3PP releases Witch Doctor, new controller class, for playtest

[Rechan]

One Bad Egg has once more released something for 4e. This time it's the first ten levels of a new controller class, the Witch Doctor, free for playtest.

Download it here for free at RPGNow.

While there is some chatting about the rules over on Rob Donoghue's livejournal, feedback has been directed to OneBadEgg's email: feedback@onebadegg.com

The class's primary focus is status effects. They even have a class ability called an Evil Eye which causes an opponent to re-roll a successful saving throw.

Did I mention it's free?

 

[Byronic]

I think this might be the best 3pp release I've read yet.

Will have a better look at it another time though.

 

[Shroomy]

It looks pretty good. I'll have to sit down and give it a good read.

 

[Rechan]

Now that folk have had time to digest, whatcha think?

 

[Jack99]

Now that folk have had time to digest, whatcha think?

Let's see. This is just some random thoughts from a quick read-through here at work.

It's a controller, like the wizard. Better saves, slightly more hps and surges, but armor class will be worse than wizards. In fact, quite a bit worse usually.

I like how the different masks give different flavor.

Evil Eye is cool and fits the class great.

The powers do not seem too problematic, although "close burst 2 and immobilize" (chains of spirit) as well as "burst 1 + knock prone" (earthbite) seems more than decent.

Lightning rod: Resist 20 lightning at level 2 might be a tad much.

Word of thunder encroaches on the different rituals, and is better in many ways.

Spirit's Yoke should probably be vs Fort, since it has a push effect.

Toad's breath: Fairly easy to get ongoing 10 damage at 3rd level. Might be a tad much.

Loan of doom: marking? que?

Scourging hex: too reliable, minions already have worse defenses, no need to give a whooping +4 to hit them. Close burst 3 is pretty freaking big too.

Disjointing strike. Technically, there is no end of a round. Might want to consider something like "lose 10 initiative". or is Dazed.

Dance of madness. Really really nasty since it requires no attack.

Mojobond. God I love it, but not sure if it is just too good.

Cheers

PS: Just in case our friends from one bad egg reads this. I love the feel of the class, and will definitely buy the final product. Keep up the great work.

 

[Rechan]

Loan of doom: marking? que?

My interpretation is this:

Let's say you have a kobold. The paladin marks the kobold. The Witch Doctor goes "You, kobold, die!" Since the kobold has been marked by the pally, it takes more damage. The Witchdoctor's curse kills the kobold. Because the Kobold was marked by the paladin, and he dies, the Witch Doctor can move the mark to a new enemy.

Scourging hex: too reliable, minions already have worse defenses, no need to give a whooping +4 to hit them. Close burst 3 is pretty freaking big too.

The trade-off being 1d4 damage. That's chicken scratch.

 

[Jack99]

My interpretation is this:

Let's say you have a kobold. The paladin marks the kobold. The Witch Doctor goes "You, kobold, die!" Since the kobold has been marked by the pally, it takes more damage. The Witchdoctor's curse kills the kobold. Because the Kobold was marked by the paladin, and he dies, the Witch Doctor can move the mark to a new enemy.

I understood it, just not sure I think it "fits". Guess I will have to think about it some more.

The trade-off being 1d4 damage. That's chicken scratch.

Still extremely effective against minions, since the amount of damage doesn't really matter. On the other hand, it's a daily, so after further consideration, I must agree that it is okay as is.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Very cool class. It does seem just straight up "better" than wizard in many ways, though (which might be okay!).

I love the close walls!

The at-will burst 2 fire seems rather better than the wizard's burst 1 fire, but the Witch Doctor's does attack Fortitude, which is often higher on many enemies.

My chief concern is actually that there's too much cool stuff here -- there are the devastating status conditions of a Warlock and the area damage of a wizard.

I'm becoming less and less convinced that Controller is really a "role" - its function appears to be "hit lots of dudes", but that really might be better served by just giving every class access to a small number of "hit lots of dudes" powers.

 

[Rechan]

The at-will burst 2

It's an Area Blast 2. Yes, that's right; it's a Blast that isn't adjacent to the caster.

 

[evilhat]

The at-will burst 2 fire seems rather better than the wizard's burst 1 fire, but the Witch Doctor's does attack Fortitude, which is often higher on many enemies.

The At-Will is a blast 2 (and slightly illicit, because it's a blast at range).