Only three old Classes in PHB2?

[Rechan]

Given that Psionics is integral to Eberron, and both the PHBII and EBerron comes out in 2009, I don't see the PHBII lacking the Psionics powersource.

 

[Darkwolf71]

Hate to rain on so many parades, but 'Illusionist' is hardly a new class to D&D. There were specialists in 3.x and they were a full blown class of their own in 1st/2nd. So, I'm thinking this is a no go.

Given that Psionics is integral to Eberron, and both the PHBII and EBerron comes out in 2009, I don't see the PHBII lacking the Psionics powersource.

This makes much more sense to me.

 

[Intense_Interest]

Given that Psionics is integral to Eberron, and both the PHBII and EBerron comes out in 2009, I don't see the PHBII lacking the Psionics powersource.

Wasn't the Swordmage/Arcane Defender class going to be bundled into the Forgotten Realms update?

If so, wouldn't Psionics be more fitting when placed into the Eberron handbook if they are so integral?

 

[Kesh]

Can't put Psionics into the Eberron book. It'd take up too much room. One class in the FR book is one thing; psi would involve at least three classes, the way the PHB ones do.

 

[Rechan]

If so, wouldn't Psionics be more fitting when placed into the Eberron handbook if they are so integral?

No, because:

1) There's so much more to Eberron than psionics. While one race and one Big Bad Organization is heavily married to psionics, psionics is perhaps 2% of the material.

2) That would turn off all the psionics fans who wouldn't buy Eberron. It's like saying "Hey, Ravenloft has vampires; let's just wait til Ravenloft is printed before we offer the vampire monster."

3) Psionics is going to involve more than just one or two classes; also items, monsters, etc. Trying to just cram those into the Eberron book too is going to take a lot of space away from, well, Eberron stuff.

4) You still have many, many Eberron players who don't use Psionics in the first place.

It's a much more reasonable business practice to say "Eberron fans are going to buy the EBerron book. Psionics fans will buy a book with Psionics in it. It would be easier to get the Eberron fans who like psionics to buy the general book, then it would be psionics fans to buy the Eberron book."

 

[drothgery]

D, R, B, W, I, T, S, S

PRIMAL
Druid - Leader/Striker
Barbarian - Defender
Sorcerer - Controller
Shaman - Leader

The WotC 4e Sorcerer is definitely an arcane controller.
WotC people have said this straight out.

It seems like oddball proposed power sources for the Sorcerer are popping up like weeds now that it's becoming silly to propose oddball power sources for the monk (because if anything uses a ki power source, the monk does, and the ki power source got a mention in the PHB).

Also, reminders...

WotC people have confirmed the Bard is an Arcane Leader, and the Swordmage is an Arcane Defender.

 

[drothgery]

Hate to rain on so many parades, but 'Illusionist' is hardly a new class to D&D. There were specialists in 3.x and they were a full blown class of their own in 1st/2nd. So, I'm thinking this is a no go.

I don't think I'm going very far out on a limb here in projecting that some of the 'new' classes in PHB2 will be less new than others. There will be some that appeared in the 3.x PHB1, some that appeared in 3.x expansions, and some all-new classes. And some of the all-new classes will essentially be more specialized versions of rather broad 3.x classes that would overlap a lot with existing 4e classes if converted whole-cloth. So while a psion would overlap a lot with wizard (and so might not be likely in 4e from WotC), a telepath might not.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm actually expecting illusionists to appear in a Shadowfell sourcebook.

Oh, Advanced Players Guide, come save us!

 

[Mercule]

Classes- First letters D, R, B, W, I, T, S, S, 5 of which are completely new to D&D.

My guesses:
Druid (Primal)
Barbarian (Primal)
Shaman (Primal)

Telepath (Psionic)
Wilder (Psionic)
Soulknife (Psionic)

No guess on R or I, though I somewhat expect some shadow-based classes.

Edit: Maybe Reader (psionic) and Invoker.

We also know the first letters of the PHB2 races from previous video: D, G, G, H & S.

My guesses:
Drow
Goblin
Hobgoblin
Shadar Kai
Gnome

 

[fuindordm]

D, R, B, W, I, T, S, S, huh?

My guesses:
Druid (Primal)
Barbarian (Primal)
Shaman (Primal)

Telepath (Psionic)
Wilder (Psionic)
Soulknife (Psionic)

Not bad guesses, but too many "known" classes. After the primals, which is probably correct, we're only allowed one more old class!

I suspect that 'completely new to D&D' really means 'completely new to WotC D&D'. For the psionic source, the structure of the game is so different that changing the name is enough to change the class. Make the Wilder a Witch and the Soulknife a Somatic Adept, and you're good to go.

If they do add a shadow source in this book, what might we have?

Illusionist: shadow controller (awesome fit)
Necromancer: shadow leader (you can even justify some healing)
Assassin: shadow striker (may be hard to differentiate from rogue)

Out of R,I,T,S, the letters don't match--but maybe they have other concepts in mind.