D&D 3E/3.5 Pharaoh's Blood - A Fan-Made D&D 3.5 Rules Supplement

[Grunker]

Oh, let me be clear. I have nothing against the fact that you dislike the compendium (hell, if it's bad it's bad), and I have even less against you not having the time to throw some constructive criticism at it (hell, I finished my degree in European Studies alongside making this compendium so I know the feeling).

What I do have something against is you paying a visit to the thread just to throw a snarky one-liner my way. It won't do me, the players or the project any good

In essence, criticism is what I came here for (that is, people telling me what is crap and why) but I need the why for the project to grow in a constructive direction. In the end, it exists for my campaign to get better.

With regards to this last bit:

throw all your preconceptions out the window so that you may look upon the world with eyes anew.

I will need a clarification. If it is aimed at my thoughts on balance, well, we like our gamism around our table. Hence my desire to allow as much as possible of the 3.5 stuff for my players to use (which is why I have to up the power of my own creations a bit).

If aimed at something else I must admit my powers of comprehension may be too limited to follow you. I apologize.

 

[Dandu]

Ok, let's use examples.

There's a feat to stop you from dying so quickly once you're into the negatives and have a greater chance at stabalization. The problem is that you've just spent a feat on something that won't help you out enough if you've been knocked down because the enemy's still out there capable of CDGing you or wiping out the now-weakened party. Sure, it's good if your party manages to hold out, or if the enemy doesn't finish you off, but that's a little situational. isn't it?

At least, I think it'd be better to pick a feat that allows you to kill your enemies better in the first place, rather than spending resources on poor damage control.

Then there's the Lay on Hands feat. It does not seem mechanically worth it because most of the time you heal with a wand of CLW or Lesser Vigor, which is very cost effective when compared to spending a feat. A 5th level paladin with 14 Cha heals 10 HP by default and 20 with the feat. This is slightly less than the amount he would have healed with 2 charges off of a wand of Lesser Vigor (cost: 30 gp) or 4-5 charges off of a wand of Cure Light Wounds (60-75 gp).

 

[Grunker]

Ok, let's use examples.

There's a feat to stop you from dying so quickly once you're into the negatives and have a greater chance at stabalization. The problem is that you've just spent a feat on something that won't help you out enough if you've been knocked down because the enemy's still out there capable of CDGing you or wiping out the now-weakened party. Sure, it's good if your party manages to hold out, or if the enemy doesn't finish you off, but that's a little situational. isn't it?

At least, I think it'd be better to pick a feat that allows you to kill your enemies better in the first place, rather than spending resources on poor damage control.

True, very true. Perhaps it should be instituted as a gained ability (as per the Preserver) so that it isn't just a sub-optimal feat..?

Then there's the Lay on Hands feat. It does not seem mechanically worth it because most of the time you heal with a wand of CLW or Lesser Vigor, which is very cost effective when compared to spending a feat. A 5th level paladin with 14 Cha heals 10 HP by default and 20 with the feat. This is slightly less than the amount he would have healed with 2 charges off of a wand of Lesser Vigor (cost: 30 gp) or 4-5 charges off of a wand of Cure Light Wounds (60-75 gp).

This, I don't agree with, and here's why:

Cure spells are generally not that great at healing the party. At best, they heal a bit more or equal to the damage that you've just been dealt (i.e., as per your earlier statement about Hard to Kill, you're better off just killing the enemy).

One of the remedies to this is the paladin. A paladin with the healing spirit class feature becomes a good but not broken heal-bot (he doesn't have more total hit points available than those with access to cure spells, but he can fire off more healing at once - his full level multiplied by his charisma score for both him and the spirit). Consecrated Lay on Hands supports this way of building a healer.

So yes, perhaps a Wand of Lesser Vigor heals a larger amount of total hit points, but during the actual encounter, when the fiend reduces you to 5 hit points, you're gonna be pretty happy for the paladin who can heal you of 70 hit points immediately (say, a level 7th paladin with 18 charisma, the spirit-thingy class feature and this feat).

In essence, Consecrated Lay on Hands supports a build that is pretty good and allows for some creative options.

 

[Dandu]

So yes, perhaps a Wand of Lesser Vigor heals a larger amount of total hit points, but during the actual encounter, when the fiend reduces you to 5 hit points, you're gonna be pretty happy for the paladin who can heal you of 70 hit points immediately (say, a level 7th paladin with 18 charisma, the spirit-thingy class feature and this feat).

I'd rather the paladin spend his turn smiting the fiend with Rhino's Rush, Charging Smite, Power Attack, Shock Trooper, Leap Attack, and a Valorous Halberd.

 

[kitcik]

rooting out Communists

So THAT'S what you were doing in China.

 

[rgard]

So THAT'S what you were doing in China.

I thought he was in the People's Republic of California. I guess I'm geographically challenged.