Quote Originally Posted by Djinn_In_Tonic View Post
Well, here's a large part of the problem:

Maneuvers, by their nature, are repeatable attacks, sometimes as often as every other round.

Epic spells, on the other hand, are one/day deals, sometimes slightly more often than that. They cost large amounts of time, money, and XP to create.

Thus, your maneuvers must always be weaker than the Epic Spells achievable at a similiar level...MUCH weaker.

I'd also suggest taking away the maneuver level, and replacing it with a minimum Martial Lore check to learn that specific maneuver. If there's a DC, treat the maneuver as being a 10th level maneuver, then homebrew feats to raise the DC (much like adding a DC to an Epic Spell).

When I get my new computer and get off of this temporary PoS, I may have some ideas of my own to add.
Thank you very much for your interest.
I clearly understand your suggestion to replace the Maneuver level with an appropriate Martial Lore check, but my goal is to avoid epic-spell mechanics by improving the previous level-based system.

In the normal level-based system a Martial Adept can learn a Maneuver of a specific level only if it has a sufficient Initiator level.
The mathematical progression imply that one can learn Maneuvers of a level equal to half his Initiator level (as per Table 3-1 pag 39 in the ToB).
Levels from 17 to 20, although, break the previous mathematical progression by giving access only to a single new level of Maneuvers (the ninth).
I've taken this "discontinuity" and turned it into a new pattern for high-level Manuevers.

Initiator Level_____Maneuver Level
17-20____________9th
21-24____________10th
25-28____________11th
29-32____________12th
and so on...

Additionally a Martial Adept must take an Epic Feat similar to Improved Spell Capacity to unlock each new level of Maneuver beyond the ninth (obviously the Epic Feat has an increasing Initiator Level prerequisite that match the table above).

Given that, my biggest problem is to balance the new Maneuvers, avoiding over and under-power.
Thanks.