Remind me again why I should like the PHB II?

[Banshee16]

I wasn't keen on the Dragon Shaman, and I think the Knight is decent....but I think I still prefer the Cavalier from Green Ronin, and the Knight from Legends of Excalibur. Different strokes, I guess.

I really liked the Beguiler and Duskblade though.

And, I really liked the Spring Attack progression. Awesome rules for swashbuckling-type charaters....the ability to get multiple attacks, and still get full movement? Sweet! Exactly the kind of advantage a high-level, lightly or unarmored character should have.

Unfortunately, I'm a full DM, so all these new character ideas, I rarely get a chance to benefit from.

Banshee

 

[Greg K]

It has some nice stuff in it, but I wasn't that blown away like other people.

That sums up my take as well. As for what I liked:

Beguiler
Cleric variant
Druid shapechange variant (but now I want variants to replace Forest Avenger and Elemental Fury forms).
Several feats
Several spells

 

[buzz]

Buzz, please get out of my brain.

But it's so comfy in here!

BTW, I have to say that the "ditch your familiar/animal companion in exchange for useful abilities" class options are practically justification enough for PHB2. Nabbed that for my sorcerer before I even finished reading the book.

 

[buzz]

Several spells

There were one or two spells in the book that have varying power depending on how long an action you take to cast them. This is pretty much the best idea to come out of WotC, like, ever.

 

[Joshua Randall]

There were one or two spells in the book that have varying power depending on how long an action you take to cast them. This is pretty much the best idea to come out of WotC, like, ever.

Even better is something I didn't notice when I first read the spells: you don't have to decide in advance which version of the spell you're casting; you can start casting the swift-action version and then just keep lengthening the casting time if you want to. This gives you a lot of flexibility to react to changing combat situations.

 

[buzz]

Nice! I missed that.

 

[JoeGKushner]

But it's so comfy in here!

BTW, I have to say that the "ditch your familiar/animal companion in exchange for useful abilities" class options are practically justification enough for PHB2. Nabbed that for my sorcerer before I even finished reading the book.

I houserulled a bonus feat either from meta-magic or item creation a long time ago. Familiars can be interesting but should be an optional feature, not a mandatory class feature (in my opinion!)

 

[werk]

For me: classes, options, and feats...maybe some spells. The rest is fairly useless filler.

I could def. live without it.

 

[Henry]

There were one or two spells in the book that have varying power depending on how long an action you take to cast them. This is pretty much the best idea to come out of WotC, like, ever.

Oh, you mean that idea that Magic: The Gathering started back in the Urza's and Mercadian Masques sets? They've had spells that cost more to cast if you used the full version, and had less of a cost if you cast the lower-powered "short" version. A very nice idea for spells, truthfully. With the exception of the casting time, Monte Cook's AU diminished and enhanced spells struck a chord with me in this vein; magic that can be either "deliberate" or "hasty."

 

[buzz]

I houserulled a bonus feat either from meta-magic or item creation a long time ago. Familiars can be interesting but should be an optional feature, not a mandatory class feature (in my opinion!)

See, I told you your brain was comfy. 100% agree. That, and they should be far more useful.