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Pre-Release Review of Heroes of Shadow by Wizards of the Coast
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<blockquote data-quote="lkj" data-source="post: 5521836" data-attributes="member: 18646"><p>I don't have a problem with your pointing out that the class design for new classes is 'essentials' rather than 'traditional'.</p><p></p><p>I take issue with statements like </p><p></p><p>"<em>For those of us who choose not to play a pure Essentials campaign . . . this book offers nothing but a few pages of fluff material about the Shadowfell, and very little else."</em></p><p></p><p>And:</p><p></p><p><em>"During the Product Preview Seminar at GenCon 2010, Heroes of Shadow was promised as an option’s book for “Core players” after the ten Essentials products have been published over the last quarter of 2010, and this clearly is not the case."</em></p><p></p><p>Neither statement appears to be true given that feats, powers and items are all available for a non-essentials game. Furthermore, I have a sneaking suspicion that at least some and possibly most of the paragon paths and epic destinies are available to non-essential classes as well. </p><p></p><p>In short, it seems this book provides a plethora of options for 'traditional' players. And this seems to jive quite well with what was stated at the product seminar.</p><p></p><p>The fact that the new classes follow the essentials design philosophy does not make every other piece of material in the book 'essentialized' and unusable by traditional campaigns. The same can be said of the text on the back of the book, which could just as easily be put on the back of Players Handbook 3 (looking for options beyond the essentials books? Look no further)</p><p></p><p>I do realize you liked the book and gave it a good review. However, I was given the distinct impression from the review that there was almost nothing in the book that was usable by someone not playing essentials classes. That strikes me as very misleading. To be honest, it doesn't seem much different than what we saw with the other Power books you mention, where new builds (albeit in traditional format) were presented; the new powers were flavored to work with the new builds; but almost everything was available for other builds. I don't really see much different in this book from what you've described. </p><p></p><p>I'm sure you didn't intend to be misleading. And I don't mean to come across as accusatory. But I do use these sorts of reviews in assessing my purchase choices, and I found myself confused about what was in the book (e.g., from the review it appeared that feats, powers etc. weren't available to non-essentials classes). </p><p></p><p>Anyway. I do appreciate the review. Even if I have a fairly major quibble.</p><p></p><p>Cheers,</p><p>AD</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="lkj, post: 5521836, member: 18646"] I don't have a problem with your pointing out that the class design for new classes is 'essentials' rather than 'traditional'. I take issue with statements like "[I]For those of us who choose not to play a pure Essentials campaign . . . this book offers nothing but a few pages of fluff material about the Shadowfell, and very little else."[/I] And: [I]"During the Product Preview Seminar at GenCon 2010, Heroes of Shadow was promised as an option’s book for “Core players” after the ten Essentials products have been published over the last quarter of 2010, and this clearly is not the case."[/I] Neither statement appears to be true given that feats, powers and items are all available for a non-essentials game. Furthermore, I have a sneaking suspicion that at least some and possibly most of the paragon paths and epic destinies are available to non-essential classes as well. In short, it seems this book provides a plethora of options for 'traditional' players. And this seems to jive quite well with what was stated at the product seminar. The fact that the new classes follow the essentials design philosophy does not make every other piece of material in the book 'essentialized' and unusable by traditional campaigns. The same can be said of the text on the back of the book, which could just as easily be put on the back of Players Handbook 3 (looking for options beyond the essentials books? Look no further) I do realize you liked the book and gave it a good review. However, I was given the distinct impression from the review that there was almost nothing in the book that was usable by someone not playing essentials classes. That strikes me as very misleading. To be honest, it doesn't seem much different than what we saw with the other Power books you mention, where new builds (albeit in traditional format) were presented; the new powers were flavored to work with the new builds; but almost everything was available for other builds. I don't really see much different in this book from what you've described. I'm sure you didn't intend to be misleading. And I don't mean to come across as accusatory. But I do use these sorts of reviews in assessing my purchase choices, and I found myself confused about what was in the book (e.g., from the review it appeared that feats, powers etc. weren't available to non-essentials classes). Anyway. I do appreciate the review. Even if I have a fairly major quibble. Cheers, AD [/QUOTE]
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