AU - first impressions?

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Actually, there are a couple that you could do just this with. Champion, Totem Warrior, Unfettered, Oathsworn, and Warmain could be dropped into an existing D&D game with no trouble.

Good point. The non-casting classes would be fine.

And, in all honesty, you can just as easily use the standard D&D experience table for the AU classes. There was a reason Monte did the 10% increase, but it didn't have anything to do with the relative power of the AU classes.

Really? Bad assumption on my part then. Why'd he do it, if I may ask?

 

[Apok]

Really? Bad assumption on my part then. Why'd he do it, if I may ask?

I think it had something to do with the fact that the standard D&D experience table isn't part of the OGL and there may have been some legal ramifications if he reprinted it in AU. I think that's the reason, anyway.

The only non-spellcasting class that might be a tad unbalancing would be the Akashic, if for no other reason than it totally outshines the Rogue in every area except Sneak Attack damage.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

What about the Unfettered? What distinguishes it from a fighter or warmain?

I heard it gets sneak attack, but maybe it got Precise Strike instead.

 

[Apok]

What about the Unfettered? What distinguishes it from a fighter or warmain?

I heard it gets sneak attack, but maybe it got Precise Strike instead.

The Unfettered is your quintessential swashbuckler-type fighter. Disdains heavy armor and weapons for lighter fare. Basically, they get a Sneak Attack progression, a class AC bonus, Evasion, some bonus feats, and other abilities that help their AC when wearing light or no armor. They can also potentially parry spells targeted at them.

It's not a very "sexy" class, per se, but it makes a lightly armed and armored fighter viable as the main line of offense. If I were to change anything about the class, it would be the way their Parry ability works, which is kinda bleh.

 

[mmu1]

What about the Unfettered? What distinguishes it from a fighter or warmain?

I heard it gets sneak attack, but maybe it got Precise Strike instead.

It does get sneak attack, up to 5d6. It also gets proficiency with Exotic (Agile) weapons, a class-based AC bonus that only works in light armor or no armor, the Parry ability (adds his Int bonus to AC, but this bonus can't be higher than his level / 2), Ranged Parry, more skills, and some other stuff, but has a d8 hit die and only has a good Reflex save.

 

[BryonD]

I think it had something to do with the fact that the standard D&D experience table isn't part of the OGL and there may have been some legal ramifications if he reprinted it in AU. I think that's the reason, anyway.

The only non-spellcasting class that might be a tad unbalancing would be the Akashic, if for no other reason than it totally outshines the Rogue in every area except Sneak Attack damage.

I agree with you on both accounts here.

I'm really disappointed that the magic system doesn't work better side by side with D&D. My expectation was that having a magister alongside a wizard would be comparable to having a wizard alongside a cleric in that they have different magic sets due to different learning (instead of divine and arcane, you have divine, arcane and montean). Unfortunately, this simply does not appear to be true.

Right now I don't think I would have trouble using the warmain, totems or the unfettered. I'd be tempted to tweak the warmain (d10 HD, no wpn size increase, ) but these are details that I would try out for a few games first. But really, a warmain becomes largely redundant in a game with the fighter already there. The class was not made because the D20 system needed a fighter. It was made because a system without a fighter needed a replacement. So why add it to a system with one? It is not different enough, IMO (Intentionaly so, I assume).

The Unfettered, OTOH, is cool. It fits the swashbuckler type in a way that the fighter/rogue (even duelist) only flirted with.

Akashic is no problem as long as you are willing to let the collective memory thing be part of your campaign. That shouldn't be a big deal in most cases, but I think it could.

Champion and Oathsworn - Eh, whatever. They are fine. Champion seems more PClass to me and oathsworn is to redundant if a monk is in the game.

Totems are also cool. At first blush they seem pretty cultural to me. But if you assume a world where things just work this way, it is reasonable that many cultures would have these people.

 

[mmu1]

The only non-spellcasting class that might be a tad unbalancing would be the Akashic, if for no other reason than it totally outshines the Rogue in every area except Sneak Attack damage.

Really? My first reaction was that the Akashic was hopelessly outclassed by the Rogue, and I sitll think it's pretty much the case after taking the time to think about it.

Rogues are amazing when it comes to skill use. Akashics are even better, and get some abilities that can only be used a few times per day that give them even more of a boost. They also basically get Bardic Lore, and some spell-like abilities relating to skill use.

But they get no spells, and their combat ability is truly pitiful - they can pick up some minor Sneak Attack (3d6 tops, at something like 15th level), and while the various "Battle Memory" abilities are very nice, again, they're only useable a very limited number of times per day.

Which means that they can't hold their own in a fight, and while they can upstage just about anyone when it comes to skill use a few times per day, overall, they're only a little better than a Rogue or a Bard when it comes to skills. Bleh.

 

[Angcuru]

RobNJ: Your group doesn't happen to be taking new players, does it? I live in the Princeton area, and I'm currently groupless.

If rob doesn't have a space open, we're always looking for another player in my group. Drop me a line if you're interested.

 

[Angcuru]

Actually, we just lost two players, however the one I normally play in is down in Monmouth County. I don't know if you want to go that far. But if you do, we have a game on Saturday, and you can email me privately if you're interested (bowell@rci.rutgers.edu).

Also, we're not yet playing AU, though I intend to run a game as soon as there's an opening.

Finally, I'm considering restarting a group up in Middlesex county like I had last year but at this point I don't have any candidates.

Incidentally, I still honestly don't see this vagary in spell choice. It is really, really clear.

I might be interested in that; I know that blackshirt is interested in finding another group to play in besides our main one.

 

[RobNJ]

I might be interested in that; I know that blackshirt is interested in finding another group to play in besides our main one.

Well, it sounds to me like that makes 4.

To keep it on topic (at least vaguely), I would like to runn or play in an Arcana Unearthed game. Email me off-the-boards and maybe we can get something going.