Initiator level for non initiator classes = BAB

[Crake]

So I was thinking, if you introduce tome of battle, many non martial adept classes get thrown on the backburner and will likely never see use, short of fighter 2 for some bonus feats or the like. Likewise the many PrC out there will never see the light of day. So I was thinking, for non martial adept classes, their initiator level increases would be equal to their bab, not simply half their level. This would give fighters the added benefit of being able to pick martial maneuvers via feats without falling behind, same with barbarians but obviously less so.

The bab would have to be split as you desire (chosen for each class level at levelup) between your martial adept classes, with people who multiclass martial adepts only getting the standard benefit from other initiator classes (1/2 initiator level each level).

A few examples
Fighter 10/Warblade 10 would have an IL of 20 (Normally 15)
Warblade 5/Crusader 5/Fighter 10 would have at minimum IL 7 for both warblade and crusader, with 10 IL to split as they desire between warblade or crusader, up to a maximum of 17, or an even split of 12/12 (Normally would be 12/12, now is anywhere from 7/17 to 17/7)

Swordsage 4/Rogue 16 would have an IL of 16 (Normally 12)

Swordsage 1/Wizard 4/JPM 10/Wizard 5 would have an IL of 15 (Same as normal)

I'd like to think this is a buff to non initiator classes, encouraging some appropriate multiclassing. I would also, I think, allow maneuvers gained by martial study to be included in a martial adept's maneuvers known if you gain a class level in martial adept after gaining the feat. That always struck me as odd.

Is there some glaring imbalance I'm not seeing here?

[kaffalidjmah]

i like a lot your idea. i was always thinking "but the fighter can only fight, and have only feat, martial study is a bonus fighter feat, why the fighter have to suck even in that??" but i don't know how to properly fix it.

[prufock]

Not a bad idea, in general. Keep in mind that this will boost the martial adept classes when you multi-class though. For example, currently if you dip 4 non-initiator classes you can still get 9th level maneuvers by taking your initiator classes later. IE Fighter 4/Warblade 16 has IL of 18. With your proposal, you can dip as much as you want into full BAB classes and still get 9th level maneuvers by taking initiator classes later. So it's a good idea for non-initiators, but will this have an unbalancing effect on the initators?

Maybe it's not a big deal, because you're still losing out on warblade class features, maneuvers readied, maneuvers/stances known.

[Xerlith]

Yeah, that's an idea I've been toying with myself - it gives some power back to the Fighter and other martial classes - the problems begin to surface when you realize what a multiclassed, leap-frogged Crusader/Warblade can do with this rule.
My way of subverting this is actually saying "A base initiator class counts as half BAB for purposes of other base Initiator classes, blah blah focused training fluff". It's not perfect, but better than the alternative. That said, this being a houserule, you can simply call the Gentleman's agreement on this one.

[Crake]

Yeah, that's an idea I've been toying with myself - it gives some power back to the Fighter and other martial classes - the problems begin to surface when you realize what a multiclassed, leap-frogged Crusader/Warblade can do with this rule.
My way of subverting this is actually saying "A base initiator class counts as half BAB for purposes of other base Initiator classes, blah blah focused training fluff". It's not perfect, but better than the alternative. That said, this being a houserule, you can simply call the Gentleman's agreement on this one.

Yeah, my rule, as outlined in my post was martial adepts treat other martial adept classes as normal for determining IL (so half those levels), but the big key I think is that I limit each point of bab to only apply to a single martial adept class, so a crusader 1/warblade 1/fighter 18 could only get IL19 in one of the martial adept classes, the other would be left in the dust at IL1, or he could split it however he wants between them, allowing for a potential even split of 10/10, which comes out exactly the same as normal.