Curiously, I find 'Ruby Knight' sounds just fine.
I think it's a fair cop to, say, disallow ToB for the first six levels, if the DM wants to keep the nitty-gritty.
Then, the sorcerers start flying and adamantite-wielding barbarians go through stone walls, so the DM really doesn't have a leg to stand on.
I've tried a low-level (oriental-theme) pure ToB campaign - I even gave triple HP to the players, as I didn't have a full party, and with a Swordsage and a Warblade, I discovered the game was really, absolutely NO DIFFERENT from if I'd had a Rogue and a Fighter - although the 'Rogue' was definitely better in combat than an actual rogue would've been. But, there was stealth, there was climbing, there was rather ordinary swinging of swords - the Swordsage did have some Desert Wind, but it IS the mystic class, and you'd get pyrokinetics if you'd had a wizard in the game, too.
It was also the very only game I've ever seen anyone getting bull rushed, ever. Thank you, Charging Minotaur. It was beautiful.