Cadfan's Comments on Everything 4e

[vagabundo]

That works for me. Is it in the game?

No, but you can bet it soon will be. I see a lot of holes in 4e that a handful of feats and classes will fill.

 

[Scribble]

They have magic items in AV that seem to do that at least for Warlocks. The Pact hammer and the Pact Blade.

 

[Ximenes088]

I'd be leery of gimping the wizard's ability to tear up minions- the fact that he can do so is one of the major perks of the class. The more you downplay minions, the more you downplay the wizard.

As for four minions not being worth one regular monster, I'd say it depends on the minion. Those that completely avoid synergizing with each other or the normal monsters can be an issue, but all it takes is one mook to Grab the archer ranger or rogue and it's the monsters who get to decide how positioning will work. To say nothing of helpers who drop Aid Another actions on their boss, or make Heal checks to help him drop ongoing effects. Minions trade durability for four times the number of actions by XP weight that a normal creature gets. That can be a really, really good deal for the bad guys.

 

[Felon]

Teleporting infinitely is cool, but eventually less useful than you might want. You know, after the second or third time you've teleported in a single round. The feat that grants a second pact should be a help here, so she can alternate between teleporting and gaining temporary hit points.

A feat that grants a second pact? Where does this exist? You're not thinking of Twofold Curse, are you?

 

[garyh]

A feat that grants a second pact? Where does this exist? You're not thinking of Twofold Curse, are you?

Twofold Pact, Dragon 366, page 20:

Dragon #366 Table of Contents

 

[WizarDru]

That works for me. Is it in the game?

In the Adventurer's Vault, there is a hammer called Moradin's Weapon (iirc) that can, for a cleric of Moradin, act as a Holy Symbol (with some restrictions, details) as well as having a daily power. I can't imagine a cult wouldn't have something similar, if you wanted them to do so.

 

[Felon]

Twofold Pact, Dragon 366, page 20:

Dragon #366 Table of Contents

This article had me all excited when I saw the new powers...until I realized they made virtually all of the attacks Cha-based. So, what's the strategy here? Make the 'locks split stats between Cha and Con, then take turns fawning on one and neglecting the other? Not good.

 

[Ktulu]

Nice read. I'm currently playing a very similar rogue and I can agree that it's a pretty tough cookie. If you can get your hands on one, get a duelists rapier. That once-per-day ability to get combat advantage is a god-send.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The fact that Cloud of Daggers auto-kills minions seems like a glitch to me.

Feature, not bug. Wizards in my games grim when they realize they're facing minions.

I grin too; more minions means more targets means more to slip past the defenders and get at the squishy wizard.

Spoiler

Seriously, I TPKed the party in the second last encounter in Keep on the Shadowfell with those vampire minions. It didn't help that, with their high defenses, no one could hit them!

Minions

Mixed opinions here. I love the idea of minions. But the specific minion rules they've used, coupled with certain powers, give me a sense of disconnect. Cloud of Daggers auto kills minions by leaving them stuck in a zone that does about two damage when used by our wizard. But Reaping Strike, which automatically does at least 4 damage when used by our fighter, doesn't auto kill a minion.

Oh dear. I've been allowing it to. Certainly cleave works anyway...

 

[MyISPHatesENWorld]

Versatile Weapons

Alright, seriously. Versatile is a worthless trait. When you create your character, you decide whether he's going to use a one handed weapon, or a two handed weapon. If you choose two handed, you go for a real two handed weapon right away. If you use one handed, you might use a versatile weapon, but you'll be holding a shield so you'll never use the versatile aspect of your longsword. It might as well be a one handed weapon.

The only thing that versatile does annoy halflings.

This doesn't have to be true. There exists the potential for an extremely good versatile weapon using fighter build. I hope it is someday written. All you really need to make it work is some kind of benefit for fighting with a weapon and an empty hand, and a special damage bonus when using a versatile weapon two handed. Then you'd have meaningful choices between attacking with a versatile weapon wielded two handed, and switching to a weapon/open hand combination.

"I let go of my greatsword with one hand (free action), draw my wand (minor action), cast my spell (standard action), then put my wand away (minor action again, this time using my move action). Next round I'll spend an undefined action (probably a minor) to grab my greatsword with both hands, and be ready for combat again."

By the RAW, letting go with one hand isn't an action at all, though defining it as one is OK absent any additional restrictions. Placing your hand on a weapon isn't a minor by RAW and making it one is going to cause problems. If you make shifting a hand off or on actions something other than free actions or place restrictions on the free actions, then you're breaking versatile and some other things.

e.g. Using a potion is a minor action to grab the potion, a minor action to drink it and a free action to drop the vial, not a free action to let go of your weapon with one hand, a minor action to grab the potion, a minor action to drink the potion, a free action to drop the vial and a minor action (or free action you can't do in the same round as letting go) to put your hand back on the weapon.

Versatile works to allow you to mix and match actions. If you house rule in additional action costs or make restrictive rulings regarding it, then versatile is going to have a lot less or no utility.

A Bastard Sword wielder can hit something with both hands usually, but sometimes draw out a light blade or implement to take advantage of a multiclass abilities or powers. Move (move), draw light blade or implement (minor), then attack with light blade or implement (standard). You still have your more damaging weapon available for opportunity or granted attacks.

If you were using a two-handed weapon, you wouldn't be able to use your more damaging weapon on opportunity or granted attacks until the next round when you sheathe the weapon as a minor action, still having your move and standard actions available.

You might want to delay sheathing the weapon until after the next round in favor of moving and using a power or skill (e.g. active perception check) that costs a minor action along with your standard action attack and you're still able to attack with your more damaging weapon. Or, you may not have access to a minor action to resheathe the implement or light blade because you get dazed and doing so would cost you your entire round. If your off-hand weapon is an implement, that's really important, if it is a dagger or short sword, it's still nice.

Versatile saves you a minor action sometimes, which makes you more versatile. If you house rule in a minor action cost to use it, then yeah, it becomes useless.