have access to Tome of Battle, so I can't really comment on how the class would balance out, but it seems to have a large number of maneuvers to it. In any case, if the class is granting perfect self at level 10 in the prc, make sure that it requires a minimum level of 7ish to enter. And that means with any legal combination of classes. That's about all I've got to say. Looks nice. Did you base it off of the 'great warriors' who were fighting in the movie Hero?
Jaxgaret 11-04-07, 01:17 AM	Hey bkdubs ~ This class looks mighty strong, but as a Monk PrC, that's actually a good thing, they can use the boost! I can see a Monk2/Warblade4 doing really nicely going into the Elegant Master. I have a question though, is this meant to be more of a Monk/Swordsage PrC? As written, it works much better with the Warblade, due to the Int synergy and the fact that there is overlap with Monk and Swordsage abilities, plus Kung Fu Genius reduces the Monk's reliance on Wisdom, which also hurts the Swordsage. You might want to make a few changes if you want more Swordsages entering this class. I'll post a bit more later on some of the specific abilities, but they look pretty good to me at a cursory glance.
bkdubs123 11-04-07, 01:56 AM	Ah, but with your cursory glance, you missed one important prerequisite: Insightful Strike. So in order to most easily qualify for this class you must be Monk 2/Warblade 1/Swashbuckler 3!! That's the major reason the PrC is as strong as it is. (I replied to the first person's post earlier today... it must not have stuck...) This class isn't meant entirely for any specific build (as you'll see in the example Elegant Master I used a Fighter to get in!). What it is meant to be is a tough class to qualify for that rewards the player with powerful and versatile abilities.
Jaxgaret 11-04-07, 11:49 AM	Ah, but with your cursory glance, you missed one important prerequisite: Insightful Strike. I did indeed miss that. I think that my brain registered it as a specific martial maneuver, and not as the Swashie's 3rd-level ability. So in order to most easily qualify for this class you must be Monk 2/Warblade 1/Swashbuckler 3!! That's the major reason the PrC is as strong as it is. So it's a quasi-triple class hybrid - very interesting. I thought its power level was fine before, now it might even be a bit underpowered :) I would consider giving it a new maneuver known at every level, similar to the Master of Nine - it would reflect the class's status as a 'master of form'. This class isn't meant entirely for any specific build (as you'll see in the example Elegant Master I used a Fighter to get in!). What it is meant to be is a tough class to qualify for that rewards the player with powerful and versatile abilities. It does require you to be a Swashbuckler, as I don't think there is any other way to acquire Insightful Strike. And Monk2 is probably the best way to get the FoB, due to the PrC's heavy feat requirements. Plus it's easiest to garner the maneuver/stance with a level in an Initiator class rather than taking two more feats. But you're right, there are options to get into it.
bkdubs123 11-04-07, 02:28 PM	Master of Nine is also a 5 level prestige class that has medium bab. As this grants full bab, and has ten levels, which eventually grant more maneuvers known and readied than Mo9, and more stances known than Mo9, I'm pretty sure I can't give it maneuvers at every level. What I might do however is throw in a couple of bonus feats which must be either Martial Study or Martial Stance. I think that would really round out the class' maneuver selection.
Jaxgaret 11-04-07, 04:15 PM	Master of Nine is also a 5 level prestige class that has medium bab. As this grants full bab, and has ten levels, which eventually grant more maneuvers known and readied than Mo9, and more stances known than Mo9, I'm pretty sure I can't give it maneuvers at every level. It's up to you. But you can't compare a 10-level PrC to a 5-level PrC and say that the 10-level one gives more stuff than the 5-level one; after the character is done with the 5-level PrC, they can take 5 more levels of something else, which could put them over the top of the 10-level PrC. What I might do however is throw in a couple of bonus feats which must be either Martial Study or Martial Stance. I think that would really round out the class' maneuver selection. That's actually more powerful than simply giving Maneuvers Known. Martial Study can be used to gain martial maneuvers outside of any of their "known" disciplines, and stances are given at a slower progression than maneuvers.
bkdubs123 11-04-07, 04:26 PM	Right, which is why I tweaked the Stances known portion of the table after adding the bonus feats. Remember that in order to gain a stance with Martial Stance you must first have a maneuver from its school, and you still have to meet any prerequisites given by the maneuvers themselves. Also, giving the Elegant Master the ability to learn a limited number of maneuvers from disciplines outside their own fits into the flavor better.