Comments on Eldrich 2 -or- Monte Cook crack addict?

[River]

OK Monte is cool and all but I wish I could hand Eldrich 1 and 2 to my players without a 3 page addendum listing that which is unconstitutional.

What is good? Sould magic is a fun Gimic to work into a campaign. Some of the magic items have potential. His sorcerer vatiant is at least as good as our inhouse sorcerer variant. Most of the feats and Magic items are creative and well balanced.

It slides from there.

The New Bard: Very well balanced, very well designed, assuming you never multiclasss!. Giving rogues potential access to invisibility as a MA action for 1 level of Bard?

Yeah it only lasts 1 round.... Who cares?

Call of <insert Gem Here> These spells are INSANE. Unlimited range no save?

Vivid Discharge, a 2nd level spell???????

The whole array of new spells are... well... MONTE.

I just hope next time he playtests more, or at least distributes it as a word file so we DM's can cut out the insanity and just print out the useable material.


River

 

[hong]

So what you're saying is that they're Monte Haul?

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Actually, I just got BoEM2 yesterday, and I have to say I'm really impressed with it.

Prestige Classes: Neat. I like the ones in this book better than the Mirror Master and Graven One of the first book. They seem very stylish and unique, which is what I look for in my PrCs.

Alt Classes: Well, I absolutely hated Monte's Ranger as a pure powergaming vehicle, but I was impressed with the alt. bard and alt. sorcerer. They seem balanced. I'm thinking of showing a current player (who plays a bard) the variant and allowing her to change her character if she'd like. As for multiclassing, I don't really see a problem. So a rogue can be invisible for one round. It's strong, but not game-breaking, IMO.

Soul Magic: Very, very nice. It works on so many levels. It's a stable mechanic which can allow anything from spellcasters that don't provide treasure to PCs to plot hooks to neat one-time bonus powers with a price.

Spells: Haven't looked at them closely for balance yet, but they didn't seem overpowered too badly. Since Monte's spells are mainly meant to be slowly introduced into a campaign through lost tomes, etc. (Monte even makes a statement to that general effect) I don't have a problem with them being stronger than ordinary spells. Finding a BoEM spell is a treat for a wizard, a reward if you will.

All in all, another fine product from the best non-WoTC publisher out there. Thanks Monte. And all that for 7 bucks, to boot.

 

[hong]

As for multiclassing, I don't really see a problem. So a rogue can be invisible for one round. It's strong, but not game-breaking, IMO.

How many times can you go invisible per day? Remember that an invisible rogue gets to sneak attack next round.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

How many times can you go invisible per day? Remember that an invisible rogue gets to sneak attack next round.

1st-level alt.bard gets three spellnotes. The spellnote Momentary Disappearance allows one to become invisible for 1 round/2 levels, with text nearly identical to the invisibility spell.

So a multiclassed rogueX/alt.bard1 could become invisible for one round, 3 times per day.

 

[Dougal DeKree]

short invisibility...

...of course you could stick to the rule, that fractions are rounded down, which makes the 1st lvl bard disappear for 0 rounds, forcing the char to get 2 lvl's of bard at least

Dougal DeKree, Gnomish Illusionist and "Magic-Weapon-Seller"

 

[Zarrock God of Evil]

1st-level alt.bard gets three spellnotes. The spellnote Momentary Disappearance allows one to become invisible for 1 round/2 levels, with text nearly identical to the invisibility spell.

So a multiclassed rogueX/alt.bard1 could become invisible for one round, 3 times per day.

What's your point? A rogue/alt. sorcerer 3 could become invisible at least 3 times per day and for a much longer time. It's three good attacks per day - no big deal. Add to that the other benefits gained for the two first levels. Sure - it's a very neat combo - but you'll find them all over the PHB if you look closely enough....
Nothing overpowering here - move along....

-Zarrock

 

[Psion]

OK Monte is cool and all but I wish I could hand Eldrich 1 and 2 to my players without a 3 page addendum listing that which is unconstitutional.

You tell them what they can't use?

I tell them what I approve, and say everything else is on a case-by case basis. For me, this rarely takes more than a paragraph.

That said, I do agree with what others have said: this is much ado about nothing. This does not mean I use the alt.bard (or alt.sorcerer for that matter), but I dismiss them primabily because they do not properly fit the feel of the classes in my game, not balance concerns.

 

[Henry]

First of all, the "Crack addict" thing ain't nice. Let's drop that.

Second of all, I see no problems with a rogue getting in an extra sneak attack here and there. He would do it if he were flanking, would he not? Or if he were bluffing (either with standard bluff or quicker than the eye from Song & Silence), could he not? In all, I think a Monte.Bard/Rogue combo would work out very well.

Third point: Check the errata before introducing any of this into your campaign. Monte and his friend Al Card have been very good about producing patches to the PDF's in a timely manner, and these have been very helpful. How many printed products can say they can be patched to perfection? Several spells and abilities have already be edited due to problems, lack of savign throws, etc.

Fourth point: Where does it say that a Bard lvl 1 gets invisibility for even one round? The standard rule IS to round down, is it not? Level 2 Wizards don't get 2 magic missiles, after all.

Fifth point: If you look again in the Zip file, you will find a text file that has all the open game content separate. You can copy and paste from it for your own house rules.

 

[Carnifex]

On the matter of sneak attacks, I second what Henry says - thus far, IMC the rogue character has almost always got sneak attack bonus in H-T-H fights because he tactically positions himself to flank the enemy.