Abjurer, a ranged defender

[GameOgre]

Just wanted to let you know I LOVE the idea for this class and I think many who otherwise hate Defenders (my wife) would jump at the chance to play it.

 

[Arctic Wolf]

I think what would be interesting to do if you haven't already is to look in the old Complete Arcane book and read up on the Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil. I think you could come up with some interesting Wards and maybe make a PP for your class.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I'd like to see this concept progress. I think it has some serious potential.

 

[Quickleaf]

It's great to see the interest in this concept. If there were a way to make it into a theme or build of another class I would be up for it, but it's such a unique idea to 4e there really is no parallel. An entire class might be beyond me, but we can at least come up with some interesting ideas to try out in our home games.

There were a couple comments, however, that the concept isn't clearly defined, so I wanted to take a step back and look at what makes an abjurer a, well, abjurer, and then what makes it a defender.

What makes an Abjurer an Abjurer?
Spells that protect, negate, block, and banish? That seems a reasonable place to start. I think there are certain classic D&D spells which are immediately recognizable as abjurations, so those need to be part of the abjurer's repertoire in 4e.

Also, my personal take is influenced by what is called "full contact magic" on TVtropes. I refuse to subject you to a link to TVtropes since it is a black hole for procrastination. Here's the summary: Gandalf vs. Saruman in Peter Jackson's movie, The Last Airbender, the mages of Dragon Age 2 - the use showy magic, often with a basis in force spells, which knock enemies around and feel extremely physical almost like a martial art. So that's where my placing an Abjurer as a build of the Swordmage came from. Kinda shallow, but there you go.

[sblock=Description of Abjurers from the SRD]Masters of protective magic, abjurers can fill many roles in a campaign, from bodyguard to battlemage to adventurer. Although it lacks offensive options, the school of abjuration provides some of the most effective combat spells in the game. An evoker or transmuter might find it easier to bring down large groups of foes, but an abjurer is far more likely to bring herself and her companions through a fight alive.

In a campaign with a high degree of intrigue or political machinations, the protective abilities of an abjurer can guard against foes both obvious and unexpected, and rival groups of abjurers, all with slightly different powers, might vie for prominence among each nation's schemers and courtiers. In combat-heavy campaigns, realms might employ abjuration specialists to protect against the battle magic of their rivals, and in any campaign, adventurers might come to rely on the skills of an abjurer to protect against the dangers of dungeon and wilderness. [/sblock]

[sblock=Classic D&D Abjuration Spells]
Banishment, Dismissal, and related spells
Dispel Magic
Forbiddance
Globe of Invulnerability
Glyph of Warding
Imprisonment
Magic Circle
Nondetection, Sequester, Mage's Private Sanctum, and similar spells
Prismatic Sphere/Wall
Protection from Evil
Remove Curse/Fear
Repulsion
Resistance
Shield
Spell Turning
Stoneskin[/sblock]

What makes an Abjurer a Defender?
This morning I re-read Schwalb's article on party building in Dragon #373 for the three main features of a defender, and thought about how the idea for an abjurer stacks up.

Black Hole: The core feature of a defender is that they lock down the enemies and keep them focused on the defender. Without that second part (something that was missing in my first take on an abjurer), you've basically got a quasi-controller. My thinking here was that the abjurer's wards on allies could be brought down by dealing sufficient damage to the abjurer or preventing the abjurer from sustaining them by hitting him with conditions like daze, stun, etc.

Enabler: A defender keeps the heat off allies so they can do what they do best, simple enough. The abjurer, being a ranged attacker, won't be using opportunity attacks in quite the same way, so finding a way to lock down small groups of enemies will take a different class feature.

Wall: Healing surges, HP, and AC (my thought was borrowing the swordmage's warding) are built in. However, the ranged abjurer needs a way to be constantly threatened like a fighter. Nemesis Destiny pointed out the warding should be tied to the abjurer's health in some manner. Also, there needs to be some mechanism for the abjurer to block movement (or at least make it dangerous) from range.

 

[Xethreau]

I love the discussion that is going on here - or at least the insights that some are putting forward.

Quickleaf - I love what is going on with your abjurer. I am using my program for formatting classes to work on yours because, well, I really like it. To me, the Gandalf/DA2 aspect really comes out, so I made an addendum to your class to make that come about a bit more. Here is the (fragmented) result - tell me what you think. We should brainstorm more to to get some more awesome for your abjurer!

Here it is: Abjurer



Now, as for my Abjurer.
Abjurer
Obviously, not quite right yet. But, here are my own thoughts on this:
- I took a different rout with this, obviously. The word "abjure" actually means "forswear" or "renounce," and since that is a pseudo-legal term, I decided to throw in a little bit of True Speech flavor in there. IDK how it works, but lemme know.
- The marking mechanic. Its actually a mark, which I am a little unsure of for a non-True Namer. But it might be useful for the project.
- It has defensive powers, which can be used on self or allies. Wonder what you guys think.
- Leader/Striker HP. Just putting it out there.

 

[Tony Vargas]

What makes an Abjurer a Defender?
This morning I re-read Schwalb's article on party building in Dragon #373 for the three main features of a defender, and thought about how the idea for an abjurer stacks up.

Black Hole: The core feature of a defender is that they lock down the enemies and keep them focused on the defender. Without that second part (something that was missing in my first take on an abjurer), you've basically got a quasi-controller. My thinking here was that the abjurer's wards on allies could be brought down by dealing sufficient damage to the abjurer or preventing the abjurer from sustaining them by hitting him with conditions like daze, stun, etc.

Or, the Ward could have hps, itself. Enemies facing a ward could attack it, dealing it damage and possibly forcing it down - the abjurer could then use his own hps or surges to keep the ward up...

Enabler: A defender keeps the heat off allies so they can do what they do best, simple enough. The abjurer, being a ranged attacker, won't be using opportunity attacks in quite the same way, so finding a way to lock down small groups of enemies will take a different class feature.

A Ward inflicting some kind of 'mark punishment' or granting some protection to the Warded allies shouldn't be difficult to come up with.

Wall: Healing surges, HP, and AC (my thought was borrowing the swordmage's warding) are built in. However, the ranged abjurer needs a way to be constantly threatened like a fighter.

Making the Ward attackable accomplishes that. You wouldn't even need to give the Abjurer, himself, defender-like hps. Rather, his ward could have a separate pool of hps (temp hps, perhaps) that makes up the difference between the abjurer's wizardly hps, and the defender standard.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I think making this as a new class is 'the way to go' here. I also (somewhat reluctantly) have to admit that we are likely looking at Yet Another Wizard build/version - mostly because we need access to the Big Name Spells.

I think something of core importance to this class is going to be rituals, and perhaps an ability that allows them to use some of them as a Standard Action a set number of times per day. Perhaps they get Daily Utility powers at 2, 6, and 10 that allow them to cast protection rituals of equal or lower level as a Standard. I also think they should get bonuses to the Arcana checks of said rituals.

Anyway, I still put forward my idea from earlier in the discussion of having the defender ward work like the Shaman's Spirit Companion - enough damage to pop it causes feedback damage to the Abjurer.

 

[Xethreau]

I think making this as a new class is 'the way to go' here. I also (somewhat reluctantly) have to admit that we are likely looking at Yet Another Wizard build/version - mostly because we need access to the Big Name Spells.

We do not need to make the Abjurer a build or subclass of the wizard to get the "big name spells" we want. If we did,, it would inherit ALL wizard spells of any given, which is no good. What we could do is simply put certain powers from the Wizard list on the Abjurer list - exceptions, not rules.

I think something of core importance to this class is going to be rituals... Perhaps they get Daily Utility powers at 2, 6, and 10 that allow them to cast protection rituals of equal or lower level as a Standard. I also think they should get bonuses to the Arcana checks of said rituals.

I completely agree with this. For those who are somewhat reluctant, perhaps the daily power would be a No Action at the end of the ritual to store the ritual for release later, and activation as a Standard Action. One way or another, the ritual should still be paid for in material components.

Except, the Abjurer should get a class feature where 1/day he can cast a protection ritual w/o cost, as per a lot of PHB2 ritualists.

 

[GameDoc]

Regarding a ward centered on an ally: A defender needs to occupy the enemy's attention so allies can fill their role unhindered. If you have to attack the ward to end it (think stoneskin), often times a monster will be occupying a square adjacent to the warded ally, perhaps not dealing damage, but rendering its space unpassable or unoccipiable to the ally. Not much of a problem in open terrain, but could cause problems in dungeons, narrow spaces, etc. Also, how do you ensure enemies understand its the abjurer interfering with their attacks on more proximal combatants and therefore the one who needs to be targeted?

I really like the concept.

This is a bit fiddly, but instead of giving the abjurer HP akin to a fighter, give him those of a wizard and give him Globe of Invulnerability class feature (minor action, sustain free, aura 1 encounter power) that has its own HP that must be expended before you can attack the abjurer himself. The HP should scale with level so that when combined with the character's own HP you have defender level HP. The abjurer can also expend healing surges to repair the Globe. As an aura, no one can physically enter the globe's area until it comes down.

From there I'd see combat proceeding as this:

1) Abjurer wards his allies, activates Globe of Invulnerability. Wards might be like a friendly version of the Warlock's curse. Limit the number he can ward at one and then it follows them wherever they go until the abjurer chosen to remove it.
2) Enemies quickly discover they get hit with a magic missile from the abjurer when they attack someone else
3) Enemies concentrate attacks on the abjurer and his Globe soaks up damage.
4) melee enemies are held a space away, hacking at the Globe, while the abjurer, whose implements are reach weapons, can still poke them from his side with a basic melee attack.

That's a rough idea. Probably needs polishing up.

If you put an abjurer in a party with a Hunter (martial controller) that really shakes things up in terms of traditional class roles.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

We do not need to make the Abjurer a build or subclass of the wizard to get the "big name spells" we want. If we did,, it would inherit ALL wizard spells of any given, which is no good. What we could do is simply put certain powers from the Wizard list on the Abjurer list - exceptions, not rules.

I think if there are certain types of spell we would want to restrict, doing that through keywords would still be cleaner than creating a whole new class that duplicates a list of abilities that another class already gets. Just a suggestion though.

I completely agree with this. For those who are somewhat reluctant, perhaps the daily power would be a No Action at the end of the ritual to store the ritual for release later, and activation as a Standard Action. One way or another, the ritual should still be paid for in material components.

Except, the Abjurer should get a class feature where 1/day he can cast a protection ritual w/o cost, as per a lot of PHB2 ritualists.

There are also feats in a recent Dragon article which give improved access and free castings based on catagory. This seems like a good free feat to give abjurers.