Sell me on Arcana Evolved.

[Nightfall]

Yeah the crunch is probably the coolest parts of AE/AU, not necessarily the fluff.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Warmains - I dont like this class at all, its a fighter with d12 hd, a slightly better will save, and fewer feats/customization. With the feats you miss out on, a fighter could take improved toughness and iron will, and come out ahead. So, I guess if you are complaining about fighters being overpowered (laugh) this class will work for you.

In D&D, you have to design your Fighter as either a Dex-based warrior or an armored one. One class to fill whatever roll. In AE, they break the classes out a little more.

The warmain is your heavy armor fighter. They can take and deal damage. It's opposite would be the Unfettered, who doesn't so much rely on armor but his Dex for protection. I see them filling a niche in a party.

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah the Warmains are the TRUE tanks of AE/AU/d20. Fighters are just a tad more versitile but not nearly as centered as either Unfettered OR Warmain.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

AU/AE makes some different assumptions and goes in some slightly different directions.

The races were nicely done, and do a better job with "monster class levels" than Savage Species did, similar to what is now found in PHB 2.

I especially liked the Greenbond, Mage Blade, and Oathsworn. The Greenbond and Oathsworn are Druid and Monk variants without all the RW baggage- very nicely done. The Mage Blade is probably the best single class armored warrior/arcane caster out there, with the possible exception of the War Mage.

The Magic system is also nicely done, with inherent ways to power down or power up spells, rules for special spell components. The fact that there is a "rarity" system in place is (something that hasn't really been seen in D&D since 1Ed AD&D) is also a plus.

 

[Nightfall]

Danny,

Agreed. Mageblade is by far the best fighter/mage single class combo around. Duskblade can't even touch it.

 

[Stalker0]

I'm a bit curious here. I've never even so much as seen a copy of Arcana Evolved, but I own Arcana Unearthed. Did a lot change between the two besides the addition of a class and a race?

Here are the main changes I can think of:

1) Addition of 21-25th levels for all classes.
2) A few new champions and a new witch manifestation for all witches.
3) The addition of the ritual warrior, the ritual combat feat, and combat rites.
4) The warmain and oathsworn are adjusted to include some small amounts of combat rites.
5) A new race, the dracha.
6) The creation of evolved levels for all of the races, which extends their racial levels.
7) Mojh and Verrik racial levels were altered slightly.
8) Some new spells.

As others have mentioned, if you don't want the diamond throne material, its not worth buying a whole new book. However, if you do want it, or are just getting into the arcana evolved, I recommened getting the new book over the old. The ritual warrior alone is a very nice addition to the game.

Could you elaborate more on this? I am considering using AE system variants in the Wilderlands.

Just a few examples. Quicken Spell is seriously powerful in AE, allowing you to quicken your highest level slots. It is possible for a 10th level magister to throw 2 10d8 (so 20d8 in total, or an average of 90 damage) area blasts at a party in a single round, making it quite possible to kill the weaker members of your party even if they make their reflex saves. Its even possible with another feat to do 25d8 in one round.

Ghost Weapon is a 5th level spell that lasts 1 round/level. It allows a fighters weapon to ignore armor AND natural armor, meaning any fighter type with power attack can mow through virtually any tank opponent. You can carve up dragons like turkeys with this spell, it is brilliant energy on crack.

These are extreme examples, as I mentioned before I like most of the AE feats and spells a lot more than 3.5. But every so often I find a spell or ability I consider a little over the top.

 

[Nightfall]

Just goes to show you, Monte isn't as infallible as people make him out to be. Don't get me wrong, he's a great designer, just not godlike.

 

[hobgoblin]

sounds a bit like the AE/AU spellcasting system merged the sorceror and the wizard into one. as in you still memorize spells for a day, but you do not have to cast them in a set "sequence". hell, its a bit like the cleric to in that they can drop a prepared spell to cast a heal/harm any time they want.

still, you cant fault wotc for going with the classical vencian system. its been there since the days of d&d1, and is more or less expected. hell, that they put the warlock into one of their books was probably seen as a heretic move by some...

 

[catsclaw227]

It just seems like there is so much to like, and the scratchy stuff can be tweaked or eliminated. I think I'll use combination of classes, allowing all AE classes, and then rogue, bard, fighter, barbarian and ranger (like suggested by ehren47), though I may try to see how others can fit in (divine casters would need tweaking)

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah divine casting would need tweaking but otherwise AU/AE classes are nearly as good as D&D ones.