AU - first impressions?

[anonystu]

Well, if we're back at the fireburst examples, then yeah, 10-foot radius isn't as good as twenty, but it's a 1st level spell, that uses 2 1st-level slots (which, in the fluid system, is 2/3rds of a 2ndlevel spell) It shouldn't be anywhere near that good, if you use the phb as a guide.

In any case, sorcerous bolt is very similar to lightning bolt (just with more flexibility as to what kind of bolt is it). If you're worried about fireburst comparisons, then look at sorcerous bolt versus lightning bolt.

 

[blakwind]

Great layout!

I picked up my copy of AU on the first day of GenCon and played a demo that evening with Thrommel -- great session, by the way, Tom! I'll take the opportunity here to add a few comments on an aspect of AU that hasn't received much attention in this thread.

I really, really, like the layout of this book. All content is black and white, with crisp dark text on a clean white background. The font is small, but the text is well spaced, and the result is much easier on my eyes than the D&D PH. Even the largest tables are easy to follow with simple horizontal lines every three rows. Sidebar text is well differentiated by font and white space without any distracting shading. The black and white art is of an entirely different sort than the glossy illustrations of the PH. The pencil sketches and ink illustrations are generally of high quality. They are unobtrusive, only occasionally intruding on the columns on text. The pages are thick, and the cover feels sturdy.

Over-all, I'd say that the presentation has a unique refreshing feel that seems well matched to the unique content. While so many d20 products imitate the WotC "look and feel", Monte and Sue have taken a road less traveled, and I for one am delighted.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Have even 3.0 with haste blaster mages ever actually been a problem. If anyhing I think the problem has been with low daamge outputs for blaster mages at most levels. I think the haste problem was more with save or dies than with blaster mages.

What effects a battle more a 12d6 line of damage or a slow spell, or stinking cloud, or heck even hold person.

12d6 save for 1/2 fine i eat some damage maybe the weak HD classes types drop, or if this is a mook fight I may clean up. But overall I take an owie but I recover and am fighting at full str. you cast slow and I'm just a body waiting for my bag.

 

[Thrommel]

I'll just chime in here that if anything is radically different in AU, it's the magic system. The new races, the new classes, the feats -- all of that stuff is pretty much cut and paste right into your 3E/3.5 game.

But if you want to port the magic system into 3E, you're going to have to sharpen your pencil a little bit -- or wait for the DM's Screen and Player's Guide next month which will have the conversion notes for you.

That said, I think the magic system blows the doors off the traditional Vancian style, hands down. It's very cool, extremely flexible, but built around some simple to grasp, straightforward concepts.

So keep in mind that the two approaches are very different. D&D assumes that magic is in the hands of a few (clerics/wizards/sorcerors - with a split between divine and arcane magic) and is rather rigid in spell effect and casting frequency. AU assumes that many people have access to some type of spell ability (five of the eleven classes wield magic using basically the same spell list) and puts a lot of choices at the caster's disposal.

I suggest playing through the AU magic system a bit -- it's not something I'd just eyeball and give a thumbs up or down to, because if anything in AU is not like 3E, this is it. It's different and, in my opinion, a vast improvement.

-Thrommel

 

[anonystu]

I'd like to, for all my math, second this. I'm really excited about the magic system, I think it's a vast improvement, and is really cool, flexible, and has a great feel, and can't wait to try it out and see what happens.

It just requires a bit more watching, I think.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Does aU have anything like Haste?

So keep in mind that the two approaches are very different. D&D assumes that magic is in the hands of a few (clerics/wizards/sorcerors - with a split between divine and arcane magic) and is rather rigid in spell effect and casting frequency. AU assumes that many people have access to some type of spell ability (five of the eleven classes wield magic using basically the same spell list) and puts a lot of choices at the caster's disposal.

Of the 11 core classes, only fighters, barbarians and rogues (3 out of 11) don't have magic. Even so, the rogue gets Use Magic Device as a class skill. It seems to me that fewer people in AU have access to magic

 

[Thrommel]

Nope, no Haste in AU.

Refresh my memory -- what's the primary caster stat for the monk again?

Let me clarify a little bit -- in AU, if you are a spellcaster, you can cast spells at first level, right off the bat. Not true for 3E rangers and paladins, and barely true for bards (even if you have a high Cha as a first level bard, you can only cast cantrips). So only four and a half of the eleven 3E core classes have basic access to magic.

Add the fact that AU has no multi-classing penalties, no distinction between divine & arcane magic, no class-specific spell lists (great selection when you're a ranger, let's face it -- you're going to take entangle) and no dictates about who can take Use Magic Device and I would say spellcasting is generally less restrictive in AU.

Is a runethane going to kick a sorceror's butt in a head to head magic duel? No.

But he might be able to heal the warmain before the BBEG k-o's him.

-Thrommel, who might have let his feelings about bards slip out a little bit there with that 'and a half' comment.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Monks get supernatural abilities and Dimension Door. IMO that is magic.

(great selection when you're a ranger, let's face it -- you're going to take entangle)

Speak for yourself! I will never take that spell as a ranger. I'd rather take a flavorful ranger spell like Longstrider and not pretend to be a magister.

 

[Storminator]

Well, if we're back at the fireburst examples, then yeah, 10-foot radius isn't as good as twenty, but it's a 1st level spell, that uses 2 1st-level slots (which, in the fluid system, is 2/3rds of a 2ndlevel spell) It shouldn't be anywhere near that good, if you use the phb as a guide.

In any case, sorcerous bolt is very similar to lightning bolt (just with more flexibility as to what kind of bolt is it). If you're worried about fireburst comparisons, then look at sorcerous bolt versus lightning bolt.

Fireburst has a hideous limitation in that it bursts out of an existing fire. If no such fire is present, then fireburst is useless. We did have fun with the witch readying an action to blast out a fireburst (with the fire template, yup yup yup) right after another PC tossed out alchemist fire.

But if you're minmaxing AU spell casters and you aren't using Spell Affinity, you really don't know what you're doing.

PS

 

[willpax]

I realize that there are many variables outside the system as it is written on paper that affect the issue of high/low magic flavor, but I would be intersted in an assessment of the tendencies of the system beyond simple damage numbers.

If D&D 3e as written tends to high magic (an assumption for sake of discussion), then how does the AU system compare? How many changes would be needed to run this system in a low magic homebrew?

(I'm struggling to create my own system, and am always looking for someone else to have done the work for me).