New Podcast up

[The_Fan]

Fixing the core mechanic is hard, but a good challenge. Fixing the dozens of Feats and Skills is like being attacked by 1,000 fifth graders.
I'm pretty sure I could beat up an unlimited number of 5th graders.

Having experienced a "kindergardener swarm" in real life, I have learned not to underestimate those smaller than you in large numbers. They may be small, but think of how many of them it takes to equal your weight, and once you're underneath twice your weight in them there's no escape.

 

[loseth]

[COLOR=DarkOrange[COLOR=DarkOrange]Warlock: Ranged guy, with Melee solutions; more DPS than most other classes (Striker!)[/COLOR]
Dru-id! Dru-id! Daddy needs a new Controller!

But then a few sentences later, one of them talks about the Warlock 'controlling the battlefield.' That sounds more like Striker/Controller to me.

 

[FourthBear]

But then a few sentences later, one of them talks about the Warlock 'controlling the battlefield.' That sounds more like Striker/Controller to me.

My suspicion is that when they talk about a class having a role like Striker, they're referring to the fact that enough of its no-choice class abilities allow it to fulfill that role. Not that it can't fulfill other roles, like Controller. So a Warlock may be a Striker because all Warlocks have Eldritch Blast, which automatically levels up in a way that any Warlock perform the role of a Striker adequately (but perhaps not spectacularly) at any level. But by picking different options and choosing different class abilities, the Warlock could act in another role, like Controller. The Warlock described may have taken Controller type options from its selectable class abilities, while another may pick defensive powers that could allow it to be a Defender at times.

 

[D.Shaffer]

I think something to keep in mind is that roles are never 100% pure. While their role might be their main Schtick, they'll have abilities that 'crossover' into other roles to keep things interesting and provide flexibility. If properly designed, they wont ever be as good at said role as those dedicated to it, but it gives them a way around the 'No one wants to be a cleric' issue, or helps out if the guy filling that role is knocked out.

In other words, just because a Warlock has some control abilities, doesnt automatically make them a controller.

 

[Dragonblade]

DEFENDER
Martial - Fighter
Divine - Paladin
Arcane - Hexblade (Or maybe the Spellsword, made into a fullfledged class rather then a Prestige Class)

No Hexblade please. I never liked that class. Some sort of Mageblade or Spellsword would be fine.

LEADER
Martial - Warlord
Divine - Cleric
Arcane - Sorcerer

STRIKER
Martial - Rogue
Divine - Ranger
Arcane - Warlock

CONTROLLER
Martial - (No clue. Factotum, maybe? Not familiar with the class, so I can't really say. Or maybe a nonmagical Bard? Eh, stupid idea)
Divine - Druid
Arcane - Wizard

Martial Controller is easy. A badass archer class of some sort.

 

[Doug McCrae]

There was some talk about how the wizard has too many powers on these boards a few days ago.

It worked back when there was only magic-user, fighting man and cleric, but now there's many more classes and the wizard, with abilities like charm person, invisibility, knock and fly steps on a lot of toes.

The problem really lies with the totally haphazard way D&D has accumulated classes over the years. For instance the similarity between cleric and paladin. The whole thing's a big mess, really hard to fix if you want to remain at all true to tradition.

 

[TerraDave]

Some Takeaways

Are they done desining this thing yet? Still sounds very much like a work in progress, and given the long lead times for publishing, I wonder if they will make it, or what kind of errata we will be getting.

Two handed weapons not dominant: Why did they break them in 3.5 (via power attack)? Still don't know what changed: crits, base damage, strength mod, power attack, other?

Spear!: A fighter actually using a widely used (in RL) weapon...shocking

Mobility: multiple playtests have refered to teleports and other stuff to make it easier to move around. I guess they didn't expect a party to be a troupe of acrobats (not that that is a bad thing).

Fighter powers: not cool names (thank Ares), but includes attack of oportunities?

Roles: (I called the warlock as striker a while ago, #2 here) Too many posts as it is on this, but they might be holding back on purpose, so all those druid and sorcerer play testers will chime in latter. Or not.

 

[Green Knight]

1.) I heard talk of a swordmage class?

I hope so. That'd be cool. The Spellsword is one of my favorite Prestige Classes in the game, so it'd be neat to see a class which is similar to it.

2.) I would say Bard

Yeah, I thought of that, too. The Bard would make a good Leader choice.

3.) I will be sorely disappointed if the ranger is divine related, as I have always detested the spellcasting aspect of the ranger (since 1st Ed).

The Ranger will likely stay Divine, but one can always hope that he loses the spellcasting abilities. Same for the Paladin. I'm holding out hope that they'll get cool divine abilities suitable for their classes, rather then being given crappy spell lists and treated as Clerics/Druids Lite. What I'd like to see are Paladins who're fonts of divine energy, and can shape it to do several different things. A good example is Turn Undead/Divine Might/Divine Shield. That, IMO, should be a built-in Paladin class ability. The Paladin using his divine power to turn undead opponents, or using it to fuel the power of his attacks, or using it to shield himself from harm. I'd like to see a Paladin more along those lines, rather then a goof with 4th-level spells at 15-level.

4.) I've heard interesting proposals for the monk to be a controller.

Good point. That actually wouldn't be a bad idea. Although I'd prefer a 4E iteration of the Monk to lose all the Oriental flavor it has on it. No Ki or any of that crap.

No Hexblade please. I never liked that class. Some sort of Mageblade or Spellsword would be fine.

Yeah, I don't care for it, either. Still, the basic concept is sound, that of a warrior type who wields some arcane power. Like I said before, I'd like a full class version of the Spellsword Prestige Class (Not identical, of course, but I'd like to see a class inherit soome of the abilities of that Prestige Class, starting with being able to cast spells in armor).

 

[Baby Samurai]

1.) The Ranger will likely stay Divine,


2.) Although I'd prefer a 4E iteration of the Monk to lose all the Oriental flavor it has on it. No Ki or any of that crap.

1.) Really, I'm almost positive it will be a Martial Striker.


2.) I actually want the monk to have a Ki power source – maybe if they release a 4th Ed OA we could see a Ki power source:

Ninja – KI Striker
Shugenja - Ki Leader
Sohei – Ki Defender
Wu-jen - Ki Controller

...Etc.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Maybe somebody will finally remember that Dave Noonan stated the number of classes wasn't yet determined several days after Logan Bonner declared there to be eight. We're getting the Druid as Divine Controller, I can smell it.

I hope so. It seems stranger to have the only 2 arcane classes be controllers, and the only 2 controllers to be arcane. Warlock seems to be a better fit with striker anyways.