Epic Destinies and Earth Giants

[Spatula]

Who says those are large greatclubs? If you look at the picture of the hill giant, you'll notice it's swinging that club in one hand. I'm guessing it's a regular-sized greatclub and they've gone back to the 3.0 system where weapon size was fixed for all weapons of that type. (Which in turn means there may be special weapon types for big wielders; a sword that a giant needs two hands to use might be called a giantsword instead of a greatsword.)

What? The 3.0 hill giant had a "Huge greatclub." (the human-size one being size Large, as the size in 3.0 was the size of the creature that could use it one-handed without the weapon being considered "light")

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Dear Fallen Seraph,

Please stop making us sound awesome. We were trying not to get slaughtered this edition.

Your friends,
the Earth Titans

Tisk, tisk Titans I give you the opportunity to live life fast and hard like a rock star and you turn it down. Your made of rock and you can roll rocks: rock and roll. This easy-going quiet life does not suit you.

 

[jeffhartsell]

Apparently WOTC did some editing of the preview. They added in the earth shock power that was missing last night. Did they change the name of the 30th-level Archmage power from Demispell to Archspell?

 

[Lurker37]

Apparently WOTC did some editing of the preview. They added in the earth shock power that was missing last night. Did they change the name of the 30th-level Archmage power from Demispell to Archspell?

What's the point of a spell that summons a pair of every animal?

...

Wait. Sorry. That's Arkspell. My bad.

 

[Rechan]

This preview has finally started to show people the power range of 4e. What you'll find is that the power level of characters and monsters in 4e has actually dropped. Dramatically. There are a lot of people out there who were complaining that 4e was too high powered, that it was becoming too anime with at-will powerful abilities and the like.

This is the first preview that has really started to hint at the new power scale. Let me just say that as weak as the Archmage powers seem when compared to 3e, they are VERY powerful in 4e.

No, I think the Pit Fiend did that.

There was a WHOLE lot of complaining that the pit fiend was doing chump change.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

Have to say I'm disappointed in the Earth Titans. An epic creature fluffed as having helped the primordials create the planes gets the equivalent of a 3e 1st level pisonic power? What's the point of even advancing in 4e, when the powers are this uninspiring?

 

[AllisterH]

Hey all!

Firmly in the camp of those looking at the giant damage and thinking "What!?"

The Hill Giant is dealing about the same as a Level 3 Human Berserker (Brute 3) and less than a Level 7 Bugbear Headreaver (Brute 7).

By my reckoning it should be more akin to an average 22 points of damage* (4d6+8 maybe).

4.5 + 1/2 level x2 (Brute)

The Earth Titan deals almost the same (single attack) damage since its attacks are divided. It should be averaging around 50 damage* 25x2 (3d10+9 maybe)

4.5 + 1/2 Level x4 (Elite and Brute).

Also must admit that after seeing the amazing Orcs on Friday, that the giants were very uninspired in terms of powers as well. Kudos to Rechan for his new giantish powers.

I disagree with this quite strenuously...

A level 16 defender will be hardpressed to have an AC over 30 (Kathra started at 19 and she would gain +8 from level, throw in another +3 from magic et al).

Meaning that the Titan every round will do on average 17 pts of damage which means it can finish off a defender in 7 rounds. Which means to me that two level 16 characters should be able to beat it in 5-6 round.

Which I consider a good battle length.

 

[Cadfan]

So, nerfing some other guy can be perceived as buffing the hill giant? OK, D&D is officially an MMO now.

Yes. Nerfing one guy does make the other comparatively more interesting. The alternative is open ended power inflation each edition.

This has been another episode of Serious Answers to Unserious Questions.

 

[Shroomy]

I disagree with this quite strenuously...

A level 16 defender will be hardpressed to have an AC over 30 (Kathra started at 19 and she would gain +8 from level, throw in another +3 from magic et al).

Meaning that the Titan every round will do on average 17 pts of damage which means it can finish off a defender in 7 rounds. Which means to me that two level 16 characters should be able to beat it in 5-6 round.

Which I consider a good battle length.

And lets not forget that the earth titan will be chucking rocks from 20 squares away for an average of 15 points of damage (plus being dazed). That's potentially bad news...

 

[pawsplay]

Ok now I'm tired of them spying on me and putting my campaign in their rules. How am I going to impress my players with my convoluted impressive backstory if they think "oh thats the standard for giants...you big copycat!"

Quote: "This approach actually returned giants to their Classical roots as creatures embodying natural forces. In keeping with that ancestry, titans also became an elemental race, precursors to and creators of the lesser giants. Now a titan isn’t just a big dude with a ton of spell-like powers, but a powerful leader whose nature is closely tied to an element or kind of energy."

BAH!

/shuffles off to look for hidden cameras in study

Ja, I was going to do this to giants, and was already preparing my notes when the 4e announcement was made...