Piratecat said:
Do not underestimate the benefit of getting to give tokens to other players; during a big fight between us and a babau (with a whole lot of improvised weapons!), he proved himself as the party linch-pin.
Neat...
Hunter Class Features: Part I.
I posted this on Monte's site but I figured I might as well post it here as well... Anyone else get the impression that single-classed characters are the way to go in IL...?
Tactical Pool: So now we see how tokens are used in the game and it's pretty clever. No carry-over to worry about as they disappear after the encounter is over and a hard cap on how many tokens you can pool at one time. I'd be curious as to how IL defines an "encounter" - if I run away for a couple of rounds to heal up and come back do my tokens reset? Now we see why they get used as fast as you get them... When I first heard about hem I wasn't too keen on the idea of "poker chip powers" (more stuff on the table & kinda cheesy sounding) but the implementation here is well thought out and obviously very integral to game itself. I see no reason why you couldn't just keep track of "Tokens" on a scrap piece of paper like hit points. Probably work just as well.
Hunter's Eye: Another neat idea - limiting your actions in order to gain more tokens. A couple of questions spring to mind about this though... Can a hunter collect 3 tokens on a Full-Round action? Obviously if you have time to survey the target(s) before you engage them you can build yourself up a very tidy pool of tokens - even a 1st level character can wade in with 11 tokens with a few rounds observation.
Terrain Advantage: Interesting abilities (if not all that exciting). But it does promote more tactical thinking which is definitely good. Nice that you can give your allies the same bonuses you enjoy from the ability on a Free Action. No distance limitation though?
Tactical Insight: I see the LL Hunter is really geared as the party booster of the group rather than a spotlight hogger. If the Hunter can take the time to assess the situation for a few rounds before the party wades in, and pooling a bunch of tokens, I imagine this could be quite advantagous in a tough fight - granting a much needed token to an ally when they need it. Otherwise, your limited LL tokens (and the 2:1 conversion) probably won't affect the outcome much. [Though Piratecat has pointed out that this may be better than it first appears....]
Assess Opponent: Okay... the hunter's first real broadly applicable combat ability and it's a doozy. 1 token to give you +1 defense & +1 attack bonus for the whole encounter is very nice indeedy.
Note to Mike: I can see the text repeats itself in regards to the max. bonus you can gain.
I'm also a little fuzzy on the multiple assessment ability. I assume it means that if I have a low number of tokens, and can't max out the bonus right away, I can re-assess the same opponent later on in the fight (after I acquired more tokens through "Hunter's Eye" for example). However, I must still observe the max. bonus of +1/2 my level... right?
Woodsman's Senses: Free action/auto Take 10 checks are kinda neat. I'm beginning to wonder how many different "Free Action" abilities you'll be able to use in 1 round. I assume one...
Note to Mike: "Each round as a free action, you may make Spot and Listen checks as a free action to notice hidden enemies and other details detectable with those skills." Free action is repeated...
Fortuitous Insight: Nice... Combat and Non-combat uses. Does it stack with bonuses gained by Assess Opponent? I get the impression that Ability Checks may play a larger role in IL - that could be very interesting as well. I notice that while the non-combat use is range limited (60'), the combat use only requires the ally to be within sight and hearing distance. The wording as to the cost of FI at the end of the skill's description is also just a little oddly structured.
Cheers!
Guys, reading this thread is as much fun as playing a game itself. I've been a newspaper journalist for nigh into 20 years now, and I've got to say that you sound like a bunch of football fans / sports writers salivating over the POTENTIAL of a player draft months ahead of the actual event. So many scenarios and "What If?" estimations flying. It's a hoot.
