For a variety of reasons we haven't played our beloved game for several weeks now, so I've yet to try out my hybrid character.
However, I did get a look at the playtest for the Monk class (thanks to Crwth, as usual). Here are my usual half-assed opinions.
First off, the Monk is now Psionic. My initial reaction to that was... well, I was disgusted. I've always hated psionics going all the way back to AD&D. No good reason for that. I think that my problem with psionics started with it not feeling "in place" with the whole swords and magic theme. Anyways, I was young and it's a bias that has irrationally stayed with me ever since.
However, I quickly reminded myself of that and of the fact that it's just a word. With that in mind I was able to get past my hang up and approached it with an open mind (as open as my mind ever gets anyways).
Then, a funny thing happened. I realized that the Psionic power source is a perfect fit for the Monk. In fact, it totally changed a class that never seemed to find the right niche.
With Psionics however, the monk is suddenly associated with it's famous mental fortitude and discipline in a concrete way. What was once just a bit of flavor for RP purposes is now a central theme of the class. It simply works.
Emboldened by that shattered paradigm I continued reading. Much like every class in 4E the monk has some interesting powers, some that are only so-so and formulaic. The new twist of a "Full Discipline" is interesting. Sorta reminiscent of the old "full round action". I like it in that it really makes it easy to visualize the fluidity of the Monk in battle.
My only real complaint is in the weapon proficiencies. I'd like to see more for the monk, just because the real world inspiration (or the one that I visualize when I think "monk") could pick up anything nearby and turn it into a weapon. While I don't think farm implements need to be listed in a PHB, I'm hopeful that the traditional kama, sai, and whatnot find their way into the game as Monk implements. Frankly I'd be surprised if they didn't but for now it is an issue.
All in all, they've done a great job with the 4E monk. Should my current character die, or choose to "retire", I'm thinking my next character will be a monk. Perhaps if the playtesting is done and the PHB3 is out, I might get to try the hybrid monk/sorcerer I've been dreaming of since FR loosened the monk multi-classing restrictions. Now that's something to look forward to.
Showing posts with label power source. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power source. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
What manner of sorcery is this?
Thanks to Crwth I got a look at the Sorcerer class coming in the PHB2. It’s a class that’s been near and dear to me since the early days of 3rd Edition for a variety of reasons.
For starters I’ve always liked the Charismatic hero. More importantly I love the open ended spell selection that allowed (encouraged) a customized theme and spared me the tedious book keeping of the Wizard. Plus there was the challenge of picking those spells knowing that they’d be locked in (at least until WotC introduced the swap rule). Whether it was my Graz’zt worshipping thrall or my greatsword wielding dwarf I loved mixing the sorcerer class in new and weird ways.
So it was that when the 4E PHB was released my biggest initial disappointment was in the omission of the sorcerer class. The fact that the Warlock was there taking up the pages that rightfully belonged to my Sorcerer was just a kick in the junk. But I more or less shrugged it off and settled for a Wizard.
In the early days I was pleasantly surprised by the Wizard. The powers reduced the book keeping so it wasn’t all that bad. In fact I was starting to think that the 4E Wizard was just a Sorcerer by another name. Of course it didn’t take me long to realize that thanks to the powers every class is another class by another name.
Anyways, the preview of the 4E Sorcerer looks promising. But, that said, I'm not sure why they plugged the Sorcerer into the Arcane Striker role. First the Warlock steals the Sorcerer's pages in the PHB, and now the Sorcerer has to share a role with the upstart? Especially when the Elemental source seemed like such a natural fit. So, WTF?
As an aside, am I the only one feeling like WotC has us on a cycle of “hey, this is new and cool” to “blah blah blah” to “yay another power source book” to “blah”?
The “Spell Source” is interesting. The Dragon Magic source is reminiscent of the 3.5 version of the Sorcerer, with it’s Draconic blood in the veins thing. The details are more of the usual bonus to this, gain this when bloodied, schlock that I’ve seen everywhere before.
However the Wild Magic is refreshingly novel. The Chaos Burst is fun in that it gives you a round to round benefit depending on what you roll to attack. Then again, I thought we weren’t going to have to keep track of that sort of thing anymore. And what happens in a round where I don’t roll an attack?
The Unfettered Power is another perk to Wild Magic and this one is without flaw. The natural 20 result is all well and good, but I’m practically giddy with the result of a natural 1. Pushing every creature (enemy or ally) within twenty five feet is hilarious. I can foresee times where I’ll actually want to roll a 1.
The rest of the article is the usual drivel of powers ad nauseum. Some interesting stuff but nothing that stands out as truly unique or class defining.
All in all, I’ve actually got a little something to look forward to.
For starters I’ve always liked the Charismatic hero. More importantly I love the open ended spell selection that allowed (encouraged) a customized theme and spared me the tedious book keeping of the Wizard. Plus there was the challenge of picking those spells knowing that they’d be locked in (at least until WotC introduced the swap rule). Whether it was my Graz’zt worshipping thrall or my greatsword wielding dwarf I loved mixing the sorcerer class in new and weird ways.
So it was that when the 4E PHB was released my biggest initial disappointment was in the omission of the sorcerer class. The fact that the Warlock was there taking up the pages that rightfully belonged to my Sorcerer was just a kick in the junk. But I more or less shrugged it off and settled for a Wizard.
In the early days I was pleasantly surprised by the Wizard. The powers reduced the book keeping so it wasn’t all that bad. In fact I was starting to think that the 4E Wizard was just a Sorcerer by another name. Of course it didn’t take me long to realize that thanks to the powers every class is another class by another name.
Anyways, the preview of the 4E Sorcerer looks promising. But, that said, I'm not sure why they plugged the Sorcerer into the Arcane Striker role. First the Warlock steals the Sorcerer's pages in the PHB, and now the Sorcerer has to share a role with the upstart? Especially when the Elemental source seemed like such a natural fit. So, WTF?
As an aside, am I the only one feeling like WotC has us on a cycle of “hey, this is new and cool” to “blah blah blah” to “yay another power source book” to “blah”?
The “Spell Source” is interesting. The Dragon Magic source is reminiscent of the 3.5 version of the Sorcerer, with it’s Draconic blood in the veins thing. The details are more of the usual bonus to this, gain this when bloodied, schlock that I’ve seen everywhere before.
However the Wild Magic is refreshingly novel. The Chaos Burst is fun in that it gives you a round to round benefit depending on what you roll to attack. Then again, I thought we weren’t going to have to keep track of that sort of thing anymore. And what happens in a round where I don’t roll an attack?
The Unfettered Power is another perk to Wild Magic and this one is without flaw. The natural 20 result is all well and good, but I’m practically giddy with the result of a natural 1. Pushing every creature (enemy or ally) within twenty five feet is hilarious. I can foresee times where I’ll actually want to roll a 1.
The rest of the article is the usual drivel of powers ad nauseum. Some interesting stuff but nothing that stands out as truly unique or class defining.
All in all, I’ve actually got a little something to look forward to.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Powers for everyone
Having read the Warden and Druid classes, I get the feeling of a bit of similarity. True, the Warden doesn't have the burst powers the Druid has, and the Warden has its Marking. Perhaps it's just the effect that Griff and I have mentioned in the past, how all of the powers seem to be the same thing, for every class, with just a little change here and there -- it's like there's a formula for making powers:
Pick an attack ability (Wisdom)
Pick a defense (Reflex)
Pick a range (10 squares)
Pick damage (1d6 fire)
Pick one of the following extra effects: push, pull, slide, stun, daze, combat advantage, zone of effect (zone of effect: fire)
Based on the above, determine whether this is at-will, encounter or daily, based on some formula (at-will)
If Daily, determine the Miss effect, if any (none)
Based on the above, determine appropriate class for this power (Druid)
Based on that, determine the power's name (Flame Seed)
I wonder if every combination of every variable has been crunched into a database, and the last few steps just need to be done for the lifetime of 4e. New classes could be determined that way:
"I was browsing through the database, and found a Dex vs. Fortitude Range 5 2d6 + stun encounter power - what should we do with it?"
"Sounds like some sort of deftly-thrown implement that knocks someone out -- sounds like a Martial Controller to me. Let's call it the 'Flying Dagger' class. Next!"
Now I understand that, given the mechanics of the game, there are only so many combinations of things: we have six abilities to "attack" with, four defenses, four attack types (melee, ranged, burst, close burst), and then some creative damage and effects. So you might say of *course* they're going to start feeling similar.
And that's the point: in previous editions of D&D, those with "spellcasting" differed in large ways: arcane vs. divine, holy vs. nature, innate vs. learned. That let you easily tell the difference between them, and playing each of these classes was quite different. But now every class has spells (...by any other name...) and that's what's making these classes blur together.
Even just having the 3rd edition fighters and rogues using Feats instead of Powers was enough. Even having one defense score and three saving throws was enough for the classes' abilities to feel different. And this is the feeling that we seem unable to shake - that I'm casting Divine Leader attack at the goblin, that Griff is casting Arcane Controller attack, then a Martial Leader attack, a Martial Striker attack, etc. And while my numbers might be slightly different than Griffs, probably not much so, because my Cleric has his best score in Wisdom, and his in Intelligence, and so our rolls are coming out the same.
I've mentioned in the past that I've not read all of the powers for every class, and that certainly goes for those in the 10+ level range. So perhaps I'm speaking too soon, and perhaps this similarity between the classes will disappear as we progress. The danger, of course, is that we don't choose to progress, but instead return to 3rd edition, because 4e can't keep our interest.
Pick an attack ability (Wisdom)
Pick a defense (Reflex)
Pick a range (10 squares)
Pick damage (1d6 fire)
Pick one of the following extra effects: push, pull, slide, stun, daze, combat advantage, zone of effect (zone of effect: fire)
Based on the above, determine whether this is at-will, encounter or daily, based on some formula (at-will)
If Daily, determine the Miss effect, if any (none)
Based on the above, determine appropriate class for this power (Druid)
Based on that, determine the power's name (Flame Seed)
I wonder if every combination of every variable has been crunched into a database, and the last few steps just need to be done for the lifetime of 4e. New classes could be determined that way:
"I was browsing through the database, and found a Dex vs. Fortitude Range 5 2d6 + stun encounter power - what should we do with it?"
"Sounds like some sort of deftly-thrown implement that knocks someone out -- sounds like a Martial Controller to me. Let's call it the 'Flying Dagger' class. Next!"
Now I understand that, given the mechanics of the game, there are only so many combinations of things: we have six abilities to "attack" with, four defenses, four attack types (melee, ranged, burst, close burst), and then some creative damage and effects. So you might say of *course* they're going to start feeling similar.
And that's the point: in previous editions of D&D, those with "spellcasting" differed in large ways: arcane vs. divine, holy vs. nature, innate vs. learned. That let you easily tell the difference between them, and playing each of these classes was quite different. But now every class has spells (...by any other name...) and that's what's making these classes blur together.
Even just having the 3rd edition fighters and rogues using Feats instead of Powers was enough. Even having one defense score and three saving throws was enough for the classes' abilities to feel different. And this is the feeling that we seem unable to shake - that I'm casting Divine Leader attack at the goblin, that Griff is casting Arcane Controller attack, then a Martial Leader attack, a Martial Striker attack, etc. And while my numbers might be slightly different than Griffs, probably not much so, because my Cleric has his best score in Wisdom, and his in Intelligence, and so our rolls are coming out the same.
I've mentioned in the past that I've not read all of the powers for every class, and that certainly goes for those in the 10+ level range. So perhaps I'm speaking too soon, and perhaps this similarity between the classes will disappear as we progress. The danger, of course, is that we don't choose to progress, but instead return to 3rd edition, because 4e can't keep our interest.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Future classes
I just started reading the article on the Warden class, which, as when new classes are introduced, had me thinking about my post here on the role/power-source pairings.
Since that post, Griff and I mulled around the ideas of classes that would pair up the future power sources, the ones that didn't make it into the Player's Handbook but had been mentioned there or elsewhere, such as Primal, Psychic, Ki and Shadow. We took our inspiration from the splat books of 3rd edition, trying to decide what existing classes would fit which roles.
The resulting table is too big for the blog's format, but you can see a live version (which might not match what I'm saying here, if you are looking at it in the future), here. The bold class names are ones that have been defined in rulebooks or other articles; the italicized entries are ones that were our guesses. For the Arcane Defender we had the Spellsword from Tome and Battle; and the Barbarian we had put into Primal Defender, not because we thought it fit perfectly, but because we wanted to place Barbarian somewhere, and had already put a Striker in (forgetting, of course, that we have two Martial Strikers from the get-go.)
Got any guesses for this chart?
Back to the Warden class. Right off the bat, I like the class features; they're nicely in line with the Defender concept and the title of "Warden", finding resistances and defenses where others do not.
The "marking" idea of 4e is one that I haven't fully evaluated. It gets used during our campaigns, but I think we've still got some time before we really see it shine. I like the concept, but it's contrary to the "not having to keep track of things" mentality of 4e -- luckily my players are good at reminding me when they've marked something (just as I'm saying that the target is attacking someone else). The Warden, rightly, gets powers based on marking, which helps cement that Defender role by drawing the enemy to her (or at least penalizing them if they don't).
Lots of the Warden powers deal with movement: pushing/pulling, slowing, sliding, shifting. Again, that works well with the Defender idea -- if the enemy can't move, they can't get to the rest of your party.
And of course, they have the requisite bit of polymorphing in there. In 3.5, I was strongly drawn to the Druid, and the Shifter, and the Verdant Lord... everything that the Primal power source is going to encompass (not counting the Barbarian). Right now, I think that the Warden would have my vote if I was to play a Defender role.
Until we get psionics, right Griff?
Since that post, Griff and I mulled around the ideas of classes that would pair up the future power sources, the ones that didn't make it into the Player's Handbook but had been mentioned there or elsewhere, such as Primal, Psychic, Ki and Shadow. We took our inspiration from the splat books of 3rd edition, trying to decide what existing classes would fit which roles.
The resulting table is too big for the blog's format, but you can see a live version (which might not match what I'm saying here, if you are looking at it in the future), here. The bold class names are ones that have been defined in rulebooks or other articles; the italicized entries are ones that were our guesses. For the Arcane Defender we had the Spellsword from Tome and Battle; and the Barbarian we had put into Primal Defender, not because we thought it fit perfectly, but because we wanted to place Barbarian somewhere, and had already put a Striker in (forgetting, of course, that we have two Martial Strikers from the get-go.)
Got any guesses for this chart?
Back to the Warden class. Right off the bat, I like the class features; they're nicely in line with the Defender concept and the title of "Warden", finding resistances and defenses where others do not.
The "marking" idea of 4e is one that I haven't fully evaluated. It gets used during our campaigns, but I think we've still got some time before we really see it shine. I like the concept, but it's contrary to the "not having to keep track of things" mentality of 4e -- luckily my players are good at reminding me when they've marked something (just as I'm saying that the target is attacking someone else). The Warden, rightly, gets powers based on marking, which helps cement that Defender role by drawing the enemy to her (or at least penalizing them if they don't).
Lots of the Warden powers deal with movement: pushing/pulling, slowing, sliding, shifting. Again, that works well with the Defender idea -- if the enemy can't move, they can't get to the rest of your party.
And of course, they have the requisite bit of polymorphing in there. In 3.5, I was strongly drawn to the Druid, and the Shifter, and the Verdant Lord... everything that the Primal power source is going to encompass (not counting the Barbarian). Right now, I think that the Warden would have my vote if I was to play a Defender role.
Until we get psionics, right Griff?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
PHB - Rituals
Since I was at the end of the book for the Combat chapter, I figured I'd read the last chapter, which is on Rituals.
Rituals were definitely a good move. The long casting time and occasional utility of certain spells in 3rd edition meant that they were something that you only memorized (as a cleric or wizard) if you really knew you were going to use them, and often led to delays in adventuring when you had to rest to get that one utility spell you needed. Sorcerers were pretty much left out of the whole deal, not wanting to waste on of their precious slots on an occasional spell. Granted, scrolls were possible, but who thought ahead for those?
I was bit disappointed, though, that the rituals are being restricted to the arcane and divine powers. With the idea of power sources being stretched across all classes, it seems unfair that those with martial powers are denied rituals.
At first I thought that perhaps it was to let the "spellcasters" keep themselves special from the brawlers, but the role is supposed to dictate how the character contributes to the party, not restrictions because of your career choice.
Why couldn't fighters have rituals? Some sort of meditation, or calisthenic routine, or focused weapon practice? Benefits could include a 24 hour bonus to AC, or to to-hit; Leaders could give a morale bonus to the party members that witness their amazing prowess during this training ritual. An hour of deep, focused breathing could give the striker a bonus to their ranged attack or opportunity attack.
It wouldn't make sense to allow these rituals to exist on scrolls, of course. The idea of a scroll is that some of the arcane or divine power has been stored within the parchment. But a ritual book for martial adventurers doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
Perhaps the idea of practice, meditation and deep breathing is planned more for a different power source, such as the ki power source hinted at for a future monk class. And I'm sure the psionicists will have rituals of the mind. In fact, it seems that as more power sources are introduced in further sourcebooks, the martial character is going to be left out more noticeably.
I've not really given any thought to cost, level, or anything else except for the end result for this proposed martial ritual.
Weapon Familiarity
You hone your primary weapon to perfection, making its keen blade an extension of yourself.
Level: 3
Category: Attack
Time: 1 hour
Duration: 24 hours
Component Cost: 25gp
Market Price: 150gp
Key Skill: Athletics
You focus all of your training on one weapon you possess, getting a feel for every little nuance. For the ritual's duration, you get a +1 ritual bonus to attacks with this weapon only. This does not carry across to another weapon of its type; practicing with one longsword does not give this bonus when using any other. A new weapon may be chosen each time this ritual is performed, but you lose any Weapon Familiarity you previously had when you perform this ritual.
Rituals were definitely a good move. The long casting time and occasional utility of certain spells in 3rd edition meant that they were something that you only memorized (as a cleric or wizard) if you really knew you were going to use them, and often led to delays in adventuring when you had to rest to get that one utility spell you needed. Sorcerers were pretty much left out of the whole deal, not wanting to waste on of their precious slots on an occasional spell. Granted, scrolls were possible, but who thought ahead for those?
I was bit disappointed, though, that the rituals are being restricted to the arcane and divine powers. With the idea of power sources being stretched across all classes, it seems unfair that those with martial powers are denied rituals.
At first I thought that perhaps it was to let the "spellcasters" keep themselves special from the brawlers, but the role is supposed to dictate how the character contributes to the party, not restrictions because of your career choice.
Why couldn't fighters have rituals? Some sort of meditation, or calisthenic routine, or focused weapon practice? Benefits could include a 24 hour bonus to AC, or to to-hit; Leaders could give a morale bonus to the party members that witness their amazing prowess during this training ritual. An hour of deep, focused breathing could give the striker a bonus to their ranged attack or opportunity attack.
It wouldn't make sense to allow these rituals to exist on scrolls, of course. The idea of a scroll is that some of the arcane or divine power has been stored within the parchment. But a ritual book for martial adventurers doesn't seem unreasonable to me.
Perhaps the idea of practice, meditation and deep breathing is planned more for a different power source, such as the ki power source hinted at for a future monk class. And I'm sure the psionicists will have rituals of the mind. In fact, it seems that as more power sources are introduced in further sourcebooks, the martial character is going to be left out more noticeably.
I've not really given any thought to cost, level, or anything else except for the end result for this proposed martial ritual.
Weapon Familiarity
You hone your primary weapon to perfection, making its keen blade an extension of yourself.
Level: 3
Category: Attack
Time: 1 hour
Duration: 24 hours
Component Cost: 25gp
Market Price: 150gp
Key Skill: Athletics
You focus all of your training on one weapon you possess, getting a feel for every little nuance. For the ritual's duration, you get a +1 ritual bonus to attacks with this weapon only. This does not carry across to another weapon of its type; practicing with one longsword does not give this bonus when using any other. A new weapon may be chosen each time this ritual is performed, but you lose any Weapon Familiarity you previously had when you perform this ritual.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Roles and classes
The day is finally here -- it's official release day! And I'm without my Monster Manual. *:^( Karma for gloating that I had the other books early, I suppose - I'm told it shipped this afternoon, so I'll probably see it Tuesday.
While flipping through the class chapter again, to read the powers, I noticed that each of the class blocks had, right at the start, the role and the power source, and that you could possibly refer to a class by that combination; a cleric is a divine leader. This got me wondering about which combinations are currently presented:
So, we've already doubled up on one, which shoots my theory out the window. But what might be planned for those empty spots? A martial controller could be someone who mesmerizes with fancy moves? What would a divine striker be - a terrorist?
And of course, we have other power sources coming - psionics, elemental, ki, etc., which open up even more possibilities. Possibilities that could be filled by PRESTIGE CLASSES...
While flipping through the class chapter again, to read the powers, I noticed that each of the class blocks had, right at the start, the role and the power source, and that you could possibly refer to a class by that combination; a cleric is a divine leader. This got me wondering about which combinations are currently presented:
Role \ Power source | Arcane | Divine | Martial | |
Controller | Wizard | |||
Defender | Paladin | Fighter | ||
Leader | Cleric | Warlord | ||
Striker | Warlock | Ranger, Rogue |
So, we've already doubled up on one, which shoots my theory out the window. But what might be planned for those empty spots? A martial controller could be someone who mesmerizes with fancy moves? What would a divine striker be - a terrorist?
And of course, we have other power sources coming - psionics, elemental, ki, etc., which open up even more possibilities. Possibilities that could be filled by PRESTIGE CLASSES...
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Battery-powered ... fighter?
I'm not sure what I think of this "power source" idea. It might make sense for the spellcasters, as a way for them to remain viable as spellcasters (contrary to what Griff wants to see), but I don't see the need for the fighter types.
The draw of the fighter classes over the spellcasting classes has always been that they don't run out. They may not have the fanciest attacks (though grappling, tripping, stunning, tripping, disarming, etc. are all interesting at times), but they keep on going. The spellcasters got to zap whole groups at a time, a few chosen times, and then let the "meat shields" step in and clean up. Is there a need to have either extra abilities that are available from this power source, or to limit their existing abilities down to a power source? To me, this sounds like the fighters are going to have more abilities than before, and so we should now expect even more from the spellcasters, or their older "infinite" set of abilities are being limited, which means their power-sourced abilities better be impressive indeed to make these classes at all desirable.
The other interpretation is that the power source would be used for feat-like abilities -- in which case, what are feats for? Or if they're used for skill-like actions, what are skills for? Unfortunately, these last two Design & Development articles have been complete teasers, giving us nothing but tidbits to rant or rave about. I'm wary, but until we seen a hands-on example of these power sources, I won't rule it out quite yet.
The draw of the fighter classes over the spellcasting classes has always been that they don't run out. They may not have the fanciest attacks (though grappling, tripping, stunning, tripping, disarming, etc. are all interesting at times), but they keep on going. The spellcasters got to zap whole groups at a time, a few chosen times, and then let the "meat shields" step in and clean up. Is there a need to have either extra abilities that are available from this power source, or to limit their existing abilities down to a power source? To me, this sounds like the fighters are going to have more abilities than before, and so we should now expect even more from the spellcasters, or their older "infinite" set of abilities are being limited, which means their power-sourced abilities better be impressive indeed to make these classes at all desirable.
The other interpretation is that the power source would be used for feat-like abilities -- in which case, what are feats for? Or if they're used for skill-like actions, what are skills for? Unfortunately, these last two Design & Development articles have been complete teasers, giving us nothing but tidbits to rant or rave about. I'm wary, but until we seen a hands-on example of these power sources, I won't rule it out quite yet.
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