Dragon Compendium classes - Which would you allow?

[Odhanan]

All of them.

 

[Crothian]

So I'm surprised there's no link anywhere to this thread for those of us who have not seen the Dragon Compedium.

It's a book, so it's not like a link would give one the info in it. But if one can't find it using google on their own they can always look here

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I'd allow any of them.

 

[pawsplay]

I'm fairly certain one can make that arguement for any class, even the PHB ones.

I would allow them all if a player wanted to use them.

Well, sure. But this is not an argument. I was simply stating my opinion about those classes.

 

[Crothian]

Well, sure. But this is not an argument. I was simply stating my opinion about those classes.

So, what specifically did you not like about each one?

 

[pawsplay]

So, what specifically did you not like about each one?

It's been a while, but I'll try.

I remember the Battle Dancer being a mechanical mess, with one of the ugliest advancement charts I've seen, and I was concerned they might be overpowered.

The genie guys are kind of interesting, but I thought the summoning mechanics might lead themselves to abuse, D&D versions of genies are not that great as a source of magical power in terms of flavor or abilities, and the class as a whole seemed to lack oomph.

The Jester had too many abilities related to defanging the bad guys. At the low levels, possibly overpowered. But conversely, I had the concern that at high levels, they might hit that brick wall where it's very hard to find opponents who reliably fail saves. I might be too harsh on the jester... if I were going to allow a class, the jester might be it.

The mountebank had a weird name for their abilities, and seemed to differ substantially from the kinds of class abilities other classes have. Innovation can be good, but it just wasn't working for me. If I'm thinking of the right class.

Some of the others just had weird flavor text going for them.

Force Missile Mage is a name that makes my eye twitch.

If anyone on this board is the author of some of those classes... please don't take it personally. They were just all misses for me.

 

[Severion]

I would also allow any of them, and i've wanted to play a death master since i got the "Best of Dragon Vol.4" back in the day. I don't see any of the PrC getting use IMG so allowing them wouldn't cause much trouble (the only PrC i seen chosen since i started running 3e is the FB and he's kind of a joke)

 

[Wyrm Pilot]

... I haven't looked enough at Shi'ar to see how it's spellcasting stuff would run at higher level, but I'd be willing to give them a go.

I've always liked the Sha'ir quite a bit, and would allow it (along with most of the others listed); but for this class, and some others, one should keep in mind the culture or campaign setting they came from -- if I was running a straight Greyhawk game, a player would have to do a lot of explaining to get me to allow Sha'ir.

Oh, and Shi'ar are humanoid avians from another galaxy (c.f. The Uncanny X-Men, various issues between 160 and 200).

Cheers,
Wyrm Pilot
____________________

Hey, bub, did y'ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?
-- Wolverine, to Mandarin

 

[GQuail]

Oh, and Shi'ar are humanoid avians from another galaxy (c.f. The Uncanny X-Men, various issues between 160 and 200). QUOTE]

Yes, as I was typing it, I was positive I was going to pick the wrong i/a order no matter what I did. ;-)

 

[Psion]

I generally disdain new core classes, but in absence of considerations about being to specific for a core class, I'd consider the Battle Dancer (because its cool) and Jester (which is not cool, but a nice re-spin of the bard.) I wouldn't consider any of the other core classes. The mountebank has little to no resemblance to its supposed inspiration, and you could have made the inspiration with existing classes anyways. Sha'ir would be okay in the right type of game. I find the ubran druid to be a silly idea and the death master easily enough realized by existing classes.

Most of the PrCs would be okay by me, but dislike that the authors, once again, forget there is no such thing as memorizing spells anymore in the text of the Cerebrex.