I don't understand maneuvers, but I know I want shadowblink

[GhengisConrad]

Title says it all.

Find me the cheapest way to gain shadowblink, or explain to me, as if talking to a dull child, how maneuvers work. Because I've read it like, thirty times, and it just aint sticking.

Is there a way for me to just get shadowblink? it's all I want. Just some shadow blinkin action, or soemthing like it.

[Gazzien]

Maneuvers work kinda like spells; if you're a Martial Adept class (Warblade, Swordsage, or Crusader), you get a new level of them every odd level (1st at 1st, 2nd maneuvers at 3rd level, 3rd maneuvers at 5th, and so on until you get 9th-level maneuvers at 17th Initiator Level). However, every level that's not in one of those classes (or one of the Tome of Battle prestige classes) also gives you 1/2 an initiator level. (Basically "every other non-initiator level gets you +1 level")

So as a non-initiator, you have two options for getting maneuvers; 1) The Martial Study feat, which you can only take three times, or 2) The magic items from Tome of Battle. Either way, you can only use it once per encounter (or once per five minutes, out of combat), because you don't have an initiating mechanic.

Because your Initiator Level is only 1/2 your character level, you can get 1st-level maneuvers (from either of those ways) at level 2, 2nd-maneuvers at 6th, 3rd-maneuvers at 10th, 4th-maneuvers at 14th, or 5th-maneuvers at 18th. You can't get 6th-maneuvers or above until epic levels (you need 22 HD to get 6ths, if you have no Martial Adept levels).

Under those restrictions, you can choose from Shadow Blink (Swordsage, level 7), Shadow Stride (Swordsage 5), or Shadow Jaunt (Swordsage 2). They all teleport within LoS, move you 50' a use, and don't require LoE (and are (Ex), and lack the [Teleport] descriptor, which can be really useful). However, Blink is a swift action, Stride is a move action, and Jaunt is a standard action.

So you can use your 6th-level (or above) feat (or the Novice Shadow Hands magic item, once you have 6 HD) to get a standard-action shadow jump, or you can use your 18th-level feat (or the Adept (can't remember) Shadow Hands, once you have 18 HD) for a move-action shadow jump.

Hope that helped, sorry for all of the parentheses!

[WhamBamSam]

It's a 7th level maneuver so you need an initiator level of 13 to get it. Your Initiator Level is equal to your levels in initiator classes plus 1/2 your number of other HD. Hence, in order to get a 7th level maneuver by level 20, you need at least 6 levels in initiator classes (6+14/2=13). You also need to somehow get a maneuver known at a level where your initiator level is 13 or higher, and have Shadow Hand be an acceptable discipline from which to learn said maneuver. Some maneuvers have other prerequisites you need to meet, but in the case of Shadow Blink you're in the clear.

The simplest way to get Shadow Blink is to just be a 13th level Swordsage.

If you have room for 6 levels of Swordsage at the end of your build, you could get Shadow Blink by making the last level a level in Swordsage (the only base initiator class which can learn Shadow Hand maneuvers).

You could also fit 6 levels in initiator classes in throughout your career at various places, and somehow get the Martial Study feat at 20th level, using it on Shadow Blink.


Appropriately enough, it seems I've been swordsaged somewhat. Ah well.

[Stux]

Warning: Long post!

Maneuvers are basically like an alternative spell system. They aren't spells, rather they represent martial techniques. They are divided into 9 levels like spells, and are usually accessed by taking levels in the Swordsage, Warblade, or Crusader classes, which gain maneuvers as their main class features.

Precisely how they get, recover, and use maneuvers varies between the three classes. Instead of a caster level you use for maneuvers what is called an initiator level. As your initiator level increases you gain access to higher level maneuvers, much like with spells. The added bonus for maneuvers though is that your level in 'non-initiating' classes (that is classes other than the 3 I mentioned earlier) count half towards this. So a Fighter 2/Crusader 1 has an initiator level of 2.

If you want to know the precise details of how these all work you will really need to look at Tome of Battle, the book where they are all from.

Now Shadow Blink. If you look at this maneuver you will see that it is a level 7 maneuver for the Swordsage. This means that a Swordsage with an initiator level of 13 or higher can choose this maneuver if they are allowed to gain a new one. This is much the same as a level 13 wizard gaining access to level 7 spells. Some maneuvers also have prerequisite numbers of other maneuvers you need to already know, but Shadow Blink does not.

Using the Martial Study feat though you can get limited access to a maneuver (you can use it once per encounter) without taking levels in one of these classes. However you must meet its prerequisites.

There is a little debate over whether initiator level that you would need to have in an initiating class counts as a prerequisite (which as I say for Shadow Blink would be 13). By RAW this argument may hold some water, but in practice I can't see any sane DM allowing a level 1 character to take a single feat to gain the use of Shadow Blink once per encounter. It is simply too powerful. On the other hand if you needed an initiator level of 13 then as non-initiating class levels count half you would need to be level 26 to get the maneuver without taking levels in initiating classes.

There are details for magic items that grant usage of a maneuver in Tome of Battle too, but one that lets you use a level 7 maneuver would need to be the most expensive version, costing you a hefty 45,000 GP. Also the item description says you need to meet the prerequisites for the maneuver still, so you get the same RAW vs RAI vs sanity issue as with the feat.