[3.5] Martial Discipline: Akasha's Timepiece College

This school is intended to accompany the machinist class, although naturally it can be adapted for other uses.

Designer's Note:

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Experienced ToB homebrewers, I am hoping for your help here! These are my first homebrew martial disciplines, and doubtless will be in need of some polish and fine-tuning. Please lend me your expertise.

AKASHA’S TIMEPIECE

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The learned understand that what men know as time is merely the flow of aetheric energy. Students of the Akasha’s Timepiece College learn to harness minute amounts of this energy, making subtle alterations in the flow of time around them. Knowledge (architecture and engineering) is the key skill for the Akasha’s Timepiece College. The associated weapons for Akasha’s Timepiece are the hypersphere and tesseract. Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers are supernatural abilities unless otherwise stated.

Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers are usable only by machinists unless you have the Martial Study feat. To initiate an Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver, you must have access to a [magitech] power source, most commonly a magitech armor or shield. Your DM may introduce other magitech power sources during play.

LIST OF MANEUVERS:

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Level 1
Timely Escape (stance) – slow target when you tumble through its square
Vectored Step (boost) – You briefly move faster
Vectored Strike (strike) – Attack two opponents
Level 2
Time’s Cruel Hand (strike) – strike deals +2d6 damage, reduces creature’s move
Vector Damping (counter) – gain DR 5/-- against next attack
Level 3
Accelerated Metabolism (Stance) – You gain fast healing
Inexorable Hands of Time (counter) – you automatically pass all Concentration checks until the beginning of your next turn.
Quickened Steps (stance) – You move quickly and gain dodge bonus.
Rot of the Ages (strike) – Attack reduces opponent’s damage reduction
Level 4
Predictive Targeting (counter) – Reroll missed attack with +2 bonus
Déjà vu (strike) – strike uses same attack and damage roll as your most recent attack.
There and Back Again (boost) – You blink in and out of reality for one round
Level 5
Tempus Fugit (stance) – You are immune to slow and stun
Momentum Thief (strike) – Strike slows opponent, grants you extra move action
Vector Negation (counter) – gain DR 10/-- against next attack
Level 6
Borrowed Time (boost) – Use swift action to complete move action, lose move action on next round
Future Shock (strike) – strike dazes opponent, grants you extra standard action
Vector Reversal (counter) – gain DR 20/-- against next attack, reflect damage at attacker
Level 7
Metabolic Storm: (Stance) – You and allies within 30 ft gain fast healing
Past, Present and Future (strike) – make three attacks at highest attack bonus
Killing Time (boost) – Creatures you strike take -10 initiative penalty
Level 8
Perpetual Momentum (stance) – You gain extra attack per round, foes with lower initiative must make Reflex save to target you .
Stable Wormhole – you and allies travel to another plane
Level 9
Halt the Hands (boost) – Stop time until the end of your turn
Momentum Mori (strike) – Target is frozen in time until the beginning of your next turn, you gain extra full-round action

MANEUVER DESCRIPTIONS:

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ACCELERATED METABOLISM
Akasha’s Timepiece (Stance)
Level: Machinist 3
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

Time heals all wounds, at least for you.

You manipulate temporal energies to grant your body time to recover from its wounds. While you remain in this stance, you gain fast healing of 1 point / 5 initiator levels (minimum 1). However, because of your accelerated metabolism, any time you are poisoned while in this stance, you suffer the poison’s secondary effect in 5 rounds, rather than 10. Once you have been poisoned, exiting the stance will not allow you to avoid this drawback.

BORROWED TIME
Akasha’s Timepiece (Boost)
Level: Machinist 6
Prerequisite: 2 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

Borrowing time against your own future, you spring into motion.

Reversing the flow of aetheric energy for a moment, you grant yourself a moment to act, although the debt must soon be repaid. As part of the swift action used to initiate this maneuver, you may take a move action. You can use any of the options available for a move action. If your move action would normally provoke attacks of opportunity, you provoke as normal. On your next turn, you lose your normal move action.

DÉJÀ VU
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 4
Prerequisite: 2 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: Weapon
Target: 1 opponent
Duration: Instantaneous

As your opponent staggers from the blow you dealt, you follow up with more of the same.

Borrowing a moment of the past, you reproduce a successful attack. As part of this maneuver, make a single attack against an opponent you successfully struck within the past round. You do not roll to hit or roll damage; instead, use the attack roll total and damage total of your last successful attack against that opponent.

Note: As the player, it is your responsibility to keep track of attack and damage roll totals when using this maneuver. If you do not know or cannot remember your last attack roll and damage total against a particular opponent, then you cannot use déjà vu against that opponent – the moment has been lost.

FUTURE SHOCK
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 6
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: 1 opponent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Duration: Instantaneous

After your strike your opponent visibly hesitates while you gain a burst of speed.

Your attack steals a little of your victim’s time, which grants you more options. As part of this maneuver, you make a single attack. If you hit, your opponent must make a Will save (DC 16 + your Intelligence modifier) or be [dazed] for one round and you gain an immediate additional standard action.

HALT THE HANDS
Akasha’s Timepiece (Boost)
Level: Machinist 9
Prerequisite: 4 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: you
Duration: Instantaneous (1 round of apparent time)

The world seems to stutter to a halt as you accelerate to unthinkable speeds.

You accelerate the passage of time for yourself until the entire world seems to stand still. As part of the action used to initiate this maneuver, you are free to act for 1 rounds of apparent time. Normal and magical fire, cold, gas, and the like can still harm you. While Halt the Hands is in effect, other creatures are invulnerable to your attacks and maneuvers; you cannot target such creatures with any attack or maneuver. Maneuvers that affect an area and have durations longer than one round (such as Mandala of Entropy) have their normal effects on other creatures once Halt the Hands ends.

Most machinists use the additional time to improve their defenses, rearrange the battlefield, or flee from combat. You cannot move or harm items held, carried, or worn by a creature stuck in normal time, but you can affect any item that is not in another creature’s possession.

You are undetectable while Halt the Hands lasts. You cannot enter an area protected by an antimagic field while under the effect of Halt the Hands.

INEXORABLE HANDS OF TIME
Akasha’s Timepiece (Counter)
Level: Machinist 3
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round

You stretch out the moment of your distraction, granting yourself plenty of time to complete the task at hand.

You depress your own temporal energies, slowing down your perception of time until all distractions seem like fleeting, momentary events. Until the end of your next turn, you do not need to make Concentration checks to maintain your concentration. You may use this maneuver in response to an effect that would force you to roll a Concentration check, but before the check is rolled.

KILLING TIME
Akasha’s Timepiece (Boost)
Level: Machinist 7
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 5 minutes

Your strikes leave your opponents hesitating and disoriented.

You use your weapon to thieve time from each opponent to you attack this round, leaving your foes wondering how they lost their rhythm. After you initiate this boost, you can make your attacks as normal. Each foe you strike takes a -10 penalty to initiative for 5 minutes. An opponent who has already acted this round does not gain the ability to act again, even if his initiative total is now lower than yours.

METABOLIC STORM
Akasha’s Timepiece (Stance)
Level: Machinist 7
Prerequisite: 2 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: 30 feet
Target: You and willing creatures within a 30-foot spread
Duration: Stance

Time heals all wounds, at least for you and your allies.

You manipulate temporal energies for yourself and all willing allies within 30 feet, granting time to recover from wounds. While you remain in this stance, all affected creatures gain fast healing 3. However, because of your accelerated metabolisms, any time an affected creature is poisoned while in this stance, that creature suffers the poison’s secondary effect in 5 rounds, rather than 10. Once a creature has been poisoned, exiting the stance will not negate this drawback.

MOMENTUM MORI
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 9
Prerequisite: 2 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: 1 opponent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Duration: Instantaneous

After your strike your opponent seems to freeze up, while you gain a burst of speed.

Your attack steals a your victim’s time, which grants you more options. As part of this maneuver, you make a single attack. If you hit, your opponent must make a Will save (DC 19 + your Intelligence modifier) or be placed in stasis for one round (as the temporal stasis spell) and you gain an immediate additional full-round action.

MOMENTUM THIEF
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 5
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: 1 opponent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Duration: Instantaneous

After your strike your opponent suddenly moves more slowly while you gain a burst of speed.

Your attack steals a little of your victim’s time, which grants you more options. As part of this maneuver, you make a single attack. If you hit, your opponent must make a Will save (DC 15 + your Intelligence modifier) or be slowed for one round (as the spell) and you gain an immediate additional move action.

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 7
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: Up to three opponents
Duration: Instantaneous

Your weapon gathers temporal energy as you strike, granting you time enough to deliver several strikes.

As you initiate this attack, you make three attacks at your highest base attack bonus, each against a different foe within range of your weapon. Resolve each attack separately.

PERPETUAL MOMENTUM
Akasha’s Timepiece (Stance)
Level: Machinist 8
Prerequisite: 3 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

You move effortlessly from one opponent to the next, unstoppable and untouchable.

You charge yourself with aetheric energy, glancing ahead a moment into the future and manipulating the flow of moments to your advantage. While you remain in this stance, you gain an additional attack at your highest base attack bonus whenever you make a full attack, and opponents must make a Reflex saving throw (DC 18 + your Intelligence modifier) each round in order to target you with their attacks. Opponents who fail to save are too bewildered by your motions to aim an attack, but can choose to attack another foe or take a different action instead.

PREDICTIVE TARGETING
Akasha’s Timepiece (Counter)
Level: Machinist 4
Prerequisite: 2 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous

You see a moment into the future and correct your aim to avoid missing your attack.

Looking ahead at the flow of the Akasha, you take time to aim for where you know your target will be. If one of your attacks misses, you can initiate this maneuver to reroll the attack with a +2 competence bonus.

QUICKENED STEPS
Akasha’s Timepiece (Stance)
Level: Machinist 3
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

You pick up the pace, moving faster and dodging attacks with ease.

Time is on your side, granting you a few extra moments to move into position or out of the path of a blow. You gain a + 10 ft enhancement bonus to your speed. If you move at least 10 feet during your turn, you gain a +2 dodge bonus to AC until the beginning of your next turn.

ROT OF THE AGES
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 3
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: 1 opponent
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort negates

As your strike lands, advanced decay sets in, exposing your opponent to the ravages of time.

Your strike induces a specific expansion of time that decays an opponent's very structure, as if through advanced age. As part of this maneuver, make a single attack. If you hit, the opponent’s damage reduction is reduced by 10 (Will negates, DC 13 + your Intelligence modifier). The penalty is applied before you roll for damage. This penalty lasts until your opponent receives magical healing or a DC 20 Heal check.

STABLE WORMHOLE
Akasha’s Timepiece
Level: Machinist 8
Prerequisite: 4 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 5 rounds
Range: 10 feet
Effect: A planar rift up to 20 feet in diameter.
Duration: 3 rounds

Reality itself unravels before your skill as a rift opens between planes.

To a master of the Akasha's Timepiece college, time and space are one and the same. You manipulate the Akasha to create a wormhole between planes, a singularity through which it is possible to travel to a distant location in zero time. The wormhole itself is a circular rift from 5 to 20 feet in diameter (your choice), oriented in the direction you desire when it comes into existence (typically vertical and facing you). It is a two-dimensional window looking into the plane you specified when initiating the maneuver, and anyone or anything that moves through is shunted instantly to the other side.

A wormhole has a front and a back. Creatures moving through the wormhole from the front are transported to the other plane; creatures moving through it from the back are not. The wormhole functions much like a plane shift spell, except that it opens precisely at the point you desire.

Deities and other beings who rule a planar realm can prevent a wormhole from opening in their presence or personal demesnes if they so desire. Travelers need not join hands with you—anyone who chooses to step through the rift is transported. A wormhole cannot be opened to another point on the same plane; the effect works only for interplanar travel.

You could position a wormhole in a hallway in order to absorb any attack or force coming at you by shunting it to another plane. Whether the denizens of that plane appreciate this tactic is, of course, another matter.

You may hold the wormhole open only for a brief time (no more than 3 rounds), and you must concentrate on doing so, or else the interplanar connection is severed.

TEMPUS FUGIT
Akasha’s Timepiece (Stance)
Level: Machinist 5
Prerequisite: 2 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuvers
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

A dim, phosphorescent field surrounds you, and you move forward effortlessly, shrugging off attempts to delay you.

You generate a reactive field of aether which insulates you from attempts to slow you. While you remain in this stance, you are immune to the [stunned] condition, all slow effects, and any penalties to your initiative score (although penalties to your Dexterity score can still reduce your initiative).

THERE AND BACK AGAIN
Akasha’s Timepiece (Boost)
Level: Machinist 4
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round

You borrow a few moments of the future from yourself, flickering in and out of reality at random.

Manipulating your own place in the flow of the Akasha, you rapidly shift in and out of reality until the beginning of your next turn. There and Back Again has several effects, as follows.

• Physical attacks against you have a 50% miss chance, and the Blind-Fight feat doesn’t help opponents, since you’re not present and not merely invisible. Likewise, your own attacks have a 20% miss chance, since you sometimes vanish just as you are about to strike.
• Any individually targeted spell has a 50% chance to fail against you. Your own maneuvers have a 20% chance to activate just as you vanish, in which case they typically do not have any effect.
• You take only half damage from area attacks.
• You strike as an invisible creature (with a +2 bonus on attack rolls), denying your target any Dexterity bonus to AC.
• You take only half damage from falling, since you accelerate only while you are present.
• You can step through (but not see through) solid objects. For each 5 feet of solid material you walk through, there is a 50% chance that you become material. If this occurs, you are shunted off to the nearest open space and take 1d6 points of damage per 5 feet so traveled.

TIME’S CRUEL HAND
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 2
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: 1 opponent
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will partial

Your strike steals a moment from your opponent just as she is considering escape.

Your attack borrows a little of your victim’s time in order to strike more swiftly, and may steal enough time to impair her mobility. As part of this maneuver, you make a single attack. This attack deals an extra 2d6 points of damage. If you hit, the target ‘s speed takes a -20 foot penalty (for all movement capabilities) for 1 round. A Will save (DC 12 + your Intelligence modifier) negates the penalty but not the extra damage.

TIMELY ESCAPE
Akasha’s Timepiece (Stance)
Level: Machinist 1
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance

You are suddenly much lighter on your feet, and your opponents seem to move slower when you move past them.

You configure your engines to tap the Akasha of your opponents, stealing a few spare seconds to grant you speed when you need it most. While you remain in this stance, you gain a competence bonus on Tumble checks equal to your initiator level, and once per round, whenever you successfully overrun an opponent or succeed on a Tumble check to move through an opponent’s square, that opponent is slowed for 1 round, as the spell (Will negates, DC 11 + your Intelligence modifier).

VECTOR DAMPING
Akasha’s Timepiece (Counter)
Level: Machinist 2
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous

Your opponent’s weapon slows down as it is about to strike, reducing its impact.

As an immediate action you steal a little temporal energy from your opponent’s weapon, not enough to stop the attack altogether but enough to cushion the worst of the blow. You initiate this maneuver in response to an opponent’s successful attack against you, after the hit has been confirmed but before damage is rolled. You gain DR 5/- against the attack.

VECTOR NEGATION
Akasha’s Timepiece (Counter)
Level: Machinist 5
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous

Your opponent’s weapon slows dramatically as it is about to strike, reducing its impact.

As an immediate action you steal a temporal energy from your opponent’s weapon, not enough to stop the attack altogether but enough to cushion the worst of the blow. You initiate this maneuver in response to an opponent’s successful attack against you, after the hit has been confirmed but before damage is rolled. You gain DR 10/- against the attack.

VECTOR REVERSAL
Akasha’s Timepiece (Counter)
Level: Machinist 5
Prerequisite: 1 Akasha’s Timepiece maneuver
Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous

I]Your opponent’s weapon rebounds sharply after impact, retracing its original path.[/i]

As an immediate action you invert the temporal energy from your opponent’s weapon, causing the weapon to retrace its path and strike your opponent. You initiate this maneuver in response to an opponent’s successful attack against you, after the hit has been confirmed but before damage is rolled. You gain DR 20/- against the attack, and your opponent takes damage from his own attack equal to the amount absorbed by this maneuver. The type of the damage remains unchanged.

VECTORED STEP
Akasha’s Timepiece (Boost)
Level: Machinist 1
Initiation Action: 1 swift action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: End of turn

Everything seems to slow down around you as you sprint across the battlefield.

You gather temporal energies as you move, borrowing an extra second or two to help you reach your destination. You gain an enhancement bonus to your land speed of 10 ft + 10 ft/6 initiator levels. This bonus lasts until the end of your turn.

VECTORED STRIKE
Akasha’s Timepiece (Strike)
Level: Machinist 1
Initiation Action: 1 standard action
Range: As weapon
Target: Two opponents
Duration: Instantaneous

Your weapon gathers temporal energy as you strike, granting you time enough to strike an additional opponent.

As you initiate this attack, you make two attacks, each against a different foe within range of your weapon. Resolve each attack separately.

Stable Wormhole seems really out of place with the rest; all of the others deal with time, then this one is dimensional travel?

I'll admit that I stashed that one there because I wanted the class to have a form of rapid travel and didn't have a better place to put it.

Maybe a teleport-like ability would be more appropriate? That could easily be flavored as traveling from here to there at phenomenal speed, and could carry a restriction of not being able to enter a space that would normally be inaccessible to you?

If it were something like Dimension Door writ large, that would probably be fine. Otherwise, you may have to consider dropping travel that's THAT fast.

The class already has enhanced movement speed, so a running really fast without tiring ability might be appropriate.

At least from a flavour perspective... Would it be so bad o just include a 1/day teleport device as a flavoured magic item?

The number of maneuvers you have at each level is off. 1st level seems to have too few; only Desert Wind has anything but two at 2nd level, etc. The most glaring problem, though, is the two 9th-level maneuvers. No official discipline has that.

I respectfully disagree with Mulletmanalive. The fact that this discipline manipulates time means that, under the general theory of relativity, manipulating space is not only possible, but nearly inevitable. Creating a temporary wormhole fits right into the discipline that way. Granted, a full minute to open something that lasts for maybe 20 seconds seems... off... but otherwise the maneuver seems fine.

Still, maybe reflavoring a couple maneuvers to reflect this intertwined nature of space and time would help the wormhole fit in a little better. Just something to think about.

Answerer: Doing things that haven't been done already is kind of the point of homebrew.

InfiniteNothing: The one-minute initiation time was meant to restrict the in-combat utility of the maneuver, and also to reduce its spammability. I am concerned that the ability to plane-hop once per round with perfect accuracy could be... disruptive.

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Originally Posted by jiriku

Answerer: Doing things that haven't been done already is kind of the point of homebrew.

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While true, in the case of martial disciplines I think the number of available maneuvers in each discipline at each level is an important balancing factor, and I'm not seeing a good reason why the Machinist's disciplines should be outright better than the Swordsage's.

The number of maneuvers in a Discipline isn't a direct balancing factor; Xefas' disciplines are very strong, and each one has only 21 18 maneuvers.

You assume in that argument that Xefas's disciplines are balanced.

In order to achieve that, individual maneuvers have to be more/less powerful than before. That's weird to me, because you're not decreasing/increasing the number that you get (except at levels 18+).

Yes, but it taking ten rounds to summon - ten rounds in which the character is vulnerable, I might add - is excessive. I'm not saying you should make it a standard, move, swift, or full-round action to open, that's too quick for essentially brute-force-ripping a hole in space-time, but maybe two or three rounds instead? Something a bit more reasonable for in-combat or emergency use?

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Originally Posted by Answerer

In order to achieve that, individual maneuvers have to be more/less powerful than before. That's weird to me, because you're not decreasing/increasing the number that you get (except at levels 18+).

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I don't really follow; the reduced number of manoeuvres in Xefas' work is down to his refusal to include multiple versions of the same move at different levels [the Mountain Hammer set, for example]. The power levels are mostly because his general opinion is that more power = more fun. Not my attitude but it works for him.

I don't see why you'd need to change anything in the power levels if you changed the number of moves available in a given discipline. In theory, it could make a difference if there were a lot of extra powerful options overall, but it's far too early to call on that with only one discipline published...

I've been playing with Xefas' disciplines for months, and they haven't caused any problems.

The challenge with having a small number of maneuvers is coming up with something that makes each one unique enough to actually have a choice.

Because, seriously, if you took the moves from, say, Desert Wind that just deal more fire damage, and condensed them into a single strike/boost/counter that just scaled with your IL, what's the real difference? It wouldn't alter how powerful the maneuvers are.

Really, I agree with Xefas that the ToB disciplines are overly conservative and actually pretty badly designed (the best stances are the low level ones, and a bunch of the lower level maneuvers are actually stronger than the higher level ones; I don't have the numbers on me right now, but could probably scrape something up if you're interested.)

Thoughts in no particular order:

I could see three rounds to initiate for Stable Wormhole.

I have two disciplines posted now. The third will probably go up tomorrow and the fourth on Saturday.

Convential wisdom holds that the swordsage is a little on the weak side, as ToB classes go, and even the strongest of the ToB classes are not the strongest in the Tier 3 band. I'm ok with the machinist being stronger than the swordsage. They're different enough from one another in style and focus that they're not likely to be direct competitors even if both are present in the same party. Moreover, my feel is that the machinist's fundamentals, especially its class skill set, are a little weaker than the swordsage's, so there's room for stronger maneuvers to make up the balance.

I'm not seeing much feedback on the maneuvers themselves. Hopefully that means that there aren't any obvious defects in the mechanics.

In no particular order...
I approve of the time restriction on the Stable Wormhole maneuver. Perhaps 5 rounds?

For Time's Cruel Hand, I'd specify that it reduces you opponent's speed by 20 feet, not just 20. I know what you mean, but eh.

With Momentum Thief, I'd specify Slowed as a spell effect, it's not actually a condition.

The rest are good, though. This is a very well-thought-out discipline.

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Off-topic discussion of someone else's homebrew (how did we even start this?)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mulletmanalive

I don't really follow; the reduced number of manoeuvres in Xefas' work is down to his refusal to include multiple versions of the same move at different levels [the Mountain Hammer set, for example]. The power levels are mostly because his general opinion is that more power = more fun. Not my attitude but it works for him.

I don't see why you'd need to change anything in the power levels if you changed the number of moves available in a given discipline. In theory, it could make a difference if there were a lot of extra powerful options overall, but it's far too early to call on that with only one discipline published...

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Making a maneuver scale better makes it a better maneuver, less in need of replacement, makes the one maneuver known spent on it better than it otherwise would be.

Of course, only a little bit thanks to Tome of Battle's wonderful replacement mechanics. I will admit that I hadn't considered scaling when I first responded; that's not nearly as problematic as I first though. I am not actually familiar with Xefas's work, I was just saying that it was weird to point to another homebrew as a standard of balance.

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Originally Posted by jiriku

Convential wisdom holds that the swordsage is a little on the weak side, as ToB classes go, and even the strongest of the ToB classes are not the strongest in the Tier 3 band. I'm ok with the machinist being stronger than the swordsage. They're different enough from one another in style and focus that they're not likely to be direct competitors even if both are present in the same party. Moreover, my feel is that the machinist's fundamentals, especially its class skill set, are a little weaker than the swordsage's, so there's room for stronger maneuvers to make up the balance.

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Fundamentals, especially class skills are almost meaningless. But certainly it's valid to make your homebrew more powerful; I just usually assume that a variant of a class is meant to be roughly equivalent with that class. My apologies for assuming.

Good suggestions, Wyntonian. I'm making those changes now.

First thought is that Accelerated Healing is a little too good, and Metabolic Storm is way too good, but I've been getting more conservative about fast healing. Most people on these boards seem to be okay with the party getting free heals after every fight, but I've found that making them at least pay for and track those cure light wands and heal belts goes a long way towards making them actually care about resources. If you're really okay with the whole party playing terminators that don't have any resources they can consume then go ahead, but DnD is absolutely balanced assuming the players can and will run out if they don't stop eventually (I was being more mild till I noticed the higher level version).

What happens if you use Momentum Thief (or Momentum Mori for that matter) on a target immune to the effect? It would probably be better to just say they lose whatever actions.

I would also be concerned with perfect accuracy interplanar travel at will, and even with a miss table you could still repeat it every minute or two and reroll. You're just not supposed to be able to do that. Shadow Walk is a fine effect for fast travel and you could allow any plane instead of just elementals, or do some sort of super speed thing that limits you to movement only but makes you ridiclously fast. So same as the fast healing stuff, if you're really okay with your players being able to gate at will (at 15th level even) then go ahead and give them gate at will, but know that the game is not balanced for it.

Regarding multiple 9th level maneuvers: actually I want to see these everywhere. No spellcaster is limited to a single 9th level option for one of his schools, and it sucks ridiculously hard when a cool discipline doesn't have a 9th level maneuver that you'd actually use. For example, Diamond Mind is often touted as being great for letting you deal damage without actually needing a strong basic attack, but it's 9th level maneuver is useless for such a character. Having two options doubles the chance of having something you can use.

Finally, on formatting: while ToB does list maneuvers in alphabetical order, many homebrews list them grouped by level and I believe this is a far better approach. Unlike spells that are all lumped into the same section, maneuvers are restricted by discipline and level, and with a much shorter list to look through it's just easier to judge them if they're sorted by level. I also disagree with putting everything in spoilers, but at least it's only the two. You can also save space in the maneuver list by simply italicizing the names and cutting the extra spacing and tabbing (if saving space is an issue).

I have moved Accelerated Metabolism up one level, and Metabolic Storm up two levels, and moved Tempus Fugit down one level. Adjusting format to rely on italics as you suggested; I like the look of that better, now that I've tried it.

Still thinking about Stable Wormhole. It's essentially a slightly nerfed version of the weaker of the two effects produced by gate, and I had hoped that would make it appropriate for an 8th level effect.