Maneuver Recovery and Extra Actions

[Zweisteine]

I've been looking at the Warblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060802a&page=2) and Swiftblade (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/prc/20070327) classes as part of my quest to shoot way too many arrows in a round, and came to what seems to be an ambiguous rule:

Can a Warblade X/Swiftblade 10 use the extra action granted by Perpetual Options to both recover his maneuvers and initiate one, without making a melee attack?

A Swordsage clearly can, as his recovery method simply requires a full-round action, but the Warblade's method is a bit less clear. It says that, after the swift action, you must either make a melee attack, or "use a standard action to do nothing else in the round." Obviously, I could simply kick the floor, making a melee attack which would so the job nicely, but that isn't my question. Can that standard action be followed by anything else? Even without extra actions, could the Warblade move after recovering his maneuvers? It seems odd that they wouldn't allow the movement, as they could have just said that recovery was a full-round action, but it is worded as if to state that the standar action ends the turn.

This also applies to other ways to get extra turns/actions, like Celerity, or Write Raven Tactics. After your turn ends, can you take actions on your extra turn? And can you make opportunity attacks?


Looking back at those statements, it seems obvious to me that the "nothing else in the round" bit is not literal, but it still makes me wonder...

[Grozomah]

This is how I generally played warblades: As a warblade you need to spend (at least) a standard action for a basic attack. Then as a swift action you recover the maneouvers. Yes, you can move in the same round, the way i understand is that you just mustn't make any "attack + shennenigans" during your original standard action.

So as swiftblade i assume that you can initiate a maneuver (as a standard action), then make a full attack (as a full round action) and then use your swift action to recover the maneouvers.

[Andezzar]

It is the other way around. Swift action first then attack or harmless flourish:
You can recover all expended maneuvers with a single swift
action, which must be immediately followed in the same round with a melee attack or using a standard action to do nothing else in the round (such as executing a quick, harmless flourish with your weapon).
If you somehow have the appropriate action left after this recovery you can use it to initiate a maneuver. Likewise you can initiate a maneuver and then use the recovery method, if you still have a swift and at least a standard action in that round.

[Petrocorus]

That's it spend your swift action, then make a normal (no maneuvers) standard or full attack, and your maneuvers are recovered and then, you can take your additional action from Swiftblade 9 to use a maneuver.

[HunterOfJello]

It is the other way around. Swift action first then attack or harmless flourish:
If you somehow have the appropriate action left after this recovery you can use it to initiate a maneuver. Likewise you can initiate a maneuver and then use the recovery method, if you still have a swift and at least a standard action in that round.

Don't leave out the second half of that paragraph.



You cannot initiate a maneuver or change your stance while you are recovering your expended maneuvers, but you can remain in a stance in which you began your turn.

RAI you can't use a maneuver on the turn in which you recover your expended Warblade maneuvers.


There's another relevant paragraph in the Recovering Expended Maneuvers section of the Blade Magic chapter:


Warblade: A warblade can recover all of his expended
maneuvers as a swift action, followed by making a melee
attack or using a standard action to do nothing else in the
round. If he initiates a maneuver or changes his stance during
a round, he can’t recover his expended maneuvers.

(Emphasis mine)

This paragraph makes it RAW as well as RAI. If you initiate a maneuver or change your stance during that round, you can't recover your maneuvers.

[Andezzar]

Whatever RAI may be, RAW however is that you start recovering your maneuvers with the swift action and you end recovering maneuvers with the attack/harmless flourish which requires at least a standard action. Anything you do after those two actions is not done "while you are recovering your expended maneuvers" but afterwards. So if you still have actions available during the same turn you can indeed initiate maneuvers.