I have the PHII...

[Bront]

I think you must have overlooked that. Diplomacy is on their class list.

I might have, but I thought i read it a few times. I'll find out when I actualy order and get it.

 

[Bront]

It is a 2nd level spell, it actually teleports the touched target up to 5 ft/2 levels. The destination must be unoccupied and within line of sight. The 2nd level version is OK, but it seems very limited in use.

The 5th level version allows you to teleport 1 target per level, none of which can be more than 30 feet apart 30 feet from their current location. The location they end up must be within line of sight and they must be put on solid ground.

I just don't see much point in moving all of your enemies 30 ft, except maybe to move the wizards in front of the fighters protecting them. Still, seems a very limited use spell.

Other side of a wall of force.

Accross a river

Up a cliff face/Wall

From one ship to another (LOS through portals, or better yet, using x-ray vision)

I can see lots of uses. At 2nd level, it's not a bad spell to have. The 5th level one, perhaps a bit less so.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Oh great. Even more paladin minmaxing feats making charging a 1 shot kill for every enemy they come across.

Don't jump to conclusions, Derren!

It isn't a feat, it is a replacement class ability that a paladin could have instead of his mount.

You don't get that many smite evils a day, and it means that if you do a charging smite evil you can get +(3*level) damage instead of +level damage.

If you compare that with a mounted paladin using spirited charge (and especially with a lance) doing smite evil, you'll see that this has considerably lower total damage potential, balanced by being available somewhat more often.

FWIW I don't see an awful lot of paladin minmaxing feats anyway - unless you are thinking of "divine" feats which they use their turn attempts for?

Cheers

 

[MarkB]

I got the book the day before yesterday.

So far, the only part I didn't think much of was the Ceremony feats. The measly two examples presented here were utterly uninspiring - neither provides significant enough benefits that I'd consider spending a feat and daily expenditures to get them.

 

[Felon]

Perhaps they didn't balance them against each other because they realized that the marshal is terribly underpowered. I love the concept of the marshal class, but his aura's just aren't enough to carry a class.

Perhaps that is indeed their assessment. It's really the only viable response (other than something along the lines of "hey, it's a dragon class, so it's gotta be nasty" ).

I gotta say though, when I played a marshal during a couple of adventures, his abilities were quite helpful and decisive. Could've used an active class feature that could be used more often than "grant move action" though.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

I got my book yesterday and am taking a good read through it.

A couple comments:

Beguiler is awesome. Nearly a full theif, and though a limited spellcaster (enchantment and illusion) it is a strong combo, though you had best keep your Int high for the DCs. A lot of save and no effect spells in thier list. Plus light armored casting? Sure they lose a lot of utility spells, but then just dominate the right guy and no problem.

Duskblade is good, maybe really good. I am looking at it, and like the class, but i need to look more

Dragon Shaman is weird. You get A breath weapoin, some auras, But not overly powerful and no spellcasting at all. I don't think I will like this class.

Knight: Stroing at what he/she does nad a very comperable build to the fighter. But stronger? Maybe, certainly more interesting.

Otehr stuff is really good and quite interesting. An excellent book.

 

[D.Shaffer]

It is a 2nd level spell, it actually teleports the touched target up to 5 ft/2 levels. The destination must be unoccupied and within line of sight. The 2nd level version is OK, but it seems very limited in use.

Is there anything in the text that'll keep you from teleporting the guy 30 feet straight up? Even so, if you're in the city or fighting in a hilly area, I can easilly see teleporting someone so they're now over empty air. Especially nasty on those ever present fights on bridges, rooftops or narrow paths.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

Other side of a wall of force.

Accross a river

Up a cliff face/Wall

From one ship to another (LOS through portals, or better yet, using x-ray vision)

I can see lots of uses. At 2nd level, it's not a bad spell to have. The 5th level one, perhaps a bit less so.

Yes, I agree. Problem is if you can cast mass fly you have a replacement that is pretty much better than this spell. Teleport is probably also better. It probably should be a 4th level spell.

 

[Brian Compton]

One thing I noticed about the feats- weren't some of these originally Epic feats (Two-Weapon Rend comes to mind)?

I like the Weapon Mastery feats, though I think it might better be house-ruled that the bonuses apply to other weapons EXCEPT the specialized one. That seems more in line with the intent of the feat. Truthfully, how many fighters have passed on a really nice new weapon because all their feats were focused on a different one? There's a fighter/paladin gestalt in my game who's focused on greatsword, and I could see him getting a lot of use from this feat if a Holy Avenger popped up. Not ready to pass judgement on the follow-up feats for this, as I haven't read them fully.

Also liked the Combat Focus feats. Anything that can help a fighter up their Will save, even if briefly= good. The idea of the feats building on each other was nice too- encourages characters to do more than just cherry-pick.

One thing I'd like to see- a comparison of a fighter/arcane that takes the Spellsword prestige class with a Duskblade. Are they balanced, or does one come out a little better than the other? Likewise with a rogue/arcane with the Arcane Trickster class vs. Beguiler. Besides the obvious advantage that Duskblades and Beguilers can do things in one class the others need three to emulate.

Have to say, between this book and Spell Compendium, WotC is currently putting some good material out. Hope they keep it up.

 

[Hjorimir]

Dragon Shaman is weird. You get A breath weapoin, some auras, But not overly powerful and no spellcasting at all. I don't think I will like this class.

Yeah, the Dragon Shaman is the only thing I've found in the book so far that makes my just shrug; it does nothing for me. I would have loved to have seen a core-class shaman that had a slightly barbarian feel to it.

All in all, I'd rate PHB II pretty high amongst the books WotC have released outside the core three. For me, it's going to be a part of my "core six": PHB, DMG, MM, UA, and SC being the others.

I loved the expanded druid options as both of those abilities were things I had previously house-ruled on anyway. Going forward, I'm just going to call those replacements the default in my campaigns.