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We are proud to present a new line of products, called the Path of War, introducing martial classes and disciplines once popularized by the Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords.
The Path of War will take our dedication to balance and functionality that has graced Psionics Unleashed, Psionics Expanded and Ultimate Psionics and apply that to one of the most loved and controversial systems from the Dungeons & Dragons-era.
Chris Bennett has been brought in as Lead Designer for this ambitious project which will go into Alpha Playtesting as soon as possible. We believe in the spirit Paizo set fort when it playtested the Pathfinder Rules and we followed in their footsteps with everything we have produced since.
We look forward to your thoughts and ideas and hope that the Path of War will introduce you to new and interesting mechanics for your Pathfinder game. Naturally, there will be some new psionic material in these releases as we strive towards material that supports eachother.
Read more about it here at our forums
Andreas Rönnqvist
Co-owner Dreamscarred Press
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O.
M.
G.
Interesting...
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This is really cool.
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Yes, absolutely yes.
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yyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!*pants, then passes out*
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I am intrigued about this project, especially since I thought the Book of Nine Swords was all closed content. Is this going to be a similar, but distinct system?
Dot = Interest.
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I am intrigued about this project, especially since I thought the Book of Nine Swords was all closed content. Is this going to be a similar, but distinct system?
Yes. No swordsage or the like, but the same type of options. Bo9S was not open content, so this was all developed from the ground up to match the concept, but not the specific implementation.
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I'm a little hesitant about this- I always liked the idea of ToB, but never the implementation. Still, I trust DS. I will give this a chance.
I am intrigued about this project, especially since I thought the Book of Nine Swords was all closed content. Is this going to be a similar, but distinct system?Yes. No swordsage or the like, but the same type of options. Bo9S was not open content, so this was all developed from the ground up to match the concept, but not the specific implementation.
Ah, cool. I had figured as much. Sounds great!
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SO
MUCH
WANT
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I am intrigued about this project, especially since I thought the Book of Nine Swords was all closed content. Is this going to be a similar, but distinct system?Yes. No swordsage or the like, but the same type of options. Bo9S was not open content, so this was all developed from the ground up to match the concept, but not the specific implementation.
Does this mean it would be possible to have options for regular fighting classes using maneuvers? Because if that is the case, it would be an instant buy for me.
Does this mean it would be possible to have options for regular fighting classes using maneuvers? Because if that is the case, it would be an instant buy for me.I am intrigued about this project, especially since I thought the Book of Nine Swords was all closed content. Is this going to be a similar, but distinct system?Yes. No swordsage or the like, but the same type of options. Bo9S was not open content, so this was all developed from the ground up to match the concept, but not the specific implementation.
We intend to playtest this and if it works to our satisfaction, keeps the balance and makes things more interesting, then yes definately.
I cannot WAIT to see what you come up with. After the awesomeness of Ultimate Psionics, it's pretty much guaranteed this is gonna be good.
Glee~!
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Wait, wait. Someone just said something ultra-important.
Yes. No swordsage or the like, but the same type of options. Bo9S was not open content, so this was all developed from the ground up to match the concept, but not the specific implementation.
Was.
Was developed. This strongly asserts that while the product is by no means complete, it's not just a twinkle in the eye either. This is good.
Anyway, for the record we use ToB quite a bit still. Not so much the fluff but we're perfectly happy with the crunch. There's just not enough of it. We see a lot of use with the crusader class, but the choice of manuevers is small enough (especially all low-level) that we keep seeing the same ones over and over again.
My groups are perfectly happy working with maneuver cards, be they randomized (as in the case of the crusader) or using other recovery mechanics. Per-encounter abilities makes us pretty happy as well. Bottom line is that my groups don't have any issues with ToB from a structural standpoint. It was one of the best releases of the 3.5e era.
Just some feedback for you. Much like we have no interest in seeing a (perhaps Paizo-developed) psionics system without power-points, we'd be much less interested in martial initiators significantly different from ToB standards. It's partly the new mechanics and book-keeping that's fun.
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Squee!
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: walks in late :
: wets pants and floor in excitement :
Design Manager
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I've got to be honest, the fact that they can't use the Swordsage, Crusader, and Warblade actually only makes me more excited. Their work should be a great guideline for converting Bo9S, and I'll end up with both the original material and what will undoubtedly be a great product from Dreamscarred to use in my home campaigns :)
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*wakes up* I had the most wonderful dream that Tome of battle's ruleset was getting a revamp by one of my favorite publishers. *looks up, chucks wallet at computer* JUST TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY!!!
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I'd rather see them complete their From the Deep adventure path than expand into new territory. Besides, I detested the Tome of Battle, in my opinion the worst book Wizard ever produced for Third Edition.
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Here is the first round of playtest documents for anyone who might be curious. :)
Sweet!
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I'd rather see them complete their From the Deep adventure path than expand into new territory. Besides, I detested the Tome of Battle, in my opinion the worst book Wizard ever produced for Third Edition.
Then this is not the product for you, most likely.
More for the rest of us then =)
Here is the first round of playtest documents for anyone who might be curious. :)
*clicks link 4,000,000 times...computer crashes* and I'm back, the warlord is pretty sweet, can I post my feedback here?
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I'd rather see them complete their From the Deep adventure path than expand into new territory. Besides, I detested the Tome of Battle, in my opinion the worst book Wizard ever produced for Third Edition.
This product line is being done by separate people than those who work on From the Deep. The two CAN go at the same time. ;) That was one of the things I made sure of to get this project going - that it wouldn't impact other projects.
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Warlord looks amazing, I'm excited to try him out! I love the Solar Wind discipline, I'm very intrigued to make an archer who doesn't full attack or Vital Strike and see how it goes. I like that he has some cavalier-esque leadership via teamwork abilities as well.
This should be a blast!
I had a look at the document and was very disappointed. Like Zaister, I liked the idea of ToB, but hated the implementation.
It's the same system with its dissociated mechanics again, complete with the pseudo-vancian spellcasting system. There can be no in-game reason for the Warlord not to have all his tricks available at any time. (Within reason, of course; a system like for spontaneous spellcasters might work better in that respect, even if it's another spellcasting system.)
And before anyone answers with something like "You are the reason why we can't have nice things" (happened to me to often while discussing this issue): new toys for martial characters would be nice (if not necessary), but please not a spellcasting rip-off that makes no sense when it comes to non-magical characters.
It would be nice if the underlying mechanic were a bit more organic. LIke a "Focus" resource mechanic. But then it's simply a point/pool mechanic over Vancian (though I appreciate those more in general).
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The system does note that characters utilizing the maneuver system
"exhaust some small portion of your energy, you've finished the move and are now out of position and can't immediately resume the necessary posture, or your mental focus must be regained".
That works pretty well for me. I really enjoy having a martial class that bridges the action economy gap between martials and casters, while still maintaining a martial feel. The idea that a particular maneuver either burns up some of your internal energy or exhausts a muscle group to the point that it needs some kind of rest or rallying effect to do it again isn't a dissociated mechanic, it seems perfectly logical and intuitive within the framework of a fantasy game. The fact that quite a few of the abilities are also supernatural lends itself to the idea that your body needs time to recuperate that energy.
I love the "Gambit" mechanic of the Warlord, it seems like it will give a real edge of desperation to those moments when you've burned your resources and need to pull that extra bit of oomph out of nowhere to finish the day.
SWEET INARI TEN-TAILS! SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
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A point pool system is always my preferred method of representing that sort of thing, and having "all abilities" available all the time (so long as your character has the energy to fuel them remaining). So I personally wouldn't object to another system that uses that mechanic alongside DSP's Psionics.
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As to the "all abilities available all the time" notion, I agree with ... sort of.
It's a system of maneuvers and stances. Make stances cost Focus to adopt, then you can only use maneuvers from within a school of the stance you're currently in. So you have to adopt the right stance to executed the intended maneuver.
Higher level maneuvers and stances require more focus. you run out of fous in a day... you're done using stances/maneuvers.
It's what i'd do.
Ok, just looked over the Alpha test document for the Warlord, and man, I'm impressed. Aside from a few minor seeming changes, the maneuvers, stances, etc echo those of the ToB perfectly. I'm very excited about this book.
How many classes besides Warlord are you expecting to offer when this is finished?
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Ok, just looked over the Alpha test document for the Warlord, and man, I'm impressed. Aside from a few minor seeming changes, the maneuvers, stances, etc echo those of the ToB perfectly. I'm very excited about this book.
How many classes besides Warlord are you expecting to offer when this is finished?
It looks like they're planning 3, the Knight, the Stalker, and the Warlord, and 13 disciplines.
Somehow "Knight" doesn't seem like it fits with the other two names. At least to me. Personally I'd like to see more than 3, but I know these guys are already putting a lot of work into what looks to be a really, really exciting product.
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I'm assuming the knight will fill a role similar to ToB's Crusader, a name which I don't believe they can legally use. I'm guessing stalker will embody some of the abilities we previously saw in the Swordsage, with things like a 3/4 BAB, a shadow-based discipline, more supernatural disciplines, etc.
I'm a little hesitant about this- I always liked the idea of ToB, but never the implementation. Still, I trust DS. I will give this a chance.
Like we have the Invoker for Warlords and the Dilletante for Factotum. I love seeing stuff like this - a new take on a type of class that was done before, and I liked a fair amount of Bo9S stuff.
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Oh snap, is Chris Bennett ErrantX?
If so, then you guys have NO idea how good the hands that this project is in are. ErrantX has been tinkering with the Tome of Battle System on the Giant in the Playground Forums and beyond since, I don't know, 2010. Maybe 2009?
Very, very good hands.