Martial Power: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (D&D Rules Expansion)

Is it perfect? No, but what ever is? You can't please everyone. But this opened up a lot of new options for each of the martial classes. What I love about it is the amount of flavor it added, not only do you get two new builds for each class (minus the Ranger) but you get a whole host of new powers. Well done!

Back when 3.5 was the edition-of-the-time, supplement books tended to contain some good extra material, some less-useful stuff, and then large quantities of annoying fluff. There was material, and in some cases that material was definitely worth paying for, but none of them had good material packed all that densely into their pages.

Martial Power is the polar opposite of that. There's a tiny bit of less-useful stuff, almost no fluff, and an IMMENSE quantity of very useful material to expand the martial classes found in the 4E PHB. Some elements weren't entirely as I'd hoped (the Battlerager concept for the fighter seems a tad superfluous given that the Barbarian's coming out in March, and I was hoping for slightly more 2-Weapon options, but oh well) but overall, this is another indication that Wizards have finally managed to pull their act together and start producing stuff that is DEFINITELY worth buying.

Is the book worth it for martial classes?
yes, the book offers twelve new paragons for each class, which some are race specific. The book also offers a number of very useful feats that are built around each class/race. In a nut shell Martial powers does not turn 4th ed. into an overpowered campaign as 3.0ed supplements habitually did. The paragon classes, feats, and new builds are all balanced and add more flavor to the game.
Special note: this book greatly enhances the multiclassing feat from the player's handbook.

The Martial Power Handbook does exactly what it says it does: expands the core martial classes giving them more options. Each class is given two entirely new builds - with the exception of the ranger.

I would say that each class has a fairly good new build, and a passable one. The Ravager for the Warrior is an interesting take and has nice abilities. The Tempest, I felt, was just the Two Weapon Fighting style from Ranger pasted onto the Warrior. It's nothing new.

The Ranger only gets one new build: The Beastmaster. This build is a wonderful addition to the classes. Companion pets were bound to be implemented in some way eventually, and I think they did a decent job with how it was done. Anyone desiring to take a beast companion will have to focus on the new build though, which means eschewing previous options to optimize the build.

I was hoping for more for the Rogue. The Aerialist is a decent build for mobility, being able to slip into the perfect position through powers. It really plays on the strengths of movement and tactical advantages. Ruthless ruffian I wasn't too happy with as it didn't really expand anything that couldn't have been done with feats alone. Maces and clubs are added to the list of weapons that the rogue can use as if they were light blades, in addition to getting new use from the intimidate skill. It feels gimmicky.

Now, the Warlord has two very different, but very interesting new builds. The new builds are more tactical and create an interesting style of play. The Bravura is a danger-seeking risk taker. By putting him/herself in harms way, they opt for the chance to tip the odds in the player's favor. Coax the enemy into attack so another ally can attack, have the enemy advance on you, and rush through enemies to heal allies. The other build is a more resourceful one, seeking to play at adapting strategically to each situation and not taking huge risks of safety.

Along with the new builds comes new Paragon and Epic tier builds. There are many paragon tier paths, and I found some of them to be mundane or unnecessary. However, others may enjoy them. There were far too many for my liking however. Epic tier introduced a few new interesting paths as well. Again, some may find them too mundane or needing specific circumstances.

The new feats included a few that were nice, but many of them were supplementing the new builds as expected. Overall I was not impressed with the new feats, but some of them certainly are a welcome addition. Included are new multiclass optional feats as well relating to the new builds.

This book is exactly what it claims to be. It offers enough new, good options that I would recommend it. Since 4th Edition is still in it's infancy, it's nice to have more options to make versatile, interesting builds. As with any supplement, however, I would highly recommend thumbing through this at a book store to see if it's worth a purchase.

Martial Power is a sourcebook for 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons that offers more powers, feats, paragon paths, and other options for the martial classes: fighters, rangers, rogues, and warlords. It is not a stand-alone book; it builds on what's presented in the Player's Handbook.

Martial Power is 180 pages, and the production values seem pretty good. The font, layout, and general format is very close to that of the core rulebooks, keeping things consistent.

The content is laid out in an orderly and logical fashion: there's one chapter dedicated to each of the four classes, plus a fifth chapter that deals with feats and epic destinies suited to martial characters.

Each of the class chapters contains one to two new build options. The new fighter builds, for example, are the berserker-style bloodrager and the two-weapon-wielding tempest. Each contains a pretty broad assortment of new powers, usually between 4 and 6 at each level (and of each type, for level 1 powers).

Each contains a few flavor-text sidebars, which range from the interesting and thought provoking (Signature Weapons, Fighters in the World) to the banal. These take up very little space, though.

Finally, each contains a dozen new paragon paths suited to its class. The quality of these varies, but each class has at least a few that are both intriguing and broadly useful across many styles of game.

The fifth chapter contains dozens of new feats of all character levels, plus ten epic destinies, the quality of which likewise varies.

For the most part, the content lives up to its promises. There are a few bizarre and unexplained decisions -- why, exactly, do human fighters excel at wild, panicked swings, and dwarves excel at the shield bash maneuver (but not the shield slam maneuver)? For the most part, though, the design seems solid, and the book does add some much-needed options, including the beastmaster ranger and a rogue paragon path that's among the best D&D treatments of the swashbuckler I've seen.

The biggest weakness is the lack of any index. Coupled with a very minimal table of contents, it can be somewhat difficult to find a particular feat or paragon path you're looking for. The presence of a thorough index would make this book much easier to use. And that's a shame, because the content is relatively strong.

Overall, I think this book is a success. I expect to allow much of the material in my game. It could have been better -- but if the rest of the books in the Power line are this good, I'll buy them and have no regrets. It serves my needs, and if the content needs a little vetting, I expected as much -- that's no different from those supplements for earlier editions.