3.5 rumors from montecook.com

[Merlion]

That all sounds pretty good. especialy the Bardic Music duplicating Emotion thing...when they said their were going to be new bardic music abilities thats one of the first I thought of.
The Dodge and Weapon Finesse changes sound good.
No bard spell failure...only in light or medium...sounds good.
Wild Empathy sounds interesting...although I dontwonder that Druids get it to. Only every four levels seems a trifle skimpy for the combat paths..unless they get more than one feat at a time...hmm...we know in arhcery they get Multishot at 6th level..so what do they get at 2nd then? Given that I doubt its just PBS.
Haste is becoming what it always was till 3e...no problems their..
Trap sense sounds neat. All pretty pretty I'd say.

 

[RigaMortus2]

—Extra partial actions: grant either an extra move or move-equivalent action or an extra partial attack

I thought they were removing partial actions all together? Do they mean it grants a single extra attack (rather than extra partial attack)? Or is partial attack some new terminology?

—For a caster to enhance a spell with a metamagic feat, they must have access to the spell slot that a metamagicked spell would normally utilize, even if a class ability allows a spell to be prepared in a lower level slot

I don't understand, can someone give an example?

—Though an item or class ability might allow the casting of metamagicked spell at a lower level spell slot, all game mechanics, which rely on spell level, such as spell storage, treat the spell cast as if it were its normal level

Again, too many big words...

—Creature subtypes (fire, cold, water, air, earth) now take a –10 penalty to save against their opposed element

Ha! Now I don't have to used nerfed Harm on a white dragon anymore. I can use Fireball =) Wonder if they get a penatly to SR when using a spell against their opposted element?

—All shields and shield like items/spells now grant a “shield bonus” which do not stack with each other (no buckler and shield spell combos)

About time they renamed that. But wait... what's this?

—shield grants a +7 cover bonus to AC with no other cover related benefits

So which is it? Does the shield spell confer a shield bonus or cover bonus? And if it is a cover bonus (as suggested here) why wouldn't it stack with a buckler?

—Bards ignore arcane spell failure in medium or lighter armor

At what level does this begin? Wish we had the specific wording on this. I can see a Wizard/Sorcer taking a level of Bard so that they can get (a) armor and (b) the ability to ignore arcane spell failure when casting. I'll assume that it only works with Bard spells only...

—Barbarian gets DR 1/– at 7th level and it increases every three levels thereafter

7th level still seems a bit too hgih for this ability. I'd prefer if they got it sooner, and spread out when they got it. Maybe like at level 4 they get DR 1/- and every 4 levels they get an increase.

—Rogues gain trap sensing at 5th level; treat as if they were actively searching for a trap at all times

Neat...

—Ranger chooses “two-weapon style” or “archery style” at 2nd level and picks up an additional related feat every four levels

Very cool. I personally think they should do this for all the "fighter" types. Fighter, Ranger, Paladin and Barbarian (and maybe the Monk too). Each "fighter" class should have a dedicated feat list they can pick from every X levels. For example, the Fighter gets their standard feat progression every 2 levels, and the rest can get a bonus feat every 4 levels. Paladins can get a Divine Feat List, Rangers a "Nature" Feat List, and so on...

Either way, at least the Ranger seems much more worth it to play now, and I am satisfied with just that.

—haste now affects one creature/level within 30 ft. of each other, mass haste can now affect all targets within 30 ft. (only +2 AC bonus now)

I've read that it was +1 AC and +1 Ref, not +2 AC... Unless this is new new info =)

—enlarge and reduce can grant a size category change if the effect is great enough

Makes sense...

—harm has a Will save for half, 10 hp lost/level (max 150 hp lost), heal cures a maximum of 10 hp/level (150 hp max) also

NERF!

Oh well, at least it is official now =P

—time stop works as the ELH variant: physical attacks, all touch spells, and all harmful spells/effects brought into the area by the time stopped caster can not affect creatures/things in normal time.

I don't get it? So what CAN you do with Time Stop now besides age 1d4 rounds?

—brilliant energy property is only a +3 weapon ability now

I thought it was a +3 weapon ability already?

—holy avenger: SR is now equal to 10 + paladin’s level and it acts as a holy sword spell (remove the +2d6 holy damage)

Ok I guess. I still think it should do may +1d6 SACRED damage...

—vorpal property can only affect a creature of one size category larger than the weapon

Makes sense...

As long as I can still have my Vorpal Sap, I'll be fine.

Crit with Vorpal Sap... Take 2 points of subdual damage, and your head falls off =)

 

[Arken]

vorpal property can only affect a creature of one size category larger than the weapon

An unusual effect of this being that you now can't use vorpal weapons on Jabberwocks (unless they aren't very big)...Oh well

I agree with this though anyway.

 

[Merlion]

The thing with the Holy Avenger is kind of weird...its no longer a Holy weapon(no longer does +2d6 against evil?)

 

[Ulrick]

I have to say that I do like these changes. I don't know at this point if I'll be buying the books though if the official changes will be available online for free.

 

[Apok]

Yes, I would presume that the Bards armored casting starts at 1st level and would only apply to Bard spells. I say this because, as a Wizard, you can't take a level of Cleric and then cast Wizard spells in heavy armor with no ASF chance.

Overall, I like the new changes alot, although one thing did confuse me. Namely, the Improved Metamagic effect stuff. Beforehand, the concept of Improved Metamagic was not core material but PrC abilities from other sources (FR in particular) or an Epic feat.

Also, how will this nerf affect the use of Time Stop? I never really had a problem with it being used as an offensive weapon before, and I don't see how it's a big problem now either since Haste no longer lets you cast an extra spell. I think I may end up house-ruling this one, since nerfing both Haste and Time Stop is a major double-whammy against spellcasters who really need that extra boost at high levels when the melee specialists outdistance them in damage-dealing.

 

[Apok]

The thing with the Holy Avenger is kind of weird...its no longer a Holy weapon(no longer does +2d6 against evil?)

No, but it has all the properties of a Holy Sword, as per the Paladin spell.

Go to www.opengamingfoundation.org and check out the spell in the SRD. It's pretty damn intense and, IMO, far superior to the old Holy Avenger.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Yes, I would presume that the Bards armored casting starts at 1st level and would only apply to Bard spells. I say this because, as a Wizard, you can't take a level of Cleric and then cast Wizard spells in heavy armor with no ASF chance.

That is a different animal all together. You are talking Divine Magic vs. Arcane Magic. Of course you will have an Arcane Spell Failure when casting Arcane Spells in armor. That isn't a product of the class (Cleric) it is a product of the armor (Arcane Spell Failure).

What it WOULD be compareable to is say, taking a level of Cleric and since you get Scribe Scroll Feat for free as a Wizard, you can now Scribe Clerics scrolls as well. So if the Bard class has a feature that allows you to ignore arcane spell failure, that would be ALL arcane spell failure, unless it specifically mentions that it only affects arcane "Bard spells". Which the poster didn't make mention of...

 

[Shard O'Glase]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

—For a caster to enhance a spell with a metamagic feat, they must have access to the spell slot that a metamagicked spell would normally utilize, even if a class ability allows a spell to be prepared in a lower level slot

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



I don't understand, can someone give an example?


quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

—Though an item or class ability might allow the casting of metamagicked spell at a lower level spell slot, all game mechanics, which rely on spell level, such as spell storage, treat the spell cast as if it were its normal level

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Again, too many big words...

I'll take a stab at it. I think there saying: example A wizard 20 has improved metamagic, and the empower feat. He want to empower a fireball as much as possible. With improved metamagic it is a+1 level cost. All good x6 empower then. EXcept you now have to be able to put it in a slot you could afford before at the +2 per level cost. So at best you can have a tripple empowered fireball which would normally be 9th level but now is 6th.

part 2 I think is targeted at wands, potions, and other items. Again wand of empowered fireballs is a 5th elvel spell so not possible as a wand with its 4th level cap, with improved metamagic it is a 4th level spell but still considered a 5th level one for the purposes of item storrage, which one makes it more expensive and 2 makes it impossible as a wand but possible as a staff.

 

[kenjib]

Mass haste is a 6th level spell, so by the time you can cast it to effect everything in a 30 foot radius, your normal haste spell is already effecting 11 targets. In addition, normal haste will continue to effect more targets as you increase in level, making mass haste less and less useful.

It seems like a pretty minor improvement to functionality for it to be 3 spell levels higher. In fact, even if they lowered mass haste to a 4th level spell, I still wouldn't see the point.