[PR BAD AXE GAMES] Heroes of High Favor: HALF-ORCS

[LightPhoenix]

Without going into issues with alignment or paladins, since the books is based off of the PHB, the class is most definitely possible.

Remember, a Barbarian just has to be non-Lawful. A LG Paladin can go to a NG Barbarian, and vice versa. Lawful to Neutral is not necessarily extreme at all - certainly less extreme than Good to Evil (in the case of the Blackguard). I would even say less extreme than Good to Neutral.

The one downside is the Paladin does lose their powers. You'd need to make up for that somehow, and as such the prestige class would either have to convert powers or levels.

An example of converting - maybe Lay on Hands goes from healing people to causing them to enter a rage? Just random ideas popping into my head. Lo siento!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

The entry requirements are best suited to a Bbn/Pal but it's not required. No alignment is specified, so you can take the classes in any order you like.

Like the PrCs that you saw in DWARVES, any class abilities that stack with previous classes will specify stacking with both paladin and ex-paladin levels.

Wulf

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

HALF ORCS GOES TO PRINT


Contact: Benjamin Durbin
Bad Axe Games
support@badaxegames.com


Heroes of High Favor: Half-Orcs Goes to Print

Heroes of High Favor: Half-Orcs has gone to print! The book will be available through distributors in October. Please ask for it at your local retailer!

For more about this product, please visit:
http://www.badaxegames.com/html/products/hohf_half-orcs.html

We have added a preview of the Coal-Tongue Raver, a poison-fueled barbarian-rogue.

For distribution information, please visit www.osseum.com.

Thank you for your interest and support!

----

 

[Krug]

Looks good. However, the poison effects of the Raver appears slightly underpowered. Suffer 1 Con point damage and that's it? With a high entry requirement, it doesn't seem a very attractive PrC to take up.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Looks good. However, the poison effects of the Raver appears slightly underpowered. Suffer 1 Con point damage and that's it? With a high entry requirement, it doesn't seem a very attractive PrC to take up.

First off, let me just say I love this kind of dialogue with readers. Thanks for sparking the discussion!

Regarding the poison, I was also concerned about how this would appear.

First off, I'll assume you're talking about the Poison Tongue ability-- and not the Poison Blood ability. Poison Blood (gained at 4th level) is really more about keeping natural predators off the Raver. Perhaps a small perk to the adventuring Raver who is out of the wild element, but really quite significant in the life of the "wild" barbarian.

Let's move on to Poison Tongue, the ability for the Raver to lick his weapons and coat them in poison, which I assume is the focus of your question.

Keep in mind that 1 Con damage often nets out to 1 point of damage per Hit Die the creature has, as its Con mod will drop when it loses the first point of Con. (It may take 2 Con to affect the creature's Con mod, depending on whether it has an even- or odd- numbered Con score).

But -1hp/HD is really not too shabby; and there's nothing stopping the Raver from using the ability over and over. Every two failed saving throws and the Con modifier drops again. As a 7th level PrC ability, that works for me.

Poison Tongue is also a step on the way to Poison Spittle, an important ability gained at 10th level. Here, the poison isn't the really dangerous part-- it's the blinding effect. A blinded opponent is in big trouble against the Raver's sneak attack.

In the end I decided to keep the magnitude of the effect low, but allow the Raver to use it more often. If the poison was truly on the scale of venomous creatures (1d4 or 1d6 Con or worse) it would have been necessary to restrict how often the Raver could use the ability.

Because poison is the focus of the class, I really wanted it to be something that the Raver was going to keep coming back to over and over, rather than something more powerful that could only be used occasionally or for the "big fight."

Does that explanation help?


Wulf

 

[garyh]

Personally, I think the Coal-Tongue Raver looks AWESOME!! Can't wait to get my hands on the whole book!

In other Bad Axe news, I HAVE been waiting about three weeks for my special order of "HOHF: Dwarves" through my FLGS. According to them, the publisher is out of stock, and they had no idea when they'd get my order in.

Wulf, can you throw some weight around so I can get my book?

Ya know, I should probably let them know NOW I'm going to be wanting "HOHF: Half-Orcs."

 

[Krug]

Does that explanation help?

Wulf

Hmm... that you have a point. Looking forward to it. The art does look very good.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

In other Bad Axe news, I HAVE been waiting about three weeks for my special order of "HOHF: Dwarves" through my FLGS. According to them, the publisher is out of stock, and they had no idea when they'd get my order in.

Wulf, can you throw some weight around so I can get my book?

The publisher is out of stock? <looks at box on his floor> Uhh, no.

Now, I know that Alliance is (or was) out of stock, and Alliance is the distributor for a great many FLGS's. Unfortunately it sounds like they are brushing you off with excuses, which I admit is annoying. They should know that the book is available and how to get it to you. Osseum still has stock available for the distributors and/or retailers, and I still have stock in my "online store."

While I am happy to sell it to you directly, in the long run I'd rather you supported your FLGS, misguided though they may be this time. Have one more chat with the owner/manager, and if he can't or won't contact his distributor for the book, let me know.

Reckon we can straighten this out without resortin' to boot an' axe.


Wulf

 

[garyh]

The publisher is out of stock? <looks at box on his floor> Uhh, no.

He mighta said "distributor"... since it's been so long, I've forgotten the exact wording. One or the other... I went and ordered it shortly after you responded to my half-orc PrC thread and I read all the glowing reviews of HOHF: Dwarves.

I'm planning on stopping by my FLGS this weekend... If they don't have it straightened out by then, I'll give them a kick in the pants.

Oddly, I also put in a special order for a Reaper mini they were out of, and that they got for me in under a week. Maybe they're just too lazy to get they're act together on a new publisher... though, given the state of the d20 market, that'd be silly.

If they don't get real cooperative-like this weekend, I'll let you know on this thread. Maybe you can send the Coal-Tongue Raver here for an "in-store demonstration."

 

[garyh]

HA!!!

Just got a call from my FLGS... my HOHF: Dwarves is in.

You can call off the Coal-Tongue Raver.