Andy Collins talks about the Revised Druid

[Mouseferatu]

Oh, for the love of...

He's talking in generalities, people!! Not specifics!

Sure, the druid could "replace" the wizard. And, as someone else pointed out, the paladin could "replace" the fighter. The bard or the monk could "replace" the rogue.

But they wouldn't do as good a job!!

I've seen the new druid. No, I can't tell you about it--NDA, and all that. But I assure you it's no more "unbalanced" than it was.

 

[Nightfall]

And he would know since Ari is the developer/editor for SLCS: Termana. Second best place to be a druid.

 

[Psion]

I dunno. I am a little dubious on using the dungeon as the sole balancing point. A lot of us have outdoor and city adventures too, y'know.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Be that as it may, if the druid's blaster spell abilities come as close to the wizard or sorceror's as the paladin or barbarian's combat abilities come to the fighter then there's something seriously wrong with the relative balance of the classes.

It's treading a very very thin line if they come even as close as the bard's stealth, lockpicking, and social skills come to the rogue's. (About the only thing a rogue can do that a 3.5e bard can't (with six skill points per level) is sneak attack, find and remove traps).

Oh, for the love of...

He's talking in generalities, people!! Not specifics!

Sure, the druid could "replace" the wizard. And, as someone else pointed out, the paladin could "replace" the fighter. The bard or the monk could "replace" the rogue.

But they wouldn't do as good a job!!

I've seen the new druid. No, I can't tell you about it--NDA, and all that. But I assure you it's no more "unbalanced" than it was.

 

[Dr_Rictus]

Re: Re: Re: Andy Collins talks about the Revised Druid

The cleric would still be the master of healing during combat, but the druid would be transitioned into an acceptable downtime healer.

Wands of cure light wounds only cost an average of 2.7 gp per hit point restored. Player hit points go up only slightly faster than linearly with level. Treasure values go up considerably faster than linearly with level.

So if you have down time, there's a very wide range of character levels where it makes little sense for any healing class to dip into their spell slots at all. It doesn't even take all that much time. You can fire all 50 charges from such a wand, restoring roughly 275 hit points, in 5 minutes.

So every class with cure light wounds on its list already has equal access to the best down-time healing strategy available (as do rogues with a good Use Magic Device skill). And it doesn't take very many prepared spells to deal with the occasional mid-combat emergency. If a druid is unable to replace a cleric in the party, it's not for lack of healing ability.

 

[Mark]

Re: Re: Re: Andy Collins talks about the Revised Druid

... however, WotC stopped returning my phone calls after the infmaous "beige dragon" incident.

That's what you get for tanning their hides...