I Have [The] Neverwinter Campaign Setting

[Saracenus]

Bladesingers and Race:

Crunch: No restriction
Fluff: Strongly elves and eladrin only with some exceptions for half-elves.

What does this mean? In FR and Neverwinter if a non-elven/eladrin bladesinger exists, then it better be a good story.

Then again, re-skinning a concept is pretty damn easy... from the simple, in my campaign bladesinging is widely known and taught by all peoples to the more arcane "my samurai has learned to wield his blade with magic and now his very movement is a dance with his katana."

I am about to play in a homebrew campaign and I am re-skinning the changling race for my PC.

I am basically take the concept of the Faceless Ones from George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series and my human PC has given himself completely over to the Raven Queen as an instrument of fate. He is a human who has given up his own identity and can now shift form with a thought to better "execute" his divine mistresses' bidding.

Back to the Bladesinger. I think it is a great complement to the swordmage which is more "fightery" than "magey." Bladesingers are more magey than fightery but still use a weapon more than a straight wizard.

I would definitely not stand and fight with a bladesinger, that would be a quick death. Eldarins with their "bamf" and elves with their "fancy-footwork" definitely make it easier to get gone when close contact is less desirable.

The damage output is definitely not striker level, but respectable. But really where they shine is the ability to inflict conditions on the target of your basic attack or another target within 10 squares. Its not mass wizard control, its more like the opposite of the monk, which is STRIKER with a pinch of control and the bladeslinger is CONTROL with a pinch of striker (that is what one of the other players said about my PC after the first encounter was done).

As for Neverwinter being dead, it was functionally wiped out during the spellplague but some staid on despite the trouble and now some "lord" from Waterdeep is throwing his weight around and being all competent like the Romans in Life of Brian which has the locals in a tizzy. After all what has the Waterdeepians done for us, besides building roads, aqueducts, and laws?

 

[GameDoc]

I stand corrected on the racial restrictions, and happily so.

One other thing I noted - on the list of warpriest domains for FR deities, it says that Tempus' priests should select the "Conquest" domain. Never heard of that domain. Is it a typo or did I miss a Dragon article?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Maybe it is something new. I mean it IS a DP domain isn't it? Maybe someone just slipped a cog there. Or it could be something that got cut and they forgot to edit out the reference. I'd think Storm would work, even if it isn't exactly dead on.

 

[Incenjucar]

Very glad to hear that bladesinger is NOT restricted. It's not something I personally have any interest in, but it would be a terrible road to go down.

The tight theme thing WotC is going for is certainly interesting, but it necessarily sets them up for polarized purchase cycles if they go too far with it.

 

[Bold or Stupid]

Any chance of more detail on the Warpriest God Domains?

 

[S'mon]

Very glad to hear that bladesinger is NOT restricted. It's not something I personally have any interest in, but it would be a terrible road to go down.

The tight theme thing WotC is going for is certainly interesting, but it necessarily sets them up for polarized purchase cycles if they go too far with it.

It's certainly worked on me - kind of a fluke I started running FR earlier this year before I knew about the Neverwinter CG. I've certainly fallen into their hands this cycle; bought Threats to Nentir Vale, just ordered the Neverwinter CG. It helps that this Heroic Tier oriented stuff fits my GMing style very well, especially as it seems sandboxy. I don't think I'll buy Madness at Gardmore Abbey, but I may look to play in that one.

 

[Estlor]

Played an Eladrin Bladesinger (Iliyanbruen Guardian) and OMG, this is what a controller should be.

Except it's not. A Wizard (Arcanist) or Wizard (Mage) is what a controller should be. A Wizard (Bladesinger) is a striker that somehow got inexplicity labeled a controller and wasn't fixed in editing or playtest.

Yes, I know the bladespell powers all have a slight control rub added on to them and a bladesinger's dailies are all wizard encounter powers (that, one would assume, offer controller benefits), but that's not what the class and native paragon path promote.

You have a MBA-centric class with a bonus damage mechanic. (Sounds like a monk.) You have an encounter utility that adds considerable damage to the bladesinger's MBA. You have a class feature that lets you do both an encounter as daily and a MBA in the same round. There's another extra damage mechanic. You have another class feature that lets you make extra opportunity attacks when your striker encounter power is in effect. You've got a paragon path with an action point feature that lets you make lots of bonus MBA when your striker encounter power is in effect.

Still don't believe me? Consider that by level 11, your Eldarin Bladesinger can throw out a nova round that does 5d8 + 36 damage, plus an extra 2 + Dex damage three times, and triggers the cold vulnerability of Lasting Frost six times.

11th Level Eladrin Bladesinger
Max Int/Dex (21 each at 11th, for +5 mod)

Frost Rapier +2
Bracers of Might Striking (heroic)
Light Blade Expertise
Blade Initiate (swordmage MC)
Eladrin Swordmage Advance
Weapon Focus (light blade)
Wintertouched
Lasting Frost

Round 1
Minor: Bladesong
Standard/Move: Whatever. Doesn't matter.

Round 2
Standard: Winter's Wrath
Move: Fey Step adjacent.
Free: MBA from Eladrin Swordmage Advance
No Action: Use Frost Bite on same target
Minor: MBA
No Action: Use Frost Bite on the same target
Standard (from AP): MBA
No Action: Use Frost Bite on the same target
Bonus MBA from paragon path feature for action point
No Action: Use Frost Bite on the same target

Winter's Wrath - 2d8 + 12 (+5 Int, +2 enhancement, +5 bladesong) cold damage, inflicts vulnerable 5 cold
MBA - 1d8 + 23 cold damage (+5 Int, +2 enhancement, +2 item, +2 feat, +5 bladesong, +2 expertise, +5 vulnerability)
Frost Bite - 7 + 5 damage (vulnerability)

That averages out to 179 points of damage in the nova round. At 11th level. Without a lot of item cheese.

Don't get me wrong; it reads like a fun, interesting class. But it's not a controller. Unless you consider "dead" the controlling status

 

[Falcon42]

Don't get me wrong; it reads like a fun, interesting class. But it's not a controller. Unless you consider "dead" the controlling status

Works for me!