This has been bothering me for a while now.
Every playtest we see has a Warlord and a Warlock in it.
Okay, this is playtesting and these are new classes (although the Warlock has been around for a while in 3.5) so obviously they need to playtest them a lot.
I get that. Still, the more I read the more it seems that the Warlord in particular is getting a lot of love. So much love that I'm wondering if it will beat out the cleric as the class every party has to have.
I mean, the Warlord boosts fighters. It gives casters extra uses of their spells. It slices. It dices. It never rusts and is guaranteed for as long as you avoid a TPK.
It certainly sounds pretty good on a 3:00 a.m. info-mercial, but will that be the case when it arrives in 6-8 weeks (or June 2008)? Well, that remains to be seen.
Showing posts with label playtest report. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playtest report. Show all posts
Friday, December 7, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
More playtest hints
Rodney Thompson's latest blog post about their 4th edition playtest had a few things to pull out...
Ray of frost slows targets down. Is that figuratively (slowed down from killing you because they have to pause and heal), or is that a side-effect of the spell, after the cold damage? Interesting.
The eladrin short-range teleport we had seen before, and it sounds like a good tactical ability. I'm assuming it's an eladrin ability, anyway, but could be a wizard one too.
A copper dragon appears on the scene in the playtest, and gets attacked by the party. Aren't copper dragons Good? Is the party Evil? Has alignment gone by the wayside so much that none of this matters? Not to say that Good can't attack Good, but... well, I guess I expected a copper dragon to be a little more forgiving when Diplomacy was tried, but in the end they slew it...
...after some luck and an "instantaneous magic missile". Is "instantaneous" a new 4e phrase, similar to free/swift/immediate? This was "bestowed" by one of the warlord's abilities, and Thompson goes on to say "...letting me use magic missile at some unexpected times." Does that mean extra times per day/encounter, or just lets the wizard use the given amount at new and interesting times.
Oh, and just to steal Griff's thunder: tweaked magic missile?
HAW HAW.
Ray of frost slows targets down. Is that figuratively (slowed down from killing you because they have to pause and heal), or is that a side-effect of the spell, after the cold damage? Interesting.
The eladrin short-range teleport we had seen before, and it sounds like a good tactical ability. I'm assuming it's an eladrin ability, anyway, but could be a wizard one too.
A copper dragon appears on the scene in the playtest, and gets attacked by the party. Aren't copper dragons Good? Is the party Evil? Has alignment gone by the wayside so much that none of this matters? Not to say that Good can't attack Good, but... well, I guess I expected a copper dragon to be a little more forgiving when Diplomacy was tried, but in the end they slew it...
...after some luck and an "instantaneous magic missile". Is "instantaneous" a new 4e phrase, similar to free/swift/immediate? This was "bestowed" by one of the warlord's abilities, and Thompson goes on to say "...letting me use magic missile at some unexpected times." Does that mean extra times per day/encounter, or just lets the wizard use the given amount at new and interesting times.
Oh, and just to steal Griff's thunder: tweaked magic missile?
HAW HAW.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Hints about the nth-level wizard
Griff and I had a brief discussion about the latest Rodney Thompson blog (I'm still refusing to link to the Gleemax horror), where he talks about his wizard in a new 4th edition playtest.
He didn't mention the level of his character, but we started guessing based on the few hints given. The start-up seemed to hint that they were newer characters, but I guess introductions among the characters need to take place even in higher-level campaigns.
The "short teleport" is what made Griff think that this wasn't a first-level character, but then the wizard stuck to casting Sleep and Magic Missile, which reeks of low-level arcane blustering.
The critical hit that this wizard takes, though, doesn't kill him outright, so this made me suspect that either his attacker criticalled with minimum damage, or the party's not first level after all.
My take on the "short teleport" is that it's a fine power for a first-level wizard to have, perhaps as a 1/day ability, but maybe even more often than that; if it's only a 30' jot, and perhaps line-of-sight, then it's not going to be too powerful for the sake of getting around traps and such, but lets the wizard avoid melee combat, which is what they're likely looking for.
So in the end, we couldn't really decide what level this wizard was. Just tell us, Thompson! Then we can take these little bits of info you've given and know something about the nth-level wizard.
He didn't mention the level of his character, but we started guessing based on the few hints given. The start-up seemed to hint that they were newer characters, but I guess introductions among the characters need to take place even in higher-level campaigns.
The "short teleport" is what made Griff think that this wasn't a first-level character, but then the wizard stuck to casting Sleep and Magic Missile, which reeks of low-level arcane blustering.
The critical hit that this wizard takes, though, doesn't kill him outright, so this made me suspect that either his attacker criticalled with minimum damage, or the party's not first level after all.
My take on the "short teleport" is that it's a fine power for a first-level wizard to have, perhaps as a 1/day ability, but maybe even more often than that; if it's only a 30' jot, and perhaps line-of-sight, then it's not going to be too powerful for the sake of getting around traps and such, but lets the wizard avoid melee combat, which is what they're likely looking for.
So in the end, we couldn't really decide what level this wizard was. Just tell us, Thompson! Then we can take these little bits of info you've given and know something about the nth-level wizard.
Friday, October 12, 2007
The end of a good thing?
Been to Gleemax yet?
I have, and it ain't pretty. In fact, it's an eye straining wasteland of frustration and confusion that is utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal.
In short, it's fugly. Butt-fugly.
It's also the site where WotC devs and designers will be doing all their blogging. Can you feel the glee?
While the Des&Dev articles and Playtest write ups at DDI are all interesting and provide good insights into what will be 4e, I like the developer blogs the best. They don't often give as much detail but they do give a first person peek at the thinking that's going into 4e. It's a peek behind the curtain and really vital to me as a fan and as a member of the dnd community.
Unfortunately that curtain has now turned into a gawd-awful black and green velvet thing that's beyond 70s tacky. Honestly, I don't know if I can bring myself to look again.
I have, and it ain't pretty. In fact, it's an eye straining wasteland of frustration and confusion that is utterly devoid of aesthetic appeal.
In short, it's fugly. Butt-fugly.
It's also the site where WotC devs and designers will be doing all their blogging. Can you feel the glee?
While the Des&Dev articles and Playtest write ups at DDI are all interesting and provide good insights into what will be 4e, I like the developer blogs the best. They don't often give as much detail but they do give a first person peek at the thinking that's going into 4e. It's a peek behind the curtain and really vital to me as a fan and as a member of the dnd community.
Unfortunately that curtain has now turned into a gawd-awful black and green velvet thing that's beyond 70s tacky. Honestly, I don't know if I can bring myself to look again.
Friday, September 7, 2007
A few thoughts on multi-classing and mob combat
The playtest reports are quickly becoming my favorite source of 4e info. This one by Rich Baker was especially good.
The first thing that caught my attention was the way Rich converted his 3e character to 4e. It was an unusual character to begin with and came out looking very different on paper, but still played the same way. That's a key distinction. I'll definitely be keeping that in mind when/if we convert our current party to the 4e ruleset next summer.
Then there's the bit on multi-classing. For starters, they've enabled multi-classing. Yay! Not that I was too worried about it being removed. But with talent trees as I understand them, I suspected multi-classing as it exists now might go the way of the bard. Still useful if done correctly or in small doses but with better or easier ways to get the same result.
And then there was this quote. "...then using our multiclass system to dip into some wizardly bits." (emphasis added by me)
Is it just the cherry picker in me that finds this to be an interesting choice of words? To be fair, the character is human, a race that in 3.5 has no problem with "dipping" into a second or even a third class. Still, it gives me hope that I'll be able to "dip into" other classes besides the core.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I dislike his talk of the "Swordmage" class. Maybe it's the addicted multi-classer, or because of the multi-classer in me, but I hate having two or more core classes melded into a ready to play, straight out of the cookie cutter class. I'd prefer a variety of core classes, each one with a unique angle or ability set, combined with a simple and easy to use multi-classing system. Don't melt classes together because all you get is a watered down "class" that steps on the toes of others. I'm looking at the Scout and any incarnation of the Swordmage/Bladedancer etc....
I just think that those melted classes take too much of the fun from multi-classing. Why play a complex mix of fighter/wizard when the Swordmage is all laid out for you? Don't muck around with min/maxing that Ranger/Rogue, just play a Scout. It's multi-classing for dummies. Fun!
No not really. At least it's no fun for me.
Rich's rollercoaster then climbs back up as the party encounters the room full of vampire minions and mummies. My first thought was that without a dedicated cleric they were doomed. In fact I fully expected the next paragraph to detail a full party wipe.
Instead I was elated to read how every character in the party managed to lay out some damage with area of effect abilities. Nice! Even the psion (Gawd I hate that psionic crap!) contributed.
Better yet, we were given a juicy look at the 'per encounter' and 'per day' abilities. I was worried that the 'per day' things would be the utility type of stuff. Well, Rich dispelled that concern with one very cool use of a scorching ray type of thing. Looked like a mix Scorching Ray with the line of effect of a lightning bolt. Awesome!
Finally, I thought that the entire encounter with a room full of undead was great. I love going toe to toe with one big high CR 'boss', but nothing beats a mob for hectic action. This playtest once again affirmed that 4e is going to streamline combat rules and encourage the DM to throw waves of baddies at the party. I just hope that Cleave and Whirlwind Attack will be among the feat choices.
The first thing that caught my attention was the way Rich converted his 3e character to 4e. It was an unusual character to begin with and came out looking very different on paper, but still played the same way. That's a key distinction. I'll definitely be keeping that in mind when/if we convert our current party to the 4e ruleset next summer.
Then there's the bit on multi-classing. For starters, they've enabled multi-classing. Yay! Not that I was too worried about it being removed. But with talent trees as I understand them, I suspected multi-classing as it exists now might go the way of the bard. Still useful if done correctly or in small doses but with better or easier ways to get the same result.
And then there was this quote. "...then using our multiclass system to dip into some wizardly bits." (emphasis added by me)
Is it just the cherry picker in me that finds this to be an interesting choice of words? To be fair, the character is human, a race that in 3.5 has no problem with "dipping" into a second or even a third class. Still, it gives me hope that I'll be able to "dip into" other classes besides the core.
On the opposite end of the spectrum I dislike his talk of the "Swordmage" class. Maybe it's the addicted multi-classer, or because of the multi-classer in me, but I hate having two or more core classes melded into a ready to play, straight out of the cookie cutter class. I'd prefer a variety of core classes, each one with a unique angle or ability set, combined with a simple and easy to use multi-classing system. Don't melt classes together because all you get is a watered down "class" that steps on the toes of others. I'm looking at the Scout and any incarnation of the Swordmage/Bladedancer etc....
I just think that those melted classes take too much of the fun from multi-classing. Why play a complex mix of fighter/wizard when the Swordmage is all laid out for you? Don't muck around with min/maxing that Ranger/Rogue, just play a Scout. It's multi-classing for dummies. Fun!
No not really. At least it's no fun for me.
Rich's rollercoaster then climbs back up as the party encounters the room full of vampire minions and mummies. My first thought was that without a dedicated cleric they were doomed. In fact I fully expected the next paragraph to detail a full party wipe.
Instead I was elated to read how every character in the party managed to lay out some damage with area of effect abilities. Nice! Even the psion (Gawd I hate that psionic crap!) contributed.
Better yet, we were given a juicy look at the 'per encounter' and 'per day' abilities. I was worried that the 'per day' things would be the utility type of stuff. Well, Rich dispelled that concern with one very cool use of a scorching ray type of thing. Looked like a mix Scorching Ray with the line of effect of a lightning bolt. Awesome!
Finally, I thought that the entire encounter with a room full of undead was great. I love going toe to toe with one big high CR 'boss', but nothing beats a mob for hectic action. This playtest once again affirmed that 4e is going to streamline combat rules and encourage the DM to throw waves of baddies at the party. I just hope that Cleave and Whirlwind Attack will be among the feat choices.
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