Well, this was my first look at War of the Burning Sky. This looks great (although I really don't have much use for it, but it's still an interesting read). It's a cool place, with a cool story, complete with myths and plenty of stuff for new characters/players to start with.
Thanks!
For the rest, I can address some of it:
Warlock's curse of flesh power uses an Intelligence attack roll (instead of Charisma or Constitution). In addition, it has an attack roll line, but no Hit line! It has an Effect, but effects don't require an attack roll. Also, I noticed that other powers have a Damage line, so I thought maybe damage would go there and other stuff would go under Effect, but in 4E rules Effect doesn't require a hit, so I really just wasn't sure what this power was even trying to do. That said, curse of flesh really needs to do damage or be way underpowered.
You are correct in that that should say "Hit" not "Effect". We'll errata that.
However, while it appears underpowered in a regular 4E campaign, in WotBS in is a LOT more useful. I don't know if you're familiar with the story from the 3.5 version, so I'll put this in a spoiler block:
[sblock]The main enemy (aside from Leska) are a group of nightmare creatures called the Trillith. These are all insubstantial, and are weakened considerably when made solid. The players, of course, don't know this at the start of the campaign.[/sblock]
There are a few things which are WotBS specific, and would need tweaking to be viable in another campaign, but there are a lot of plot-based considerations in some of these things whereby something is actually more powerful and weaker than it appears.
2) Wayfarer's step teleports an enemy or an ally? Or either? What about the burning sky?
At the start of the campaign, the burning sky effect still applies. That changes later in the story. Again, spoilers.
And why that weird range description (not only on this power)? "Range 10; Area burst 1" should be "Area burst 1 within 10 squares".
Slight editing gaffe. Easily fixed!
3) The 'background' feats concept is overpowered. I don't have a problem with that, as it allows a DM to allow his players to be a little stronger and more tied to the setting. But, I figured it was worth mentioning.
4) The Cavalry Errant feat is strictly better than Mounted Combat, which is obvious, as it actually includes that feat. Once again, I don't have a problem with this as it ties the character to the setting, except that you're also potentially giving this feat away for free. I was okay with breaking these rules a little, but this is pushing it.
Absolutely. The background bonuses are intended to be "better" than regular options, and be free and in addition to them. The idea is to invest characters in the setting from the get-go. It does, indeed, make a WotBS party
ever so slightly more powerful than a regular party, if all else is equal.
8) Can you really have these whip rules? I'm not sure how the GSL works with DDI content.
I didn't see it in the SRD, which is all that matters when it comes to the GSL.
9) Potion Bracer lets me use a free action to retrive a potion stored in it. I can then follow the normal rules to drink a potion as a minor action without provoking opportunity attacks. OR I could use the Potion Bracer's ability to drink directly from the bracer as a minor action, but provoking opportunity attacks. Question: Why would I ever choose the latter option, when the former only costs me an extra free action and I don't provoke?
Normally, no reason. The primary use is to use the former method. The additional use was added because we envisaged a possible situation whereby a character wasn't able to retrieve the potion or item (both hands occupied, for example).
10) The Hat of Exceptional Intelligence has a level 10 version, a level 20 version, and a level 30 version. There are no mechanical differences in them aside from their costs.
I'll check; probably just a gaffe. The great thing about PDFs is that when we find something like that, we cna simply insert the missing text and re-upload the file!
Thanks for the feedback! It's always great when folks tell us what they think.
We've also brought on a new editor for the series, who will be starting with the
Campaign Guide - Kevin Kulp. Nothing like an extra layer of insulation!
