3.5 custom Martial Maneuver

[Lucian-Sunaka]

Hey guys, I know there are alot of experienced, intelligent minds here (and I don't actually have an account on Giants or WOTC lol) and I thought I'd see if I could get a little assistance.

My friend is currently playing a Knight. Last session, he just gained the XP to enter level 9. We were discussing his options, and he came to me for help making his character contribute more. (He and I are both using melee characters, myself with a practically optimized Rokugan Ninja with more than impressive strength and con, and his knight failing to contribute much.)

So, I went over several things, came upon the crusader class, discussed it with him, and he's going in for a two level dip. Now, here's the difficult part. He's using stand still and a lance+Shorten Grip (A Dragon Magazine feat that allows him to use it to strike close up and far away freely) and I wanted to come up with a custom maneuver to help his damage and give him a reasonable chance of actually causing the effect of stand-still to work on monks and other high ref save opponents.

I spent alot of time working out the details on this, but I know I could be way off-base in this maneuver, but that's why I'm posting it, to get help from those of you guys familiar with Tome of Battle's martial maneuvers. And without further ado, here it is. (Note, any suggestions on the name would also be appreciated lol) For the record, the lance doesn't belong to any discipline by RAW, and I felt Devoted Spirit was the best fit for it anyway.


Spirit of the Knight
Devoted Spirit (Boost)
Level: Crusader 3
Prerequisites: 3 Devoted Spirit Maneuvers, Knight's challenge Ability
Initiation Action: 1 full-round action
Range: Melee attack
Target: Initiator
Duration: 3 rounds, this can be repeated once by depleting a daily use of knight's challenge on the third round (for a total maximum duration of 5 rounds.)
You keep a firm grip on your lance, devotion and zeal burning in your eyes as you swing the weapon, bringing the point to bare against those who oppose your cause, sharp steel speaking your words for you with all the impact of a knight on his steed. You MUST be wielding a lance to initiate this maneuver, and can do so by making a single attack as a full round action, or as part of a charge.
By channelling the full force of your noble valor, you are able to strike with your lance as though you were charging on a mount, dealing appropriate damage (though your lance is still a two-handed weapon unmounted) with the blow. Should the initial attempt fail, you can attempt it once more at the expense of a Knight's Challenge. (Doing so revokes your right to extend the maneuver by way of expending a Knight's Challenge use.) As long as the duration lasts, each strike with the lance is treated appropriately, including any attacks of opportunity he may make while the maneuver lasts. During the knight's action he is allowed only 1 attack while this maneuver is in effect.
Knowing this Maneuver adds the lance to the Devoted Spirit weapons list for the Martial Adept that learns it.
(NOTE: Initiating this Maneuver while mounted grants NO BENEFIT)
--- Merged from Double Post ---
Also, is it mistyped, do you guys feel it should be labeled a strike?

(And as a note for those of you who do know Tome of Battle but are unfamiliar with the knight, Knight's challenges are used to activate class abilities a knight has, and they get a number of them to use daily equal to 1/2 their knight levels + their charisma bonus, minimum + 1)

[nijineko]

so, basically, using this action allows the knight to get one attack per round with a lance, up to three rounds, or five with the boost. said attack is treated if the knight were mounted. i assume that means mounted and charging? do i understand the basics of this correctly?

[Lucian-Sunaka]

Almost Nijineko. He's treated as mounted and charging, and he's also treated as such for attacks of opportunity he may make, much the same way power attack etc sticks for AoO's. But otherwise, you understood it completely.

[nijineko]

i would alter the description that states 'the one attack per round' to mention that aoo's are allowed, and do not count against that limit.

seems fairly reasonable... in the end i guess it would depend on whether the player is able to stand around and do this each and every combat, and not use any other moves or abilities. if so, i would say-too powerful, needs adjusting. if not, then i would say-seems good as is, needs testing. ^^

[Lucian-Sunaka]

Well, the way a crusader's maneuvers are given to him, is that he has 5 readied maneuvers (one's he's learned and chosen to use at a given notice, he can change them with a certain amount of time available, but that's neither here nor there.)

Anyways, at the start of any given combat, he's randomly given 2 of his 5 manuevers, and gets one more every round. They are refreshed automatically the turn after he's been given them all.

And yeah, this wednesday he's going to be getting his first chance to test the maneuver, so we'll get to see how it plays out.

[nijineko]

let's see. in that case i think that if this maneuver is good enough that once they player gets access to it, they don't use any other tactic, then it could be potentially considered too powerful.