ToB Question

[bartman]

I was wondering, each of the 9 disciplines has associated weapons, but I cannot for the life of me find if those weapons are needed, or just fluff

anyone know?

I have a feeling they are just fluff, but I could be very very wrong

[Draz74]

Neither.

They matter mechanically -- but not for executing maneuvers normally.

They only matter when the rules say they do, such as:

• the Blade Meditation feat
• the Shadow Blade feat
• the Swordsage's Level 1 Weapon Focus feature.

[Escheton]

Fluff, though a free weaponfocus makes it crunch I guess.

[lsfreak]

As a DM, I view them as fluff, and thus characters with good points can convince me that that this weapon they're wielding counts as another discipline's favored weapon. Which isn't hard, considering how utterly arbitrary most of them are (iirc, Tiger Claw, Shadow Hand, and Setting Sun have some rhyme and reason behind them as a whole).

But RAW, yes, it's not fluff but mechanics that occasionally comes into play. It's explicit about when it matters, though (the things already mentioned, also some of the PrC's demand you use certain weapons).

[Kaiyanwang]

This thing always stroke me out curiosity.

Did they planned to assign more mechanical relevance to school weapons, but retired some rule from the book some time before the book was sent to printing?

[AstralFire]

This thing always stroke me out curiosity.

Did they planned to assign more mechanical relevance to school weapons, but retired some rule from the book some time before the book was sent to printing?

Nah. I'd say they have as much mechanical relevance as they should - enough so that everything is not the same, but not so much that it gets crazy.

[bartman]

OK, that makes alot of sense

i forgot about the feats, but i had a feeling it was mainly fluff

thank you

[Il_Vec]

I can't recall, but I believe there are some manuevers that need you to use school weapons to initiate... ?

[Irreverent Fool]

I can't recall, but I believe there are some manuevers that need you to use school weapons to initiate... ?

I thought this as well, but a quick search hasn't shown any that do. That is unless you count the ground as a favored weapon for Stone Dragon. The fact that Warblades can choose Blade Meditation as a bonus feat makes it worth their time to put some minimal effort toward using a weapon associated with the school they tend to focus on.

[Kaiyanwang]

I thought this as well, but a quick search hasn't shown any that do. That is unless you count the ground as a favored weapon for Stone Dragon.

Actually, ground is a requirement for stone dragon. As a favored weapon, is a better one for Setting Sun I guess.

@ Astralfire: I think that the rules about discipline weapons are fine as they are, mechanically wise.

Nevertheless, it always seemed to me something left in the middle... I can see little mechanical impact, bu for some school there is almost none.

[Irreverent Fool]

Actually, ground is a requirement for stone dragon. As a favored weapon, is a better one for Setting Sun I guess.

@ Astralfire: I think that the rules about discipline weapons are fine as they are, mechanically wise.

Nevertheless, it always seemed to me something left in the middle... I can see little mechanical impact, bu for some school there is almost none.

I responding to Il Vec's mention that he thought there were some maneuvers that need the character to be using the favored weapon.

But I see what you did with Setting Sun.

There's definitely no problem with the way they work mechanically as-is, but given the emphasis that some sections of the book place on the favored weapons of each discipline, I have to agree with Kai that it feels as if something is left out.

The solution, I think, would be to make NPC adepts focus on specific schools and tout the needs/advantages of using specific weapons while somehow implying that to not use the appropriate weapon is some sort of affront to the Sublime Way -- that is, more fluff. Blade Meditation seems to fill the mechanical gap fine.