Warforged casting spells through chest-attached orb?

[rkanodia]

Implement: As long as it remains prominently visible, a holy symbol can be attached to any spot on your body. An orb can be attached in your chest like a jewel, or attached to a hand like a weapon. A rod, staff, or wand can be attached like a weapon. You take no attack roll penalty for using an attached staff as an implement.

Implement: An orbn can be embedded and hidden in your chest, or like a weapon. Rods and wands can be embedded and hidden in your arm and still function, leaving your hands free for other tasks. These two implements can instead be embedded like weapons.

So I was talking to a friend today about how I thought that using a component orb was munchkiny, because you could get the orb's enhancement bonus to spells without needing a hand to hold it in, but then I went over the quote again, and it looks like there is nothing specifically there that explicitly says that a chest-attached orb can be used to cast spells. On the one hand, the part about embedded implements actually seems to imply to me that a chest-embedded orb can't be used to cast spells, because arm-embedded rods and wands are specifically described as still being able to 'function', while no such mention is made for chest orbs. On the other, it seems weird that they would include chest orbs if they didn't have any real point (other than, 'you can't pickpocket my orb while I'm not using it').

Any thoughts on this? The arm-embedded rods and wands don't seem to bother me nearly as much, because the character wouldn't be able to use a magic shield or bracers while using that technique.

 

[Cryptos]

It's a large part of their benefit as a race, so I'd say it's ok for them to let them use an implement hands-free.

Being a construct gives them: Not needing to eat, drink or breathe, which is more of an RP benefit than a gameplay benefit in most 4e games, it seems. So that leaves the benefits of being a construct as a +2 to save against ongoing damage, being active and alert during extended rests, taking 10 on a dying save. Along with the racial power, stat, defense and skill bonuses that every race gets.

If their stat bonuses were more directly beneficial to a typical wizard build, I might agree its too much. Extra CON doesn't hurt anyone, but it doesn't directly aid the cause of being a wizard specifically.

Without the embedded implement benefit, almost every Warforged would be a fighter. (Or at the very least most likely martial.) This will give the race some diversity.

If not sleeping or eating, and not dying when you take a lot of punishment is the criteria for being a construct, then Amy Winehouse tweaking on meth must be a Warforged. Let them have the attached / embedded implement.

 

[Sashi]

Warforged have the easiest time of any race as fighter/mages. Just one more checkmark under the warforged fighter = ownage heading.

 

[mach1.9pants]

But a warforged witha chest embedded orb won't be able to use any armour (that is up to +26 for plate +6). So it is swings and roundabouts.

 

[Cryptos]

Another thing to keep in mind is that having an embedded ranged weapon or implement is basically a slightly weaker version of 4e's Quick Draw feat. With Quick Draw, you basically are assumed to have whichever weapon you're attacking with ready as part of your attack action. So a wizard with quick draw could go from having both hands full at the start of their turn with a longbow or two-handed weapon to holding their orb to attack with a spell as part of the standard attack action, and then if they subsequently made a melee attack, they're armed again as part of that action.

Except for a warforged, in many cases they've got to find the right equipment or have something done to have the item installed get that benefit and it only works for that one thing. Quick draw readies whatever you want to use with no extra actions. So at best it's 1/2 to 3/4ths of a feat in terms of benefit.

 

[Ark Evensong]

I might have missed the discussion, but wouldn't you still have to put away whatever you're wielding before attacking with something else using Quick Draw ? Sheathing stuff is still a minor action, I believe. Unless you want to drop it on the floor, which is free.

Changing weapons becomes one minor action, as opposed to two.

-Ark Evensong, might need to re-read something.

 

[frankthedm]

Unless the 'Forged has a free hand to 'double click' the orb, I'd say the ruling on "light shields and holding, yet not wielding" implements sounds quite fair.

from the official faq:

If you wield a light shield, you can also hold an item as well, although you can’t attack with it. What if that item is an implement? Can you apply its implement bonus to your powers?

No. Using an implement to gain its bonuses is considered attacking with that implement. If you wield a light shield and hold an implement in the same hand, you would not get the implement enhancement bonus to your powers, but you would still benefit from any property that the implement has

 

[rkanodia]

But a warforged witha chest embedded orb won't be able to use any armour (that is up to +26 for plate +6). So it is swings and roundabouts.

You know, I thought that might be true, but then I couldn't find it specifically stated in the PHB that magic armor requires the 'chest' slot. On the contrary, item slots are only described as applying to 'clothing' items, which are distinct from 'armor' items. Can you back that up your assertion with a citation?

 

[rkanodia]

Unless the 'Forged has a free hand to 'double click' the orb, I'd say the ruling on "light shields and holding, yet not wielding" implements sounds quite fair.

That does sound like a reasonable ruling; the warforged would get some benefit from the attached component (no need to 'draw' the orb after sheathing a sword) without having 'three hands'. I was just hoping someone could find quotes to make the intention of the article more clear.

 

[reff42]

but if you consider that rods and wands can be imbedded in their arms, keeping their hands free, that implies that they can be attacked with, and have a sword in the hand (which also can be attacked with). Yes, it is powerful, but unless your playing ebberon, warforged are a optional player race. This may also try to make up for the caster defect of having str/con as racial stats.