I need help with a warblade build

[Togath]

While trying to come up with a build for a warblade I'll be playing in a campaign starting in a week or two i ran into a problem while trying to come up with a plan for the first 10 levels; I'm having trouble qaulifying for maneuvers, and not 100% sure what are good choices to make, so i thought I would ask the forum to see if anyone had tips for optimizing it.

the character and build are below;

the character at 1st level;
Vellek Ingvarrson
Male Human
level 1 warblade
HP: 14(1d12+2), MP: x
Speed: 30ft.
Initiative: +2, Senses: listen +0, Spot +0
Defenses: AC 15(+3 armour, +2 dex), Saves; Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+4
Attacks; Greatsword +3(2d6+3, 19/x2 crit), or Dagger +3m/+3r(1d4+2, 19/x2 crit, 10ft. range), or
Spiked Gauntlet +3(1d4+2, 20/x2 crit)
Special Attacks;
Trip: +3 to hit, +3 on the strength check, provokes an attack of opportunity.
see readied maneuvers
Special Abilities; see readied maneuvers
Class Features:
-Maneuvers Readied(3 max, swift action + normal/full attack to refresh all);
Strikes;
- Steel Wind: make two attacks(one against each enemy) against two enemies with reach.
-Charging Minotaur: make a bull rush attack, if you succeed, deal 2d6+str bludgeoning damage,
this strike doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity and you do not need to follow the target of this attack to push him back farther then 5ft.
Boosts;
-None
Counters;
-Moment of Perfect Mind: as an immediate action you may substitute a concentration check in place of a will save, you must use this before you make a normal will save, and may not make a normal will save if this counter fails, in addition, the will save from the concentration check does not automatically fail on a natural 1.
-Active Stance/s;
-Leading the Charge: while you are in this stance you, and all allies who can hear you gain a damage bonus equal to your initiator level on charge attacks.
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Skills; Concentration +6, Craft(cooking) +6, Diplomacy +3, Intimidate +3, Jump +6,
Knowledge(local) +6, Tumble +6
Feats; Power Attack, Blind Fight(human bonus)
Possessions: greatsword, dagger x3, spiked gauntlet x2, studded leather armour,
backpack, belt pouch x2, bedroll, rations(5 days worth), standard rope(50ft.), flint & steel, waterskin, crowbar, chalk(3 pieces), sunrod x2, torch x1, candles x6, common lamp, lamp oil(2 pints), 1pp, 10gp

The build I was planning, and having some trouble with;

Known Maneuvers & Stances;
Strikes;
- Steel Wind: make two attacks(one against each enemy) against two enemies with reach.
-Charging Minotaur: make a bull rush attack, if you succeed deal 2d6+str bludgeoning damage,
this strike doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity and you do not need to follow the target of this attack to push him back farther then 5ft.
Boosts;
-None
Counters;
-Moment of Perfect Mind: as an immediate action you may substitute a concentration check in place of a will save, you must use this before you make a normal will save, and may not make a normal will save if this counter fails, in addition, the will save from the concentration check does not automatically fail on a natural 1.
Stances;
-Leading the Charge: while you are in this stance you, and all allies who can hear you gain a damage bonus equal to your initiator level on charge attacks.

Planned Advancement:
2nd level: gain 1 tiger claw maneuver(Wolf Fang Strike)
3rd level: gain 1 stone dragon maneuver(Mountain Hammer),-
-select Martial Study(shadow hand, Cloak of Deception) as 3rd level feat
4th level: gain 1 stance(either Hunter's sense[tiger claw], or Child of Shadow[shadow hand]),
replace Wolf Fang Strike with Rabid Wolf Strike
5th level: gain 1 white raven maneuver(White Raven Tactics), select White Raven Defense as warblade5 bonus feat
6th level: select Clarion Commander as 6th level feat, replace Charging Minotaur with Wall of Blades
7th level: gain 1 iron heart maneuver(Mithril Tornado)
8th level: replace...something?
9th level: gain 1 iron heart maneuver(Dazing Strike), select Combat Reflexes as warblade9 bonus feat, select Martial Study(shadow hand, Shadow Stride) as 9th level feat

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm pretty sure I didn't choose very good maneuvers, as my highest damage strike is +2d6, so hopefully someone can recomend better choices.

[Deophaun]

Well, one problem is that you cannot choose Shadow Hand maneuver's/stances through Warblade, so Child of Shadow is out, even with Martial Study.

Second, don't worry about maneuvers that just give you additional damage die. Those generally aren't worth it for a Warblade.

Third, the reason you're having trouble meeting prerequisites is because you are drawing from 5 disciplines (Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw, White Raven). This is going to lock you out of the higher-level stances. I'd limit myself to only 3.

[Madcrafter]

Why hello there Warblade Handbook! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176968) Nice to meet you.

That will probably help you along with manoeuvre choices a bit. But, as Deophaun says, you shouldn't try and use manoeuvres from so many disciplines (unless you're a swordsage, which you aren't). Pick a few to specialize in (Tiger Claw, White Raven and Iron Heart maybe? just from a quick glance at your future selections).

[Togath]

Ty for the suggestions(also sorry for the late response), I've now met with my dm and he has ok'ed homebrew as well, at least if he feels it's balanced(his view of balance is about tier 2-4), so do any good homebrew ToB disciplines come to mind?, the mare's tail (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227332)one looked interesting, as my character comes from a currently unnamed cold weather European themed country with a large number of mountains and varieties sausages an ice or storm themed discipline would be fun to have access too.
I'll also probably mainly focus on white raven over iron heart as the party is probably going to be almost all melee, if not entirely melee.
Also, how good of a choice would a Mul (http://athas.org/products/ds3) be as a race for this guy?, it has +4 str, +2 con, -2 cha and is treated as a dwarf for prerequisites and magic items.
In addition the dm has decided on a 24 point buy, so I do need to reduce my characters stats in a few places, do you think it would harm me to much to fully dump charisma even though I'm planning to have my character be a traveling chef/used armour merchant?
The dm has also talked about using the...lair of the sea princes?(I think that was the name) in Greyhawk as the starting location for the campaign, does anyone know enough about Greyhawk to know if an unusual race would cause trouble for a campaign starting there?

[Righteous Doggy]

Soes you know, Warblade isn't supposed to be focused on any elements. Swordsage gets the supernatural ninja gig, Warblade is the super disciplined soldier/commander whatever. If it matters, refluffing never hurts. Maneuvers really help create the image and abilities of your character though. Mountian hammer line can smash through about anything, white raven is almost entirely teamwork related, Tiger Claw is beastial and barbaric, what kind of character are you going for? Will it be against character to freak out and leap across the table onto someone? or is it entirely in character to make every strike a tactical and well thought plan.

If you want some need for charisma, you can always dip into bard at the cost of one bab in order to get some cool skills and take the feat to inspire as a swift action(which is pretty cool imo.) And a dip doesn't hurt Warblades very much becuase they continue Initiator progression at half rate outside of class. But as a merchant I don't see it hurting too much anyway. Not everyone who sells things is charismatic or good at bartering, just capable of moving items and cash. White Raven is amazing for teamwork though, but careful not to spread yourself out too much.

About your manuevers you have so far, its really hard to make a bad choice. Especially if you have a DM who lets you switch out when you feel like you made a mistake. Don't worry alot about how much dice you roll, most maneuvers are about the same at a given initiator level.

[Deophaun]

Greyhawk is the default setting for 3.5. If your DM is open to letting you use homebrew content, and he oks the race, it won't be a problem.

Stone Dragon seems to be the discipline with the fluff-reflecting mechanics you're looking for, as it's very mountain themed, while Iron Heart's maneuver names are very evocative of a raging storm. So, with what you told us, I'd go White Raven, Stone Dragon, and Iron Heart.

Even with homebrew, you'd need to houserule in new disciplines for the Warblade to access.

[Togath]

tyvm for the help, and I hadn't thought of the bard thing, a dip in bardic sage could help with getting more charisma based skills, I had also pondered seeing if my dm would let me use the gladiator class from the 3rd party darksun campaign setting(which grants the ability to deal non-lethal damage with any weapon without penalty and an exotic weapon proficiency feat as a bonus feat for the 1st level, and still has a d12 HD and 4+int skills/level, along with several of the warblade skills as class skills), would it be worth 1-2 levels to get exotic weapon proficiency and improved unarmed strike as bonus feats?, another option I had thought of instead of the gladiator levels was a few levels of oa shaman, or spirit shaman(I don't own complete divine, but I glanced a the class as one of the other players was looking through it and the class looked a lot like the oa shaman did, in the sense that it gains the ability to detect or see spirits).
edit: ah, so that's why greyhawk sounded familiar

edit 2; how good is this feat?, I just found it in the darksun campaign setting and it looks like it could go well with a white raven heavy build:
Teamwork
You are trained in group combat. You have an easier time protecting your allies, and creating openings in an enemy’s defense for others to exploit.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +1.
Benefits: You may aid another as a move action.
Normal: Aid another is a standard action.
Special: A fighter may select Teamwork as one of his fighter bonus feats (PH 38).

[Amphetryon]

Well, one problem is that you cannot choose Shadow Hand maneuver's/stances through Warblade, so Child of Shadow is out, even with Martial Study.Do you have a source for this? Martial Study + Martial Stance seems like it would open up Child of Shadow to anyone with access to the Feats. Otherwise, that's a weird proscription for Warblades that doesn't appear to hold true for non-Initiators.

[Goldfly]

Do you have a source for this? Martial Study + Martial Stance seems like it would open up Child of Shadow to anyone with access to the Feats. Otherwise, that's a weird proscription for Warblades that doesn't appear to hold true for non-Initiators.

I believe he's saying that you can't use your Warblade stances for Child of shadow even if you have a Shadow Hand strike, which is true.

[Amphetryon]

I believe he's saying that you can't use your Warblade stances for Child of shadow even if you have a Shadow Hand strike, which is true.

Perhaps. The part that's throwing me is "even with Martial Study," which I'm reading as "no matter what Feats you take to try to access them."

[Deophaun]

Perhaps. The part that's throwing me is "even with Martial Study," which I'm reading as "no matter what Feats you take to try to access them."
If you were using Martial Stance to take it, then you wouldn't be getting it "through Warblade," would you?

[Amphetryon]

If you were using Martial Stance to take it, then you wouldn't be getting it "through Warblade," would you?

Yes, you would, unless you were multiclassing, or unless you meant the phrase "through Warblade" in a way other than I'd understood it.

[thompur]

Warblade, huh? Have you thought about the Fighter? It's what the Warblade should have been. It's in the Players Handbook, which some DMs don't allow. The flavor is a little too "Arthurian", but you can ignore it.

[Deophaun]

Yes, you would, unless you were multiclassing, or unless you meant the phrase "through Warblade" in a way other than I'd understood it.
Martial Stance is not on the list of bonus feats that Warblade gets you. Thus, if you were going straight Warblade, you could only get it from a feat that you gained due to character level, not class level. Warblade has nothing to do with taking the feat, therefore it cannot be said that you got the feat "through Warblade."

[Person_Man]

Ty for the suggestions(also sorry for the late response), I've now met with my dm and he has ok'ed homebrew as well, at least if he feels it's balanced(his view of balance is about tier 2-4), so do any good homebrew ToB disciplines come to mind?

Since you asked, you might want to look at my recently completed Vanguard class and Lightning Fox discipline in my signature, which is based on movement (sort of the opposite of Stone Dragon). It's been play tested by me and a few other playgrounders, and it's a fun Tier 3 option. I also tried a short battle with a Warblade 11 who subbed out Stone Dragon for the Lightning Fox discipline, and it was also quite useful and amusing.

But really, regardless of what you choose it's hard to mess up a strait Warblade.

[Togath]

Tyvm for the link to the lightning fox discipline, it looks like it could be good as my warblade's secondary or tertiary discipline.

[navar100]

One flaw in the book is that stance progressions do not match when stances are available. You get your 2nd stance at level 4, which means you can't take a 3rd level stance. Therefore, you either need to spend a feat at level 6 or multiclass two levels before you reach warblade 4. Multiclassing is not a bad idea on its own. Swordsage is a good option to give you the low level Shadow Hand maneuvers you want plus synergy for higher level Diamond Mind and Tiger Claw prerequisites as a warblade. Crusader gives you heavy armor, bow proficiency, and synergy in Stone Dragon and White Raven. You could spend a feat later for Thicket of Blades, a popular stance, though not an absolute must have. You also get two stances - Iron Guard's Glare and Leading the Charge are good. Multiclass Fighter if you just want feats.

[Togath]

Good point, I had forgotten about the weird stance progression, how does beguiler sound as a dip for level 4-5?, I would be able to get some int synergy and it fits the characters stealth abilities.

Also, how balanced does the group sound?, The group consists of my warblade, a skill/social based bard, a spirit shaman/rogue(the player of that one is planning to go 50/50 with the two classes) and a druid/rogue(who is planning to go with either 15 druid/5 rogue, or 10 druid/5 rogue/5 prestige class)

edit; so a tier 3(warblade), a tier 3(bard), a character with 15 levels in a tier 1 and 5 in a tier 4, and a character with 10 levels in a tier ?(I'm not sure which tier spirit shaman is) class and 10 evels in a tier 4 class.

[Righteous Doggy]

Good point, I had forgotten about the weird stance progression, how does beguiler sound as a dip for level 4-5?, I would be able to get some int synergy and it fits the characters stealth abilities.

Also, how balanced does the group sound?, The group consists of my warblade, a skill/social based bard, a spirit shaman/rogue(the player of that one is planning to go 50/50 with the two classes) and a druid/rogue(who is planning to go with either 15 druid/5 rogue, or 10 druid/5 rogue/5 prestige class)

Woah, your group is made of skillmonkeys isn't it? I suggest you go for factotum(from dungeonscape I think?) or bard instead of beguiler. Bard and using the white ravens feat for bard syngergy and factotum of war are probably much more fitting unless you want another person with trapfinding and some arcane skills to boot.

As an alternative, talk your DM into allowing you to delay that extra stance. Plenty of people do it, and it only make sense doesn't it? And unless you have a 3rd level stance you really want it its perfectly fine to stay a Warblade.

[Togath]

I'll see if my dm will let me delay the stance, if not, I'll probably go bard for the white raven synergy(I had forgotten there was a feat which did that).

[navar100]

I prefer a house rule of letting an adept change a stance known at 5th level and every 5 levels after.