I don't know what I want to play and how to do it. Please help me.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I wanted to play a Crusader, but I don't know what I can do(except tripping, but I don't really want to trip all the time.).

I want to play a full Human Crusader, I don't want to multiclass and I am not sure about PrC.

my head is exploding from all the information in ToB and I have to finish it before Saturday.


Can you guys and girls please help my to find what can I do with a Crusader and how?

We have a Human Spirit Shaman (I will follow him as the one the Spirits chose).
A Human Rouge.
And a Human Swordsage.
All LV4(My Crusader will be LV4).

We are fighting Evil Undead and Evil Outsiders.
We don't have any access to magic items so I can't have a build that need magic items to work.
We get 2 flaws.
We can use all 3.5e books.
I can give you more information if you need it.

[etrpgb]

I like marshal style characters, what about focusing on White Raven school?

[BloodSnake'sCha]

I like Marshal style character, what about focusing on White Raven school?

My biggest problem is that I don't really know how to do it.

How should I play a character like it(not how to roll play but how to use the character mechanic)?
What feats should it take in order to make it effective?

[etrpgb]

Thinking about your companions I would not worry too much about being ineffective.

The Tome of Battle is a long book, so you can start checking existing handbooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?181655-Spirit-of-Steel-The-Crusader-s-Handbook-WIP) and suggestions (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2645.0).

What are you afraid of?

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Thinking about your companions I would not worry too much about being ineffective.

The Tome of Battle is a long book, so you can start checking existing handbooks (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?181655-Spirit-of-Steel-The-Crusader-s-Handbook-WIP) and suggestions (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=2645.0).

What are you afraid of?

I already read the link you gave me(and didn't really understand what I can do).

Can you explain your question?

[Swaoeaeieu]

if you dont know what you can do as a crusader, why do you want to play one?
the obvious answer being that a crusader can front line pretty well. high hp, maneuvers to spice up attacks etc.

what feats to take and what build to go for is very dependent on what you want from you character. What fighting style are you looking for?

[BloodSnake'sCha]

if you dont know what you can do as a crusader, why do you want to play one?
the obvious answer being that a crusader can front line pretty well. high hp, maneuvers to spice up attacks etc.

what feats to take and what build to go for is very dependent on what you want from you character. What fighting style are you looking for?

That is what I am asking.
I don't know what I want to do or what fighting style I want to use.
I am looking for options and opinions.

[Swaoeaeieu]

That is what I am asking.
I don't know what I want to do or what fighting style I want to use.
I am looking for options and opinions.

well... asuming you want a melee style.
you can go the trusted Two handed weapon route, wich does the most damage, some weapons have reach, could help with tripping. Beware that if you go tripping, you will do less dmg.
there is sword and board, wich is just slang for using a one handed weapon with a shield, slighty more defense, lesser damage, you could do a shield bash build.
just a one handed weapon, less damage then two handed, but there are finesse weapons so you can go a dex based build.
two weapon fighting, mostly dex based, takes a bunch of feats, don know how much maneuvers do full attacks in ToB but it is a choise you could make.

But surely you have some kind of image in mind? do you want to do a lot of damage? or defend your friends? maybe more of a sneaky type.
i am asking this because it is much easier to help if you have some kind of image in mind you want to create, instead of us giving you all the option available.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

well... asuming you want a melee style.
you can go the trusted Two handed weapon route, wich does the most damage, some weapons have reach, could help with tripping. Beware that if you go tripping, you will do less dmg.
there is sword and board, wich is just slang for using a one handed weapon with a shield, slighty more defense, lesser damage, you could do a shield bash build.
just a one handed weapon, less damage then two handed, but there are finesse weapons so you can go a dex based build.
two weapon fighting, mostly dex based, takes a bunch of feats, don know how much maneuvers do full attacks in ToB but it is a choise you could make.

But surely you have some kind of image in mind? do you want to do a lot of damage? or defend your friends? maybe more of a sneaky type.
i am asking this because it is much easier to help if you have some kind of image in mind you want to create, instead of us giving you all the option available.
We have a damage dealer (we had 2 but one of them isn't with us any more).
I think I want to defend my friends and\or do damage, maybe to have a little healing abilities to save the Spirit Shaman spells.

[weckar]

Sounds to me you want a shield specialist Paladin of some sort. There are quite a few methods out there to have your defensive bonuses apply to nearby allies. The Stand Fast ACF would be icing if your Divine Favor ability is high enough.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Sounds to me you want a shield specialist Paladin of some sort. There are quite a few methods out there to have your defensive bonuses apply to nearby allies. The Stand Fast ACF would be icing if your Divine Favor ability is high enough.

Can't be a Paladin(and I don't want to).

[etrpgb]

I suggest to read the White Raven maneuvers, those intended to help your companions.

[Darrin]

Race: Human
1) Crusader 1. Feat: Combat Reflexes. Human: Power Attack.

Maneuvers: Crusader's Strike, Vanguard Strike, Charging Minotaur, Douse the Flames, Leading The Attack.

Stance: Iron Guard's Glare.

Arm yourself with a glaive and armor spikes. If you have the funds available, buy netcutter spikes (150 GP, Races of the Wild) instead. Buy a Dwarven Buckler Axe to pick up a +1 shield bonus. It's an exotic weapon, but you don't need to spend a feat on Exotic Weapon Proficiency if you're just going to use it as a shield.

When an encounter starts, two of your five maneuvers will be granted to you. Print out the maneuver cards (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20061225a) and use this to keep track of which maneuvers you have available. On Round 1, you have two basic options, depending on whether Charging Minotaur was granted to you. If it is, and you have an enemy within charging distance, then your first round will probably look like:

Round 1) Full round action -> Charge. Power attack for -1/+2 damage.

Otherwise:

Round 1) Move action -> close to melee range. Standard action -> Vanguard Strike or Leading the Attack. This gives your allies a +4 to hit that target, so hopefully you can focus the rest of the party's attacks there.

If you're not quite within melee range yet, then use your move action to draw a javelin and throw it at a target. Since you have BAB +1, you can combine this with your move action. You can hold onto your glaive with one hand while you throw the javelin.

Round 2) Move action -> get into flanking position. Standard action -> Hit 'em with a strike, Vanguard or Leading the Attack if you have it. Power Attack -1/+2 damage. If someone is hurt already, use Crusader's Strike. If you're worried about AoOs, hit your target with Douse the Flames first, then move into flanking position.

Round 3) Move action -> get into flanking, or position yourself at the best spot to get AoOs. Standard action -> Use your strikes, Power Attack -1/+2 damage.

And so forth.

2) Crusader 2. Maneuver: Stone Bones. Stance: Martial Spirit.

Same basic strategy, although you can now Power Attack -2/+4 damage. You can adjust Power Attack up or down, but you may run into analysis paralysis when wondering "how much?". There are calculators and tables where you put in the target's AC and... ugh. Too much to think about. Here's a good rule of thumb: "When in doubt, Power Attack for -2."

Use your swift action to switch between Martial Spirit and Iron Guard's Glare. Ideally, you want to be in Martial Spirit during your turn, then have Iron Guard's Glare up when it's not your turn. If nobody on your side is getting hurt, then stick to Iron Guard. If someone is hurt, then consider switching to Martial Spirit when your Crusader's Strike comes up, then switch back to Iron Guard at the end of your next turn.

You'll want to discuss with your DM whether Crusader's Strike and Martial Spirit can be used outside of combat for essentially unlimited healing. According to a certain interpretation of the rules, attacking trees could be considered a "threat" and thus allow you to heal you and your allies up to full. If the tree argument doesn't work, some of your allies may be able to summon creatures that technically pose a "threat" but are easy to dispatch for "free" healing. A large number of DMs are going to have a problem with this, and will probably put some restrictions on this sort of thing or ban it outright. So you'll want to talk this over with the DM and find out what works best for your group.

3) Crusader 3. Feat: Extra Granted Maneuver. Maneuver: Mountain Hammer.

I've put Extra Granted Maneuver here as your feat, but you can put it off until later. If you want to go the Lockdown Route, you can take Stand Still (from XPH) here. If you want to go the charging/Power Attack route, you can take Improved Bull Rush here. If you want to do tripping, then Combat Expertise could go here.

Mountain Hammer is your Swiss Army Chainsaw for cutting through Damage Reduction and hardness. You can also use it to cut through adamantine doors, burrow through stone walls, punch through manacles, redecorate entire dungeons, etc. Even if you're not cutting through DR, you still get +2d6 damage as a standard action strike. You'll want to keep this maneuver in your repertoire for your entire career.

4) Crusader 4. Maneuver: replace Charging Minotaur with Battle Leader's Charge.

At 4th level, and for every two levels onward, you can replace one of your existing maneuvers. I've suggested replacing Charging Minotaur with Battle Leader's Charge, but if you prefer, there are other options available. For example, you can pick up your first counter: swap Stone Bones for Shield Block. As an immediate action, you can give a +5 AC bonus to an adjacent ally against a single attack. Foehammer is also available, if you really like Mountain Hammer and want something similar (although Foehammer doesn't cut through hardness). Tactical Strike is similar to both Mountain Hammer and Foehammer in that it doesn +2d6 damage, but instead of ignoring DR your adjacent allies get a free 5' step.

5) Crusader 5. Maneuver -> White Raven Tactics.

Ok, this is a controversial maneuver. By Rules As Written (RAW), you count as your own "ally" (see PHB Glossary p. 304). So by RAW, you can use this on yourself to get another turn. However, many DMs will nerf this maneuver so that it doesn't work on you, just your allies. And while this is disappointing... just ask the wizard in your party if he thinks getting a second turn during the round would be useful.

Other than that, same basic strategy: Start combat with Battle Leader's Charge if it's available, on subsequent rounds use your move action to get into flanking/AoO position, and use your strikes to "paint" a target with a +4 attack bonus (Vanguard Strike/Leading the Attack), cut through DR (Mountain Hammer), heal yourself or an ally (Crusader's Strike), and so forth.

6) Crusader 6. Feat: Leap Attack. Maneuver: replace Stone Bones with Revitalizing Strike.

Feat-wise, this is a pretty important level, as a great deal of feat trees unlock at BAB +6. If you don't have any particular strategy in mind, I suggest Leap Attack. If you're going the Charger route, then this is where Shock Trooper becomes available... which of course leads to the inevitable conundrum, "Do I take Shock Trooper or Leap Attack first?" If you want to TWF (with, uh... armor spikes, I guess?), then you'd take TWF at 1st or 3rd and Improved TWF at 6th. If you're going Lockdown and took Combat Expertise at 3rd, then Improved Trip would go here. (I prefer a Barbarian 2 dip to get Improved Trip, but you said you would prefer not to multiclass).

You get another maneuver swap here. I've suggested Revitalizing Strike, which gives you another maneuver that can attack and heal with the same standard action. However, Lion's Roar is also quite nifty, and you don't have a lot of boosts for your swift actions yet.

Another big change... BAB +6, so you've now got two iterative attacks instead of just the one, and now you've got to put some thought into whether a full attack with no strike is preferable to a standard action strike. This will depend a lot on what strikes you have available, and what exactly you need to do that round. If someone is hurt and Crusader's Strike/Revitalizing Strike is available, then move + strike is probably your best option. If you have several allies all working on the same opponent, then a +4 attack bonus for all your allies is probably better than a second attack. If you're already in melee range of an enemy and a second attack is more likely to drop them than +2d6 on a single strike, then full attack may be best.

That should get you started.