Is the Warlock the new Druid?

[mach1.9pants]

It took a while before people discovered CoDzilla was staring them in the face.

Man I am so slow I never even saw it staring in my face until it was mentioned recently on these here boards... none of my lot ever really like CoD
Edit: unless by CoD we are talking Call of Duty 4

 

[Imban]

All characters would start with a level of rogue for the extra skill points!

To be honest, this wasn't a terrible idea at all when 3.0 came out. It quickly became outmoded later on, though. Likewise, Druid shapeshifting cheese wasn't nearly as outlandish in just the original core rules as it became later on, and some people to this day think Monks are overpowered garbage.

But yeah, we'll not know for sure how things are until people have had 4e in their hands for a year or two, though I hope to get in on the ground floor in learning how the balance actually is, myself.

 

[t1l7]

And what about the good heros?

I think the developers think the warlock is emblematic of 4e and they spend a lot of time with it. It's also a cool class, one that dabbles in dark and perilous powers, cloaked in mystery and secrecy. I was sold on them when I heard they could forge pacts with "the stars and the darkness between them." So cool.

Ok, maybe they are trying to make the warlock the new emblematic class and the tiefling the emblematic race, but it takes me to another question:

Making these "demon and devilish" elements emblematic won't affect the "good group of heros trying to save the village" mood of the game?

 

[Wormwood]

Making these "demon and devilish" elements emblematic won't affect the "good group of heros trying to save the village" mood of the game?

I don't see why it would.

You can play any 'mood' you like---it's still D&D.

Just with 15% more Metal.

 

[Hussar]

Ok, maybe they are trying to make the warlock the new emblematic class and the tiefling the emblematic race, but it takes me to another question:

Making these "demon and devilish" elements emblematic won't affect the "good group of heros trying to save the village" mood of the game?

Well, we've had 30 years of "good group of heroes trying to save the village". Maybe it's time to let people be a bit anti-hero for a while.

 

[mhensley]

Well, we've had 30 years of "good group of heroes trying to save the village". Maybe it's time to let people be a bit anti-hero for a while.

I think that goes hand in hand with the nerfing of alignment.

 

[Doug McCrae]

Making these "demon and devilish" elements emblematic won't affect the "good group of heros trying to save the village" mood of the game?

You mean the same way the 1e assassin detracted from that mood? Or the emphasis on grabbing loot?

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

D&D always needs to be a bit more metal.

As to encouraging anti-heroes, lone-wolves, in-it-for-me archetypes, and "dark conflicted souls misunderstood by the world" gloom-kittens as PCs, who have no alignment ... jury is out, here.

I imagine it'll help catch that teenage element, and teenage nerds playing D&D usually have their share of angst ...

But at my table I tend to hammer people into a cohesive plot-adhering unit out the door. So it might make my job harder, but no harder than Chaotic Neutral and Dribble Do'Udon.

And, yea, my first character is going to be a Tiefling Warlock ... what of it?

--fje

 

[ferratus]

I don't see why it would.

You can play any 'mood' you like---it's still D&D.

Just with 15% more Metal.

I'm one of the ones who is rather leery about tieflings as a player race, simply because I don't want my campaign world to look like a 80's music video. However, I have a player in my game group who is all about the metal, complete with blasphemous t-shirts, long hair and several electric guitars. So I'm guessing that he is going to play a tiefling right out of the gate.

So I'm probably going to make the tieflings a ancient imperial family rather than a race. Cast down from power because they formed their kingdom with the help of devils, with their successors forming despotates from the city-states that survived the empire. Little clues of the family's diabolism are inherent in little details about the world. For example, crowns always have two spires in imitation of tieflings horns. The remnant of the imperial house retreated to a mountain palace, destroyed the paths leading to it, and plotted their revenge. They now function as a secret society of assassins and influence peddlers, corrupting and weakening their successors until they can seize power openly.

Since tieflings always breed true with humans, the child can be born to anyone, anywhere, a product of pride or shame to his family.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

As to encouraging anti-heroes, lone-wolves, in-it-for-me archetypes, and "dark conflicted souls misunderstood by the world" gloom-kittens as PCs, who have no alignment ... jury is out, here.

I think those types have been always around; they're not a result of the rules but of a certain type of players.