Starlock Power Choices

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm trying to choose between 3 Warlock Utility powers for my newly 2nd level Dwarven Starlock (MC Ranger):

Magnus Skyhammer
In his family tree, there are stories of oddball uncles and insane ancestors with unhealthy interest in astronomy & the Far Realms. His own personal interest was sparked when he came across a meteor in a crater, which he took home. A little cutting and polishing revealed amazing things...nickel-iron from space infused with peridot!

Researching this odd material led him to the notes of his ancestors...and their belief that such stones were created in the Far Realms, possibly as (failed) seeds of new kinds of aberrations launched into the Prime Material Plane to mutate it into something more like their plane of origin.

This theory and others he found within the ancient tomes drove him to find a new purpose in life: the destruction of Aberrations wherever he could. He would fight fire with fire...or chaos with chaos!

Now, the campaign is nominally PHB1 only, but he's letting us chip away at that piecemeal, so most of our PCs' initial underpinnings are right out of that book. I'm trying to open things up a bit while staying true to my PCs concept.

• The power under consideration from PHB1 grants a 3 space t-port w/+2 power bonus to all defenses until end of next turn built in.
  
• Arcane Senses (PHB3) is an Encounter Utility power (minor action) that lets him make an Arcana check to learn the separate #s of elemental, fey and shadow creatures within a number of squares = check result; no locations revealed.
  
• Otherworldly Lore (PHB3) is an Encounter Utility power that let's me make a Dungeoneering check to determine the resistances vulnerabilities of an Aberration I can see (burst5, minor action); a successful roll lets me or an ally who can hear me get a +4 to the next attack roll against it until end of next turn.

I see the first one as the most utilitarian power, and its usefulness is clear. Arcane Senses has a lot of mechanical and RP potential, and Otherworldly Lore is obviously the most limited, but also the most closely linked to the PC concept.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

I'd probably go for the first one unless you know your campaign is going to involve a bunch of aberrant monsters.

While the other two may match your character concept a bit better, it's not useful to pick powers you're simply not going to use.

How about reskinning Etheral Stride into a more flavorful description? Maybe it represents tapping into the chaos that swirls around you to alter reality. Something like that.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

All seem like sound choices, characterwise... I can't really recommend one over the other, as its a gut check in weighing utility versus flavour. Additionally, things like the two skill powers you want, their utility really depends on how much such things appear in your campaign, and how hostile they are to you.

That said, you can actually take 2 of those 3 choices... the feat Skill Power gives you a skill power without needing to swap out one of your class utilites. The added bonus is that if your DM allows skill powers generally, I can't see much grounds for the one time ability to gain one more at the cost of a feat.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Good points all around. I'm also concerned about the powers' utility, since it's a new campaign with a new DM: I have no feel at all for how things are going to progress.

I hadn't even noticed the Skill Power Feat- and I had been looking for ways to increase the # of powers a PC had! (Of course, this means re-evaluating the PC's advancement plot...)

I think y'all have the right of it. Dwarves are a practical lot by nature, so Ethereal Stride makes sense even from a RP standpoint...especially in the light of the SP feat.

And yes, I will reflavor it. It's listed in my notes as Antarean Step at the moment...but I think I can do better.

Assuming I go with Ethereal Step, which of the other powers would you choose with the Skill Power feat (assuming they're equally useful in this campaign)?

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Well... assuming they are equally useful... well, you might as well flip a coin.

That said, I think Arcane senses is more likely to be useful - more creature types, and it allows you to know at the start of an encounter how many creatures you are likely to face.

And, if you end off facing a lot of aberations, you can always retrain.

 

[Ryujin]

Arcane Senses has no lnk to the character concept. To me, that makes the choice between Ethereal Stride and Otherworldly Lore. Both powers have a strong Far Realms flavour. I think that Ethereal Stride is more mechanically useful, at low levels. You can always retrain for Otherworldly Lore, at a later time, if you find it useful.

 

[Wepwawet]

Clearly Otherworldly Lore has more to do with your character concenpt, but Arcane Senses is not that far off

It can be a "magic radar" to help find the aberrations Magnus fights with so much dedication.
With Arcane Senses he can detect otherwordly creatures and ...
... damn, I just noticed it doesn't detect aberrations

Couldn't it be houseruled?

 

[Herschel]

I like Ethereal Stride "As the stars appear to realign in the skies, so does my worldy body here now!"