Dragon Magazine PH3 Playtest Race: Wilden

[Fallen Seraph]

Originally Posted by chaotix42

I hope these pics are black & white at the moment, and that they'll be a healthy shade of green in PHB3.

Yeah that is just concept art, in the physical descriptions it talks about their colour:

As a wilden ages, its body moves through the seasons. Young wilden exist in the spring stage, filled with life and vigor, their bodies a rich green hue. The summer phase marks maturation and the wilden’s body reaches its full size and stature. Wilden in autumn phase undergo a profound change, their bodies turning colors to fiery reds, yellows, and orange. Finally, the winter phase, the last stage, heralds the end of the wilden’s life, as bright colors give way to browns and white, and the body thins and withers. A typical wilden lives upwards of one hundred years.

[Hawke]

Not really what I was expecting... as a result I'm kind of really unimpressed. I mean, if it were a MM3 preview, I'd be interested... I just don't seem to see much of a drive or a lot of complexity that entices me to say "I want to be one!"

Maybe that's just cause it's so far from what I was thinking... I'll have to revisit it.

I do agree with Fallen Seraph that a good thing is it seems they are willing to step outside some traditional bounds... this might not be the race, but it seems like they're thinking.

[Kunimatyu]

That preview made me think of this: something positive: archive

I suggest that all Wilden have Southern accents; love of french fried tater chips optional.

[chaotix42]

Ah, that's cool Seraph! I didn't read the flavor stuff at all, just the mechanics.

So, what does Con & Wis work well with? Shaman springs to mind.

[Keefe the Thief]

Hey, those guys come in handy! They´ll fit very well into a future Earthdawn 4e campaign, and i can use them to represent the stranger parts of forests where feywild meets POLand.
I admit, i really crave more fantastic races that are unique to 4e. Come on, more fantasy and creativity, people!

[Jack99]

Stuff like this definitely won't make me buy PHB3. It's just too far away from the traditional fantasy game I want to play. But I think it's fair enough that WotC explore that avenue, since quite a few seem interested in "weird" races and they (WotC) have already covered my needs for races.

[ferratus]

Completely uninteresting to me, but I saw some people expressing the hope that the Killoren would come back in the speculation thread, so I'm happy for them.

I'd like to see my Dromites come back myself. They were human enough to be easy to insert in a campaign world, but the insect flavor made them fantastical as well.

[Rani]

I already want to incorporate these guys into my campaign as an NPC race (maybe a PC race when the PH3 actually comes out)! Their unique relationship to the earth and their antagonism with the FarRealm works perfectly into my story!

[ppaladin123]

I prefer the name Killoren. It is easier to pronounce and sounds nicer than Wilden.

I like the variable aspects but the actual racial powers are sort of boring, weak and situational.

I might want to make a Wilden Shaman at some point though.

[RefinedBean]

The mechanics are par for the course, but I really enjoy the fact that they tied 'em in with the fluff.

Honestly, these guys intrigue me about as much as Goliaths do; but I don't expect every race to trip my trigger, and the fluff is substantially different from everything else we've seen that it doesn't bother me that much.

I'd like to see two players play stumpy, identical-looking Wilden that keep giggling "One of us!" Although I wouldn't want to PLAY with 'em.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by Mouseferatu

I think these guys are interesting. They don't leap out as appealing to me as a PC race, but that's purely based on my own tastes in characters, not a comment on the material. I think it's quite solid, and I like the notion of the world developing a race of "antibodies" (my term, not the article's) against the encroachment of the Far Realm. I also like the idea that said race is almost as alien, in some respects, as the Far Realm creatures themselves. I think there's a lot of story potential there.

I like it. But then again, that's how the gods came about in a campaign I created a few years ago. Cthulu/Old one types invading the universe and corrupting it, caused the gods to come into being to rid it of the foreign entities. Strange thing is, I can't remember what book/setting gave me the idea in the first place.

I know I got the whole universe with solar systems and planets being compared to cells and the like from Twin Peaks. But where I got the whole gods as an antibody thing escapes me. Sound familiar to anyone?

[Belorin]

So lets see, one race from Races of Stone, one from Races of the Wild; I'm going to come right out and say the Illumians are in. If not PHB3, then PHB4.

That being said, although I didn't get any of the Races books, I was intrigued by the Killoren as a plant race cause I always wanted to play a Treant when I was younger.

Bel

[chaotix42]

Originally Posted by ppaladin123

I like the variable aspects but the actual racial powers are sort of boring, weak and situational.

I don't think they're boring, weak, or situational at all! Well, they each rely on a specific situation, but the situations are all pretty likely to occur in any given encounter.

One requires you to hit with a close or area attack - pretty simple if you're built for it. Then teleport as a free action & 1 target grants CA to you & 1 ally? Blast, teleport for free, then move away while setting up future attacks. Pretty nice IMO.

Another requires a bloodied enemy to hit or miss you or an adjacent ally - it's inevitable that enemies will become bloodied, so again the situation is quite likely. Then make a basic attack or charge against the enemy, & daze them on a hit? Daze is rather potent, I think, and as an imm. reaction can really screw up a monster's plans.

The last requires an enemy to move or shift within 2 of you - again, not unlikely to occur in the span of an encounter. As another imm. reaction, this power is really versatile too - an enemy moves adjacent to you? Shift away before he attacks! An enemy moves away from you? Shift toward them! Or not! Lots of possibilities with this one. Ignoring their cover & concealment, as well as the extra 1d6 damage is even more gravy!

I wonder what feats will be written up to improve these powers? Hmmmm...

I might want to make a Wilden Shaman at some point though.

Or a druid!

[Baron Opal]

Originally Posted by Rechan

Dude. I just imagined an Ooze-based race.

Dralasites for the win!

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

The race has a few nice twists, I like the idea of the nature aspect chosen affecting the personality.

Someone noticed that they are venturing further off from the "traditional" fantasy races, but I wonder which races are still left there? Aren't the traditional ones Dwarves, Elves, Halfling and Gnomes? Maybe Giants?


The best thing in the article for me was the mention of the Far Realms. Apparently, a theme in the PHB 3 will be the Far Realms creeping up on the world. Like that. Especially since I am considering to take my online campaign into that direction, too. (Though whether it will be out soon enough remains to be seen.)
So, does this help anyone to guess what the campaign next year might be? In which campaign setting is the Far Realm likely to be prevalent and the most important threat? Dark Sun?

[Kishin]

There are Killoren in my campaign setting (albeit NPCs, and the principal game in that setting is still 3.5E), so its good to see them return in 4E form. I've always like them.

Originally Posted by ferratus

I'd like to see my Dromites come back myself. They were human enough to be easy to insert in a campaign world, but the insect flavor made them fantastical as well.

So would I. Dromites were awesome, I say. Toss them in the PHB3.

[Kobold Avenger]

I like the name Killoren better, even if this was a race I ignored back when they first appeared. Another problem with the name Wilden is it's too close to the even more forgettable Planar Handbook race, the Wildren.

If there's one change they should do to match the thematics of this race better, is to have the defense bonus changeable and tied to whatever aspect of nature they choose for the day.

[Mentat55]

What intrigues me is that this is a Playtest article. Perhaps they want us to run the encounter power(s) through their paces? Or maybe they are trying to gauge interest / popularity of this race? Or maybe they want feedback on the fluff more than the crunch?

I just think that it is interesting. And I might try to convince a player in my new "primal" campaign to give a wilden a spin.

[Trolls]

I'm pretty unimpressed by the whole thing. I was expecting something mechanically distinct, something that would make the race worthy of a playtest article. The only distinct parts of the wilden mechanics are the swapping aspects, but we've seen similar mechanics with the genasi and drow anyway.
It's not that the wilden are a bad race, the concept is fairly cool, but I was hoping for so much more. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

[CelticMutt]

Originally Posted by Mustrum_Ridcully

The best thing in the article for me was the mention of the Far Realms. Apparently, a theme in the PHB 3 will be the Far Realms creeping up on the world. Like that. Especially since I am considering to take my online campaign into that direction, too. (Though whether it will be out soon enough remains to be seen.)
So, does this help anyone to guess what the campaign next year might be? In which campaign setting is the Far Realm likely to be prevalent and the most important threat? Dark Sun?

Well, I know there were Dark Sun adventure modules involving the Githyanki, and very often where the Githyanki go the Mind Flayers have been. And there was a psionic humanoid worm race called something like Psulon or Psulorn or something that were essentially aberrant invaders from another dimension. And Defiling magic could easily be linked to the corrupting influence of the Far Realms imo.

So I'd say there are definite possiblities to linking Dark Sun to Far Realms invaders/corruption.


Edit: Ok, after spending half an hour looking up evidence, I have this - Githyanki were called Gith and were "reptilian," and possibly didn't have Mind Flayer connections in Dark Sun. But new edition, new fluff. And the worm guys were Psurlons. Here's a picutre I found that's apparently from the 3.x MM2: http://www.iwozhere.com/SRD/images/88268_620_102.jpg