True,  I think the much bigger problem with D&D is simply that the spell list does every fucking possible thing on the planet that could ever be thought of to do while the rest of the rules tend to be extremely tough on people.<br/><br/>Misinterpreting the (apparently broken) combat maneuver rules in pathfinder back to the 3.5 rules would probably be fairly effective, and considering that the new power attack feat provides twice the damage bonus for half the attack penalty...  (the only loss being that two handed weapon power attack damage is reduced)<br/><br/><br/>I have to admit I dislike tome of battle somewhat on general principle though.  If I'm going to look up a list of several hundred powers before I play my character, I might as well play exalted.<br/><br/>In face to face games, melee classes do tend to be able to hold their own against caster classes for the simple fact that the amount of information and planning needed to manage a caster optimally is almost impossible to do in the same time frame that the melee characters plan their strategy in.  I'm pretty much going to assume that's an artifact of how the game was originally played/designed.<br/>