Okay, missed this the first time around.
The only issue I have, is the Quick-strike. I see how it gives some added versatility to have it be an additional roll. However, I prefer a keep it simple approach, and was wondering if you think it would unbalance the class to just add the damage, much like the ranger does. My gut says no, but I would like to get some feedback on it
I don't think it'll unbalance anything, as long as you add some sort of minor action (like the warlock's curse or the ranger's quarry) to use it. I think it loses a lot of the class's flavor, but of course, that's just me.
Serpent Bends Aside: Is it supposed to deflect magical attacks as well?
Any melee or ranged attack.
False dead: Is it supposed to be usable in combat? If so, shouldn't it be an immediate reaction?
While there are some battlefield applications, it's not primarily a combat-power. It's not meant to be an immediate reaction, no.
Lightning Fist: Shouldn't it’s secondary attack be against reflex?
Nope. Same as the primary attack--Fortitude--just on different targets.
Gust of wind: Push 6 really sounds like a lot. I get that it's a classic druid thing, but 6 squares?
It's a lot, yep. But since it doesn't actually do any damage, I'm okay with that.
Sphere of fire: Why does it give -2 to attack rolls? Ongoing damage seems to be the fire shtick these days. What causes the penalty?
Just part of the spell. Ongoing damage is
common for fire attacks, but it's not
universal. Think of it as being distracted by the pain, if you'd like.
Heavy fog: Is there some height rule to it, that I have missed?
I probably should have specified/called it out, but it's the same as the other dimensions of the burst--3 squares.
Slashing tree: Why suddenly use cha to attack, all other attacks use wis from what I noticed?
I did that deliberately with all the "tree" spells. Since they can make multiple attacks completely separate from the druid's turn, I didn't want them to be
quite as good in terms of "to-hit."
Bramble wall: That is a sweet power, but maybe the 1 hour duration is a bit too much. Do we have examples of other powers with similar durations?
See
wall of ice in the
PHB.
Entangling terrain: Why only up to 1 minute duration? Sustainable stuff can be sustained for the encounter, normally.
Actually, in the
PHB there are quite a few powers that can be sustained for less than the standard 5 minutes. This one felt too powerful to allow for the full 5.
Relentless Attack
Once per round, as an opportunity action, you may make a basic melee attack against an adjacent foe who attacks one of your allies with a melee or ranged attack.
If an enemy makes a ranged attack against anyone, while being adjacent to you, you already get an OA. Do you get another, or is something else?
Okay, this is my fault for not clarifying. You only get one OA against the enemy who provokes via making a ranged attack.
But, there are powers that allow you to make your Relentless Attack against someone farther away than adjacent to you, or that grant bonuses to your Relentless Attack roll, and in
those cases, it's important to know that ranged attacks also trigger it.
Staggering blow: shouldn't this be a push effect?
No, because it doesn't have to be away from you. You can knock someone to the side, if you want.
Interposing strike: (see above)
Again, nope, because "push" is defined as "away from
you," and this is "away from your ally[/i]. "Slide" seemed to make the most sense.
I see what you did, with the powers that crit on a 15+ (might want to mention that it assumes a hit) but it feels a bit too random. Which is a pity, because you really seem to have captured the feel, with many of the other powers.
Defenders often have vaguely controllerish powers, so I figured it was safe to go that route. In general, going this way--defender-leaning-controller, rather than defender-leaning-striker--let me include a lot of powers I thought were pretty cool, that I couldn't have included otherwise.
But hey, you've always got WotC's barbarian.
Soothe the savage beast: No reason why it cant be cha vs will – the bard should be a better “sleeper” than the wizard. Having to use a secondary ability for one or two powers is a tad odd, design wise, at least imo.
It's not without precedent in the
PHB, though, and making this "Sleep" be better than the wizard's--especially when the wizard is a controller and the troubadour a leader--just didn't work, balance-wise.
Not really sure about this one. I like the class, but something about it feels underpowered. However, I can't quite decide why, so for now, I will have to wait and see.
It's certainly a
narrower class (which is one of the reasons I borrowed a lot of other class's powers for it). But underpowered? Let me know if your experience confirms that.
All in all, a great book, thanks for writing it, Ari.
Ya velcome.
