Author Topic: The Idiot Crusader Mini-Handbook: Refreshing Maneuvers for Free Every Round  (Read 14851 times)

Offline Garryl

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Reserved for the Idiot Crusader mini-handbook. Warning, may cause sudden onset book-tossing. It's a kooky concept that borders on the TO, despite only having a power appropriate for T2/T3 games. It's nice, and crazy, but not overbearing. Gotta love martial adepts.

The Idiot Crusader is so named because it's a Crusader that doesn't know anything... sort of. The whole trick is based on the idea of having fewer maneuvers known than readied. The two ways to do it are by increasing your maneuvers readied (Type 1) and decreasing your maneuvers known (Type 2). Here's the short version of how it works:

1) Take martial adept PrC levels. Apply your bonus maneuvers known to one martial adept class (eg: Warblade) and your bonus readied to Crusader.

2) Take martial adept base class levels before your first Crusader level (which must come at ECL 4 or lower), taking all the Stone Dragon, White Raven, and Devoted Spirit. When you enter Crusader, you won't have enough available maneuvers to learn, so you know less than your normal readied amount. As long as you never take another Crusader level, you'll never have to learn the rest.

By having less than your normal allotment of maneuvers known, you can't ready as many, so your withheld maneuvers run out faster, thus recovering everything faster.

As a plus, you don't need to worry about that annoying random factor of what maneuvers are granted each round. You're an idiot, you can't be expected to keep track of that! Just spam the '1' key or whatever, it's all good.

Be warned that the Idiot Crusader is based on shaky rules interpretations. It's probably not wrong per se, but don't expect it to stand up to a skeptical DM. It delves into the rules under contexts for which they aren't designed. That said, the written rules do more to confirm it than deny it (I can't find any rules in ToB that shut it down, but plenty that enable it, although I freely admit that I am biased), and if martial adepts aren't breaking your game already, this won't either. So enjoy.

Old discussion thread on BG where this idea was proposed: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=8218
« Last Edit: April 01, 2012, 11:16:54 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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Reserved for deeper exploration of the rules and how it works and whatever.


Now that I have all of these tasty maneuvers, what do I do with them?
- More actions! RKV is "Windicator" as much as ever.
- The Diamond Mind stance that gives you double the counters.
- Good maneuvers! Try to find something for each of your actions. With all of your multiclassing and PrCing, you should have access to a variety of disciplines.
Standard: Strike of Righteous Vitality
Move: Shadow Stride
Swift: White Raven Tactics

Note: This whole thing may be moot. Oslecamo pointed out that the Crusader's additional maneuvers granted is technically only at the start of the encounter, and that the text for the recovery part of the ability only ever says you get 2 granted when you recover your maneuvers. I need to check the book to confirm if that's the case, and what the interactions are with everything else, although I'm pretty sure Extra Granted Maneuver specifically adds the extra maneuver granted when you recover your maneuvers as well, so you should at least be able to get 3 maneuvers with a type 2 build. I don't have the time to delve through the book now or in the near future, though, so it could be a while until I look into it.
« Last Edit: April 01, 2012, 11:16:26 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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Reserved for sample builds.

Type 1
(click to show/hide)

Type 1
(click to show/hide)

Type 1
(click to show/hide)

Type 2
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: April 01, 2012, 11:12:39 PM by Garryl »

Offline Garryl

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One more for good luck.

I'll try to fill this out when I get home.