New Prestige Classes at WotC site

[Byrons_Ghost]

I see that the awaited Urban Arcana prestige classes have been posted:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/we/20030529a

Only two of them are actually UA related- the Mastermind, Sniper, and Special Ops classes could pretty much be used in any game.

 

[Buddha the DM]

Happy Happy!! Joy Joy!!

This web enhancement WILL get printed out tomorrow!

 

[psychognome]

Heck, I wish I had D20 Modern and Urban Arcana already, because that Web Enhancement gave me some interesting ideas.

The PrC's were way cool. Like, totally.

 

[JPL]

Glad to see a SpecOps class.

I'd throw in a communications specialty [with Repair and/or Craft: Electronics and/or K: Technology as prereqs] as an option.

G.I. Joe campaigns can commence...now.

 

[Vigilance]

Im interested to know what folks think of the Sniper and SpecOps PrCs- I had already done those classes for my upcoming Blood and Guts, and found the differences interesting.

Id be interested to know what folks liked and didnt like about them

Chuck

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Ok, I'll shoot...

I like the Sniper quite a bit. It gives the sort of abilities that one would expect, but doesn't make it so that they're one-hit killing machines. The increased Fort DCs (I actually think they're a bit high at 2x level) do a good job of making the Sniper deadly to lesser foes, but not as effective against those near his level. And everything else is in line with what classes like the Soldier or Gunslinger get. It's the kind of class I'd be willing to let my players take, and wouldn't feel bad about using against them either.

Forgot: things I didn't want to see for the Sniper were some sort of assassin ability or ranged sneak attack. With the Massive Damage Thresholds as they are, sneak attacks would be much more potent in Modern- the only class I've seen them in was the Guerilla Intruder (I think that's the name) from Genetech, and then only 2 or 3 dice worth. The increase in the fort save is akin to an assassin's death strike, but makes use of the existing mechanic instead of outright killing the target.

For the SpecOp, I'm thrilled that they're primarily a military specialist as opposed to another grunt, commando type. As someone else mentioned on the WotC boards, these aren't so much paratroopers at the "advisors" who get sent into administer ops behind the scenes. The combination of skill and stealth abilities represents that well, and it's nice to see that something besides Smart-based classes are acknowledged to have formal training.

As for the two magical classes, I'd allow them in a game but probably wouldn't want to play them personally. My least favorite class was the Mastermind, it just seemed a bit too cliched and James Bond-ish. I'd probably keep it as an NPC class. I do think there's a need for some Charismatic-based leader classes, though; most of the ones I've seen tend to be manipulator or celebrity types. I think the Politico in the Modern Companion was a good step in that direction.

 

[Vigilance]

Interesting comments Byron, thanks

I'll lay my cards on the table here and say that I *did* give my sniper a ranged sneak attack in the book, limited to surprise and critical hits.

To me, this means you will have to save against massive damage more often, which makes it dangerous, but the save is still 15, a very makeable save at the mid to high levels.

So I'll ask the obvious question:

You think sneak attack is more dangerous than raising the save for massive damage by +10?

Ranged sneak attack seems less dangerous to me.

Chuck

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Hmm, there's different angles to consider I suppose. I do think that +10 is way too high to adjust a save by- if I ever GM one I'll probably drop it to +1 per level, or perhaps some sort of sliding scale that maxes out at +6 or +7.

I'm sort of working on the assumption that higher-level characters have better thresholds along with the higher saves. So there's a chance that they may not have to make the save at all, whereas a lower-level character certainly would, and is also more likely to fail.

On the other hand, when adding the extra sneak attack dice, even +2d6 is enough to ensure that virtually anyone will have to make an MDT save. Even if the DC is low, people are making them constantly- I guess it really comes down to the style image, whether the sniper should be doing a single shot and pulling back or whether he should be peppering someone with rounds. The closest thing I've seen to combat was Boy Scout camp, so I really couldn't say for sure.

One good thing about extra damage is that it would allow for shooting through walls and the like, though I'm not sure how "sniper-y" that would be.

A lot of this will be dependant upon the weapon used, and the modifiers. But the sniper will (presumably, I haven't sat down and worked out a bunch of combos or anything) being dealing damage along the same lines as most people who haven't taken the prestige class- they need to use the same feat chains, etc. Essentially it seems to me that they don't have the capacity to do more damage (whether or not they should is a good question, it depends on how one pictures HPs working in-game), but they can do the same damage more effectively.

Mind you, all this is just my gut response from reading the article- in play it could work out entirely different. After my experience with snipers in Cyberpunk 2020 you'd think I'd know better. When the players first asked for a "Barret Light 50" I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I had to spend time between sessions scouring the net for stats. Then, when he first used it, I knew I'd made a big mistake...

The moral of all this? Never game with psychotic gun-nuts. Especially if they know where you live.

 

[Vigilance]

Well, my thought was, that in a highly cinematic campaign, one shot one kill should rarely happen randomly, or to a PC.

So to me, extra damage still makes a sniper dangerous (2d8 +5d6 is nothing to laugh at even for a high level character).

An NPC, especially an ordinary, would just be killed.

I used Saving Private Ryan in some ways as the model for how snipers should work. None of the PCs died from the Sniper attack, but they were seriously threatened.

I think raising the MDT save is a bad idea. Way too dangerous to high level characters (which I suppose was the idea).

Chuck

 

[Kesh]

I used Saving Private Ryan in some ways as the model for how snipers should work. None of the PCs died from the Sniper attack, but they were seriously threatened.

You forgot Vin Diesel. By game terms, he was knocked below 0, and didn't recieve any help before he hit -10.

Still wasn't an insta-kill, but quite deadly.