The Essential Knight

[UngeheuerLich]

I would totally allow this. Monsters have ther aura up all the time! (Except they chose to put it down as a minor action)

The only think i would be worried is:

"after awaking, you start swinging your sword threatening at the air around you"

 

[Klaus]

Isn't Power Attack identical to the half orc racial ability?
It's nothing new, and a bit odd that a class gets as his level 1 encounter power something that is as powerful as a racial ability.

It is, but with the added benefit that you can play something else, instead of a half-orc. Well, until Improved Power Attack comes along later on.

And if you *are* a half-orc, you can even choose to go nova on a single hit. If you're wilding a bastard sword, you could deal 3d10 (defender daily-level damage in every encounter) in a single attack. Or, since you decide it after the hit, you can choose to activate both on a critical hit and have them be maximized (it's no longer a lottery to see if you'll crit with your daily).

 

[shmoo2]

Isn't Power Attack identical to the half orc racial ability?
It's nothing new, and a bit odd that a class gets as his level 1 encounter power something that is as powerful as a racial ability.

??
I'd consider this a weak Level 1 encounter power- though the fact that it triggers only on a hit and you can wait for a crit is nice.

 

[Kelvor Ravenstar]

And you mark how many foes? And your basic attack on your charge does what? The knight could easily not fire up his aura and stance and do the exact same.

Exactly. What order the actions are performed will depend entirely on the situation of the combat, and what tactics you prefer.

If the enemies are bunched together, you could do:
Move - Move closer to the enemies.
Minor - Activate either Defender Aura or Cleaving Assault
Attack - Charge and make your MBA

In effect, this sequence provides about the same amount of defender marking as a PHB fighter with Threatening Rush. Now, we don't know whether the Knight has a punishing effect for those that violate the mark, so the monsters could simply shift away or attack another PC with the -2 without getting smacked. But I'm betting that the Battle Guardian feature will provide the needed punishment or stickiness in a simplified form.

This preview has some other interesting features. I was glad to see the Defender Aura doesn't actually Mark, and so it will not supersede another defender's mark.
But even more interesting is that Knights (and likely Slayers) gain more stances as they level.
I know one fighter that is going to switch to this build as soon as I can figure out what the other class features likely do.

 

[Scribble]

I also don't even think this WILL be simpler to run.

I'm not sure the real design goal of this class was to simplify the game, so much as make getting started in the game easier.

This is a class for the guy who looks at the powers and gets annoyed because he's being asked to make a bunch of decisions before even playing the game, and he doesn't want to bother reading though the powers.

It's for the guy who says "Dude- just give me a guy that bashes stuff."

In game complexity is just part of the game. It doesn't feel like a chore, because you're beating up a goblin or fighting for your characters life- you're actively playing the game.

Prior game complexity can feel like a chore for some. Feels too much like homework.

I would totally allow this. Monsters have ther aura up all the time! (Except they chose to put it down as a minor action)

The only think i would be worried is:

"after awaking, you start swinging your sword threatening at the air around you"

This doesn't really bother me... I kind of see it as the juiced up meat-head ready for anything... The guy who sleeps with a knife under his pillow and is up and ready to cut you in an instant.

 

[CovertOps]

Or, since an RPG system's parts all have to work together its more like saying, "This recipe already tastes just fine. I'm not sure adding more oregano is a good idea (even though I like oregano)."

mmmm...Infinite Oregano!

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Not to beat a dead analogy, but isn't this like saying, "That restaurant's current menu is just fine. How dare they add to it! "

Except, at a restaurant, you don't have to make sure with every single one of the new and old dishes that if someone orders the right (or perhaps... wrong) combination of items, it won't poison every diner within a 30 foot radius. Or make them all into toads. Or giants.

Actually, if you know of such a restaurant, are they hiring?

 

[mearls]

I would totally allow this. Monsters have ther aura up all the time! (Except they chose to put it down as a minor action)

The only think i would be worried is:

"after awaking, you start swinging your sword threatening at the air around you"

There were a few jokes about that during the design process.

Really, though, the mechanic is meant to capture the flavor of an alert, experienced warrior. While the rogue inspects a locked door and the wizard tries to translate the runes scribed above it, the fighter keeps his eyes open for trouble, his sword at hand, shifting his feet to stay ready to move. An experienced warrior would look at the three and immediately note that the fighter is a highly trained combatant.

Even outside of combat, you can see it playing out like this. A thief creeps up behind the fighter standing at the bar. As he slides up to the fighter to pick his pocket, the fighter whirls around, grabs the thief by the hand, and slams him into the bar. It's almost a Conan-style thing, the really skilled, warrior driven by training that has transformed into instinct.

 

[Camelot]

For someone with both the original 4e material and essentials, can essentials combine with the rest of their class? It seems that a fighter can use stances while also having at-will powers too, if you want the complexity.

The plate armor is confusing too. Is that going to be added on to all fighters, or do essentials fighters lack something that warrents them having plate?

 

[Rex Blunder]

Ah, major spoiler from mearls!

Battle Guardian:
As an opportunity action, when a thief inside the fighter's Defender Aura makes an attack which does not include the fighter, the fighter may whirl around, grab the thief by the hand, and slam him into a bar. The bar must also be within the Defender Aura.

A couple of interesting implications here!
"whirl around": Essentials introduces facing!
"thief" Essentials renames the "rogue" class to "thief"!
"bar" All fights take place in a bar! 4e Essentials is basically Innfighting!

We could probably figure out the entire Essentials rule set this way!