Shadow Races up!!!

[Dice4Hire]

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (Shadow Races)

Good details on the Vryloka. Looks interesting. A bit of weakness, that seems to match shadow.

 

[Aegeri]

I honestly don't know what to say except that I'm reasonably unimpressed. Though at least it's just the amount healed and not the actual surges. At the very least it doesn't have a ridiculously poor racial power. The racial power is great. I also love both utilities. The rest of the race is also pretty solid (necrotic resistance is great against undead) and it gets speed 7 as a delicious bonus.

 

[Obryn]

I honestly don't know what to say except that I'm firmly unimpressed. What on earth is with this nonsense of having terrible surges? The Vryloka effectively have 2 less surges than everyone else, making something that normally isn't fiddly at all suddenly fiddly (as they can have different amounts of surges). Do they even get the surges back when they aren't bloodied? If you have 6 surges and get bloodied, your surge value drops to 4. Do you lose those 2 surges immediately? Do they end up in some nebulous state of non-surge ville until you become unbloodied?

At the very least at least it doesn't have a silly negative racial penalty and a ridiculously poor racial power. The racial power is great. I also love both utilities.

That's surge value, not number of surges.

Still really fiddly, and kinda weird, but not as crippling!

-O

 

[Aegeri]

Yeah I just went back and read it again, so that is actually far more reasonable and only a very minor problem by paragon/epic. At least they get some actual benefits for their penalty.

 

[Incenjucar]

Much, much better design that the shade. You at least get some value for your sacrifice. Living Dead has a nice synergy with Vampire in that you'll no longer be worrying about being turned by your own allies.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I honestly don't know what to say except that I'm reasonably unimpressed.

I'm rather glad it is a solid class with limited drawbacks. It looks like it would work well in a game, even a non-evil or shadow themed one. The ability score choices are sweet, the racial power is nice, and the choose to be an undead or not for powers could be interesting. I'd have to look for powers that offer choices like that.

But how about powers like Turn Undead which hit undead, but do not have a different effect on non-undead? Can you choose to not be undead? I think not.

 

[Aegeri]

Yeah, since realizing that it wasn't draining two surges - just reducing the amount you heal by 2 - it's actually pretty solid (especially compared with the shade).

But how about powers like Turn Undead which hit undead, but do not have a different effect on non-undead? Can you choose to not be undead? I think not.

Nope, so you get hit by it! This is great fun for any cleric with a Revenent in the party as it is.

 

[Incenjucar]

I'm rather glad it is a solid class with limited drawbacks. It looks like it would work well in a game, even a non-evil or shadow themed one. The ability score choices are sweet, the racial power is nice, and the choose to be an undead or not for powers could be interesting. I'd have to look for powers that offer choices like that.

But how about powers like Turn Undead which hit undead, but do not have a different effect on non-undead? Can you choose to not be undead? I think not.

I would assume that targeting counts.

 

[Aegeri]

I believe that issue needs errata (irony, delicious is it not?). It's difficult to determine if the intent is that you can choose to be affected by powers that affect undead/living creatures specifically, or powers that give you a choice. Some powers affect living creatures differently than undead creatures, so say will boost some while dealing damage to others. Vecna's aura is a good example of this kind of choice (Undead creatures regen, living creatures get damaged a bunch).

Powers like turn undead do not present a choice, they target you if you're undead. The Vryloka is undead and so ends up targeted by the power, by the current RAW (as it's not giving you a choice of effects, unless the intent is not being affected is a choice here).

Edit: Looking at what I've seen so far, the surge value penalty is just silly and does nothing. It will have some (small) impact on heroic but by epic it's pretty pointless. I'm just going to houserule it doesn't exist really at this point.

 

[Xris Robin]

Someone else said this somewhere, and I agree with it... the fluff is a bit weak, since it's like a more rare version of the Tiefling.