I'm warming to the Ardent

[Obryn]

The Ardent is, I'm not afraid to admit, my very least favorite class in 4e. What's more, I think it has some of the most broken mechanics, as well.

So I was a bit skeptical when one of my players decided to swap out his Artificer. Still, I was excited to see psionics in play, so I thought it sounded like a pretty great idea. He's doing a few changes, but overall, it's a pretty impressive class.

The differences between him and a warlord started showing when he was teleporting himself and his allies. That was a bit of a shift! I found that the power point mechanics worked pretty well, all things considered; he spent quite a few of his during every combat.

What turned me around was a Utility he dropped right onto my encounter, which is probably going to kill it so dead it hurts. They're in a fight with a Vampire (with Dominating Gaze) and a few Banshees (who attack Will and do a lot of psychic damage). Anyway, he announced he was evoking Tower of Iron Will.

My first thought was, "Awesome! Oldschool shout-out. I approve."

My second was, "You're joking. Close Burst 3 zone, sustain minor, +4 to Will defense, +2 to all other defenses, Resist 10 Psychic, AND you get a free save versus Dominate, Daze, or Stun conditions at the start of your turn?! I'm so hosed!"

We had to stop the encounter halfway through. But my only hope is basically to try and Dominate the Ardent anyways, and hope he fails his Save...

-O

 

[Mengu]

Just so you are aware, only his allies get saves at the beginning of their turn. He himself does not. So, dominate him, and no more sustain, unless someone else can give him a save before his turn.

 

[jgsugden]

Retreat and regroup. As a DM, if the monsters know they are facing a sustained power that hoses them, they'll try to retreat and attack again once the sustain has been dropped.

I've got a nice encounter format that I use from time to time when the PCs have a traitor in their midst or if they've been spotted by scouts. The enemy will set up a location and make it easy for the PCs to 'sneak up' on them with all of their defenses up at full strength. Then, at the last second, the enemy will put up a barrier that blocks off the PCs (from advancing or retreating, usually) and then waits for defensive spells/powers to wane. I usually provide a way for the PCs to outsmart being outsmarted (if they can find it), but this trap has been very effective in the past.

I'd use something like this after retreating. Have the banshees cover a retreat for the vampire and then use phasing to leave the battle. They can then heal up (while the PCs heal up) and then pick a new battle ground where the Vampire and Banshees can retreat to a safe spot for 4 minutes after making a long enough appearance to draw out the good daily and encounter defensive powers. The PCs will not have had a long enough opportunity to rest and regain encounter powers, and they'll have to let sustains end if they wish to rest to try to regain encounter powers.

 

[Samir]

Retreat and regroup. As a DM, if the monsters know they are facing a sustained power that hoses them, they'll try to retreat and attack again once the sustain has been dropped.

I've got a nice encounter format that I use from time to time when the PCs have a traitor in their midst or if they've been spotted by scouts. The enemy will set up a location and make it easy for the PCs to 'sneak up' on them with all of their defenses up at full strength. Then, at the last second, the enemy will put up a barrier that blocks off the PCs (from advancing or retreating, usually) and then waits for defensive spells/powers to wane. I usually provide a way for the PCs to outsmart being outsmarted (if they can find it), but this trap has been very effective in the past.

I'd use something like this after retreating. Have the banshees cover a retreat for the vampire and then use phasing to leave the battle. They can then heal up (while the PCs heal up) and then pick a new battle ground where the Vampire and Banshees can retreat to a safe spot for 4 minutes after making a long enough appearance to draw out the good daily and encounter defensive powers. The PCs will not have had a long enough opportunity to rest and regain encounter powers, and they'll have to let sustains end if they wish to rest to try to regain encounter powers.

This seems kind of meta-gamey, unless you also tell players the effects of every defensive buff monsters put on themselves.

 

[DracoSuave]

This seems kind of meta-gamey, unless you also tell players the effects of every defensive buff monsters put on themselves.

Well, it's not like magic effects are -invisible-. Monsters with a reasonable intellegence can probably figure out that everyone is harder to hit because of these twinkly lights of force... and hey, that one's got a halo that looks just like it!

 

[Squire James]

If nothing else the vampire ought to be able to tell his main shtick suddenly don't work so well. The banshees will probably be aware of it, but try to shriek their way through the resistance anyway, while the vampire goes after the Ardent. Successful or not, the Ardent's doing his job!

 

[Starfox]

So, one group of monsters get hosed? No big deal.

Now, when this happens every encounter...

 

[jgsugden]

This seems kind of meta-gamey, unless you also tell players the effects of every defensive buff monsters put on themselves.

Pg 26 of the DMG, bottom right hand corner under "Gotcha!"

What goes for the players goes for the monsters.

Do I tell the players the effects of something? Not exactly, but here are some things I have done recently:

* When a warlock at range 10 used a range power and attacked a creature with an aura 5 that dealt necrotic damage if it was targeted with a range or melee attack, I told the warlock he felt a sickly chill settle into his bones that did not actually hurt him, but might have if he'd been closer to the beast.

* When a party came across my version of a tendriculous (with threatening reach), I described the creature as having rapidly whipping vines that slammed into everything near it, whether it was moving or not. When a PC said hewas going to charge it, I told him, "You may have trouble approaching it without getting hit by those vines."

"No Gotchas" in this instance would be handled by me as follows:

* As the Ardent raises the Tower of Iron Will, I'd tell the PCs that the monsters snarl as their assults on the party's willpower are deflected by the Ardent's bastion of mental strength.

* The monsters might try to take the Ardent down to stop the shield. If that is their plan, I'd throw out some melodramatic threats by the vampire along with directions for the banshees to kill the 'mind-freak'.

* If they retreated, I'd have the vampire say, "Cover my retreat... and then meet me at the lair. These fools are too well defended... now..."

* I'd keep my pants on.

 

[Samir]

Well, it's not like magic effects are -invisible-. Monsters with a reasonable intellegence can probably figure out that everyone is harder to hit because of these twinkly lights of force... and hey, that one's got a halo that looks just like it!

Some are invisible, some aren't. That's more fluff than crunch, and I guess it comes down to how you describe each power.

* If they retreated, I'd have the vampire say, "Cover my retreat... and then meet me at the lair. These fools are too well defended... now..."

This is perfectly fine, I was more referring to the vampires/banshees running off and "waiting 4 minutes."

 

[Kingreaper]

Some are invisible, some aren't. That's more fluff than crunch, and I guess it comes down to how you describe each power.


This is perfectly fine, I was more referring to the vampires/banshees running off and "waiting 4 minutes."

No need to wait 4 minutes really. It'd be better phrased as "waiting until the power dropped"

At that instant, what they were waiting for has occurred, and they can freely return.