Arcana Unearthed

[Nellisir]

We had a warmain character in my campaign -- I took away one or two bonus feats, but otherwise left it unchanged. Seemed to work fine. I'd be concerned about mixing the warmain, unfettered, and PH fighter without toning down the AU classes just a little, though.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[Staffan]

In my Eberron campaign, i am allowing slightly modified Unfettered (mostly fixing up the skill list to match D&D's skills - replace Sneak with Hide and Move Silently, things like that). One of my players tried it, and it sure didn't seem overpowering (could have something to do with the adventure not allowing much use of sneak attack - lots of oozes, undead, and constructs).

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

We had a warmain character in my campaign -- I took away one or two bonus feats, but otherwise left it unchanged. Seemed to work fine. I'd be concerned about mixing the warmain, unfettered, and PH fighter without toning down the AU classes just a little, though.

Cheers
Nell.

Odd, I find AU classes to be slightly underpowered, though more flexible, in most circumstances.

And I've actually applied the sneak skill across the board. I figure a guard gets two chances to spot, but a thief only gets one chance to mess up not being seen.

 

[Darthjaye]

Been using the Unfettered in a Greyhawk campaign recently. Mixed it up well with the Dervish from Complete Warrior. Nice blend too. They kinda compliment each other well enough. After hearing what the "epic" level feats gained for the UF though, wish I had gone completely UF now.

 

[Nellisir]

Odd, I find AU classes to be slightly underpowered, though more flexible, in most circumstances.

You could argue it either way. Looking at the warmain, I think I eliminated the "weapon size increase", or made it a feat, and moved "crushing blow 2x/day" to 16th level (from 15th). The warmain has the same skill points, BAB, and saves as the fighter, better hit points, and arguably better skill selection (Intimidate as a class skill; but I'm not arguing). They lose 5 bonus feats, but gain 5 special abilities (sturdy, weapon specialization, crushing blow, armor specialization, weapon size increase, weapon mastery).

IM(new)C, the fighter will get d12 for hit points, so there won't be a reason for the warmain anyways.

Cheers
Nell.

 

[spider_minion]

I've DMed AU for a while now . . . and I like it more than D&D in every category. The classes are really the highlight for me, especially the Champion, Totem Warrior, and Witch variants. Overall the classes are versitile and stlyish.

The magic system's great as well, mainly because there are virtually no save-or-sink spells (oh how I hate those !!! ). Still, the lack of good low-level attack spells and the flexibility of sorcerous blast bothers me. Likewise with the distinction between elemental damage and energy damage. Those things are minor, really, and easily correctable to suit my gaming tastes.

The cerimonial feats and talents open a lot of doors to building neat characters.

Well, time to go back to wating for Arcana Evolved . . .

 

[Infernal Teddy]

So... how do AU or AE characters stack up against standard D&D monsters? I only have AU, and was thinking of starting a campaign soonish...

 

[BlackMoria]

So... how do AU or AE characters stack up against standard D&D monsters? I only have AU, and was thinking of starting a campaign soonish...

AU/AE characters going against standard D&D monsters is no different that PHB characters going against standard D&D monsters. My experience, anyway....

 

[Odhanan]

I was wondering, who here has used material from Malhavoc's "Arcana Unearthed" line? What have your experiences been?

Here I am !

My RL campaign is an Arcana Unearthed/Evolved one.

The whole feel of the product is absolutely excellent. I place it above the PHB, personally, though it doesn't replace it. See, the PHB is good for general games and campaigns. AE stuff is more focussed, based on particular themes, like rituals, choice versus destiny, etc. This gives a taste to AE that might not fit in every campaign. But the result is so overwhelmingly good that there's a huge chance you'll love it.

 

[MarauderX]

I would be wary of many things if combining the material from the PHB and AU. Feats are either grossly powerful (for example, Speed Burst) or nearly useless. Combining them with PHB feats would make for taking the best of both worlds by ignoring feat chains. There are some crunch things that I think weren't considered deeply enough when it was put together, but hey, not even 3.0 was perfect right?

The magic system, while very interesting, has weaker spells than the PHB overall. The necessity of feats to gain access to complex and exotic spells is nifty, but makes for arcanists that have limited utility when compared to a wizard or cleric. Are they uniquely specialized? You bet, but I would also bet the majority have the same general arrangements to equal the PC power in the PHB, such as spending a feat to gain a 3rd level exotic spell to do actual damage.

Multiclassing would be the most overt abuse of the rules for each, as abilities from classes such as Witch when combined with a level of monk can get you an AC of +8 from Wisdom alone... at 2nd level. There are many more combos that could get out of line. The race levels are worth a warning as well, as they provide ability boosts and extras that make melee monsters that much worse, Giant in particular.

Within the AU rules alone I built a Giant 3/Warmain 6 that could easily have HP>100 and has large size with no restrictions on armor. Str=20, Con=20, and the damage output from weapons went up one size catagory. Taking a look at the casters of similar level with any build combos leaves them lacking versus melee builds.