Planar Handbook Preview

[Cthulhudrew]

Just looked at the previews of this from the June In The Works page at WotC. Looking forward to it.

Just a side note, though, did anyone else have Monty Python flashbacks when reading the description of the Neraph Camouflage ability? Specifically, the scene where Lancelot is charging the guards outside of the Swamp Castle?

 

[Shemeska]

An eager Arcanaloth is a happy Arcanaloth...

God Lord almighty am I looking forward to this book...

Hey, it has Sigil, that along has a sale to me written all over it.

I'm not pleased that, once again, its a player centered book but oh well. Again, it has Sigil.

*impatiently waiting for the release*

 

[haiiro]

Neat! I'm a sucker for ECL +0 races, and I like the idea of the Neraph not having any stat mods -- but getting other odd abilities instead.

I was very likely to buy this before, but checking out the preview makes it a certainty. Thanks for the heads-up, Cthulhudrew.

 

[comrade raoul]

I'm afraid the neraph are (like the 3.5e dwarf) just a bit too good for LA +0 -- natural armor +2 is terrific, and the motion camoflauge ability is wonderful if you can sneak attack and really good if you can't.

 

[Shemeska]

Yep, no way would I have those as a +0LA race...

 

[guedo79]

it has Sigil.

Yeah but so did the first book. I think it may have had it twice.

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah Shem but they smell REALLY bad. Hiding is good but if a person can smell you, they aren't going to be flat-footed for very long.

 

[Shemeska]

Yeah but so did the first book. I think it may have had it twice.

I actually know a good bit about what the book will contain w/ regards to Sigil. So trust me to say I'm looking forward to it, and take my word on it.

 

[Taelorn76]

I this was a buy for me no matter what. After seeing that preview though it's now a matter of patience, and the lack of it, to get my hands on the book.

 

[Felon]

I'm afraid the neraph are (like the 3.5e dwarf) just a bit too good for LA +0 -- natural armor +2 is terrific, and the motion camoflauge ability is wonderful if you can sneak attack and really good if you can't.

I run a campaign where players have gotten into the habit of playing monstrous characters, so much so that when someone makes up a new character, they reach for their Savage Species without even thinking about playing something out of the PHB. Suffice to say, I'm eager to see the Planar Handbook (which, annoyingly enough, is also abbreviated as PHB ).

When I showed the neraphim to my players, they right away came to the same conclusion you have. In particular, a lizardman player was quick to ask why the neraphim was +0 while his race rated a +1 LA (above and beyond the two lousy hit dice he had to cough up as well).

The neraph camouflage ability might be more acceptable if it involved some sort of opposed check, like feinting does, but as is it is--automatically working against one opponent once per encounter--it is clearly just too good. Heck, for that matter it could have just been represented by a bonus to feint checks, or a free Improved Feint feat.

As a minor aside, I like the "motion camouflage" angle, but that ability doesn't represent it properly at all. Motion camouflage is not about gaining an advantage on a close-up attack, but rather about giving the predator an advantage in stalking its prey from a distance. Predators like dragonflies employ motion camouflage by instinctively choosing some fixed point behind it, and then they maintain a flight path that keeps itself constantly between that fixed point and its prey. That way the predator doesn't seem to moving against its background, so it's harder for the prey to spot the predator closing in from far off. But of course, the closer something gets, the more noticably larger it becomes in your view, so the camouflage loses its effectiveness at close range.

So anyway, anyone else eager to see another attempt at a balanced trumpet archon or ghaele?