Complete Arcane base classes

[mfrench]

Warlock, Warmage, Wu Jen.

What are people's experiences with these new classes in terms of balance and flavor? I'm wondering if/how they step on the toes of traditional classes.

I'm interested to hear about actual gameplay experiences and theoretical arguments (class X would never work because of Y).

 

[Seeten]

Warlock is interesting, and depending on the player, fun. They arent terribly powerful, but they can do what they do all day, putting them more in the class of fighter than mage. They can can also take all sorts of different roles, depending on what invocations they took.

 

[Mercule]

I like Warlock. One of my players has one and he's effective, but not obscene.

I got a chance to play an 18th level Warmage in a one-shot. Given an opportunity to select terrain and engagement range, a Warmage is pretty disturbing and can take out an elder Red Dragon practically solo. That said, they ain't good for much else, and my feeling is that they'd be fair in a game. The warmage in the game I'm running (3rd level) has seemed balanced so far.

 

[Land Outcast]

I've seen a 15-lvl warmage do this:

Sudden Maximized Empowered Orb of Force = *sigh*

I know, it's just once per day but still, prettty disturbing... I don't like the "Orbs" overall.

 

[Shade]

The warmage makes a far better foe than a PC. With their lack of protective spells, the frailty of the mage really comes through. However, it makes for a fun challenge, trying to use the "a good offense is the best defense" tactic.

 

[Mistwell]

Warlock and Warmage both seem a tad underpowered but overall playable.

I've never played nor seen played a Wu Jen.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Do most people see warmages picking up the feat that allows them spellcasting in the next highest rank of armor? A warmage in expensive magical plate armor seems like it could end up being pretty damn hardy.

 

[Shade]

Do most people see warmages picking up the feat that allows them spellcasting in the next highest rank of armor? A warmage in expensive magical plate armor seems like it could end up being pretty damn hardy.

When I've used them, I've focused on Dex as a second stat and decked them out with the usual wizardly trappings (bracers of armor, etc.) and used the feats for more metamagic and extra spell feats. Since they're usually gonna have poor Str, the weight of the heavier armors is a detriment that I haven't found worth the opportunity cost.

 

[Rhun]

Do most people see warmages picking up the feat that allows them spellcasting in the next highest rank of armor? A warmage in expensive magical plate armor seems like it could end up being pretty damn hardy.

No, but I have a high-leveled Paladin/Warmage Gestalt character that casts in magical mithral full plate...he is pretty beefy.


I like warlocks and warmages. I've never played a wu-jen, or seen one in action (well, not since AD&D Oriental Adventures, anyway).

 

[Psion]

The warmage makes a far better foe than a PC.

I'd pretty much dismissed the warmage from my game until someone made a very good point over on RPGnet:

A frequent obstacle in keeping combats going in D&D is looking up spells. Classes with focussed spell lists help alleviate this problem because players get more intimate with the spell and spend less time looking spells up.

To that end, I don't think I'd use them in a campaign, but would definitely consider them for a dungeon-bash one off.