Complete Arcane (10 reasons)

[MerricB]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/news/20041102news

I've been looking forward to Complete Arcane for a while now. There have been some things I've hoped it had in it. It seems that it does have them!

10: Warmage... Furthermore, he deals extra damage with his damage-producing spells and can increase their power on the fly via the new Sudden feats, which he gains as bonus feats.

The Warmage is from the MHb, as are the Sudden metamagic feats. I haven't been looking forward to the Warmage (good though it is), but the Sudden Feats are one of the innovations in the MHb that I really like - and I'm glad they're moving into more of the mainstream.

9. NPC Prestige Classes: ...and the mindbender can effectively create permanent thralls through her charm and dominate spells.

One of the PCs in my campaign is a Mindbender, and I've always disliked the write-up in Tome & Blood - I look forward very much to the 3.5e revision.

5. Tournaments Arcane: Need an interesting event for your campaign world? How about a tournament for arcanists? Complete Arcane offers four versions of such tournaments -- the Spire Perilous, the Grand Illusion, the Wizard's Menagerie, and the Dweomerlist.

Tournaments are just fun!

3. Feats for Arcanists' Enemies: ...The Mage Slayer feat prevents spellcasters threatened by the user from casting defensively...

Another MHb import into the Complete series, Mage Slayer is one of the more controversial feats, as it is probably better than an Epic feat. Seeing as how I think many Epic feats aren't particularly epic, this doesn't bother me - I like Mage Slayer, and I'm happy to see it here.

Of course, it somewhat detracts from the utility of the MHb... but no matter.

Cheers!

 

[Krieg]

Well at least these 10 reasons don't actively make me NOT want to buy the book like the ones for Frostburn did.

 

[MerricB]

Well at least these 10 reasons don't actively make me NOT want to buy the book like the ones for Frostburn did.

See! Wizards are improving their PR!

Cheers!

 

[Krieg]

Well luckily I don't base my buying decisions on their marketing.

While I haven't picked it up, Frostburn does indeed seem to have turned out far better than my first impressions would have predicted.

 

[Saeviomagy]

[i][b]3. Feats for Arcanists' Enem... that ignores the benefits of natural armour.

 

[MerricB]

I'm a little bit worried about the two other listed feats - the ones which totally ignore entire classes of spells.

I don't doubt, for instance, that there will never be a feat that ignores the benefits of natural armour.

Well, there certainly are spells that ignore natural armour, etc.

A single feat to ignore concealment magics is not too much of a step up from Blindfight (reroll concealment rolls). I dare say that Blindfight will be a pre-req, as well as ranks in either Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcane). That's a natural progression.

The ignore magical enhancements to armour is more troubling - though not quite for the reason you state. I object to spells that single out parts of the calculation to AC, because they're normally very fiddly to use. Monte Cook created some in one of his BoEM, and I detested them on sight.

OTOH, if this only dispels temporary bonuses to AC, I'm less worried about it. The pre-reqs will have a lot to do with it, of course.

Although it's easy to say "this increases the power of monsters", in truth, I think that's a minor concern. Monsters have a vast array of powers that break the rules in any case. Just consider a creature like the Bodak!

Cheers!

 

[Remathilis]

6. Arcane Organizations: Organizations are always great sources for adventure hooks, and both PCs and NPCs benefit from membership. In addition to the usual mages' guilds, colleges of wizardry, and societies of magic, Complete Arcane offers three new organizations that also support various prestige classes. The Arcane Order is a college that offers members access to its Spellpool. The Seekers of the Song celebrate the primal music, and members of the Wayfarers Union provide teleportation services for their communities.

Woo hoo! Mage of the Arcane Order is IN!

 

[Nightfall]

*doesn't necessarily think lowering the ability to gather magic items or even create them makes it harder to hurt tougher monsters...*

But that's just me.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Well, there certainly are spells that ignore natural armour, etc.

A single feat to ignore concealment magics is not too much of a step up from Blindfight (reroll concealment rolls). I dare say that Blindfight will be a pre-req, as well as ranks in either Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcane). That's a natural progression.

See - I could understand a slightly improved version of blindfight that does additional things (like negate miss chances as well as concealment, or provide a reroll against mirror image), but I really don't like feats which just flat-out defeat another feat or spell.

The ignore magical enhancements to armour is more troubling - though not quite for the reason you state. I object to spells that single out parts of the calculation to AC, because they're normally very fiddly to use. Monte Cook created some in one of his BoEM, and I detested them on sight.

OTOH, if this only dispels temporary bonuses to AC, I'm less worried about it. The pre-reqs will have a lot to do with it, of course.

Although it's easy to say "this increases the power of monsters", in truth, I think that's a minor concern. Monsters have a vast array of powers that break the rules in any case. Just consider a creature like the Bodak!

I don't have a problem with the bodak. It has abilities, they follow the rules normally, and those abilities are available to PC's too.

I have a problem with treants (because they're a fixed CR opponent which, if played right, you will never ever defeat). I have a problem with the paralysis of the chuul (It's not magical, it's not poison. What is it? Acupunture pressure points??). I have a problem with dragon-only and celestial-only spells.

I honestly don't think there are many monsters out there who need or have magical bonuses to their armour class. Conversely, every single fighting character will have magical bonuses to their armour class. It just seems like a no-brainer for powerful creatures to take the feat, unless the prerequisites are punishing.

 

[MerricB]

See - I could understand a slightly improved version of blindfight that does additional things (like negate miss chances as well as concealment, or provide a reroll against mirror image), but I really don't like feats which just flat-out defeat another feat or spell.

Just feats? Or do you include special abilities and spells in that as well?

I can think of an awful lot of things in the D&D game which can be defeated by a simple spell or special ability. In this case, true seeing, Blindsight or Blindsense negate those magical concealment options, and there's certainly a few creatures that have one of those abilities!

Extending it to a couple of feats makes sense to me - and feats are at a premium for PCs, monsters and NPCs, especially if they have pre-reqs in cross-class skills.

This feat seems powerful... but in truth, it's not going to be used all that much. (Much like Mage Slayer). For the PCs, it's probably not worth their while. For the NPCs and Monsters, well, the DM could have given them another special ability that does exactly the same thing. However, by making it a feat, Wizards give us another option as to how (particularly) an NPC might have it.

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Dispelling magical protections is another matter, and I really want to see the actual feat before speculating further.

Cheers!