Dragon 396 - Bards of Wolfstone is up

[Nemesis Destiny]

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Bards of Wolfstone)

Article is up. The link on the calendar is busted, but this works (removed the erroneous .pdf from the end).

Have not yet read it.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I just took a glance at it:

I like it. Some new encounter powers that mix arcane and primal and are weapon powers with ok damage and effects, adding some auras which are helping you fullfill your leader role.
Multiclassing or hybriding as a primal class is recommended, but not required. Mythic skald is the recommended paragon path, but there are pure bard alternatives.

There are also some feats that don´t require a primal class, but beeing a bard, that add some flavor and good effects: shift(slide) +1 and +2 damage on majestic word, which really makes it a lot more powerful.

So what we get is a NON ESSENTIAL article that has some ESSENTIAL FLAVOR achieved by mixing power sources and adding a strong theme.

Cool!

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

Yeah, I've had a chance to finish reading it now.

Let me preface this by saying that I love bards. Especially the Valorous skald-type build. I'm playing one in a campaign right now, and he's lots of fun.

I liked the article. Plenty of juicy flavour for Valourous builds and ideas for multiclassing them with primal power source.

The powers were decent. I particularly liked the Aura factor of them. It's one of the things I wish more classes (especially leaders) had access to. I would have liked, for example, a Cha-based Aura Warlord or Paladin build.

The feats were okay. Battle Cadence in particular seemed like it would be very useful, and the Words of Wrath is also nice for bards that like Intimidate. Wild Virtue I thought was kind of 'meh.'

It left me wanting a little more though.

So what we get is a NON ESSENTIAL article that has some ESSENTIAL FLAVOR achieved by mixing power sources and adding a strong theme.

Cool!

I agree.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It's nice. The handful of powers and feats fits the size of article well, and apply for a bardic archetype that is a little wonky to achieve in 4e. I wouldn't call it a needed shot in the arm, but I like what it is. A nice addition!

 

[Klaus]

I like it a lot!

Words of Wrath is a good feat, essentially adding Intimidate to your Words of Friendship power description.

The Majestic Word-enhancing feat is great, and the one keying off Bardic Virtue will see plenty of use, which is always good for a feat.

Since Bards were originally a class that required druid levels (in 1e), this article brings back some legacy elements.

 

[Riastlin]

Aye, I liked the article too. The powers were certainly useful albeit not necessarily overpowered meaning you don't have to be going after a theme in order to want to take them. The feats also seemed to be fairly well balanced on the surface, though Battle Cadence is perhaps a tad OP in that I think few bards would pass it up (still though, not really OP in that I don't see it as any way game breaking if that makes sense).

 

[Zaran]

I am a bit confused about why it suggested multiclassing when the powers don't have that sort of prerequiste. Also, what was the article talking about when it explained that the number of powers weren't related to the number of feats taken? What feature relies on the number of feats you take?

 

[LightPhoenix]

The feats also seemed to be fairly well balanced on the surface, though Battle Cadence is perhaps a tad OP in that I think few bards would pass it up (still though, not really OP in that I don't see it as any way game breaking if that makes sense).

Double the efficacy of your Majestic Word rider? That's a no-brainer; I can't imagine a Bard not taking that. The extra damage is just icing on the cake.

Wild Virtue isn't too bad with Virtue of Prescience (once/encounter) or Valor (won't necessarily happen every round). However, with Virtue of Cunning, that's usually going to end up being a free shift every round.

 

[Klaus]

I am a bit confused about why it suggested multiclassing when the powers don't have that sort of prerequiste. Also, what was the article talking about when it explained that the number of powers weren't related to the number of feats taken? What feature relies on the number of feats you take?

The multiclass suggestion is there in case the player wants to emphasize the "arcane + primal" angle. Not every suggestion needs a mechanical purpose.

As for feats: if you choose to go hybrid, you can take as many primal powers as you want. If you go Multiclass, your primal powers are limited by the number of slots you devote to the power-swapping feats.

 

[Riastlin]

Double the efficacy of your Majestic Word rider? That's a no-brainer; I can't imagine a Bard not taking that. The extra damage is just icing on the cake.

Wild Virtue isn't too bad with Virtue of Prescience (once/encounter) or Valor (won't necessarily happen every round). However, with Virtue of Cunning, that's usually going to end up being a free shift every round.

Yeah that's why I was saying it is seemingly OP in that every bard will likely want to take it BUT despite the extra damage and extra slide, I don't think it will necessarily make the class OP, etc. Feats that everyone takes always make me a bit skeptical, but I think this is still fine in this case.

And yes, Wild Virtue is much more powerful for the Cunning Bard. Whats really nice about the bard is that its still pretty easy to take the Virtue of Cunning, yet still remain primarily melee, and the Wolfstone article just expands on those options.