Retcon Character question

[Jackinthegreen]

Front-loaded doesn't necessarily mean over-powered. Fighter 2 for example. If the powers gained don't change the character's tier enough to overshadow others in the game, then it and the retraining should be allowed.

 

[Greenfield]

If "some" = Greenfield, then by all means, disallow it.
If "some" does not = Greenfield, then consider allowing it.

You know your player's intentions better than any of us.....

You're more right than you know.

The Bard in question is my own character. We take turns at being DM at our table. I have to be careful though because I swing a lot more weight there than I should. Several people there have a hard time saying "no" to me when they should, so sometimes I have to say "no" to myself.

Regardless of the power option, I also have to consider whether the class dip would be in character. Somehow, my fun loving, girl chasing, dance-til-you-drop Bard just doesn't seem like the desert ascetic type. Trying to see him as the character described in the Sand Shaper text is a hard stretch.

So I think I may say "no" to me. (Hey, somebody has to keep me honest, don't they?)

 

[Ranger19k]

Ah, I wish I could XP you Greenfield.
"The Bard is Me" twist just made me laugh. Well played, sir, a very "6th sense" conclusion.

And congrats on choosing the harder right over the easier wrong. You just climbed a couple more rungs on the respect ladder in my book.

 

[Nagol]

You can always look to the Retraining rules in Player's Handbook II. WotC reconised the problem and provided a solution.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

At 11th level he's planned to take Sublime Chord, and that really is the only time you can take that PRC. (You can't take it earlier because of prerequisites, and you can't take it later if you want to complete the progression, and you can't take a dip into another class along the way because the PRC has a class lock: Once in, never out until you finish).

What? There's no class lock in Sublime Chord. I've never seen a character with more than one level in it.

 

[Greenfield]

Hmm. Thanks, I guess. I wasn't exactly trying to "play" anyone. I've mentioned, in other threads, that I'm playing the Bard in our party, and that we share DM duties. It wasn't exactly a secret.

We also have a Duskblade, and that player (who is legally blind and has a hard time reading the rules) was unhappy to learn that his character couldn't easily add spells to his PC's list. Someone else here asked how to add to a Duskblade's spell list, and another helpful forumite mentioned the SandShaper, from Sandstorm.

That's why I decided to buy the book.

The validity of the Retcon question is as valid for his PC as it is for mine. I was more qualified to comment on mine, but like I said I'm too close to that one to be a fair judge.

By crazy chance, our characters are in a desert region and have been for a while, and our last adventure in the region was to explore a Necropolis. Sand Shaper requires the Feat Touchstone: City of the Dead.

You can see why this one seemed too good a fit.

Ultimately I'll ask the approval of the other DMs in the party, but I won't push it. Like I said, it's not a good fit, personality wise.

 

[Greenfield]

Well, my decision got harder.

I read the class to our blind player, requirements and benefits. He's planning to find a PDF of the book, so he can read it using the magnifier onhis PC screen.

He might go for it, but before I even finished reading it all several other players at the table remarked that it would be perfect for my Bard. They laughed at the coincidence that you need a link to the City of the Dead, right after we just finished exploring it, coming away with gold and art objects.

So hold off on any admiration for my nobility in letting this one slide by. I may yet yield to temptation.

 

[Dandu]

Have you tried the Duskblade Handbook?

 

[Thanael]

For example, we have a Bard who has been adventuring in the Arabian desert. He's 10th level.
[...]
Now he discovers the SandShaper class from Sandstorm. He needs to retcon a Feat from 9th (Craft Staff), and his 10th level [spell].

That's a pretty big rewrite. But he's never had the time/money to craft any staves, and has only used one spell he gained at 10th, one time, and it didn't work.

So, do you allow it? I'm too close to this one to be an impartial judge fairly.

Since these are pretty recently acquired and have never really been used I'd allow switching them without applying the retraining rules. And that the fluff of the class does not quite fit could be easily disregarded/explained by that you don't to delve deeper into the class.