Balancing a Custom Power

[jcayer]

This week I am going to kill everyone's favorite NPC(including mine). This is temporary as the party cleric can raise dead, just not in the middle of a dungeon. The challenge is more about how they will handle getting the body(I require the whole thing for resurrection) out.

As a result I'm thinking about giving them the option for a temporary power. This would last the entire encounter but cannot be reused.

Reckless Vengeance
Infused with the pain of your loss, you recklessly seek vengeance. You attack wildly looking to inflict as much damage as possible against your enemies. Unfortunately, your reckless actions leave you less able to fend off your opponents attacks.
+1 to all attacks
+1w to damage
-3 to all defenses

So, is it well balanced? Does it lean too far one way?

 

[Dice4Hire]

This week I am going to kill everyone's favorite NPC(including mine). This is temporary as the party cleric can raise dead, just not in the middle of a dungeon. The challenge is more about how they will handle getting the body(I require the whole thing for resurrection) out.

As a result I'm thinking about giving them the option for a temporary power. This would last the entire encounter but cannot be reused.

Reckless Vengeance
Infused with the pain of your loss, you recklessly seek vengeance. You attack wildly looking to inflict as much damage as possible against your enemies. Unfortunately, your reckless actions leave you less able to fend off your opponents attacks.
+1 to all attacks
+1w to damage
-3 to all defenses

So, is it well balanced? Does it lean too far one way?

Well, I would make it a stance, but not sure if martial, divine, etc is needed.

As for the 1W, that works for warriors, but how about implement guys? Maybe make it +1d8 for them.

Overall, I would see this as a 6th or 10th level utility, so if your game is higher, I would make it more powerful.

 

[LostSoul]

I would recommend just giving them a +2 bonus to all attack rolls for the entire encounter.

...

Actually, on second thought, no. That won't bring it.

If the player describes his action as being driven by the loss of the NPC, he can spend a healing surge as a free action and deal double his stat modifier in damage and gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls.