At the risk of sounding unable to accept something different, I feel the pieces that are more in line with the art in other 3.5 books do a better job demonstrating the maneuvers. Gray tones dominate, and shading is minimal in Kalman Andrasofszky’s many pieces, and Wayne England’s chapter headers are darker in tone with rawer characters. The interior art and layout are outside of the 3.5 style and colour pallet. Because of this cover, The Book of Nine Swords does not start well. However, the character on the cover appears in virtually all chapter headers, often alongside a similarly dressed dwarf. Comparing this book to the Tome of Magic supports my theory. I would speculate that the layers of nonspecific choices are the result of a missed art deadline and WotC had to use the template of another series’ cover and a piece of emergency art. This cover does not put the book’s best foot forward. While there are options for the ranger in the Book of Nine Swords, there is no rang analogue among the three new base classes. As a human, he has to be a ranger, or a rogue who just killed a ranger and is using his stuff. If he were an elf or a half-elf, maybe he is a forest-themed fighter. He is wielding two weapons, has a bow slung over his shoulder, and is wearing light armour with a leaf-motif. If I were to speculate on this character’s class, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a ranger.
The electricity looks more like a shocking weapon property rather than a supernatural swing of the blade that captures a bolt of lightning. This character’s pose does not strike me as someone who is about to turn a tide of chaos or perform a bonesplitting strike. As will be discussed, the book’s big sell is maneuvers that allow warriors to defy physics and dominate the battlefield. The blue electricity and similarly shaded wrist guards are the only colours that stand out among the earth tones. He wields two blades, one of which ripples with electricity. Mostly, we see a warrior’s shoulder and back, which are mostly obscured by a plain black clock. The cover’s format is the profile window used mostly by the Complete series, and the character profiled is generic. There had to be something more to this book for so many to sing its praises while seemingly as many ritualistically burned it.Įric Polak’s cover epitomizes the Book of Nine Swords: An opportunity to demonstrate what this book is about is used to mediocre effect. As time passed and a controversial reputation formed, my expectations changed. Any time I attempted to browse through it left me confused and uninspired. When Tome of Battle – Book of Nine Swords was initially released, I expected a book that could flesh out my preferred role, the warrior. What can a book that made up the middle ground of the edition wars bring to your 3.5 game? Then, it was cited as an early example of how 4 th edition would play out. That alone made it one of the most contentious Wizards of the Coast releases of the 3.5 era. Book of Nine Swords marked a major departure in the eyes of players from the traditional combat experience. Nine martial styles to turn the swing of a warrior’s blade into the stroke of an artist’s brush. Written by: Richard Baker (Matthew Sernett, Frank Brunner)
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