Excerpt - Rituals

[Scribble]

Would it really be so terrible to say that at Paragon you could have hundreds of little animal helpers and as many as you care to acquire at Epic?

Its simple enough to change but annoying that I have to.

Well I think 4e is built more along the lines of how things play out at the table, then on paper...

I think if you and your DM can deal with 100s of sparrows under 1 PCs control then cool, go for it...

But A lot of players out there I think would see 100s of sparrows as a way to short circuit the game.

It says I can control 100s of sparrows. Shouldn't I get to make attack rolls for all of them? Can't I fly now since I have hundreds of sparrows? Shouldn't all these sparrows add to my AC? Can't I build a cage of sparrows?

Why add that to the game unless you realy need to...

 

[Negflar2099]

Am I the only one who saw the Animal Friendship ritual and immediately thought "cool, now I can have two ferret pets (at paragon level) along with a panther animal companion and I can finally play Beastmaster."

Anybody? No? Okay just me then.

 

[Celebrim]

Would it really be so terrible to say that at Paragon you could have hundreds of little animal helpers and as many as you care to acquire at Epic?

Its simple enough to change but annoying that I have to.

According to the text, whenever you assign your helper a job that is too big for it, it finds hundreds of little animal helpers (who presumably are hanging around on standby at the local sparrow trade union) to help finish the job.

So, if you ask your 4 ounce sparrow companion to fetch a 10 pound coconut (160 ounces), presumably within moments 80 or so sparrows weave a net and then carry the coconut away under their dorsal guidance feathers.

So yeah, you get a whole flock of sparrows, but just one foreman... err forebird.

 

[Remathilis]

Welcome Back Affect Normal Fires. Its nice to see you after your absence in 3rd edition.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Hmm... I hope "Create Campsite" is specifically non-magical. I always liked the idea of Rituals that are simply Rituals in the mechanical sense but aren't actually magical rituals. Same with "Snare".

 

[Byronic]

Am I the only one who saw the Animal Friendship ritual and immediately thought "cool, now I can have two ferret pets (at paragon level) along with a panther animal companion and I can finally play Beastmaster."

Anybody? No? Okay just me then.

Your loyal animal pets seem to be charmed. That or require a lot of money for their loyalty.

 

[WalterKovacs]

Hmm... I hope "Create Campsite" is specifically non-magical. I always liked the idea of Rituals that are simply Rituals in the mechanical sense but aren't actually magical rituals. Same with "Snare".

They did however create a seperate alchemy recipe concept to deal with non-magical stuff ... it follows the same rules and concepts as rituals, just isn't actually one]. Considering that ritual caster feat requires arcana or religion, it would be a bit odd to need to know one of those things to know how to set up a camp non-magically.

 

[Roger]

Hmm... I hope "Create Campsite" is specifically non-magical.

That seems problematic.

"Alright, it's night-time, so let's set up our tents and get some sleep!"

"You can't. You don't know that ritual."

"I can't make a campfire and set up the tents without knowing a ritual?"

It seems to me that a non-magical ritual is just... doing stuff. Hey, look at me, I'm Creating a Sandwich, takes only a minute! Unless you mean something I'm not understanding.



Cheers,
Roger

 

[chaotix42]

Create Sandwich ftw! I'm so dropping that ritual into a treasure parcel somewhere just to see the reaction from my PCs.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I was thinking more along the lines of you could either:

1) Create a normal campsite and have no specific bonuses or attributes added to it.
2) Use this ritual and gain bonuses. You could have a bonus to when you are done a extended rest. Or you could gain a bonus to not giving enemies Combat Advantage because of the warning devices around the campsite, etc. I could see it that there is a list of different things you could do and choose which to take.

As for the Ritual Casting needing Arcane or Religion. Well who knows what may become available in PHB2. I could see something that allows you to learn it if you know Nature (Primal and all). I think there is a difference too between non-magical rituals and Alchemy. Alchemy is a very specific task, non-magical rituals be more general and all over the place.