Adventurer's Vault 2 Playtest
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ObsidianCrane
First Post
Well in this case because its a playtest article....
The orbs are a problematic item and need to be taken back to the drawing board I think. Sustain Minor to remove burst 2 worth of enemies and allies from a battle is just to good, as it swings the whole battle, quite selectively in the PC's favor. As it stands at that point I might as well stop designing encounters. (Yes that's a little melodramatic, but the effect is way to over the top.)
High Paragon/Epic characters can do enough funky stuff already without the addition of utter control over the battlefield when they want.
The orbs are a problematic item and need to be taken back to the drawing board I think. Sustain Minor to remove burst 2 worth of enemies and allies from a battle is just to good, as it swings the whole battle, quite selectively in the PC's favor. As it stands at that point I might as well stop designing encounters. (Yes that's a little melodramatic, but the effect is way to over the top.)
High Paragon/Epic characters can do enough funky stuff already without the addition of utter control over the battlefield when they want.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
Thoughts:
1) Shouldn't this better be a class power instead of a magical item?
I find the option interesting, but it seems so unique and strong that it looks "wrong" to have it merely in a power.
Alternatively: Make it an artifact power.
2) How about this option only gets available after one milestone?
This provides a further limit on how often it can be used.
You might want a lessened effect without this prerequisite. Maybe a part of the terrain manifests in the current encounter area (terrain becoming difficult or challening for example)
Or maybe a single creature in the burst is teleported away for one round (or save ends).
1) Shouldn't this better be a class power instead of a magical item?
I find the option interesting, but it seems so unique and strong that it looks "wrong" to have it merely in a power.
Alternatively: Make it an artifact power.
2) How about this option only gets available after one milestone?
This provides a further limit on how often it can be used.
You might want a lessened effect without this prerequisite. Maybe a part of the terrain manifests in the current encounter area (terrain becoming difficult or challening for example)
Or maybe a single creature in the burst is teleported away for one round (or save ends).
Phaezen
Adventurer
There is a callout in the description of the orbs about its game changing dynamics, similar to the warning about allowing the MM races.
Dragon 270 Playtest AV2 said:
So it is safe to say that this is something they are aware of. I think it has been released as playtest material specifically because they like the idea, but are worried about the ingame effect of the these type of items. Although with the manouverability of high level characters and monsters, getting a group of pc's and monsters in a 5 x 5 square to jump this on them could be difficult at best.
Also, there is what looks like an editting tag on the Orb of Sequestered Gossamer calling out low accuracy.
Phaezen
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This does sound like the perfect ability for an artifact...and artifacts already have the "DM may not want to allow these" clause built in.
Orbs: Yikes, this sounds extremely cool at first but how often do you want to fight in the same 5x5 square? Basically, you're dooming your playgroup to play on in the same tile once every time you gather together....
Tattoos: This is actually really cool, most of them aren't very strong (Exception, Tat of the unlucky and Reaping Strike, very sick very fast) but they help encourage the party not to take an extended rest.
Tattoos: This is actually really cool, most of them aren't very strong (Exception, Tat of the unlucky and Reaping Strike, very sick very fast) but they help encourage the party not to take an extended rest.
As a DM who's been through my share of ideas that sounded unbelievably awesome at first but quickly got first stale and then sour through repetition, I can say that the orbs sound like a terrible idea. Just terrible. It could work as an expensive one-use consumable item, but as a permanent item power? No way.
Of course, they seem awesome now, but wait til you're on your 7th or 8th or so hand-built encounter that gets deflected into an orb. Won't seem so nifty then I can assure you. This is literally the kind of stuff that designers are supposed to be there to make sure you don't end up putting into your game.
Doesn't matter that it's a Daily item use, it's going to come up at *least* once every single game session, which is enough for it to completely take over the feel of the campaign and become a running gag to the players.
I'd like to hope that these things don't make it into the final version of the AV 2, but I have a pretty good feeling that these things aren't so much 'playtests' as they are straight 'previews' of what the book is going to be.
Of course, they seem awesome now, but wait til you're on your 7th or 8th or so hand-built encounter that gets deflected into an orb. Won't seem so nifty then I can assure you. This is literally the kind of stuff that designers are supposed to be there to make sure you don't end up putting into your game.
Doesn't matter that it's a Daily item use, it's going to come up at *least* once every single game session, which is enough for it to completely take over the feel of the campaign and become a running gag to the players.
I'd like to hope that these things don't make it into the final version of the AV 2, but I have a pretty good feeling that these things aren't so much 'playtests' as they are straight 'previews' of what the book is going to be.
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James McMurray
First Post
Far from hard, it's incredibly easy. All you need do is have the party delay so they're all going together, then use the multitude of powers that move people around. Finally the guy with the orb takes his turn.
A buddy slapping dimensional shackles on you just prior to activation is optional, but goes even further towards destroying encounters. I know I'd give up two standard actions to remove most of the enemies from the battle until I decided they could come back.
Vael
Legend
Or you could count up. That's how I manage my character sheet, I add a tick mark for each surges expended.
The tattoos are really nice, I like the ones that improve as you expend surges.
I'm not keen on the Orbs of Sequestered Conflict, but I'll admit the concept is cool. More of an Artifact thing though.
WalterKovacs
First Post
Is there a reason why material presumably balanced for PC usage still requires a standard disclaimer that it might upset the game?
Because the reason it might upset the game has more to do with it upsetting the DM's plans than the actual gameplay. When this power is given to PCs, suddenly the DM is giving them a bit of control in terms of terrain, and the ability to divide and conquer a battle once per day. The ability to severely nerf elaborate terrain design plans may not be something a DM wants to do. (At the same time, I've seen a few cases where the fights end up in the "entrance" to an encounter, allowing all the cool terrain features to add up to nothing at all, so it doesn't need an orb to pull that off.)
