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2011-01-03, 09:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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2011-01-03, 10:11 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
I would like to see combat styles. And besides, you can rely on the core races for now.
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2011-01-03, 10:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
I'm voting non-core races. They're integral to a good warblade
If You need me to post somewhere, drop me a message, please
Awesome avatar by the wondrous Kurien.
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2011-01-03, 10:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
I want to see both!
Word up for a race: goliaths' Powerful Build tends to overshadow the rest of their racial features, but for warblades also the ability to perform standing jumps without doubling the DC is handy.Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2011-01-03, 10:34 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Non-core races on the way, then.
Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook
Walking the Way: A Swordsage's Handbook
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2011-01-03, 10:39 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Oh! be sure to mention things that end up being traps. A human Dragonborn, for example, is a lot worse than a Mongrelfolk or Half-Orc Dragonborn
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Awesome avatar by the wondrous Kurien.
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2011-01-03, 11:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Human Dragonborn is not a trap if one is going for a Bardblade with DFI, as it shaves off a couple of feats and lets you do Sonic damage straight off the bat.
Under traps, however, should be mentioned Racial Hit Dice. Quite bluntly, even a single racial hit die negates your ability to get Stance Mastery, and you have to ask yourself: is anything *really* worth that?
A word of caution should also be mentioned about Level Adjustment in general. Sure, +1 or even a +2 isn't going to be absolutely crippling, but more than +3 and you'll have the same problem you had with RHD... you won't be able to buy it off before level 20.SpoilerQuite possibly, the best rebuttal I have ever witnessed.
Joker Bard - the DM's solution to the Batman Wizard.
Takahashi no Onisan - The scariest Samurai alive
Incarnum and YOU: a reference guide
Soulmelds, by class and slot: Another Incarnum reference
Multiclassing for Newbies: A reference guide for the rest of us
My homebrew world in progress: Falcora
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2011-01-03, 11:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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2011-01-04, 12:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Dragonborn is what is required for DFI in the first place, otherwise you are blowing a feat on Draconic Heretage or something, which gets really expensive.
Also, if you go dragonborn (not necessarily silverbrow), you get to choose your heritage, rather than requiring a dip in Sorcerer for the privilege. Thus saving a feat there as well.SpoilerQuite possibly, the best rebuttal I have ever witnessed.
Joker Bard - the DM's solution to the Batman Wizard.
Takahashi no Onisan - The scariest Samurai alive
Incarnum and YOU: a reference guide
Soulmelds, by class and slot: Another Incarnum reference
Multiclassing for Newbies: A reference guide for the rest of us
My homebrew world in progress: Falcora
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2011-01-04, 12:48 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2011-01-04, 01:45 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Actually, if you want to pick your Draconic Heritage, you need to either take Dragontouched or have 1 level in Sorc. Dragonblooded creatures, even dragonborn, don't qualify for Draconic Heritage automatically.
It's silly but it's a worthwhile feat sink IMO.
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2011-01-04, 08:29 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
SpoilerQuite possibly, the best rebuttal I have ever witnessed.
Joker Bard - the DM's solution to the Batman Wizard.
Takahashi no Onisan - The scariest Samurai alive
Incarnum and YOU: a reference guide
Soulmelds, by class and slot: Another Incarnum reference
Multiclassing for Newbies: A reference guide for the rest of us
My homebrew world in progress: Falcora
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2011-01-04, 08:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2011-01-04, 02:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Not sure why this is rated so high, as how often are you really Couping enemies that this becomes worthwhile, anyways? Plus, I've always seen this as a deadly precedent for your DM to pick it up on a BBEG to off characters that much faster, which seems like a bad exchange, if you ask me.
Insightful Reflexes – Actually, since you already add Int to Reflex saves, this just makes your Reflex save worse.
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2011-01-07, 09:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
That's batch one of races up. Any additions/comments/corrections?
Last edited by Elfin; 2011-01-07 at 09:15 PM.
Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook
Walking the Way: A Swordsage's Handbook
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2011-01-07, 09:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2011-01-07, 09:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Right, thanks; changed. Wondering if I might not need glasses, the mongrelfolk mistake is a fairly glaring one...
Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook
Walking the Way: A Swordsage's Handbook
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2011-01-07, 09:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
I doubt if the Wolverine Stance would rank up, but you can actually use any one-handed weapon according to the more detailed text. So you aren't restricted to light weapons in the case you had already one drawn. It's only a small boon, but perhaps having access to rapiers, scimitars or warhammers or even bastard swords and dwarven waraxe for once when scoring a critical hit might help a little bit while in grapple.
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2011-01-07, 09:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
As far as LA +2 races go, Half-Ogres beat a lot out of the water, and are one of the few things without being too cheesy to really play while still be remarkably awesome. put frankly, it's essentially a half-orc with more strength, more constitution, a little less dexterity, a natural armor of +4 and large size. This makes it ridiculously good, as large size contributes quite a bit to battlefield control, carrying capacity, Etc. The only thing you have to worry about is the tight squeezes in dungeons.
Another thing to focus on with them is that they can take knockback, a feat from races of stone, which works off of power attack as bonus. This means that if you put in 10 points of power attack with a two-handed weapon, you get a +20 on your bull rush to knock him back. The enemy flies away for 5 feet for every 5 that you beat him by! Now imagine this with a two (or even six) level dip in fighter to get dungeoncrasher, and combine it with some of the maneuvers that you'd be adding power attack onto anyway, and you've just increased your damage output by quite a bit. Sure you have to smash them into a wall or something, but when you'll end up flinging someone twenty feet away at a time, you generally don't have to worry about being right next to them (beware dwarves though, as their many bonuses against this tactic make it much harder for it to work on them).
Really, the only bad part about knockback is that it works off the number that you took out of your attack bonus, so by RAW, shenanigans like Frenzied Berserker exra damage to power attacks or the tripling effect from leap attack won't work on it, and unfortunately shock trooper doesn't work with it, but hey, when you're making a generic power attack any way, there's no point not toLast edited by Halae; 2011-01-07 at 10:00 PM.
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Awesome avatar by the wondrous Kurien.
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2011-01-22, 04:09 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Might want to add something about the factotum for multiclassing, and the mineral warrior template for +1 LA.
Factotum:
Spoiler
For multiclassing, a primary warblade has 2 obvious factotum dips. Generally, factotum dips are best for WB's who already have a high int, or for higher ECL characters who have ways of boosting their int through items. Since you may already want to be boosting int to boost your "Battle" line of class features, this can be very profitable and add flexibility to your WB.
1. Two level dip:
Spoiler
What you gain:
Improved reflex saves.
A cantrip (not big).
3 Inspiration Points per encounter.
Cunning Insight - For 1 IP and no action, add int mod to any attack roll, save, or damage roll as a competence bonus.
Cunning Knowledge - For 1 IP, get a +2 to any skill check.
Trapfinding.
A ton of extra skill points to spend on ANY(!!!) skill. Nice for giving that big guy with a sword a little perceptive ability, a little UMD, ability or whatever you need to fill out/assist party roles.
What you lose:
1 point of BAB, a few hp (d8 vs. d12), 1 IL.
You'll probably miss 1 maneuver known, and 1 maneuver re-train.
A Warblade class ability depending on level of the dip. You need to decide on the viability depending on what your WB does.
Good level games for this dip:
ECL 3 - Lose out on Battle Ardor and Uncanny Dodge, the factotum benefits should make you forget those though!
ECL 5 - Factotum 2/Wb 3 works really well! Miss only the bonus feat.
ECL 9 - Miss a bonus feat, but keep Imp. Uncanny Dodge, and Battle Cunning.
At higher ECL's you need to weigh any benefits of this dip against prestige class benefits you may be missing out on.
2. Four level dip
Spoiler
What you gain:
Imp Reflex Saves.
3 Inspiration Points per encounter.
A utility 1st level spell or 2 (very minor)
Brains over Brawn - Get your int modifier to all str, dex checks and any skill check based on those skills. This could be EXTREMELY useful to a tripping or bull-rushing WB. Synergy with the Knockdown/Knockback feats is delightful.
Cunning Strike - Gives minor sneak attack, by RAW I think you can get 3d6 out of this once per encounter on a single attack.
Cunning Defense - 1 IP gives you int mod as a dodge bonus to AC against an opponent until the beginning of your next turn. Once per turn per foe. Useful for boss fights, or against ranged touch attacks if you don't have Wall of Blades prep'd.
Cunning Insight - For 1 IP and no action, add int mod to any attack roll, save, or damage roll as a competence bonus.
Cunning Knowledge - For 1 IP, get a +4 to any skill check.
Trapfinding.
A metric ton of extra skill points to spend on ANY(!!!) skill. Nice for giving that big guy with a sword a little perceptive ability, a little UMD ability, or whatever you need to fill out/assist party roles.
What you lose:
1 point of BAB, 2 IL, a handful of hp (d8 vs. d12) a point of fort save. 2 maneuvers known, and 2 maneuver retrains (depending on what your WB level is). Possibly a maneuver readied. Possibly a stance.
Good level games for this dip:
ECL 5 - This is a fun one. You come in with a ton of skills and can go straight for the 2nd level maneuvers with your first WB level.
Weigh other levels carefully against PRC entrance and long term benefit.
In a gestalt game, the WB//Factotum can be a very powerful primary melee'er.
Spoiler
Man, oh man this is fun for gestalt. Keep an eye on the following levels:
Level 8 - You get Cunning Surge, this is fantastic, breaks WB action economy wide open. You can initiate a maneuver and make a full attack, initiate two maneuvers, or do a maneuver and recovery! Talk with your DM about whether or not this is usable multiple times a round. Avoid flying DMG's. If you have an ECL 8+ gestalt game, and you'd like to play a Warblade, strongly consider the factotum for nothing other than this ability.
If this is usable multiple times per round, you can take Font of Inspiration once (see below) to open every combat with WRT, Surge to recover maneuvers, Surge out WRT. Everyone in your party will thank you. Your DM will likely not. Even if you don't take Font, you can still use WRT, then on your next turn, recover maneuvers and surge out WRT!
Level 11 - Cunning Breach. Allows you to bypass SR/DR for 2 IP. This can be very broadly useful with your arcane dilettante ability. Or use it to punch the hell out of golems!
Level 16 - Imp Cunning Defense gives you permanent int mod as a dodge bonus to AC, have to be in light armor though. Major downside here if you aren't in a mithril breastplate or the moral equivalent. This can be much better if you're going for a more dextrous build to take advantage of two-weapon fighting.
Feats:
Spoiler
Font of Inspiration, if it is allowed can be very tempting. Usually the WB has better things to do with its feats, but you could make an exception based on a couple of possibilities. The only time I would feel strongly about this is at Factotum 8.
If you're in a gestalt game and trying to nab Cunning Surge, you'll have 5 IP at level 8. Cunning Surge costs 3 IP to use. Taking Font of Inspiration once gives you 6 IP total and 2 uses of this ability. As you don't normally get your 6th IP until Factotum 11, this can be very profitable.
Mineral Warrior Template:
Spoiler
Do you want the extra human feat and skills but also want sick racial advantages? For LA +1 you can have the mineral warrior.
Link to web excerpt:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031003e
Disclaimer:
SpoilerFirst, mineral warrior is a very powerful +1 LA. You should probably ask it about explicitly if your DM is allowing +LA races. Especially at low levels, DR 8/Adamantine can be tough to deal with. This is obviously most effective in games where LA buyoff is allowed and you start at ECL 3+. Since mineral warrior penalizes int, I wouldn't try to combine it with the factotum dips above.
What you gain:
DR.
NA.
A burrow speed (usually 10-20 depending on race/class/dips)
Earth Strike (partially useless given your racial HD. 1/day gives you Con modifier to-hit).
Darkvision 60.
Bonuses to Str/Con, penalties to all mental stats.
This gives you incredible staying power. If you want to play a WB as a primary melee man, this template gives you a huge number of edges. At low levels, weapons that penetrate your DR are very uncommon, at higher levels, they aren't especially common, but your extra hp cushion, and thicker NA will still be very beneficial.
What you lose:
1 BAB (offset by str bonus), possibly +1 to a couple of saves (fort offset by con bonus), possibly a maneuver known, possibly a WB class feature depending on the starting/ending ECL.
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2011-01-22, 04:57 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Some +1 LA Races:
Spoiler
Half Giant:
Spoiler
Bonuses to str and con, penalty to dex. I'd make sure you started with a 12 in dex as there is no reason to punish ini/ref/ac right off the bat. They have the always saucy powerful build (great for those tripper/knockbacker WB's), as well as LLV. They have a mildly useful Psi-like ability for crowd control, expect this to drop off in effectiveness dramatically at higher levels. Naturally psionic even makes these guys a possible choice for a psionic dip or for a WB//Psion in gestalt. Strongly Consider.
Goliath:
Spoiler
Huge bonus to str, bonus to con, and penalty to dex. See half-giant. Additionally, gain some minor bonuses in mountainous terrain, could be useful depending on specifics of your setting. Strongly Consider.
Duergar:
Spoiler
Bonus to con but huge hit to cha. In addition to usual dwarf abilities you get some immunities (poison, phantasms, paralysis), longer darkvision, as well as two neat PLAs. 1/day each use of expansion and invisibility. They get +3 power points for naturally psionic which gives you an option to take a 1 level psywar dip to pick up expansion to allow you to buff your size on your own up to 4x/day. Assuming your wisdom isn't 10.
Whisper Gnome (LA+0):
Spoiler
Bonus to dex/con, penalty to str/cha. Not looking good off the bat. Get stealth skill bonuses, and stealth SLA's. Make a much better swordsage than Warblade. Could be potentially useful for a Tiger Claw focused two-weapon fighter.
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2011-01-22, 05:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Thanks very much for the additions.
I'll put them in now, and start working on combat styles and weapon choices.
Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook
Walking the Way: A Swordsage's Handbook
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2011-01-22, 05:39 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Plus you can be this guy:
Seriously, you can.
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2011-01-22, 06:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Not the Wiki. Oh, gods, not the D&D Wiki.
But to be fair, that's actually a pretty good build. It would be way better, though, if it were factotum 1/warblade 9/Eternal Blade 10. Also, Weapon Focus. Yuck. I really wish that wasn't a prereq for Eternal Blade...sigh.
Actually, with those revisions, I'd like to put in 'Link' as a sample build.Last edited by Elfin; 2011-01-24 at 10:21 PM.
Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook
Walking the Way: A Swordsage's Handbook
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2011-01-22, 07:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2011-01-22, 10:32 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Awesome avatar by starwoof
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2011-01-22, 10:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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2011-01-22, 10:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Edit: Ah, you're right, forgot that. Still, I'd at least trade that fighter level for one in factotum.
As for the armor: Wait, it prevents the use of a head slot item? But how are you going to get that fantastic sock-hat?
Children: things like Zora armor are why we do not use D&D Wiki.
Ever.Last edited by Elfin; 2011-01-22 at 10:53 PM.
Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook
Walking the Way: A Swordsage's Handbook
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2011-01-23, 04:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
A couple of other obvious race choices that I saw:
Skarn
Spoiler
LA +0, Magic of Incarnum
Bonus to str, penalty to dex. Come with built in natural weapons so you can still initiate maneuvers while unarmed without having to take Imp. Unarmed Strike.
Half-Ogre
Spoiler
LA +2, Races of Destiny.
HUGE bonus to str, bonus to con, penalties to dex/int/cha. Large size, bonus armor, darkvision and giant sub-type. These guys will hit hard, fast and bring people down. Combining these guys with knockdown/knockback sounds utterly terrifying. If you can afford the LA, start at a high enough level to buy some or all of it off, or if it only eats one side of a gestalt, these guys can improve to goodor evengreat.
Sharakim:
Spoiler
LA +1, Races of Destiny
Bonus to str/int, penalties to dex/cha. This is synergistic with the WB's important stats, and you get some other minor benefits like darkvision, shadow affinity and orc racial enemy. Get cool shades to negate the light sensitivity. (Thanks Greenish)
Dragonborn of Bahamut
Spoiler
LA +0, template, Races of Dragon
Mechanically, this template takes your original racial abilities then tacks on +2 Con -2 Dex. You gain access to a draconic aspect, the dragonblood subtype and a few other minor benefits, while losing most of your other racial traits.. Can be combined with wood elf to net a +2 str, -2 int. Makes water orcs fairly insane.
Draconic Aspect can be a powerful ability as well. Mind aspect culminates in Blindsense (an excellent perception boost), Wings aspect gives solid flight (effectively replaces a flying magic item at high level). Breath aspect could be fun, but doesn't scale (haha!) very well.
Draconic
Spoiler
LA+1, template, Races of Dragon
This is good stuff. We land bonuses to str/con/cha, natural attacks to use with maneuvers as well as some minor skill/save bonuses, darkvision, and LLV. Compares well with other LA +1 races but is a template! As a result, you can find some excellent synergies combining this with efficient LA +0 races. Draconic Warforged? Draconic Orc? Draconic Water Orc?
Githyanki
Spoiler
LA +2, XPH
If you can't buy off the LA or suck it onto another side of a gestalt, these guys drop in value to sketchy at best. If you can, they can make excellent dex-based warblades who can take advantage of TC maneuvers and two-weapon fighting. Built in SR/PR as well as some Psi-like abilities that would really like to be taken advantage of push this into the OK range.
Githzerai
Spoiler
LA +2, XPH
Similar deal to the Githyanki, if you can't negate the harsh LA, these guys drop in value precipitously, but if you can, they make crazy good high dex WBs. They have decent built in SR/PR and some useful Psi-likes as well.
Last edited by Essence_of_War; 2011-01-23 at 05:03 PM.
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2011-01-23, 04:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Masters of the Sword: A Warblade's Handbook [Under Construction]
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler