The warblade was born for conflict. Swift, strong, enduring, and utterly confident in his martial skills, he seeks to test himself against worthy foes. Battle is beautiful to him - a perfect moment in which life hangs suspended on the bright edge of a sword. Sheer combat skill is important to a warblade, so he trains intensely with his chosen weapons. But even more important are his athleticism, endurance, daring, recklessness, and joy in the hour of danger. Warblades, often called sword princes, live for the chance to test themselves in battle - the stronger the foe, the greater the glory once an enemy is defeated.

When fighting, you rely on an ever-increasing repertoire of spectacular martial maneuvers. Depending on which disciplines you choose to study, you might be a mongoose-swift skirmisher who uses speed as your sword and shield, a fierce master of blades, or a bold commander who leads your allies into battle. Your maneuvers are the signature moves that serve to define your character.

Regardless of the path you choose, you acquire a modest number of bonus feats that make you quicker, more agile, and more athletic than most other warriors.

MAKING A WARBLADE

A warblade is a front-line melee combatant, much like a barbarian or fighter. He engages his enemies toe to toe and defeats them through skill at arms.

Pure physical perfection is a warblade's ideal, so Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are all vital to him. Because mastering a bewildering variety of martial maneuvers is difficult, Intelligence is also important to a warblade, because he appreciates the bonus skill points, and many of his class features reward a high Intelligence bonus. Given the choice between Wisdom and Charisma, a warblade is more likely to boost the latter - the better to wear the mantle of glory he hopes to win with his deeds on the battlefield.

The warrior cultures that give rise to warblades are most often found in human, elf, and hobgoblin lands. Admiration for athletic prowess, the martial ideal, and sheer physical daring is common among these races. The githyanki also take great pride in their martial skill, and a number of warblades can be found among this race. Dwarves appreciate a warblade's martial prowess but might shy away from over-weening praise. Halflings generally admire athletic prowess, but most find the stringent requirements of this class too challenging. Half-orcs and savage humanoid races generally do not appreciate beauty in motion in quite the same way that their more civilized counterparts do; they fight to destroy their enemies, not to cover themselves in glory. Gnomes feel no particular need to try themselves in battle; they are happy with their normal pursuits.

A warblade can choose any alignment, though many prefer chaotic over lawful. After all, a warblade seeks to win glory through individual deeds of prowess, so he is unlikely to adopt a personal code emphasizing obedience over freedom to improvise. Good warblades are champions of the weak and downtrodden; evil ones are vicious warlords who exult in the defeat and humiliation of their foes.

PLAYING A WARBLADE

Mastering the techniques of blade and shield is important to you, but even more important is the sense of daring, recklessness, and even joy that transports you in the hour of danger. You fight for glory, the thrill of combat, and personal honor. Thus, you approach each encounter as if the bards will sing of it for ages. Every raging bulette that breaks through the cobblestones in the bazaar, every dragon snarling on its pile of coin, and every reth dekala champion still carrying a sword of the Shadow Tiger horde is an opportunity for you to test your skill, prove your heroism, and shine ever brighter. Gold and magic are pleasant tokens, but the real measure of your success is the height of the obelisk commemorating your triumphs.

As a warblade, you find adventure wherever an opportunity for glory exists. A more mercenary character might ignore an impecunious burgomaster's plea for aid, but you are quick to step in, taking the accolades of the villagers and the rapture of combat as pay along with a small bit of gold. Diplomatic missions have all the appeal of weak tea for you, but nearly any fight will do. Even a quick hunt through the sewers for a rabid otyugh can become a suitable adventure, as long as the otyugh is a worthy opponent and some townsfolk are present to honor you when you emerge, slime-covered but victorious.

If you are good-aligned, you probably worship Kord. His independent and amiably belligerent nature reflects your brash approach to life. Other good warblades favor Pelor, Heironeous, and, in rare cases, dour St. Cuthbert. If you are evil, you probably champion the cause of Erythnul or Hextor. A rumored secret sect of warblades follows Vecna, claiming to be the descendants of the loyal army that watched horrified as its commander, Kas, committed his famous betrayal.

Because you appreciate the long years of study and practice necessary to become a master of combat, you have great respect for fighters and paladins - though you sometimes feel a rivalry with them, as well. You don't get along too well with barbarians because they seem incapable of properly bestowing or receiving honor. Bards are among your favorite companions as long as they stay out of the way and leave the glory of the fight to you - and sing of your success later in tavern and hall. Both divine and arcane spellcasters are foreign to your pursuit of physical perfection, so you see them as little more than a means of support for your own endeavors. For that matter, you rarely work well with other warblades, since they are as competitive as you are, and you're always suspicious that one of them might try to steal your glory.

You revel in melee. Your place is battling face to face with vrocks and umber hulks, where you can deal maximum damage while keeping such monsters away from the softer targets in your own party. You make good use of your various battle-keyed abilities to give yourself an important edge in combat. Although these abilities might not be as physically impressive as a barbarian's rage, they can grant a significant boost to defense, as well as situational bonuses on attack and damage rolls. Unlike rage, your class features carry no fatigue penalty. Your lack of proficiency with heavy armor is both a blessing and a curse - it allows you to enter combat quickly but leaves you vulnerable to the enemy. Consider taking feats such as Improved Toughness to increase your ability to soak up damage and partially offset your lack of heavy armor. Choose bonus feats that enhance your capabilities (such as Blind-Fight or Improved Initiative) or bolster your weaknesses (such as Iron Will).

You consider swordplay to be high art, and a martial maneuver to be the artist's signature on his masterpiece. Learning many maneuvers in one discipline generally makes you more lethal in combat than a warblade who learns a few maneuvers from each of several disciplines. This phenomenon stems from the fact that taking many maneuvers from one discipline while largely ignoring the rest lets you master higher-level maneuvers sooner. You gain only thirteen maneuvers over the course of twenty levels, so make your choices carefully.

Warblades come from all walks of life. Perhaps you were a poor youth who lacked the respect of the upper class and now seeks to redress this inequity and win the praise of all through your fighting. Perhaps your drive to succeed was inborn, like the innate power of a sorcerer.

Your race matters little; anyone with the drive to win glory through combat is a good candidate for warblade training. The first warblades to embark on the path of the Iron Heart were hobgoblins. They were the first to teach Reshar, and their discipline was the first that he mastered. In the centuries that have followed, hobgoblins have not forgotten this fact, and that race still produces more warblades than many others.

Elves and half-elves often take up this class because they appreciate the warblade's view of battle as a glorious art, and the martial dwarves favor it as well. Outsiders often wonder at a warblade academy in which synchronized lines of young would-be warblades practice their weapon forms, especially when they notice that these ordered ranks include elves, hobgoblins, and dwarves. But as a warblade, you know that it is the art of the sword that makes a true warrior, not a coincidence of race.

As you become more skilled, your most important decisions are which maneuvers to learn. When selecting maneuvers, try not to choose any in isolation. Instead, pick two or three that work well in synergy so that one maneuver can set up another.

WARBLADES IN THE WORLD

Warblades live by muscle and steel, but their interaction with the campaign world is not limited to trading sword slashes for talon rakes. These characters are keenly aware of their social standing, and for them, glory and honor are at least as important as gold and gems. Because these precious intangibles cannot be won by strength of blade alone, warblades constantly find themselves embroiled in liaisons with generals, kings, princesses, archprelates, and others who can confer the honor of an entire society upon a victorious hero. The whispers of courtesans, the badinage of bards, and the wit of aristocrats can be as significant to a warblade's career as the giants and phase spiders of the Sunspire Mountains - and even more ferocious.

Warblades in adventuring parties must strike a balance between group and individual goals. Ideally, the party's path guarantees the warblade both the thrill of combat and the laurels of an acclaimed hero. In cases where only one or the other is possible (such as a stealth mission to extirpate a reth dekala cell operating in embarrassingly high government circles, or a crucial escort mission in which the danger comes not from flashing swords but from the wayward nature of a dauphin), the warblade must bide his time and accept the need to sacrifice one objective for another. Never for long, however, does a prince of the sword allow himself to forgo tasting the heady rush of combat and the sweet adulation of the multitudes.

A warblade must train constantly to maintain his puissance. Thus, much of his day is spent working through forms, jabbing at wooden effigies, and swinging weighted swords. Many warblades are affiliated with sword temples or dojos that allow them space to practice. While out adventuring, a prince of swords often spends his time at night on watch practicing his breathing exercises and stretches. The character taking the next watch is likely to wake and find his predecessor in the trees, meditating with measured breaths and supported only by a branch under each far-flung ankle.

Once he has reached a respectable level of accomplishment, a warblade might take the Leadership feat and begin teaching his own pupils at a school - either his previous academy or one he has founded. Teaching allows a warblade to prove his worth to many students on a daily basis - and the more prestigious they are, the better. Nobles' daughters and sons are highly sought-after students. A positive word from them, placed in the right ear, can earn a warblade honor, a royal audience, or even an honor guard and a ship for his next journey.

Famous warblades fall into two categories: those who recruit followers to found a sword temple or form an adventuring band, and those who operate independently. Among the warblades who have founded their own schools, the one known as the Bright Annis is famous for her merciless training techniques. Fewer than one in ten of her students manage to complete her tutelage. Many perish while sparring with their instructors or are lost in Bright Annis's ferocious quest for the heads of drow, whom she blames for the death of a lover long ago. Among the warblades who refuse to tie themselves to a particular school or demesne are Allek Thrazt, an outcast of the hobgoblin masters of the Iron Heart school. He is known to trade his former school's secrets for bright gold. The charcoal-skinned dwarf sword prince Mardilkuthor Pwarna, the scourge of the Seekers of Reshar (a group that hopes to rediscover the Nine Swords and hasten Reshar's return). Whether Mardilkuthor's motive is fear, jealousy, or an agenda he has managed to conceal even from the Sage of Snow and Shadow, the dwarf reportedly hunts down martial adepts who seek to reunite the Nine Swords.

Because of their independent and sometimes downright chaotic natures, many warblades refuse to join traditional, hierarchical organizations, though they are not averse to the greater glory of founding one. Thus, some warbladecreated organizations have one or more warblades in a leadership position, while the rank and file consists of fighters, rangers, and bards, who can record the deeds of the organization's leaders.

Mardilkuthor Pwarna has built up a network of spies, assassins, and rangers across the Sunspire Mountains and the Deluge Jungle. These individuals meet in concealed safe houses, tree blinds, and mountainside caves in the peaks gathered at the skirts of the Mother Mountain, Koshtra Amnorn. Members of this organization can advance through the capture of any adepts seeking the Nine Swords, but Mardilkuthor maintains an iron grip on command.

The Bright Annis welcomes all princes of the sword to her open-air dojo in the southern fens of the Deluge Jungle. A consummate teacher, she is harsh even by warblade standards. Her students are regularly required to make forays into the dark places beneath the earth to hunt dark elves. Any warblade who slays large numbers of drow is guaranteed advancement.

Countless other warblade organizations rise and fall according to the mercurial fortunes of individual sword princes. Most of these movements are dedicated to the greater glory of their founders, although a fair number are, ostensibly at least, focused on amassing coin or arcane power. Because the warlike natures of their leaders guarantee a high casualty rate, most such organizations are always eager for new blood.

Governments, churches, and spy rings love to employ warblades. Easily motivated by promises of gold, glory, and land (whichever the employers possess a surplus of at the moment), warblades can lend excellent, efficient muscle to any mission. A wise patron sends companions of other classes along with a warblade, though, to keep him on track. Many kings and high priests have been left cursing in their chambers when word reached them of their hired muscle's fickle decision to abandon the job, seize the goal for his own, or even change sides to gain greater glory.

The stoic, taciturn, clan-oriented mindset of dwarves is anathema to the free-thinking, brash, and individualist warblade. But even so, a surprising number of dwarves (often outcasts from their clans) choose to take up this path. Conversely, warblades are often admired by the more gregarious races, including humans, halflings, and gnomes, for their life-on-the-edge, devil-may-care attitude.

Fighters, paladins, and other front-line fighters welcome warblades as brothers in steel. Mages, however, are often suspicious of warblades and tend to give them a wide berth. Rogues often see warblades as useful muscle, so eager for glory and gold that they can easily be duped. In the absence of other motives, most classes and races regard warblades with a cautious and hesitant eye. The chaotic and individualist nature of warblades means that they sometimes make unreliable companions, and no one wants to be caught in the Sunspires while the party's warblade pouts in his tent, unsatisfied with his split of the last battle's loot.

WARBLADE LORE

Characters with ranks in Gather Information or Knowledge (nobility and royalty) can research warblades and learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 10: A warblade is a fighter with delusions of immortality. These glory-hounds think they can live forever in a bard's song!

DC 15: Warblades walk the Sublime Way, and few can match their skill with weapons. A warblade can learn combat maneuvers from many different disciplines, so you can't guess the strengths or weaknesses of any warblade you face in battle. He might move with the speed of thought, tumble like a boulder through your ranks, or attack with the savagery of a beast.

DC 20: A warblade tends to be a chaotic creature. His downfall is his pride - he cannot abide an affront to his prestige. The promise of honor and the laurels of a city are often enough to entice a warblade to risk his life. An enterprise's possible reward - be it glory or gold - is much more important to a warblade than the potential risks, which he often disregards completely.

WARBLADES IN THE GAME

Combat is the natural campaign entry point for warblades. With the sun glinting off their polished armor, these characters literally shine in combat. The first warblades in your campaign might be a brother and sister seeking to restore their family name by defeating the most renowned fighter in the area (one of the PCs). Their martial maneuvers have been passed down in secret for generations, and at last these two have chosen to reveal themselves in the name of redemption and recovered honor. Alternatively, if a PC is the first warblade in your campaign world, he might experience an epiphany in battle, foreshadowed by the soothsayings of a mysterious sage, so that his first use of a martial maneuver becomes the fulfillment of a prophecy.

Once warblades have become an established part of a campaign world, they find their niches on the battlefield, in the royal court, and in the twin arenas of public opinion and public entertainment. With their crowd-pleasing martial maneuvers, warblades make excellent gladiators, and their thirst for glory often leads them to the public games. However, warblades are equally likely to become enmeshed in the webs of court intrigue, playing cardinals off dukes and infantas off dauphins in a game that they find nearly as rewarding and exciting as swordplay. Whereas a rogue might lament the loss of his riches and a cleric his loss of faith, a warblade feels no deficiency more keenly than the loss of the public's admiration.

Campaign worlds without large, established nations or organizations can still offer warblades a chance at glory. Becoming the hero of a village can be just as meaningful as becoming the hero of a nation - especially if the warblade knows every person in the village, can inquire about the innkeeper's grandchildren by name, and is met in the temple by a congregation that rises to its feet whenever he enters. You might also consider making warblades revolutionaries fighting for freedom rather than seekers of personal glory. Their lack of magical skill plays well to the idea that warblades are oppressed fighters working to subvert a powerful arcane regime that denies the use of magic to all but its chosen agents.

Warblades stay in one place only as long as they receive constant adulation. Once their fame begins to die down, they are on the road again.

EL 5: The warblade Vardalak Axebearer(CN male dwarf warblade 5) wanders the land in search of a master who can lead him to glory. He challenges any warrior who seems skilled to a nonlethal duel. If he loses, he swears to serve the victor for a week. Unfortunately, his service is a mixed blessing. Vardalak is tough and useful in a fight, but his short temper, impetuosity, and rude nature make him a burden outside of battle. His last two masters broke camp early, leaving him snoring loudly at the side of the road.