Avalanche of Blades question

[Deceit]

I apologize beforehand if I'm not allowed to post anything.

But the ability states that:


You lash at an opponent. If your attack hits, you repeat the same attack again and again at nearly superhuman speed, allowing you to score multiple hits in a blur of activity. Unfortunately, as soon as an attack misses, your tempo breaks, and this delicate maneuver crumbles into a flurry of wasted motion.

As part of this maneuver, you make a single melee attack against an opponent. If that attack hits, resolve your damage as normal. You can then make another attack against that foe with a –4 penalty on your attack roll. If that attack hits, you can make another attack against that opponent with a –8 penalty. You continue to make additional attacks, each one with an additional –4 penalty, until you miss or your opponent is reduced to –1 hit points or fewer. You must direct all these attacks at a single foe.

Now, considering doing this as a 15th level Warblade. So my normal BAB is as follows: +15/+10/+5

Avalanche of Blades clearly states that I can make an infinite number of attacks until I fail, but doesn't say anything about whether all of the attacks when using this Maneuver are done using your highest BAB or not.

I assume that this is the case, because otherwise what stupid BAB are you going to use, since if you do make more than three of four attacks, you're out of BAB modifiers already!

Anyways, thanks for the help.

[Douglas]

The only situation where iterative attack bonuses ever apply is when you are making a full attack. Avalanche of Blades is not a full attack, however similar it might be in some ways, so it uses only the full highest bonus.

[StreamOfTheSky]

They would all be at BAB +15, as implied by "...you repeat the same attack again and again..."

The -4 penalties effectively replace the -5 iteratives have and you get unlimited potential attacks in return for a miss ending the chain early and only attacking one guy.

I really don't think it's a very good maneuver. It's nice to power Stormguard Warrior tactical feat with melee touches, but used to actually attack and damage someone....I'd rather just full attack normally.

[Deceit]

You guys are awesome and fast. Thanks!



I really don't think it's a very good maneuver. It's nice to power Stormguard Warrior tactical feat with melee touches, but used to actually attack and damage someone....I'd rather just full attack normally.

That is the plan. I have a lot of other options planned for my Warblade - the ability to ubercharge and deal massive damage, frontloaded; the ability to use Stormguard Warrior's Combat Rhythm to set up Time Stands Still, and other possibilities. I figured if I can actually make 5-7 touch attacks with Combat Rhythm, then using Time Stands Still afterwards would be worth it. Do you have experience in the matter? Obviously, I haven't calculated any numbers relating to using Avalanche of Blades via Combat Rhythm + Time Stands Still the following turn vs. normal full attack (refreshing Maneuvers) + Time Stands Still every other turn.

Thoughts?



Also, I figured instead of making another thread I might just post here. This question is about Bloodlines (as per Unearthed Arcana) and how the function with Initiator Levels.

I just read this quote from another thread:


The most egregious example of Bloodline Abuse would be with Martial Adept classes from Tome of Battle, particularly if you make a lot of 1-level dips to increase your Initiator Level (IL). IL = martial adept levels + 1/2 non-martial adept levels, and a Bloodline level increases your IL by 1 for every martial adept level you have, + 0.5 for every non-martial adept level, and an additional + 0.5 for the Bloodline level itself. This means you can qualify for 9th level maneuvers as early as 10th level.

However, the way I'm reading it in Unearthed Arcana, especially when they described Bloodlines as:


For example, a 2nd-level sorcerer with a major bloodline takes
a bloodline level when earns enough XP to advance in level. He
is treated as a 3rd-level spellcaster for the purpose of spell durations,
caster level checks, and so forth. But he doesn’t gain a
3rd-level sorcerer’s spells per day or spells known.

Therefore, I read it as Bloodline levels counting toward your ILs for the purposes of DC checks and durations of abilities (if they are IL-dependent), and related events. I don't understand how this can be interpreted to mean that Bloodlines Levels add simultaneously with a 1:1 ratio to your Martial Adept class levels for determining Maneuvers/Stances Known/Readied.

Anyways, hope this question makes sense.