Wik
First Post
I had a long introduction about the PHB 2 all written up, but decided to scrap it. Whether or not the PHB 2 is a "Splat book" along the lines of the "Complete X" series, or a game rules expansion similar to Unearthed Arcana is for you to decide. I would suggest that it is a little bit of both, but infinitely more useful than any splat/rules expansion book out there.
To put it simply, PHB 2 expands the game in interesting ways, and almost every page has something in it that will raise your eyebrows.
The first chapter, in typical wotc fashion, is dedicated to "new classes". Unlike the complete books, which offer three new classes, the PHB 2 offers four new classes, each which fills one of the four "Classic" roles in new ways: the beguiler (rogue), the Dragon Shaman (Cleric), Duskblade (Wizard), and Knight (Fighter).
The beguiler reminds me of a new and improved spellthief. Focused on enchantment/illusion spells, the beguiler has a 9 level spell progression that functions much like the war mage or dread necromancer. He also gets trapfinding, a good skill progression, and some neat class abilities. My personal favourite is "Cloaked Casting" - if the foe is denied a dexterity bonus, the DC to resist the beguiler's spell is increased. It's a very "roguish" character ability, without resorting to giving the character a sneak attack. As someone who loves spelltheives (even if they do kind of suck, mechanically), I was overjoyed to see the beguiler appear in this book. I think it will serve as a replacement bard for a lot of groups... it seems very mechanically balanced. It's not a combat-based character class, but I really see it being very helpful to almost any group. Excellent design... kudos to whoever made it.
Next up is the dragon shaman. It reads as being a broken class, but I have a sneaky suspicion it really isn't. More or less, the dragon shaman wants to be more like dragons (it's been done!). He gets a breath weapon, natural armour, and a few bonus skills relating to whatever type of dragon he decides to claim affinity. However, his main ability is his aura.
The aura is similar to that of the marshal, only it's much, much, better. The dragon shaman selects an aura, can change it as a swift action, and all allies within range gain the listed ability. Some of the auras (all may be selected upon first level): you gain fast healing, but can only heal up to 50% of your full hit point total; you gain damage reduction; you inflict bonus damage.... These auras are fairly powerful, but seeing as the class seems to have been designed as an option for a group looking to replace the cleric, I don't see it as being all that powerful. Some people would disagree with me, though.
Next up is the Duskblade, which is pretty much the D&D elf class from the days of old. In other words, you get spells, and you get weapons. Oh, and you get medium armour. There are a bunch of prestige classes out there that do the same thing... the difference is, the Duskblade does it from first level. It's not a broken class or anything; I can't see it dominating any group. I just find the class to be rather... boring. Most of his spells consist of buffing/boosting his combat abilities... Personally, I'd rather play a fighter and have the group's cleric cast spells on me. The duskblade does get a 5 level spell progression, which I thought was pretty neat - I had never seen this before.
Finally, there's the knight - my least favourite of the four new classes. You get a d12 hit die, and you issue challenges to your foes. The knight is a defensive class that can protect people around him, take out the big foes in your group... it sort of reminds me of the dwarven defender prestige class, actually. I can see a lot of players loving the class, but I don't like it much myself. Two things about the class really miff me - 1) the class gets a strong will save, but weak fort and ref saves, which seems odd for a front-line fighter, and 2) The class gets a new ability at every level except for 18th.... if you want to design a class to have an ability a level, why leave ONE level empty? It's a minor point... but it annoyed me nonetheless.
A neat thing about these four classes is that they're not really designed for multi-classing - I really think once you start taking levels, you're stuck. Compare this to, say, the paladin, which I've seen many players take about five or six levels in before heading out to some other class.
Chapter 2 is probably the best chapter in the book. It's called "Expanded classes", and it's exactly that. It gives role-playing advice and character themes for all of the core classes, as well as many of the classes from the splatbooks (favoured soul, hexblade, marshal, scout, swashbuckler, warlock, and warmage; my beloved spellthief was left out). This role-playing advice is EXCELLENT, and it's something that's long been missing from wotc books. Furthermore, each class gets a new class feature that can replace an existing class feature. Some of these are fairly simple (barbarians get a berserker frenzy instead of rage; a hexblade gets a "Dark Companion" that infers a -2 AC penalty on foes, instead of a familiar), while others rework how the game functions - in good ways.
As an example, the druid's new class feature is a simplified version of wild shape - with this new ruleset, the druid can shapeshift unlimited times per day, but just gains ability bonuses while in these forms. So, in "predator form", you get a bite attack, +4 strength, and +4 natural armour. Your predator form could be a leopard, a wolf, or whatever else - mechanically, it's all the same. As you advance, you get new forms (aerial form, forest avenger form, etc...). Using this system involves a lot less bookwork than the existing system.
The fighter also receives new class features that make a high-level fighter a viable character option. A high level fighter can counter-attack foes, deal double damage, etc...
I can't think of any "Class expansion" that comes off as unbalanced; some of the expansions are just better than others. Most address the way the game is ACTUALLY played as opposed to how it should be played... for example, the paladin's expansion allows it a charging smite attack, instead of gaining a mount - the designers realized that since mounted combat isn't nearly as common as foot combat, losing out the mounted combat might be a good option for paladin players.
Next up are the feats - and there'sa LOT of them. Most seem to be focused on class abilities, allowing higher-level characters some new options. There are high level feats with melee fighters in mind, monks in mind, and even a few aimed at bards. Some of my favourites include arcane toughness, which allows an arcane caster to expend a prepared spell/spell slot to heal damage if reduced to 0 HP or less - great for any wizard who doesn't have a dedicated bodyguard; shield specialization (and more feats within the tree), which improves the AC bonus you receive when using a shield; and Trophy Collector, which allows a character to gain game benefits from body parts he collects from slain foes - I've had about three different players of mine do something similar, so it's nice to see a game reward for doing this.
There are also ceremony feats, although they are only touched upon in this books, and "Combat Focus" feats, which greatly improve the fighter while he is in his state of focus(focus doesn't last too long). There are also divine and metamagic feats, as well as "heritage feats", which are aimed entirely at sorcerers. No longer does your sorcerer need to be descended from dragons... now, you can be descended from angels or devils, and can take the appropriate feat to match! These feats let you lose spell slots to gain acid and cold resistance, fly for a short time, gain saving throw bonuses.... it's a neat idea, and I'd love to see more of it in the future.
Chapter 4: New Spells is pretty good. Slashing Dispel is my fave on the list - you inflict damage along with dispelling the spell! There are also "Crown" spells, which provide a minor effect for a long period of time, although you can discharge them for a much larger (albeit very short-lived) effect. Scattering Trap is another favourite of mine - it allows the caster to "trap" several squares, so that foes who hit those squares are instantly teleported 1d6 squares in a random direction.
Chapter Five: Building your identity is another one of my favourite chapters in the book. It's based entirely around developing your character, providing sample backgrounds, personality types, and traits. It gives some RP advice on how to manifest these character types, and even provides a sample quote or two. It also provides some advice on being a good player at the table - I like how it reminds players to not always demand the spotlight. I'm an old hand at D&D by now, but I still found a lot of information in this chapter to be quite useful.
Chapter Six is dedicated to the adventuring group, and helps flesh out WHY your group adventures together - AWESOME. Why is it always the GM's job to decide why the group works together? It's about time that a PLAYER'S book is aimed at figuring this piece of information out. There's also some very helpful information about building your group - how a 3 person group should run, and how a 5 person group might work out. This chapter also includes the best piece of artwork I've ever seen in a D&D book - page 152 has this beautiful painting involving regdar, mialee, and lidda - it really captures the majesty of adventuring, in my feeble mind. The chapter ends with some teamwork benefits, much like those introduced in DMG 2. I still don't like these teamwork benefits, although some DMs will love 'em. More or less, they work like feats - if the group meets the prerequisites, they gain some benefit. For example, "Camp Routine" lets all watch members gain a bonus on spot and listen checks. Teamwork benefits are designed to provide rules for an adventuring group that has been together for a while and knows how one another function - I just find it's one more situation to introduce rules where they might not really be necessary.
Chapter 7: Affiliations is a very cool chapter that I'm afraid I'll probably never use. It works like this: as characters progress, they join various networks. These networks give the character game benefits. However, since a group only has a limited time at the table (and everyone's going to be equally involved), there's usually little time for a PC to cultivate individual relationships. The affiliation rules let individual PCs belong to different groups - one PC might hail from Dragon Island, while another might belong to the Caravan of Shadows. As PCs progress though their affiliations, they can use their relationship with this affiliation to affect their adventures. Affiliations can provide a group with information, added muscle, equipment... The mechanics for affiliations are rather simple, and they're beautifully designed - I'd go indepth, but I think it'd be easier to just say they're rather well thought-out. My biggest beef with this chapter is that it seems like a lot of work to create your own, and I couldn't really see my campaign having more than a couple different affiliations for my players to choose from. So, while I love the system, I won't use it.
Finally, there's Chapter 8: Redesigning your character, which is aimed towards people that wish they had taken feat x instead of feat y. Or, after three sessions as an elven fighter, realized a dwarven fighter would've been wiser. These rules allow a character to rebuild his character (keeping the same magical items and whatnot) with an in-game explanation - you simply visit the gates of dawn or some other location, or retrain, or whatever else. This is one of those things where I could see a lot of players really wanting to use this... but I wouldn't really allow it myself. If, after a session or two, a player realized that he didn't like a feat, I'd let him switch it for something else - I don't need rules to show me how to do it. And I certainly wouldn't let a player convert his elven cleric into a dwarven warmage, and somehow say it's the same character - it just doesn't work for me. I personally think this is the weakest chapter in the book.
All in all, the PHB 2 is one of those books that I think almost every 3e group would benefit from. If I were going to game with only five books at the table, PHB 2 would be one of them. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was the limited the usefulness of the last chapter, and the dubious utility of the affiliations rules - they definately don't work for all groups.
To put it simply, PHB 2 expands the game in interesting ways, and almost every page has something in it that will raise your eyebrows.
The first chapter, in typical wotc fashion, is dedicated to "new classes". Unlike the complete books, which offer three new classes, the PHB 2 offers four new classes, each which fills one of the four "Classic" roles in new ways: the beguiler (rogue), the Dragon Shaman (Cleric), Duskblade (Wizard), and Knight (Fighter).
The beguiler reminds me of a new and improved spellthief. Focused on enchantment/illusion spells, the beguiler has a 9 level spell progression that functions much like the war mage or dread necromancer. He also gets trapfinding, a good skill progression, and some neat class abilities. My personal favourite is "Cloaked Casting" - if the foe is denied a dexterity bonus, the DC to resist the beguiler's spell is increased. It's a very "roguish" character ability, without resorting to giving the character a sneak attack. As someone who loves spelltheives (even if they do kind of suck, mechanically), I was overjoyed to see the beguiler appear in this book. I think it will serve as a replacement bard for a lot of groups... it seems very mechanically balanced. It's not a combat-based character class, but I really see it being very helpful to almost any group. Excellent design... kudos to whoever made it.
Next up is the dragon shaman. It reads as being a broken class, but I have a sneaky suspicion it really isn't. More or less, the dragon shaman wants to be more like dragons (it's been done!). He gets a breath weapon, natural armour, and a few bonus skills relating to whatever type of dragon he decides to claim affinity. However, his main ability is his aura.
The aura is similar to that of the marshal, only it's much, much, better. The dragon shaman selects an aura, can change it as a swift action, and all allies within range gain the listed ability. Some of the auras (all may be selected upon first level): you gain fast healing, but can only heal up to 50% of your full hit point total; you gain damage reduction; you inflict bonus damage.... These auras are fairly powerful, but seeing as the class seems to have been designed as an option for a group looking to replace the cleric, I don't see it as being all that powerful. Some people would disagree with me, though.
Next up is the Duskblade, which is pretty much the D&D elf class from the days of old. In other words, you get spells, and you get weapons. Oh, and you get medium armour. There are a bunch of prestige classes out there that do the same thing... the difference is, the Duskblade does it from first level. It's not a broken class or anything; I can't see it dominating any group. I just find the class to be rather... boring. Most of his spells consist of buffing/boosting his combat abilities... Personally, I'd rather play a fighter and have the group's cleric cast spells on me. The duskblade does get a 5 level spell progression, which I thought was pretty neat - I had never seen this before.
Finally, there's the knight - my least favourite of the four new classes. You get a d12 hit die, and you issue challenges to your foes. The knight is a defensive class that can protect people around him, take out the big foes in your group... it sort of reminds me of the dwarven defender prestige class, actually. I can see a lot of players loving the class, but I don't like it much myself. Two things about the class really miff me - 1) the class gets a strong will save, but weak fort and ref saves, which seems odd for a front-line fighter, and 2) The class gets a new ability at every level except for 18th.... if you want to design a class to have an ability a level, why leave ONE level empty? It's a minor point... but it annoyed me nonetheless.
A neat thing about these four classes is that they're not really designed for multi-classing - I really think once you start taking levels, you're stuck. Compare this to, say, the paladin, which I've seen many players take about five or six levels in before heading out to some other class.
Chapter 2 is probably the best chapter in the book. It's called "Expanded classes", and it's exactly that. It gives role-playing advice and character themes for all of the core classes, as well as many of the classes from the splatbooks (favoured soul, hexblade, marshal, scout, swashbuckler, warlock, and warmage; my beloved spellthief was left out). This role-playing advice is EXCELLENT, and it's something that's long been missing from wotc books. Furthermore, each class gets a new class feature that can replace an existing class feature. Some of these are fairly simple (barbarians get a berserker frenzy instead of rage; a hexblade gets a "Dark Companion" that infers a -2 AC penalty on foes, instead of a familiar), while others rework how the game functions - in good ways.
As an example, the druid's new class feature is a simplified version of wild shape - with this new ruleset, the druid can shapeshift unlimited times per day, but just gains ability bonuses while in these forms. So, in "predator form", you get a bite attack, +4 strength, and +4 natural armour. Your predator form could be a leopard, a wolf, or whatever else - mechanically, it's all the same. As you advance, you get new forms (aerial form, forest avenger form, etc...). Using this system involves a lot less bookwork than the existing system.
The fighter also receives new class features that make a high-level fighter a viable character option. A high level fighter can counter-attack foes, deal double damage, etc...
I can't think of any "Class expansion" that comes off as unbalanced; some of the expansions are just better than others. Most address the way the game is ACTUALLY played as opposed to how it should be played... for example, the paladin's expansion allows it a charging smite attack, instead of gaining a mount - the designers realized that since mounted combat isn't nearly as common as foot combat, losing out the mounted combat might be a good option for paladin players.
Next up are the feats - and there'sa LOT of them. Most seem to be focused on class abilities, allowing higher-level characters some new options. There are high level feats with melee fighters in mind, monks in mind, and even a few aimed at bards. Some of my favourites include arcane toughness, which allows an arcane caster to expend a prepared spell/spell slot to heal damage if reduced to 0 HP or less - great for any wizard who doesn't have a dedicated bodyguard; shield specialization (and more feats within the tree), which improves the AC bonus you receive when using a shield; and Trophy Collector, which allows a character to gain game benefits from body parts he collects from slain foes - I've had about three different players of mine do something similar, so it's nice to see a game reward for doing this.
There are also ceremony feats, although they are only touched upon in this books, and "Combat Focus" feats, which greatly improve the fighter while he is in his state of focus(focus doesn't last too long). There are also divine and metamagic feats, as well as "heritage feats", which are aimed entirely at sorcerers. No longer does your sorcerer need to be descended from dragons... now, you can be descended from angels or devils, and can take the appropriate feat to match! These feats let you lose spell slots to gain acid and cold resistance, fly for a short time, gain saving throw bonuses.... it's a neat idea, and I'd love to see more of it in the future.
Chapter 4: New Spells is pretty good. Slashing Dispel is my fave on the list - you inflict damage along with dispelling the spell! There are also "Crown" spells, which provide a minor effect for a long period of time, although you can discharge them for a much larger (albeit very short-lived) effect. Scattering Trap is another favourite of mine - it allows the caster to "trap" several squares, so that foes who hit those squares are instantly teleported 1d6 squares in a random direction.
Chapter Five: Building your identity is another one of my favourite chapters in the book. It's based entirely around developing your character, providing sample backgrounds, personality types, and traits. It gives some RP advice on how to manifest these character types, and even provides a sample quote or two. It also provides some advice on being a good player at the table - I like how it reminds players to not always demand the spotlight. I'm an old hand at D&D by now, but I still found a lot of information in this chapter to be quite useful.
Chapter Six is dedicated to the adventuring group, and helps flesh out WHY your group adventures together - AWESOME. Why is it always the GM's job to decide why the group works together? It's about time that a PLAYER'S book is aimed at figuring this piece of information out. There's also some very helpful information about building your group - how a 3 person group should run, and how a 5 person group might work out. This chapter also includes the best piece of artwork I've ever seen in a D&D book - page 152 has this beautiful painting involving regdar, mialee, and lidda - it really captures the majesty of adventuring, in my feeble mind. The chapter ends with some teamwork benefits, much like those introduced in DMG 2. I still don't like these teamwork benefits, although some DMs will love 'em. More or less, they work like feats - if the group meets the prerequisites, they gain some benefit. For example, "Camp Routine" lets all watch members gain a bonus on spot and listen checks. Teamwork benefits are designed to provide rules for an adventuring group that has been together for a while and knows how one another function - I just find it's one more situation to introduce rules where they might not really be necessary.
Chapter 7: Affiliations is a very cool chapter that I'm afraid I'll probably never use. It works like this: as characters progress, they join various networks. These networks give the character game benefits. However, since a group only has a limited time at the table (and everyone's going to be equally involved), there's usually little time for a PC to cultivate individual relationships. The affiliation rules let individual PCs belong to different groups - one PC might hail from Dragon Island, while another might belong to the Caravan of Shadows. As PCs progress though their affiliations, they can use their relationship with this affiliation to affect their adventures. Affiliations can provide a group with information, added muscle, equipment... The mechanics for affiliations are rather simple, and they're beautifully designed - I'd go indepth, but I think it'd be easier to just say they're rather well thought-out. My biggest beef with this chapter is that it seems like a lot of work to create your own, and I couldn't really see my campaign having more than a couple different affiliations for my players to choose from. So, while I love the system, I won't use it.
Finally, there's Chapter 8: Redesigning your character, which is aimed towards people that wish they had taken feat x instead of feat y. Or, after three sessions as an elven fighter, realized a dwarven fighter would've been wiser. These rules allow a character to rebuild his character (keeping the same magical items and whatnot) with an in-game explanation - you simply visit the gates of dawn or some other location, or retrain, or whatever else. This is one of those things where I could see a lot of players really wanting to use this... but I wouldn't really allow it myself. If, after a session or two, a player realized that he didn't like a feat, I'd let him switch it for something else - I don't need rules to show me how to do it. And I certainly wouldn't let a player convert his elven cleric into a dwarven warmage, and somehow say it's the same character - it just doesn't work for me. I personally think this is the weakest chapter in the book.
All in all, the PHB 2 is one of those books that I think almost every 3e group would benefit from. If I were going to game with only five books at the table, PHB 2 would be one of them. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was the limited the usefulness of the last chapter, and the dubious utility of the affiliations rules - they definately don't work for all groups.
