Art of the Kill

[MyISPHatesENWorld]

It may be because there are no martial classes in PHBII. Many of the articles offer stuff that the is not offered in the books, either ideas that didn't fit into the book for some reason, or player options for DM books like dragonomicon, manual of planes, etc.

Yeah, it breaks from what I expected, which was something similar to the Gladiator article being released in conjunction with Martial Power (i.e. stuff that complemented a lot of what is coming in the PHBII).

I was expecting something assassinish that would refer to the Avenger - particularly since it wasn't previewed/playtested in Dragon like the other classes.

I kind of preferred the Gladiator/Martial Power release to the Previews of PHB2/PHB2 release. Hopefully we'll get a nice Arcane article in conjunction with Arcane Power. Something with a lot of neat stuff that we can talk about in regard to Arcane Power that will still have value after the book is released.

I was really looking forward to this article, so maybe my expectations were too high. But the article has a bit too much of that cutting-room-floor aspect you refer to IMO.

 

[Inyssius]

Now, I want the source on THAT.

Bam!

WotC: With Dragon Magazine’s release of the gladiator, there’s been speculation that Martial Power will continue presenting options through new fighting styles and weapon specializations—is this a fair assessment, and if so how does Martial Power explore these areas?

Rob Heinsoo: No, surprisingly enough, that is not the type of stuff that’s in Martial Power. Here’s why not: our plan with D&DI content that supports a specific book is often to provide a type of content that didn’t appear in the original book. So the gladiator material was originally conceived as an approach that was different than the much more straightforward class power approach taken in most of Martial Power.

And then a few funny things happened. Our first attempt at the mechanical approach for the gladiator theme didn’t work out. And we noticed that an approach we had come up while designing a different power book would fit the gladiator theme quite well.

So the gladiator approach is something that shows up in a later power book, but not in Martial Power itself.

 

[Klaus]

Notes:

Best Tiefling picture yet.

My Raven Queen-worshipping rogue is very happy!

 

[Obryn]

but this early in the 4E cycle seems awefully early to patch things up / expand the system.

After I started reading 4e, this was more or less exactly what I expected and hoped for... 4e is exceptionally modular - that is, new supplements will seldom need to replace or overwrite anything that came before. Adding new powers is simple, and new powers would almost have to mean new keywords. If you don't have new kinds of effects, then you're mostly just re-organizing stuff that already exists in the PHB.

So yeah. 4e is like legos.

-O

 

[Nightchilde-2]

So yeah. 4e is like legos.-O

And it's a universal truth that Legos are pure win and awesome.

 

[Siberys]

I like the weapon mastery feats, but I don't like that they count as your Multiclass. I also never liked how Multiclassing swapped out powers.

So, I've just gotta houserule it to fit with my Multiclassing framework, and change the feats a little, and... voila! Exactly as I want it!

Good thing I'm the DM, eh?

Very nice article, IMO.

 

[MrMyth]

Despite this being a decent article, it really shows what I am starting to dislike about 4E. I've been very hopeful of 4E almost since the initial anouncement but one of the things that is really starting to turn me off is the fact that DDI and splatbooks keep on introducing new feat or item types like the brutal weapon property, guild feats etc. One of my hopes for 4E was that (unlike 3.5 with the rules changes in the Complete X series) they would stop adding completely new mechanics and rules in splats.
I can unsterstand that at the end of the 3.5 cycle they were trying to fix an old system (reserve feats, retraining rules) and already testing stuff for the next edition (book of nine swords etc.), but this early in the 4E cycle seems awefully early to patch things up / expand the system.

The thing is, most of the new elements aren't actually adding new mechanics - they are simply harnessing existing mechanics to represent new things. Guild Feats are simply feats that give a benefit based on how many allies have them - compare to the 3.5 version, which was "Teamwork Benefits" which required a new system where the group trained together, and one person got to be a team leader, and so forth.

Similarly, note that the Weapon Mastery feats (and now the style feats with Bravo and Cut-throat) simply use the multiclassing feat system. No new mechanics, but a very good way to let characters specialize. Meanwhile, the technique feats are simply a collection of feats that enhance At-Wills. Again, no new mechanics, just a way of categorizing existing feats with a certain theme.

All of these work completely intuitively for someone only familiar with the PHB1 - while at the same time, very effectively increasing the options available to players. I very much like that.

 

[catsclaw227]

Noticed a rule error.

Fey Death grants an immediate reaction use of Fey Step when you reduce a target to 0 Hp. But, you can't use an Immediate action on your turn. So the only time that this could be used as an IR is if, say, ongoing damage you caused killed the target.

Yea, this needs to be errata'd to a free action, like the barbarian's Swift Charge ability.

Do we notify Wizards about these things with the same feedback system for CB?

 

[Inyssius]

All of these work completely intuitively for someone only familiar with the PHB1 - while at the same time, very effectively increasing the options available to players. I very much like that.

More than that, each feat works completely intuitively if all you have is that one feat and familiarity with the PHB1. Okay, with one possible exception; any of the multiclassing feats could need a line like "it's like Acolyte Power for whip users." But that's really all there is to it.

 

[Nymrohd]

One thing I have come to love about digital dragon; everything can be effortlessly errata'ed.