Am I missing something? Spellcasters and armor?

[phil500]

My gaming group says its silly... that Wizards rarely get hit at all... but considering there aren't any great feats I'll get it eventually.

your DM isnt playing the mobs to their potential if they dont go after the easiest kill.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

your DM isnt playing the mobs to their potential if they dont go after the easiest kill.

Lot of mobs won't go for the wizard if RP played right!
1) maybe too dumb to realize what he is
2) maybe to damn scared to attack him, lol.
3) understand a fighter is dangerous by association.
4) Fighter = big, juicy hunk of meat, just gotta unwind the tin foil wrapper...

Skirmshers, leaders, artillery may concentrate on the arcane casters. May require an actual leader to force dumb rbutes/soldiers to attack wizards and warlocks.

So, grimlocks or orcs would fight a LOT different from drow or hoboglins

Folk tend to over power drow, which bugs me, drow are very VERY smart and sneaky in small unit fights, that's what makes them so damned dangerous, not cause they are superzoids Thus in 4th ed, giving 'em lot sof tactical abilities, rather than raw damage = good.

 

[Nifft]

there's something viscerally satisfying for me, as a long time Wizard player, for actually being able to get my hands dirty on the front lines; to smell the same blood and fear as the fighter rather than lording my power over the universe from on high.

Thunderwave.

"I am the boom-stick!", -- N

 

[Kichwas]

Well in 4E we can just have the fighter / paladin switch on Aggro and avoid having the backline get hit...

 

[Nifft]

Looking through the new PH I could not find anything on spellcasting pentalties wearing other then cloth armor. Is that anyplace?

It's in the 13 Strength you need for any armor except Leather.

Cheers, -- N

 

[silentounce]

It's in the 13 Strength you need for any armor except Leather.

Cheers, -- N

That's easy for someone not totally optimizing for key ability that picks a race with a strength bonus. Dragonborn in the PHB, for example. But it really gets fun with the races in the MM. Picture minotaur or orc infernal pact warlocks wearing heavy armor. Scary!

Heh, here's a possible array for those race/wizard combos:
Str 14
Dex 8
Con 14
Int 16
Wis 14
Cha 10

Take a multiclass dip into fighter... ooohh... I can picture a minotaur wielding a staff in each hand, laying the smack down!

I'm sure there are better builds, but I don't feel like spending a lot of time on it now.

 

[Saitou]

While burning a feat or two does seem like a nice idea, remember that magic armor geared towards mages is usually cloth. Not always, but usually.
Although if your DM isn't anal about these things, go wild!

 

[Nifft]

That's easy for someone not totally optimizing for key ability that picks a class with a strength bonus. Dragonborn in the PHB, for example. But it really gets fun with the races in the MM. Picture minotaur or orc infernal pact warlocks wearing heavy armor. Scary!

It's really not. If your attack bonus sucks, your combat ability sucks. There's no real way around that for a spellcaster.

(And the heavy armor Dwarf Warlock is scarier. Trust me on this.)

Cheers, -- N

 

[silentounce]

It's really not. If your attack bonus sucks, your combat ability sucks. There's no real way around that for a spellcaster.

(And the heavy armor Dwarf Warlock is scarier. Trust me on this.)

Cheers, -- N

So, having a 16 as opposed to an 18 in an ability causes you to suck? If that's the case, then the system is busted. And if you suggest that every character has to start with a 20 in their key stat in order to compete then that's even worse. Because that means you MUST play a class that your race has bonuses in, humans aside. Not only that, but with the current point buy system, giving yourself an 18 is a big sacrifice, if you do that, even your secondary attribute is going to suffer. Plus, the default array that they suggest gives you a 16 as the top. If that cause you to suck, then that sucks.

So, basically, you're trading a 5% to hit chance for the ability to wear armor. Yeah, I know it effects damage and other things as well, so will the increase in Str and Con. But, really, if playing a character with a 16(at 1st level) in his key ability causes you to suck, then I don't expect to be playing 4e long.

 

[Oni]

So, having a 16 as opposed to an 18 in an ability causes you to suck? If that's the case, then the system is busted. And if you suggest that every character has to start with a 20 in their key stat in order to compete then that's even worse. Because that means you MUST play a class that your race has bonuses in, humans aside. Not only that, but with the current point buy system, giving yourself an 18 is a big sacrifice, if you do that, even your secondary attribute is going to suffer. Plus, the default array that they suggest gives you a 16 as the top. If that cause you to suck, then that sucks.

So, basically, you're trading a 5% to hit chance for the ability to wear armor. Yeah, I know it effects damage and other things as well, so will the increase in Str and Con. But, really, if playing a character with a 16(at 1st level) in his key ability causes you to suck, then I don't expect to be playing 4e long.

You'd certainly think that was the case from reading a lot of the post around here lately. This race or that race sucks because it has a +2 in the wrong place, I certianly hope a stat bonus doesn't really make that much difference to actually game play. I haven't been able to see the rules yet, but I'm hoping that there will be good reasons to have different stats, that they all offer something. I guess I'll see soon enough.