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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MrMyth" data-source="post: 5423861" data-attributes="member: 61155">I am definitely looking forward to Heroes of the Shadow, the more I hear of it. Very interested in the 'Vampire as a class' approach - I've long been waiting for a 'monster book' for 4E, and saying that it would not be too hard to do by harnassing backgrounds, feats, and paragon paths. Going the pure class route seems an even easier approach, albeit one that restricts other options. I'll be interested to see if they can pull it off.  I've always been a fan of the Shade concept. Klaus, sorry to say, this one looks rather disappointing. I like the concept of it and the flavor it seems to be going for - control over shadow, plus a connection to shadow magic regardless of class via the utility swap. And yeah, just because it is worse than other races doesn't mean I won't still play it if it fits my character concept.  But its hard to deny that, at least as the preview shows it, it is really far behind other races. I mean, the stat bonuses and skill bonuses are fine. But most races tend to get 2-3 racial benefits, of which usually one is pretty useful, and the others are minor or conditional.  For the Shade, we've got 'Counts as Shadow' (which is more flavor than anything else), 'Can Trade Utility Powers' (adds some extra options, but still leaves the Shade with the same total number of powers as others), and 'Gains Stealth for Free' - an effective racial feature, except for those classes which already gain Stealth automatically. Classes, notably, that the Shade is probably likely to be an otherwise good fit for.  In addition, we've got our racial power, which is a nifty effect - but is a Standard Action. Other races get Encounter powers which tend to be free or minor actions, and are pretty much guaranteed to have a chance to make good use of them in each fight. The Shade gets an At-Will power, meanwhile, that requires he give up his main action to use it. It might be useful out of combat, or as an escape button... but will rarely be worth using in a fight. And, even worse, again provides benefits that several classes - ones appropriate for a Shade - are already going to be providing via class features or utility powers.  All of that, on its own, would be probably the weakest race we've yet seen. One with great flavor, sure, but one whose benefits are simply worse than every other race we've been presented with. To also lose a healing surge on top of that... well, it's not the end of the world, but certainly seems a final blow to those wanting to try this race out. And, again, is unfortunate for those low-surge Rogues for whom a Shade should, in theory, be an excellent fit.  I mean, I don't know how much of the Shade is what you submitted, and how much it may have changed in editing, but the final product has some serious issues. I do hope that it receives some rapid errata once Heroes of Shadow sees print, since I don't think it is flawed beyond use - some adjustments to the racial power, and one or two decent racial features (to make up for the healing surge loss and put it on par with other races) would be enough to make it balanced in actual play.</blockquote>

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