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    Titan in the Playground
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Fairfield, CA
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    Default [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Not all maneuvers are simply through the powers of the sword alone. The Holy Word discipline draws on the powers of the gods through knowledge of the fundamental language of the universe--Truespeak.

    The key skill for Holy Word is Truespeak, and its favored weapons are the librum, warbell, heavy warbell, quarterstaff, and heavy shield.

    A crusader who takes the Truespeak Training feat automatically gains access to this discipline. Similar to spells, maneuvers that carry alignment descriptors cannot be used by characters that do not share a matching alignment.

    Unlike most disciplines, all maneuvers of the Holy Word discipline are supernatural in nature, as they draw heavily upon the fundamental language of the universe and the deities that empower such language for their power.

    Maneuver List
    1st Level
    Litany Against Fear -- Stance -- You become immune to fear
    Recitation of Turning, Lesser -- Boost -- You can turn or command undead
    Word of Smiting -- Strike -- Your attack deals extra damage according to alignment
    Word of Thunder -- Strike -- Your speech damages a foe and has a chance of dazing
    Word of Vengeance, Lesser -- Counter -- You channel your foes energy into your own attack

    2nd Level
    Recitation of Emulation, Lesser -- Boost -- Your foe is treated as a different alignment temporarily
    Recitation of Flame -- Boost -- Divine flames burst from your hands
    Word of Theft -- Strike -- Your strike sunders an object and you temporarily gain its power
    Words of the Divine, Lesser -- Boost -- Your weapon deals extra divine damage

    3rd Level
    Litany of Chance -- Stance -- You may reroll damage rolls if you are chaotic
    Litany of Hatred -- Stance -- Your attacks sicken your foes if you are evil
    Litany of Mercy -- Stance -- Your attacks deal nonlethal damage if you are good
    Litany of Resilience -- Stance -- You gain damage reduction if you are lawful
    Recitation of Purification -- Boost -- You cleanse your body of toxins
    Word of Creation -- Boost -- You create a weapon from nothing to arm yourself

    4th Level
    Recitation of Emulation -- Boost -- Your foe is treated as a different alignment temporarily
    Word of Transport, Lesser -- Boost -- You teleport from one location to another
    Word of Vengeance -- Counter -- You channel your foe's attack back into them
    Words of the Divine -- Boost -- Your attacks gain extra damage and overcome alignment-based damage resistance

    5th Level
    Recitation of Turning -- Boost -- You can turn or command undead
    Word of Health -- Boost -- You can heal with a touch
    Word of Triumph -- Strike -- Your strike ignores DR and adds damage

    6th Level
    Litany of Lightning -- Stance -- Lightning rains down on foes around you
    Recitation of Emulation, Greater -- Boost -- Your foe is treated as a different alignment temporarily
    Words of the Divine, Greater -- Boost -- Your attacks gain extra damage and overcome alignment-based damage resistance

    7th Level
    Recitation of Disintegration -- Strike -- Your strike causes your foes to disappate
    Word of Transport -- Boost -- You teleport from one location to another
    Word of Vengeance, Greater -- Counter -- You channel your foe's attack back into them

    8th Level
    Litany of Victory -- Stance -- Your attacks deal extra damage and you gain the ability to smite foes
    Word of Judgement -- Strike -- Your attack judges a foe

    9th Level
    Word of Annihilation -- Strike -- Your strike carries various negative effects and extra damage

    Maneuvers and Stances
    Litany Against Fear
    Holy Word (Stance)
    Level: Crusader 1
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: None

    While in this stance, you become immune to fear.

    Litany of Chance
    Holy Word (Stance) [Chaos]
    Level: Crusader 3
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: None

    While in this stance, you gain the ability to deal more damage with your attacks. Whenever you strike a foe, you may make a Truespeak check versus a DC of 15 plus your target's HD. If you succeed, you roll your damage twice and take the better of the two results.

    Litany of Hatred
    Holy Word (Stance) [Evil]
    Level: Crusader 3
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: None

    While in this stance, you gain the ability to sicken your foes when you strike them. Whenever you strike a foe, you may make a Truespeak check versus a DC of 15 plus your target's HD. If you succeed, your foe is sickened for one round.

    Litany of Lightning
    Holy Word (Stance) [Electricity]
    Level: Crusader 6
    Prerequisite: Two Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: See text

    While you are in this stance, lightning rains from the sky to strike the foes around you. Once per round on your turn, you may select a foe within 30' as a free action. After selecting a foe, make a Truespeak check. You deal electrical damage to the target according to the result of your check. A successful Reflex save (DC 16 + your Charisma modifier) halves the damage.

    {table=head]Check Result | Damage
    9 or less | 2d6
    10-19 | 3d6
    20-29 | 4d6
    30-39 | 5d6
    40-49 | 6d6
    50-59 | 7d6
    60-69 | 8d6
    70+ | 9d6[/table]

    Litany of Mercy
    Holy Word (Stance) [Good]
    Level: Crusader 3
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: None

    While in this stance, your attacks deal nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage.

    Litany of Resilience
    Holy Word (Stance) [Law]
    Level: Crusader 3
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: None

    While in this stance, you gain damage resistance according to your ranks in Truespeak.

    {table=head]Ranks | DR Gained
    6-10 | DR 2/Magic
    11-15 | DR 4/Magic
    16-20 | DR 6/Magic
    21+ | DR 8/Magic[/table]

    Litany of Victory
    Holy Word (Stance) [See Text]
    Level: Crusader 8
    Prerequisite: Three Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Stance
    Saving Throw: None

    While in this stance, your attacks deal an extra +2d6 points of damage. You also gain the ability to smite foes of opposing alignment once every 3 rounds.

    When performing a smite, you add your Charisma modifier (minimum 1) to your attack roll and deal extra damage equal to your initiator level. This extra damage is only effective against creatures of alignments that oppose yours (so that if you are lawful good, it only deals damage to chaotic or evil creatures). If you smite a creature that this extra damage does not apply to, your smite attempt is still used up and you must wait three rounds to do so again. Performing a smite is a standard action.

    If you are successful in smiting a creature with this attack, you gain temporary hit points equal to the amount of extra damage you receive from this smite, including your Strength bonus and any fixed numeric modifiers but excluding extra dice of damage (such as from Sneak Attack or the bonus dice of damage granted by this stance). These temporary hit points last for four rounds.

    This stance gains subtypes according to your alignment: Good if you are good, Evil if you are evil, Law if you are lawful, and Chaos if you are chaotic.

    Recitation of Disintegration
    Holy Word (Strike)
    Level: Crusader 7
    Prerequisite: Three Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Melee
    Target: One opponent
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: Foritude partial; see text

    Upon initiating this maneuver, make one melee attack against a foe. If your attack lands, you deal an additional 7d6 points of damage. Should your foe drop below 0 HP as a result of this maneuver, they are discorporated, as if by the disintegration spell.

    A successful Fortitude save (DC 17 + your Charisma modifier) halves the extra damage and prevents the disintegration effect.

    Recitation of Emulation
    Holy Word (Boost)
    Level: Crusader 4
    Prerequisite: One Holy Word maneuver
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Close (25' + 5'/2 levels)
    Target: One creature
    Duration: 1 round/2 levels
    Saving Throw: Will negates

    You speak incredible syllables and your foe feels their personal aura shift and change. The target of this maneuver treats their alignment as a different alignment of your choice for the duration of his maneuver. The target's new alignment must be within two steps of their original alignment, so that a Lawful Good creature targeted by this maneuver would be treated as Neutral Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, or True Neutral--one alignment of your choice. A Will save (DC 14 + your Charisma modifier) negates this effect.

    This alignment emulation is not actually alignment shift, is temporary, and does not deny class features, feats, or other effects that are reliant upon being a specific alignment. In essence, a Lawful Good creature targeted by this maneuver who is treated as a Lawful Evil creature is both Lawful Good and Lawful Evil at the same time for all effects dependent upon alignment.

    Recitation of Emulation, Greater
    Holy Word (Boost)
    Level: Crusader 6
    Prerequisite: Two Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Close (25' + 5'/2 levels)
    Target: One creature
    Duration: 1 round/2 levels
    Saving Throw: Will negates

    This maneuver acts as Recitation of Emulation, but the target's emulated alignment may be of any alignment of your choice, and the save DC is 16 + your Charisma modifier.

    Recitation of Emulation, Lesser
    Holy Word (Boost)
    Level: Crusader 2
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Close (25' + 5'/2 levels)
    Target: One creature
    Duration: 1 round/2 levels
    Saving Throw: Will negates

    This maneuver acts as Recitation of Emulation, but the target's emulated alignment must be within one step instead of within two, and the save DC is 12 + your Charisma modifier.

    Recitation of Flame
    Holy Word (Boost) [Fire]
    Level: Crusader 2
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: 1 round
    Saving Throw: None

    Your speech heats the air around you and balls of fire appear in your hands. In addition to providing illumination, the flames can be hurled or used to touch enemies. You can strike an opponent with a melee touch attack, dealing 1d6 fire damage plus your Charisma modifier. Alternatively, you can hurl the flames up to 120 feet as a thrown weapon. When doing so, you attack with a ranged touch attack (with no range penalty) and deal the same damage as with the melee attack. As soon as you hurl flames, more appear in your hands.

    Recitation of Purification
    Holy Word (Boost) [Healing]
    Level: Crusader 3
    Prerequisite: One Holy Word maneuver
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None

    Feeling a poison course through your veins, you utter a word of cleansing and feel your blood cleanse of its taint. Upon initiating this maneuver, you suffer no additional effects from the poison, and any temporary effects are ended. Instantaneous effects such as hit point damage, temporary ability damage, or effects that don’t go away on their own remain until they are cleansed from you by time or magic.

    Recitation of Turning
    Holy Word (Boost)
    Level: Crusader 5
    Prerequisite: 2 Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Personal
    Target: 60' radius
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None; see text

    You become a mighty conduit of the divine, repelling and banishing undead. When you initiate this maneuver, you turn undead as a cleric of equal level as your Initiator Level used to acquire this maneuver plus four. If you are evil, you instead rebuke undead. If you are neutral, you may choose at the time of initiating this maneuver.

    Recitation of Turning, Lesser
    Holy Word (Boost)
    Level: Crusader 1
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Personal
    Target: 60' radius
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None; see text

    You brandish your weapon and evince divine influence onto the battlefield, startling and terrifying undead creatures. When you initiate this maneuver, you turn undead as a cleric of equal level as your Initiator Level used to acquire this maneuver. If you are evil, you instead rebuke undead. If you are neutral, you may choose rebuking or turning undead when you initiate this maneuver.

    This maneuver does not allow you to power divine feats; it merely allows you to turn undead creatures.

    Word of Annihilation
    Holy Word (Strike) [See Text]
    Level: Crusader 9
    Prerequisite: Four Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Melee
    Target: One opponent
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: Fortitude partial and Will negates; see text

    As part of this maneuver, make a melee attack. If your attack lands, you deal 10d6 points of extra damage. If your opponent is extraplanar in nature, they must immediately make a Will save (DC 19 plus your Charisma modifier) or be immediately banished to their home plane. A foe struck by this maneuver is also immediately rendered mute. This interferes with spells and abilities that require vocal components. A successful Fortitude save (DC 19 plus your Charisma modifier) negates the muting but retains the damage.

    Any creature who is brought to 0 or less HP by this maneuver is immediately discorporated, as if by the disintegrate spell, and cannot be resurrected short of a wish or miracle. Any creature within 30' of a creature slain by this maneuver that shares its alignment must make a Will save (DC 19 plus your Charisma modifier) or be rendered shaken for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier. Any such creature that fails this save also takes 5d6 points of damage. Similarly, if they are brought to 0 or less HP by this maneuver, they are also discorporated, as outlined above.

    This maneuver shares descriptors with your alignment.

    Word of Creation
    Holy Word (Boost) [See text]
    Level: Crusader 3
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Personal
    Target: You
    Duration: 1 round/level
    Saving Throw: None

    Your words coalesce the vapor of nuance into physical form, shaping a weapon in your hands. This weapon, chosen by you at the time you initiate this maneuver may be any one of Holy Word's favored weapons and gains benefits according to your ranks in Truespeak as detailed below.

    {table=head]!Ranks | Weapon | Overcomes DR as
    0-10 | Masterwork weapon | None
    11-13 | +1 weapon | None
    14-16 | +2 silvered or adamantine or cold iron weapon | None
    17-19 | +3 silvered or adamantine or cold iron weapon | One of your alignments
    20-22 | +4 silvered or adamantine or cold iron weapon | Two of your alignments
    23+ | +5 silvered or adamantine or cold iron weapon | Two of your alignments[/table]

    If your ranks in Truespeak are high enough for the weapon to overcome DR as a specific alignment, then this maneuver shares that descriptor.

    Word of Healing
    Holy Word (Boost) [Healing]
    Level: Crusader 5
    Prerequisite: Two Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Touch
    Target: Creature touched
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: Will negates (Harmless); see text

    This maneuver removes the touched creature's afflictions, immediately ending any of the following conditions: blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feeble-minded, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralyzed, shaken, sickened, and stunned. If the creature is asleep, they are awoken.

    This maneuver also heals one hit point of damage to the target per Initiator Level, to a maximum of half the target's full hit points.

    Word of Judgement
    Holy Word (Strike) [Sonic; See Text]
    Level: Crusader 8
    Prerequisite: Three Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Melee
    Target: One opponent
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: Fortitude partial; see text

    As part of this maneuver, make a melee attack. If your attack lands, your opponent suffers varying effects dependent on how much their alignment differs from your own.

    If they share your alignment, this maneuver has no effect.

    If your opponent is one step away from your alignment (IE: you are Lawful Good, and they are either Lawful Neutral or Neutral Good), this maneuver does an additional 2d6 points of damage. Your foe must also make a Fortitude save (DC 18 plus your Charisma modifier) or be permanently deafened.

    If your opponent is two steps away from your alignment (IE: you are Lawful Good, and your opponent is Chaotic Good, True Neutral, or Lawful Evil), this maneuver does an additional 4d6 points of damage. Your foe must also make a Fortitude save (DC 18 plus your Charisma modifier) or be both permanently blinded and deafened.

    If your opponent is three steps away from your alignment (IE: you are Lawful Good, and your opponent is Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil), this maneuver does an additional 6d6 points of damage. Your foe must also make a Fortitude save (DC 18 plus your Charisma modifier) or be permanently blinded and deafened, and paralyzed for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier.

    If your opponent is four steps away from your alignment (IE: you are Lawful Good, and your opponent is Chaotic Evil), this maneuver does an additional 10d6 points of damage. Your foe must also make a Fortitude save (DC 18 plus your Charisma modifier) or be slain. A creature slain in this manner cannot be resurrected except through a wish or miracle spell.

    This maneuver shares descriptors with your alignment.

    Word of Smiting
    Holy Word (Strike)
    Level: Crusader 1
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Melee
    Target: Creature attacked
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None

    With a word, your attack carries a powerful force of the divine, dealing extra damage to your target.

    As part of this attack, roll a Truespeak check and use its result in place of an attack roll. If you strike your foe, you deal extra damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1).

    Word of Theft
    Holy Word (Strike)
    Level: Crusader 2
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Melee
    Target: One weapon
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: Fortitude partial; see text

    Upon initiating this maneuver, make a single melee attack sunder attempt against a weapon. If you succeed in sundering the weapon, your weapon gains all enhancement bonuses and magical properties of the sundered weapon for five rounds. These acquired bonuses do not stack with your weapon's inherent bonuses: a shocking longsword +1 sundered by this maneuver with a warhammer +1 would effectively make the warhammer into a shocking warhammer +1, whereas a freezing burst longsword +3 sundered by a flaming greataxe +1 would make the greataxe into a freezing burst flaming greataxe +3 for five rounds.

    The sundered weapon is allowed a Fortitude save (DC 12 + your Charisma modifier) to resist, using its caster level to determine its saving throw. If it is successful, your weapon gains no special enchantments such as flaming, shocking burst, or keen, instead only gaining an enhancement bonus equal to the sundered weapon's enhancement bonus. For example a flaming shocking burst longsword +2 that made its save after being sundered by this maneuver by a warhammer +1 would only confer a +2 bonus to your weapon, rendering it effectively a warhammer +2 for five rounds.

    Word of Thunder
    Holy Word (Strike) [Sonic]
    Level: Crusader 1
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Close (30' + 5'/2 levels)
    Target: One creature
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: Fortitude partial

    With a word, a crack of thunder resounds, reverberating through your foe. Your target takes 1d6 points of sonic damage and is stunned. A successful Fortitude save (DC 11 + your Charisma modifier) halves the damage and prevents the stunning effect.

    Word of Transport
    Holy Word (Boost) [Teleportation]
    Level: Crusader 7
    Prerequisite: Three Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 move action

    This maneuver acts as Lesser Word of Transport except as noted here. The maximum range you may transport using this maneuver is equal to four times the result of a Truespeak check made as part of this maneuver, rounded down to the nearest multiple of five.

    Word of Transport, Lesser
    Holy Word (Boost) [Teleportation]
    Level: Crusader 4
    Prerequisite: One Holy Word maneuver
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Varies; see text
    Target: You
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None

    You utter a word and with a quiet popping sounds you move nigh-instantaneously from one location to another. You must have line of sight and line of effect to your destination. If you attempt to use this maneuver to move to into an occupied space, you do not more and the maneuver is expended without effect. The maximum range you may transport using this maneuver is equal to twice the result of a Truespeak check made as part of this maneuver, rounded down to the nearest multiple of five.

    Word of Triumph
    Holy Word (Strike)
    Level: Crusader 5
    Prerequisite: Two Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 standard action
    Range: Melee
    Target: One creature
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None

    As part of this maneuver, make a melee attack. If you attack hits, you deal 5d6 points of extra damage and your attack ignores any damage reduction that your opponent may have.

    Word of Vengeance
    Holy Word (Counter)
    Level: Crusader 4
    Prerequisite: One Holy Word maneuver

    This maneuver acts as Lesser Word of Vengeance except as listed here. If your attack succeeds, you deal extra damage equal to the damage your opponent's attack dealt you.

    Word of Vengeance, Greater
    Holy Word (Counter)
    Level: Crusader 7
    Prerequisite: Three Holy Word maneuvers

    This maneuver acts as Lesser Word of Vengeance except as listed here. If your attack succeeds, you deal extra damage equal to twice the damage your opponent's attack dealt you.

    Word of Vengeance, Lesser
    Holy Word (Counter)
    Level: Crusader 1
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 immediate action
    Range: Melee
    Target: One opponent who has just struck you in melee
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None

    A foe lands a blow on you, leaving you bruised and bloodied. Infuriated, you cry a mighty syllable and swing your weapon back at him. it glows with divine power. When you initiate this maneuver, make a melee attack against an opponent who has just struck you in melee. If your attack succeeds, you deal extra damage equal to half the damage his attack dealt to you.

    Words of the Divine
    Holy Word (Boost) [See text]
    Level: Crusader 4
    Prerequisite: One Holy Word manuever
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Touch
    Target: Weapon touched
    Duration: 1 round
    Saving Throw: None

    Your weapon glows with divine light, granting it the ability to deal extra damage for a short time. Any attacks you make until your next turn deal an extra +3d6 points of sacred damage and overcomes damage resistance as a good-aligned weapon. Also, this maneuver has the [Good] descriptor.

    If you are evil, this maneuver instead grants profane damage and overcomes damage reduction as an evil-aligned weapon, under the same conditions outlined above. Also, this maneuver carries the [Evil] descriptor.

    If you are lawful, this maneuver instead grants axiomatic damage and overcomes damage reduction as a lawfully-aligned weapon. Also, this maneuver carries the [Law] descriptor.

    If you are chaotic, this maneuver instead grants anarchic damage and overcomes damage reduction as a chaotically-aligned weapon. Also, this maneuver carries the [Chaos] descriptor.

    If you have two of the above alignments, you select one of them upon initiating this maneuver for the purposes of this maneuver's effects. If you are True Neutral, this maneuver has no effect.

    Words of the Divine, Greater
    Holy Word (Boost) [See text]
    Level: Crusader 6
    Prerequisite: Two Holy Word maneuvers
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Touch
    Target: Weapon touched
    Duration: 1 round
    Saving Throw: None

    Your weapon glows with divine light, granting it the ability to deal extra damage for a short time. Any attacks you make until your next turn deal an extra +5d6 points of sacred damage and overcomes damage resistance as a good-aligned weapon. Also, this maneuver has the [Good] descriptor.

    If you are evil, this maneuver instead grants profane damage and overcomes damage reduction as an evil-aligned weapon, under the same conditions outlined above. Also, this maneuver carries the [Evil] descriptor.

    If you are lawful, this maneuver instead grants axiomatic damage and overcomes damage reduction as a lawfully-aligned weapon. Also, this maneuver carries the [Law] descriptor.

    If you are chaotic, this maneuver instead grants anarchic damage and overcomes damage reduction as a chaotically-aligned weapon. Also, this maneuver carries the [Chaos] descriptor.

    If you have two of the above alignments, you select one of them upon initiating this maneuver for the purposes of this maneuver's effects. If you are True Neutral, this maneuver has no effect.

    Words of the Divine, Lesser
    Holy Word (Boost) [See text]
    Level: Crusader 2
    Prerequisite: None
    Initiation Action: 1 swift action
    Range: Touch
    Target: Weapon touched
    Duration: 1 round
    Saving Throw: None

    Your weapon glows with divine light, granting it the ability to deal extra damage for a short time. Any attacks you make until your next turn deal an extra +1d6 points of sacred damage. This damage overcomes damage reduction as if by a good-aligned weapon, but just this extra damage does so. Also, this maneuver has the [Good] descriptor.

    If you are evil, this maneuver instead grants profane damage and overcomes damage reduction as if by an evil-aligned weapon, under the same conditions outlined above. Also, this maneuver carries the [Evil] descriptor.

    If you are lawful, this maneuver instead grants axiomatic damage and overcomes damage reduction as if by a lawfully-aligned weapon, under the same conditions outlined above. Also, this maneuver carries the [Law] descriptor.

    If you are chaotic, this maneuver instead grants anarchic damage and overcomes damage reduction as if by a chaotically-aligned weapon, under the same conditions outlined above. Also, this maneuver carries the [Chaos] descriptor.

    If you have two of the above alignments, you select one of them upon initiating this maneuver for the purposes of this maneuver's effects. If you are True Neutral, this maneuver has no effect.
    Last edited by Fax Celestis; 2008-02-05 at 11:26 AM.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Kellus's Avatar

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    This is really cool. I love seeing Truespeaking get some love without all those dumb utterances clogging things up.

    My only real concern is that this makes Int a key ability score for the crusader, who already has to worry about physical abilities and Cha to use his class features.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Troll in the Playground
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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    My Deviantart, Please enjoy it.
    Invincible Maiden Avatar by GryffonDurime.

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    Homebrew by Krimm Blackleaf


  4. - Top - End - #4
    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Quote Originally Posted by Krimm_Blackleaf View Post
    So have it toss one of it's disciplines for Holy Word?

    There are a few maneuvers I'm uncertain about the power of. Litany of Lightning, Word of Healing, Word of Theft, Word of Judgement, and Word of Annihilation all immediately spring to mind.

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    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Person_Man's Avatar

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    1) Excellent idea Fax. Bravo.

    2) I hope you are keeping a list of all your ideas and write them all up for 4th ed. I think there's a real opportunity out there for freelancers when the new rules come out.

    3) Being able to Daze as a 1st level effect with Words of Thunder is a bit powerful, in that undead/constructs/etc are not immune to it. I would change it to Stun instead. Looking through your other maneuvers, it seems as if they similarly jump the power curve a little here and there. But I didn't see anything that seems broken.

    4) If this is meant to be a Martial Discipline that can be mixed in with others, then I think there are a bit too many. Just eyeballing it, it looks like you have more then any other Discipline. I know that some of them have alignment restrictions, but so does Devoted Spirit. Perhaps Crusader's should be required to sacrifice access to another Discipline if they want this one? I'm not sure. It just seems like a bit much.

    Again, great work.

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Titan in the Playground
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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Quote Originally Posted by Person_Man View Post
    1) Excellent idea Fax. Bravo.

    2) I hope you are keeping a list of all your ideas and write them all up for 4th ed. I think there's a real opportunity out there for freelancers when the new rules come out.

    3) Being able to Daze as a 1st level effect with Words of Thunder is a bit powerful, in that undead/constructs/etc are not immune to it. I would change it to Stun instead. Looking through your other maneuvers, it seems as if they similarly jump the power curve a little here and there. But I didn't see anything that seems broken.

    4) If this is meant to be a Martial Discipline that can be mixed in with others, then I think there are a bit too many. Just eyeballing it, it looks like you have more then any other Discipline. I know that some of them have alignment restrictions, but so does Devoted Spirit. Perhaps Crusader's should be required to sacrifice access to another Discipline if they want this one? I'm not sure. It just seems like a bit much.

    Again, great work.
    It does look like a lot, doesn't it? There's 33 maneuvers here, and the largest discipline (Devoted Spirit) has 27. I suppose I could pare some back.

    I'll probably change Word of Thunder to stunning. S'probably what I meant initially anyway. There's so many different kinds of statuses in D&D that mean "slightly off-kilter" that it's easy to confuse them sometimes.

    As for 4e, I plan on updating the majority of my material when the time comes. I've got so much of it, and it'll help me understand the ins and outs of the new system.

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    Pixie in the Playground
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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    This seems like a really great idea! Some of the moves seem ahead of the power curve, but then it requires an entirely new class skill for Crusaders, so that balances it somewhat. I have 2 nitpicks. First, that there's a lesser, regular and greater version of most powers. That makes this manuever list much longer than the official ones. Also, because of the way the Crusader lists are layed out, it seems like the crusader is forced to be a bit general and never knows quite what powers he'll have in any combat -- which is a limiting factor to the power of the class. Here, you can take 6 moves that do 2 things, so you're guarenteed to have the kind of power you want always available. That ability to specialize seems like a big jump in crusader power.

    The second nitpick is the use of the word "litany". Litany is a really, really long chant or a sermon of some sort. It seems what you really want here is "charm", "blessing", "Invocation" or "chant".

    The last critique is the power that summons a weapon for the crusader. None of the other disciplines have conjuration powers, do they? Adding an entirely new sort of power to a martial class seems like a big jump in power.

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    You'll notice that I reserved "Litany" for stances, which are long duration.

    As for conjuring weaponry, I don't see it as a problem as the weapon itself is behind the curve in terms of damage and enhancement. It also fits thematically with a warrior in service of $Higher_Power.

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Fax, why must you win again?

    I really like this discipline, in particular the way that it allows for effects that are non-combat based, as well.

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Quote Originally Posted by Illiterate Scribe View Post
    Fax, why must you win again?

    I really like this discipline, in particular the way that it allows for effects that are non-combat based, as well.
    Which in particular were you thinking of? I can certainly see some interesting things that can be done with the Emulations, as well as Recitiation of Purification and Word of Healing.

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Quote Originally Posted by Fax_Celestis View Post
    Which in particular were you thinking of? I can certainly see some interesting things that can be done with the Emulations, as well as Recitiation of Purification and Word of Healing.
    I was mostly thinking of the Emulations, although I could see the Recitation of Fire being quite useful as a problem solving device. Obtaining fire damage at will as a ranged attack surely counts for something utility-wise.

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    it's gonna take me a while to read through all of this, but first i just wanted to chime in on how cool this is. thinking outside the box at its finest. i wouldn't have contemplated a martial discipline revolving around truenaming in a million years, even though the two systems are probably overall my two favs. god job.
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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    These are neat. Truespeaker-like without the inherent faults of the Truespeaker class.

    And the idea of a holy warrior speaking holy Words of power while swinging his sword about hits me just right.
    People seemed to like this better, but only marginally so - the way one might prefer to be stabbed than shot. Optimally, one isn't stabbed or shot. Optimally, one eats some cake! But there are times when cake is not available, and instead we are destroyed. This is the deep poetry of the universe. -- Tycho Brahe

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Quote Originally Posted by fuzzywolf
    The second nitpick is the use of the word "litany". Litany is a really, really long chant or a sermon of some sort. It seems what you really want here is "charm", "blessing", "Invocation" or "chant".
    As soon as I saw the maneuver list, I just thought it was awesome to have a "litany against fear." ;-)
    Last edited by imperialspectre; 2008-02-05 at 10:43 PM.

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    Default Re: [Discipline] Holy Word Discipline

    Quote Originally Posted by imperialspectre View Post
    As soon as I saw the maneuver list, I just thought it was awesome to have a "litany against fear." ;-)
    Oh, good, someone noticed.

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