Like my last idea -- "Meta Maneuver" feats -- this concept involves importing an aspect of magic into Tome of Battle, namely the creation of magical items. First, I will present a new type of (sort-of magical) item:
Martial Scroll
Martial Scrolls can contain various maneuvers. Once a Scroll is read the maneuvers within it are taught to the reader.
Appearance: Martial Scrolls appear as heavy scrolls, small booklets, stone tablets, music boxes, musical instruments, or anything else capable of holding or creating words or sound. Despite their name, Martial Scrolls do not have to be actual scrolls.
Use and Activation: A Martial Scroll is activated by being read, a process that takes 1 minute per initiator level (the minimum initiator level required to access the highest level maneuver within the scroll). Reading a Martial Scroll requires concentration and quiet.
After the scroll has been read the maneuvers the scroll contains are added to his maneuvers known as long as he has their prerequisites, starting from maneuvers that have no prerequisites and moving on to the maneuvers with the highest number of prerequisites. As such, Martial Scrolls may contain the maneuvers required to learn other maneuvers they contain.
Maneuvers learned from Martial Scrolls can be readied and initiated as normal as long as the reader has an initiator level high enough to learn the maneuver through level advancement. If he does not, initiating these maneuvers is above the abilities of the reader and he may blunder while doing so. When initiating such a maneuver the initiator must make an Initiator Level check (DC 11 + the maneuver's required initiator level). Success means the maneuver has been initiated successfully, while failure means it is expended but is not initiated (though any action used to initiate it is still wasted). In addition, the initiator loses 1d4-1 other random maneuvers as if they have been initiated and provokes an attack of opportunity.
Duration and Charges: Martial Scrolls last for 2 hours (though this duration can be doubled by doubling the market price), after which the maneuvers learned through the Scroll leave the reader's mind. However, a Martial Scroll may be read up to 5 times. After the 5th time it loses all of its special properties.
Creation and Cost: Martial Scrolls can be created using the following feat:
Quote:
Write Martial Scroll [Item Creation]
You can write martial scrolls.
Prerequisites: Initiator level 3rd, One maneuver, Martial Lore 6.
Benefit: You can create Martial Scrolls containing any maneuvers you fulfill the prerequisites for (you do not have to know it).
The market price of Martial Scrolls is the following:
400 x (The minimum initiator level needed to initiate the highest level maneuver in the Scroll) x (the level of the highest level maneuver the scroll contains + the number of maneuvers the scroll contains)
The creator can double this price to increase the duration of the Martial Scroll by 2 hours.
Just like with magical items, to create a Martial Scroll one must pay half the market price for raw materials and 1/25 of the price in XP, representing an expenditure of lifeforce on the part of the writer. Creating Martial Scrolls is a process that takes 1 day per 1,000 gp of the Scroll's price. The creation of a Martial Scroll may be stopped and resumed at any time, saving the progress made in its creation.
Magical Item Creation
You have learned the art of adding magical and unique aspects to your weapon through meditation, smithing, or some other procedure. Although you are not an actual spell caster, your knowledge of supernatural martial arts has granted you some knowledge of mysticism and spell casting and so you are able to duplicate the spells required to create certain items simply by reading scrolls or extracting the fundamental concepts of a particular spell from your mind.
Forge Weapon or Armor of Power
You have learned how to imbue the magical aspects of the path of Nine Swords into your weapons and armor.
Prerequisites: Initiator level 5th, Martial Lore 8, Craft (any) 8.
Benefit: You can create magical weapons and armor as if you were a spell-caster and had the Create Magical Arms or Armor feat, treating your Initiator Level as your caster level for this purpose, though you may only create magical versions of masterwork weapons and armor you created yourself through the Craft skill, without the aid of spells such as Fabricate or Creation.
If a weapon or armor requires a spell you may substitute a Martial Lore check (DC 20 + twice the spell's level) for the spell (if you fail the time required to craft the item increases by 1d6+1 days and you immediately pay 25% of the item's raw material and XP costs. You may try again to substitute the prerequisites of the item within 1d6+1 days). Alternatively, you can substitute this requirement by having the spell in hand in the form of a scroll. This scroll is expended after the creation of the item has begun.
At any rate, you must know at least one maneuver of the spell's level to do this.
Creating magical items using this feat takes 1 day per 10,000 gold pieces of the item's price (count in hours if necessary, with the minimum of 1 hour per caster level requirement).
Forge Item of Power
You can forge magical items as a spell-caster.
Prerequisites: Initiator level 5th, Martial Lore 8, Craft (any) 8.
Benefit: You can create any item that grants a bonus to AC, saves, skill checks, or ability scores as if you were a spell-caster and had the Create Wondrous Items and Forge Ring feats, treating your Initiator Level as your caster level for this purpose, though you may only create magical versions of masterwork items you created yourself through the Craft skill (masterwork components for items that are not a weapon or armor cost 200gp and have the DC of 20).
If an item requires a spell you may substitute a Martial Lore check (DC 20 + twice the spell's level) for the spell (if you fail the time required to craft the item increases by 1d6+1 days and you immediately pay 25% of the item's raw material and XP costs). Alternatively, you can substitute this requirement by having the spell in hand in the form of a scroll. This scroll is expended after the creation of the item has begun.
At any rate, you must know at least one maneuver of the spell's level to do this.
Creating magical items using this feat takes 1 day per 10,000 gold pieces of the item's price.
