Need advice on playtesting a new class.

[Modeus]

Greetings from Singapore.

I'm currently developing a new 4E class ( Martial Controller - Noble ) which has seen a fairly good response in ENWORLD in the past. We aim to release the first five levels of the heroic tier for free here and since we're total amateurs, I'd like some advice on play-testing a class to balance it out against the other PCs.

My noble class has two builds ( Scheming Noble and Rakish Noble ) and 30 levels of powers. To playtest each level and build will cover quite a number of sessions.

Just want some advice from DMs on how they would approach the problem. Does anybody here know how to build NDAs and get the playtest crowd-sourced ?

Just some interesting points for people who are interested in my project:

a) Nobles have a number of minions under their control.
b) Minion units have an upgrade path.
c) There are mechanics integrate Courtly Intrigue (martial rituals) to enable in-combat power swaps.
d) Some powers demoralize opponents en-mass but are non-lethal.

Anyway, do fire away if you have good advice, the document will be out here soon.


Regards

 

[weem]

I don't know anything about building NDA's - but I did want to mention that the idea sounds interesting.

I'm not sure how putting an NDA between it and people interested in seeing/playtesting it will go for you, but I suppose I could understand why you feel the need to do so (if in fact you have something truly unique and intend to publish it).

A lot of good stuff comes through here without NDA's needed, so I think that's gonna be a turnoff and will limit the # of those willing to test out your class...

...but what do I know

 

[Jack99]

I do not think the industry uses NDA's. I have seen quite a few playtest things from various publishers, and all they said (well wrote in the email) was - remember that this has not even been announced yet, you can't talk about it - or something like that.

Considering you probably need all the help you can get if you want your noble to be a success, I would advice against an NDA.