Play experiences with the alternate class abilities from PHB2?

[Wraith Form]

In addition to the .alt barbarian, I also have a Dragon Shaman playing regularly (the barbarian dropped out a few weeks into the game).

The dragon shaman is a REALLY powerful character: fights almost as well as a straight-up fighter and yet has his auras giving bennies to his companions in every fight.

I have to be a sneaky, tactic-minded DM to defeat him, and very lucky with my die rolls. (That's partially because the player is also very tactically minded, but...the class is exceptionally powerful.)

 

[Beckett]

Charging smite is a devestating attack. It might be too nice for what you give up, but it's a lot more useful in a dungeon based campaign than a mount.

I have not insisted, but have heavily recommended druids take the shapeshift alt. No more looking through every MM to find the best animal (the last druid I ran had in her backstory that she had spent some time in the north, so she wildshaped into a sabretooth tiger from Frostburn. Late game addition, so I rolled my eyes and went with it). I think I'll have someone using this alt in a game I'm starting, and someone will be joining one of my other games using this.

I've seen a little of the Berserk Strength alt, mostly with NPCs. I really like it, but it quickly becomes nearly useless if you multiclass. A regular Barbarian 1/Fighter 6 might only get to rage once a day, but that's a lot more helpful than if he had Berserk Strength that only kicked in at 5 hp.

The sorcerer's alt is great- lose familiar and gain faster metamagic use.

The cleric spontaneous domain is pretty cool. The main place I've seen it is a gestalt healer/cleric. With all the healing power of a Healer, she decided to spontaneous cast the Strength domain- Enlarge Person and Bull's Strength whenever she wants. I've also considered using it for a neutral cleric of an evil diety who didn't want to use Inflict Wounds.

 

[satori01]

The Temporary HP buff of the Favored Soul is pretty useful. One of my players has a Favored Soul HealBot Cohort.

Coupled with the Augment Healing feat, and a spell like Close Wounds is almost half as much more effective. Buff spell + Temp HP is pretty potent as well.

 

[MarkB]

I'll add my recommendation of the shapeshifter druid variant. I played a 10th-level Orc druid with it, and gave the alternate forms a saurian flavour, and having a character who could spontaneously take on the appearance of a velociraptor, pteranodon or allosaurus was very cool.

It recently occurred to me that this Druidic class feature could synergise really well with Warshaper for a combat-oriented character, but I haven't yet attempted to build a character around the concept.

 

[frankthedm]

Barbarian: Berserker strength: Only the most suicidal player in our groups was willing to give this a try.

Cleric: Spontaneous Domain: The 3 DMs in the Play group recognized that this ability will power up the cleric because he will be spending less spells healing the party.

Druid: Spontaneous Regeneration: I think this is a really good ability provided the party works together and puts some effort into dividing up the enemies damage. Since most in out group ‘do their own thing’, this is less useful in the Gestalt game I see it in. I think the player only took it because he did not like the idea of swapping spells when SNA has that full round casting time.

Druid: Shapeshift: I think the ability is awesome. I and the other conservative DM in the group {our host] like this and insist on it. One of the players and the ‘allow just about everything DM” hate, loathe and bitch about this variant to no end. Those two also think the frenzied berserker is a good PRC.

Monk: Decisive strike: I don’t trust anything that doubles damage. Our Host seems to think it is not too bad. The “Allow everything DM” actually agrees with me on not trusting it.

Ranger: Distracting attack: I would not allow this one because the rogue should have to work for his sneak and I have given the Ranger slowed progression in his other combat style and the ability to make use of medium armor in exchange for the animal companion. The host DM refuses to allow this one as well in the current gestalt game he is running.

Sorcerer: Metamagic specialist: Not one DM in out group would allow this one. We like sorcerers not getting quicken spell.

Immediate magic: None of out 3 DMs have allowed /been asked about these.

 

[Victim]

The warmage spell versatility seems okay. Our war mage picked up Detect Magic and Inivisibility, but at one level higher they haven't seen too much use. Some much needed flexibility for the class, but not at too low a price.

Metamagic specialist for the sorcerer seems fine; we'd house rules Quicken to work for sorcerers in another game without causing any problems.

The temp HP favored soul ability is currently in play, but we only just started the game. Looks okay so far though.

Theoretically, Charging Smite seems stupidly powerful and rather inappropriate. The point of the swap is you can have a paladin that's less like a mounted knight, not so you can be even better knight but with only an ordinary horse. Putting a restriction on it to prevent the bonus charging damage from being used while mounted (or other damage multiplying situations) would go a good way for toning the ability down.

Decisive Strike looks like crap compared to Flurry unless everything you fight has DR (that you can't bypass). And it still has the problem of being a full attack in an otherwise mobility oriented class.

 

[frankthedm]

Decisive Strike looks like crap compared to Flurry unless everything you fight has DR (that you can't bypass). And it still has the problem of being a full attack in an otherwise mobility oriented class.

Until one remembers what the PCs can do, foes can do. I'd rather not see what stone giant monks can do with that option.

The Monk's real problem is that he is pays character potency for a magic weapon that is built in and can never be taken away along with bonus feats and several quasi-magic abilties that round him out. Rounding out in 3E does not work well. This edition rewards characters who focus, not jack of all trades. Middle BAB and MAD means he has to well round his stats. If he focuses STR, he gets shredded trying to have fun since that means DEX, CON or WIS were sacrificed. Sacrifice CON and one lucky hit crumples you. Sacrifice DEX or WIS and you die as hits pile up.

One can say “But the monk is not intended as a front line character” but the monk’s flavor is supposed to be about kicking ass, not giving other party members flank.. The D&D kung fu monk excels at kicking ass in the bar room brawl and nowhere else. Elsewhere else he has to resign himself as a “harasser” who just makes other characters feel better about themselves. Only on the low AC targets do his flurries add up. And the 2 handed weapon wielders are already shredding that type of foe with power attack’s 2 for 1. Oh yah, those soft targets usually have obscene attack values and damage outputs so the monk is as good as splattered after the flurry does not put the critter down.

Black Company's monk like Weapon Master base class IMHO come closer to what the monk should have been. Dropping the magic abilities for dedication to combat with weapons like the other sane folks is a good idea..