Pathfinder 1E Playtest: Channel Energy (Pathfinder RPG)

[Roman]

Yes, level can factor in to the equation, but there is also the issue of how channeling interacts with feats. For example, the Cleric in my party had the Quicken Turning (Now "Quicken Channeling" ) feat, as well as the Extra Turning feat. Hence, the Cleric could essentially Channel Energy every round as a free action (well, immediate action or whatever it's called now) and still have the full roster of actions left for doing other stuff. Taking these feats was not some great sacrifice for the Cleric, since Clerics are not very feat dependent in the first place.

It should also be noted, that I too did not find Channel Positive/Negative Energy to be overpowered at lower levels until this undead side-adventure the party got involved in. At this point, I would prefer to see it toned down somewhat, but I want to reiterate that even in its current state, it is far superior to the old 3.5E mechanics.

 

[Arrond Hess]

How do you think it would have played out if the BBEG at the end was a 10th lvl cleric, instead of a Sorcerer?

 

[Roman]

How do you think it would have played out if the BBEG at the end was a 10th lvl cleric, instead of a Sorcerer?

Well, I think it would have been substantially more difficult for the party. Apart from other reasons, there is the fact that the BBEG would have Channel Negative Energy that would hurt the party and heal the undead... and there is also the fact that I think clerics are the strongest of all the core classes (well, druids might reach also their power level). Note, however, that they did fight a mummy lord (10th level cleric mummy) too - he was the high priest in the tomb. This fight proved to be easy for the them, but they fought him on his own, as due to other things, such as talking with some sentient, not completely evil undead, the priest did not have an undead entourage to boost.

 

[Phlebas]

Yes, level can factor in to the equation, but there is also the issue of how channeling interacts with feats. For example, the Cleric in my party had the Quicken Turning (Now "Quicken Channeling" ) feat, as well as the Extra Turning feat. Hence, the Cleric could essentially Channel Energy every round as a free action (well, immediate action or whatever it's called now) and still have the full roster of actions left for doing other stuff. Taking these feats was not some great sacrifice for the Cleric, since Clerics are not very feat dependent in the first place. ....

the cleric in mine had selective and extra feats, not the quicken. since your cleric was dealing damage / healing with the channeling AND spell casting the same round that makes a whole world of difference.
Might need to consider if quicken channeling really is equivalent to quicken turning or that much more powerful that you have to have more prereq's and / or be at a higher level to get it.
Consider the BBEG cleric 9 with that build who effectively is taking 5d6 chunks out of anyone close to him every round AND hitting / spell casting as well. nice & nasty and quite scary for a CR9.....

as an aisde, have you posted the playtest on Paizo and have you had any feedback there? I know they're not as populated as these boards but you might get a designer dropping in...

 

[roguerouge]

My understanding is that Evil Clerics can now kill commoners in a very, um, flavorful way. This poster does it better than I ever could: http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboard...inderRPG/general/evilClericsNowFearsomeIndeed

 

[Volaran]

I too find that idea to be of good merit. i will keep that in mind for my game. Perhaps the "expanded" spell effect to include the pos/neg plane effects would require successful spell research? *shrug*

It looks like we're going to be trying this out for both games our group has converted over to Pathfinder. There may not be any immediate effect (one group is still level 1, and the other is level 4 with only a 2/2 fighter/cleric), but if anything comes up, I'll post it here.