AU - What's good to play?

I had a great time with a Mage Blade/Magister wielding a swordstaff. That particular weapon qualifies to be both a Magister's staff and a Mage Blade's athame, which is great, but I do have to be honest with you: you're kind of screwed if you lose it.
 

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Mojh should probably just have some Draconic-sounding name, since they've abandoned their human heritage to become something more draconic in power and form. Likely a kinda-long name that makes them seem grander or more intimidating.

As a magister, you'll have to be careful at the lower levels. Same goes for oathsworn and greenbonds, as well as some witches, runethanes, and mage blades (depending on what they choose to learn/focus on). Low-level spells are fairly weak in combat with AU/AE, especially the 1st-level spells. They tend to require normal melee or ranged attack rolls (or a touch attack in some cases), rarely saving throws. There are a few exceptions (fire burst for instance, IIRC), but generally, you'll likely want to put a good score into Dexterity (also, IIRC, it's tougher to accumulate AC bonuses as a caster in AU/AE, so high Dex is even more important).

You won't be doing much damage in combat until you gain 3rd-level spells or higher, when you'll be able to contribute similarly to the party's warmain or totem warrior or champion (perhaps; you may still be a bit behind until 4th or 5th level spells). But then, as a spellcaster, you'll likely be more versatile outside of combat. You may or may not want to take Simple Weapon Proficiency as a feat, for the sake of getting a heavy crossbow and making the most of it. Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot are possible feat choices too.
 


*is one of the few people that didn't care that much for Greenbonds* But then I'm kind of not that fond of the way the world treats divinities either.
 


Wavestone said:
One note though - in hybrid 3.5 and AE campaigns, a lot of wonkiness can crop up!! Particularly regarding the arcane/divine magic division, prestige classing and such. AE is really designed to be the whole campaign, the spells in AE are internally balanced.

Very true, but alongside one another AE and 3.5 match up pretty well. Generally you should keep the magic systems and spell lists separate. So no Power Words or Wishes for the AE folks and no spell templates for the Wizards and Sorcerers and so forth.

Of course, you could try this if you wanted. The results might be interesting. :)
 

Although I don't care for the dog people and cat people (who are IMO amongst the lamest examples of such that I've seen - far less flavourful than the Mystara equivalent or the Traveller equivalent (vargr/aslan)), I like the flavour of the oathbound, and I'd love to play a magister or a champion. I think that the flexibility of champions (what they are champions of) is brilliant. I'd love to see all paladins handled that way, ideally!

Cheers
 

Sibeccai Warmain. Max out your Con, and take Sturdy at every available level. We had one that put their character together that way, had upwards of 400 HP at level 20.

-TRRW
 

I don't care for the dog people and cat people (who are IMO amongst the lamest examples of such that I've seen -

You are of course, entitled to your opinion, but I think it's unfair to call them lame based on a criteria they weren't trying to meet, IMHO. If you're looking at the Litorian and Sibeccai and expecting "Cat" and "Dog", then you're bound to be disappointed, because they weren't meant to represent felines and canines, the AE book says as much. Of course something that's *trying* to be a "Cat person" is going to be a better "Cat person" than a race that just happens to have some cat-like physical characteristics. Appearance is only skin-deep.

Still, I don't think most people look at them and see anything different, given how many times I've seen Litorian players meow or be distracted by yarn or shiny objects in-character. *sigh* So I guess I shouldn't expect anyone to see them as anything but their surface "cat people" vibe... I just wish people could see them as their racial identity first and their physical appearance second.

Robert "Probably Overly Sensitive About This" Ranting
 

Plane Sailing said:
Although I don't care for the dog people and cat people (who are IMO amongst the lamest examples of such that I've seen...
Well, I don't care much for dog and cat people, either, but I think that at least the sibeccai (dog people) have a cool background. They are a race of awakened animals, awakened by one of the other player races. This can have very interesting implications for the game. Of course, this doesn't change much of the fact that I still don't like playing a dog walking on its hindlegs.

And what would I play? I'd probably try most of the classes at least once, starting with a magister or greenbond. Be careful with the witches, they are not balanced. The winter witch presents an excellent choice, but a sea witch doesn't really work as PC class.
 
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