User:Proton/Reverse heartbreaker/Blade magic

The uncanny power of the Sublime Way springs from a blend of physical skill, mental self-discipline, and adherence to distinct martial philosophies. Many of the maneuvers of the various martial disciplines aren't magic at all—they are simply demonstrations of near-superhuman skill and training. Although many of the maneuvers and methods taught by the Sublime Way are mundane in execution and effect, their results can sometimes rival spells. The warriors who study the nine schools are capable of battlefield fears beyond those that a traditionally schooled and trained warrior can hope to accomplish. The typical fighter might display great skill in a weapon's basic cuts, thrusts, and parries, but a student of the Sublime War believes that mastering a weapon requires self-discipline and spiritual austerity in addition to learning the correct physical postures and movements.

This page covers all the basic guidelines and rules for using the maneuver system. It covers the basics of the different types of stances and maneubers—strikes, counters, and boosts—and presents information on how the maneuver system interacts with other game elements, such as spell resistance.

Martial powers

Martial powers fall into two broad categories: stances and maneuvers (which include boosts, counters, and strikes). A martial maneuver is a discrete extraordinary or supernatural effect that is temporarily expended after use. A stance is never expended and is always available to you.

You can use a particular stance or maneuver as many times as you like in a single day, but each time you use a maneuver, you temporarily expend it—you lose a little of your mental focus, you exhaust some small portion of your personal ki or energy, or you simply finish the move out of position and can't immediately launch the same attack again without assuming the proper posture and mental state first. In other words, you can't use an expended maneuver again until you rest for a brief time or perform a specific action in combat that allows you to recover one or more expended maneuvers. The type of action necessary depends on what type of martial adept you are; see each class for their respective recovery mechanisms. As a result, you can normally use each of your readied maneuvers once per encounter, but sometimes you can recover one or more maneuvers you used earlier in the encounter and use them again. You never expend or use up your stances, so they are always available.

Readying maneuvers

You do not need to ready your stances ahead of time. Every stance you know is always available to you. However, maneuvers require preparation in the form f exercise, prayer, meditation, or simple mental rehearsal. Therefore, you must choose a selection of readied maneuvers from all the maneuvers you know. Only your readied maneuvers are available for immediate use.

The number of maneuvers you can ready at one time depends on your class and level. If you do not have any levels in a martial adept class (for example, you learned a maneuver by means of the Martial Study feat), you can ready each maneuver you know. For example, if you have chosen the Martial Study feat two times and know two martial maneuvers, you automatically ready both those maneuvers, and you can use each of those maneuvers once per encounter. You can take the Martial Study feat a maximum of three times. If you are a martial adept and you have the Martial Study feat, you do not gain any bonus to your ability to ready maneuvers—the maneuver you learned with the feat is just one more maneuver known from which you can select your readied maneuvers.

If you advance in a prestige class that grants you additional maneuvers, that class details how many additional maneuvers you can ready. These extra maneuvers readied add to your maximum number of maneuvers readied, whether you determine that number due to your class level in crusader, swordsage, or warblade, or by the number of times you have taken the Martial Study feat.

It is possible for a character to gain the MArtial Study feat before entering a class that grants a progression for powers readied. In this case, use the class's number of maneuvers readied. Add any modifiers from prestige classes to the class's number of maneuvers readied.

To ready maneuvers, you require a brief period of practice, exercise, meditation, or prayer. The exact nature of the exercise or meditation depends on your martial adept class, but each class requires 5 minutes of preparation time. Since each martial maneuver requires a precise combination of techniques for gathering inner energy, training muscle memory, speaking prayers or catechisms, and even focusing the mind on specific concepts or analogies, most martial adepts can't keep evergy maneuver they know at the forefront of their minds. You do not need to be well rested to ready your maneuvers, but you do need to be able to stand and move without restraint. As long as you are not physically disturbed during your exercise and meditation, you can exchange your previously chosen set of readied maneuvers for a new set of readied maneuvers. Unlike a wizard preparing her spells, you cannot choose to leave a readied maneuver slot unfilled.

Initiating maneuvers and stances

To initiate a maneuver or stance, you must be able to move. You do not need to be able to speak. You initiate a maneuver by taking the specified initiation action. A maneuver might require an immediate, swift, move, standard, or full-round action to initiate. The process of initiating a maneuver is similar to that of casting a spell or manifesting a psionic power, although there are some key differences (see below). You can only choose to initiate a maneuver that is currently readied and unexpended. In addition, if you are a crusader, the maneuver you choose must be granted to you—you can't choose to initiate a maneuver that is currently withheld.

You initiate a stance as a swift action. A stance remains in effect indefinitely and is not expended. You enjoy the benefit your stance confers until you change to another stance you know as a swift action. You can remain in a stance outside of combat situations, and you can enjoy its benefit while exploring or traveling.

Concentration

Unlike with spells or psionic powers, you need not concentrate to initiate a maneuver or stance. Furthermore, if you are injured or affected by hostile spells, powers, or maneuvers while initiating a maneuver or assuming a stance, you don't lose the maneuver or stance.

Enemy interference might make certain maneuvers impossible to complete. For example, if an enemy who readied an action to trip you when you started your turn knocks you prone, you would not be able to use a maneuver that required you to charge. Similarly, if you begin your turn grappled or pinned, you might find that most of the maneuvers available to you simply won't be of any use until you get free.

If you initiate a maneuver and subsequently can't use it during your turn, the maneuver is still considered expended. You are considered to have used its initiation action for the purpose of determining what actions remain available to you on your turn.

Initiating a maneuver or stance does not provoke an attack of opportunity. However, some maneuvers allow you to move, charge, and take other actions that could provoke attacks of opportunity, which do so as usual. Individual maneuvers break these general rules if explicitly noted in their description.

Initiator level

Some maneuvers and stances have variable effects (such as duration) that depend on initiator level. However, maneuvers are not impacted as strongly by a user's level as spells are. This difference in effect is primarily a balance and game play issue. Since you can use maneuvers repeatedly, they tend to scale poorly. As you attain higher levels, you usually use your low-level maneuvers less often (if you haven't already traded them out for higher-level ones, as explained in the martial adept class descriptions). Many stances, boosts, and counters, however, remain useful across all levels.

If you are a single-class character, your initiator level equals your level in the class that provides access to the martial maneuvers (crusader, swordsage, or warblade). If you lack any martial adept levels, your initiator level is equal to ¹⁄₂ your character level.

Multiclass characters

Even when you gain levels in a class that does not gain martial maneuvers, your understanding of the martial disciplines still increases. A highly skilled fighter has the basic combat training and experience needed to master advanced maneuvers. If you are a multiclass martial adept, and you learn a new maneuver by attaining a new level in a martial adept class, determine your initiator level by adding together your level in that class + ¹⁄₂ your levels in all other classes. Look up the result on the table below to determine the highest-level maneuvers you can take. You still have to meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it.

For example, a 7th-level crusader/5th-level swordsage has an initiator level of 9th for determining the highest-level maneuvers he can take as a crusader. As a result, he can take 5th-level crusader maneuvers. As a swordsage, his initiator level is 8th, allowing him to take 4th-level swordsage maneuvers.

This process applies to all of a character's levels, whether they are in martial adept classes or other classes.

Prestige classes work a little differently. In most cases, you add the full prestige class level to your martial adept level to determine your initiator level.

Selecting martial maneuvers

Much like spells, martial maneuvers are organized by level. Higher-level maneuvers are more powerful than lower-level ones. As you gain levels, you have the option to select higher-level maneuvers. Your level in a martial adept class determines the highest-level maneuvers you can select. For example, a 5th-level warblade can select maneuvers of 3rd level or lower.

Table: Highest-level maneuvers known

Initiator level	Maneuver level
1st–2nd	1st
3rd–4th	2nd
5th–6th	3rd

Resolving a maneuver or stance

Once you have chosen a maneuver to initiate, you must resolve its effects.

Attack Rolls: Many maneuvers include an attack of some kind. All offensive combat actions, even those that don't damage opponents (such as disarm and bull rush), are considered attacks. All maneuvers that opponents can resist with saving throws, that deal damage, or that otherwise harm or hamper subjects are considered attacks.

Bonus Types: Some maneuvers and stances grant bonuses to ability scores or Armor Class, on attacks or damage, on saves, or on a number of other variables. Each bonus has a type that indicates why or how it is granted. With the exception of dodge bonuses, two bonuses of the same type generally don't stack.

If a maneuver or stance does not identify the type of bonus conferred, its effects stack with all other effects modifying the same characteristic or attribute. Untyped bonuses always stack.

Actions during a Maneuver: The Initiation Action line of a maneuver description provides the action required to use that maneuver. For example, the initiation action of the radiant charge maneuver is 1 full-round action. Thus, as part of your full-round action, you bring about the effect in the maneuver description. In this case, the maneuver allows you to make a charge attack with a number of additional benefits.

Recovering expended maneuvers

You begin each encounter with all your readied maneuvers unexpended. When you initiate a maneuver, it is expended—you cannot use it again until you recover it. You can recover expended maneuvers in two ways: through special actions or at the end of an encounter. You never expend a stance.

Special Action: Most martial adepts can refresh some or all of their expended maneuvers in the course of a battle by taking a special action to do so. The type of special action required depends on a martial adept's class (or feat) selection, as summarized below.

Crusader: A crusader recovers expended maneuvers whenever no more withheld maneuvers can be granted to him (the round in which his last withheld maneuver is granted doesn't count).

Swordsage: A swordsage can recover one expended maneuver of his choice as a full-round action.

Warblade: A warblade can recover all of his expended maneuvers as a swift action, followed by making a melee attack or using a standard action to do nothing else in the round. If he initiates a maneuver or changes his stance during a round, he can't recover his expended maneuvers.

Multiclass martial adept: A character with two or more martial adept classes keeps track of his readied maneuvers, expended maneuvers, and recovery of expended maneuvers separately for each class.

Character with the Martial Study feat: A character who knows one or more martial maneuvers through the Martial Study feat but does not otherwise have a level in a martial adept class does not otherwise have a level in a martial adept class cannot recover expended maneuvers through any sort of special action. He can only recover expended maneuvers at the end of an encounter (see below).

End of the encounter: When an encounter ends, a martial adept automatically recovers all expended maneuvers. Even a few moments out of combat is sufficient to refresh all maneuvers expended in the previous battle. In the case of a long, drawn-out series of fights, or if an adept is out of combat entirely, assume that if character makes no attacks of any kind, initiates no new maneuvers, and is not targeted by any enemy attacks for 1 full minute, he can recover all expended maneuvers. If a character can't avoid attacking or being attacked for 1 minute, he can't automatically recover his maneuvers and must use special actions to do so instead.

Martial powers and magic

In general, martial maneuvers and stances that create supernatural effects are transparent to magic or psionics. However, martial maneuvers rarely interact with spells or powers. Once a maneuver is initiated, the effect lasts only for your turn unless otherwise noted, giving an opponent little opportunity to counter it.

Extraordinary or supernatural abilities: Martial maneuvers and stances are never spells or spell-like abilities. Unless the description of the specific maneuver or stance says otherwise, treat it as an extraordinary ability. Thus, these abilities work just fine in an antimagic field or a dead magic zone. A maneuver or stance can't be dispelled or counterspelled, and initiating one does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

If a maneuver is overtly magical or otherwise uses a supernatural power source, it is noted as a supernatural ability in its description. In this case, the maneuver obeys all the standard rules for supernatural abilities.

Detecting martial maneuvers: Most maneuvers don't create persistent or long-lasting effects, and the results are obvious to any observer. However, identifying a specific maneuver, stance, or discipline requires the Martial Lore skill.

Multiple effects: Martial maneuvers and stances usually work as described, no matter how many other powers, spells, or magical effects happen to be operating in the same area or on the same subject. Whenever a maneuver or stance has a specific effect on other maneuvers, powers, or spells, its description explains the effect. Most martial adepts can use only one stance at a time, but some high-level adepts might be able to use two stances at once.

Stacking effects: Maneuvers or stances that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and other attributes do not stack with each other unless specifically noted within their description.