I think it's still a bit early to worry too much about this. That said...
I remember glancing through the hybrid rules a while back. I don't think there's anything in them that wouldn't fit on our current character sheets. Basically, instead of your class being "Barbarian", it's "hybrid barbarian/fighter" or whatever. That gives you a slightly different menu of things to pick from, but it's not really much different than any other class, char-sheet-wise.
Nope. No way. Tonk won't go down for the count. He's an awesome sandwich with amazing sauce.
Truth to tell, I'm just joking about dropping Hacker. D&D finally made bards the way I like them, and Hacker's my Johnny Cash/Waylon Jennings (during their hardest drinking and hell raising days) and 'How many references to other stories have I made?' character. (Waylon once blew up a bar with dynamite because the club owner wouldn't pay up on what was owed.) How can that not be fun to play?
Last edited by KenHood; 30th August 2009 at 06:29 PM..
Truth to tell, I'm just joking about dropping Hacker. D&D finally made bards the way I like them, and Hacker's my Johnny Cash/Waylon Mason Jennings (during their hardest drinking and hell raising days) and 'How many references to other stories have I made?' character. (Waylon once blew up a bar with dynamite because the club owner wouldn't pay up on what was owed.) How can that not be fun to play?
Just fixing with a great singer/songwriter.
I agree with bards, they rock. Pun totally intended. I don't think there is anything too broken with hybrids yet.
I'd argue that they're in fact underpowered. MAD is a serious issue for most concepts, and even those that synergize well are lacking in major class abilities off the bat without spending feats: defenders without their full armor is big; ditto needing to spend that extra feat on it rather than on weapon expertise or what have you.
so:
1) MAD
2) Feat drain to catch up
3) party composition directing role choices
Personally, I think those flaws should allow someone to pick powers they want in whatever amount from either class, rather than evening out the lists (half of one, half the other).
For example, you might get a wizard paladin who has plate mail at 1st level, sure. However, damage output is still low, ranged attacks still draw AOs in melee, and they're going to be putting all their points into Int (which doesn't help paly abilities) or into Charisma/Strength (which doesn't help wizard abilities). A Tiefling might be helpful, and staff-mage-paladin isn't too bad... but that's the only race that'd do well stat-wise for this combo, and even then you'd have to ask what the character would be good for in terms of party composition: who would want them in the group?
I think it wouldn't be too bad, generally. I'd vote yes, if it came to it (and I could vote; I do, in RL, btw!)
And yeah, sure, some combos suck. That's fine. If you want to be a paladin with arcane blasty powers, you can be a hybrid paladin/sorcerer just fine. If you're flexible in how you implement your character vision, you can probably make most things work in a similar fashion.
__________________ Gary Hoggatt - www.garyh.net "Such heroic nonsense..."
Yes, there will be some hybrid combos that work poorly, but it should be rather apparent from the outset that a given combo won't work well.
I mean, if you want to play a suboptimal combination, fine. I don't think that the poor choices from an optimization standpoint should set the bar, though. You should look at things like thaneborn barbarian/inspiring warlord, or wizard/swordmage - combos that at least share main ability scores.
I will say, though, that it will likely be hard to make truly effective hybrids, unless both classes fill the same role and share a main ability. Getting half of each of two roles' role-fulfilling abilities can really cripple you, especially in 4e where the idea seems to be to have specialized characters come together to make a well-rounded team.
Very excited for the PHB3, can't wait to play a Hybrid. What's the word on the character sheets? Did that change because of the new wiki, or was that just discussion as well?
Then what would stop you from going practically pure wizard, except you get to walk around in plate?
Anyways, things may look different when the final rules are released. It's all just speculation now.
Well, sure. a minimum would work, but not strictly speaking half.
Although I'd say a Sorcerer/Paladin would be more brutal in plate, as they can really deal out damage, and share a major attack stat (Charisma).
Wizard in plate isn't as big a deal as it might be in 3e. 4e Wizards have Cantrip and sleep, and a hybrid wizard/pally is going to have effectiveness issues with MAD. Having the wimp in the party wearing armor might make them more helpful!
EDIT: Is anyone in the RPGA? Can player choose Hybrid PCs?
No, it's not an approved source as PHB3 isn't out yet. RPGA doesn't allow playtest material (so Psion, Monk are out as well).
re: chracter roles, if you play a two-roled hybrid (the pally/sorceror for example) you would be best as a 5th PC (I think anyways) as that way you get the 4 covered and have a spattering of defender and a bit of striker. Just my 2 coppers.
except psion, monk and assassin are not playtests but previews
Playtest/Preview Classes: If you chose a class that was released as a playtest or preview in Dragon Magazine, when the class is published in a later rulebook, you can retrain out any feats, powers, or skills – not just one of your choice
Turns out I was wrong.... yes you can play those classes.
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