Remind me again why I should like the PHB II?

[Ycore Rixle]

The whole book seems like it got way more playtesting and attention than any of the Races...of books. In my opinion, whatever team and model they used for development of PHB2 should be the default for all D&D 3.5 books.

Ken

I can vouch for the fact that the Affiliations system received more playtesting in my home games than any other system I've designed for a WOTC product. I've been using the PHB II Affiliations system in my home games for about five years, almost since 3E was first unveiled. When I received the design document for the PHB II, I jumped all over the Affiliations chapter. I think I wrote Dave Noonan an email with about twelve exclamation points in it! Maybe there were more exclamation points than words; I don't remember.

I do tend to let players get access to Executive Powers earlier than what's presented in the PHB II, usually through favors, disabled or missing executives, brevet/field promotions, etc.

And yes, I think everyone brought their A game for the PHB II. I mean, it's the PHB II, for gosh sakes, you gotta at least try to live up to that!

 

[Agent Oracle]

Let's start with the new classes:

Beguiler: For everyone who ever wanted to play Morgan Le Fay, The Beguiler is a specialized caster that makes for a perfect BBEG. Their abilities off the battlefield are almost as potent as their abilities in combat. You could call it a bard with a full casting progression, or a wizard with naturally deceptive tendencies. whatever you call it, the game is a better place for the Beguiler.

Dragon Shaman: Dragon Shaman are... well, they are hard to describe. On one hand, i respect them as a class, they are effective in a wilderness setting (fast healing at first level is always helpful...) but at the same time, they don't really fit a defined niche. They have cleric combat ability, Great fort / will saves, but the only thing that really stands out about this class is how it best fits in tribal / dragon-heavy campaigns.

Duskblade Full attack progression, armor gained as you level, half spell progression, with spells that encourage you to mix it up in close combat, and a quick cast ability that works like quicken spell without the level adjustment. Plus, their spell list rocks.

Knight Not just another name for a fighter. Knights are everything any player could ever want in a meatshield. d12 hit dice, heavy armor class, full attack bonus, a GREAT will save (much to the surprise of everyone who tries to "charm the dumb fighter") and the ability to coerce enemies into targeting them instead of, say, the wounded and bleeding halfling wizard over there. In exchange for these benefits, they have a minor code of conduct about being honorable combatants.

Secondly, the expanded classes features.

I don't know about you, but i'e had a lot of GM's who house rule even the core classes because they "don't like the flavor" or whatever. That's what the Expanded classes section is for. Don't like a paladin's mount? Charging Smite for the ability to inflict +2 damage if you personally charge the enemy and hit him. Hate the ranger's animal companion? Now they can do attacks from range that count towards flanking bonuses.

Third, the new feats.

Okay, most of these feats do not have an immediately understandable benefit. But most of these feats are for higher level characters. all are pretty wicked ways to play. (Ki blast turns any Monk into Ruy, or Ken)

Fourth: New spells

Well, they fixed polymorph into a subschool to reign in the flagrant polymorph abuse... and they added quite a few nice spells for any caster, but the same could be said for anyone else. I think the best addition is the third level spell "alter fortune" for 200 xp, you force anyone to reroll... though Dimension shuffle (5th level) is great for breaking up enemy flanks.

 

[starwed]

I was actually pretty impressed by the new spells; they all seemed useful, but not overpowered.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

(And why you'd put basic role playing information in a supplemental book and not the core book, I'll never know.)

Because they screwed up by not putting it in PHB1, and it's better to put it in some book than in none at all.

 

[pawsplay]

The new classes beat the crap out of the CW Samurai, the CArcane Wu Jun, or the CAdv Spellthief.

 

[Greg K]

The new classes beat the crap out of the CW Samurai, the CArcane Wu Jun, or the CAdv Spellthief.

That still doesn't make them great. It just means that they are not nearly as bad. My opinion of course

 

[Greg K]

Let's start with the new classes:



Duskblade Full attack progression, armor gained as you level, half spell progression, with spells that encourage you to mix it up in close combat, and a quick cast ability that works like quicken spell without the level adjustment. Plus, their spell list rocks.

I'd rather use Mike Mearl's Myrmidon class from AEG's Mercenaries. It might only get Medium BAB, but it allows for a lot of player customization rather than duskblade approach of forcing Arcane Channeling and the quick casting (both of which I think should have been metamagic feats that the player could have the choice of taking) on upon the warrior mage concept.

Knight Not just another name for a fighter. Knights are everything any player could ever want in a meatshield. d12 hit dice, heavy armor class, full attack bonus, a GREAT will save (much to the surprise of everyone who tries to "charm the dumb fighter") and the ability to coerce enemies into targeting them instead of, say, the wounded and bleeding halfling wizard over there. In exchange for these benefits, they have a minor code of conduct about being honorable combatants.

I dislike this class for multiple reasons. However, the less I say the better.

 

[Agent Oracle]

I dislike this class for multiple reasons. However, the less I say the better.

bleeding heck. I honestly think people who dislike the Knight play too many massively multi players on line. The number one thing i hear about it is "It causes AGGRO!" You know I never heard that term before the MMOs. It has a single, limited class-specific special ability set, that only works a limited amount of the time against a select number of enemies, and it has a reasonable save. Why all the hate? You know what, i want to hear these "multiple reasons" be brutal. please.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

bleeding heck. I honestly think people who dislike the Knight play too many massively multi players on line. The number one thing i hear about it is "It causes AGGRO!" You know I never heard that term before the MMOs. It has a single, limited class-specific special ability set, that only works a limited amount of the time against a select number of enemies, and it has a reasonable save. Why all the hate? You know what, i want to hear these "multiple reasons" be brutal. please.

I've never played an MMO. Not even once. Yet I hate the Knight and it's Aggro ability.

I don't think a Knight should be able to use mind control along the lines of a Suggestion spell as a non-FX ability. Is it that hard to design a non-FX fighting class?

 

[Hussar]

I don't think a Knight should be able to use mind control along the lines of a Suggestion spell as a non-FX ability. Is it that hard to design a non-FX fighting class?

Nope.

It's called Fighter. If you want a knight that rides on horses and uses a lance and all those juicy goodies, use a fighter. You certainly don't need a new class to do a non-special ability fighting type. We have that already.

But, if you want something funky, we also have this new Knight class.