Tidbits from PHB Viewing

[Kesh]

Gnomes. GNOMES. Gnomes are insane. Gnomes can *turn invis* once per encounter after they've taken dmg. They can also choose to roll "hide" instead of intialtive at the start of an encounter. Hello Gnome Rogue. And by "hello" I mean, "Please, for the love of god, stop stabbing me in the back." My friends quote was "Man, I hate gnomes! They're stupid! But now I can't stop picturing a pack of gnomes sitting in the trees doing the clicking noise that the Predators make in the alien movies. Stupid stealth gnomes. I'm going to have to play one."

You are so .sigged for this bit.

 

[Fanaelialae]

With regard to the half-elf, I think that they may have one of the strongest racial powers that currently exist.

To begin with, it's the only power "slot" that offers 29 options straight out of the PHB (most "slots" offer 4 options). It will only get better with time, as more classes and at-will powers are introduced to the game. It allows a half-elf to steal a power that complements their own quite nicely, without having to compromise their multiclass choice (or multiclass at all).

One example would be to take eye bite. A rogue could then eye bite an enemy, move in, use an action point, and use a powerful attack that receives the invisibility as well as sneak attack bonuses. And still multiclass fighter, assuming he was looking to be a bit more defender-ish overall.

Moreover, assuming that you can take seperate classes for the multiclassing feats and the paragon multiclassing option, a half-elf is the only one that could take powers from 4 different classes (if what you're going for is a jack-of-all-trades).

The rest of what they get is somewhat "eh", but I'm not all that certain that you could give them much more without potentially overpowering them. Versatility does not directly equate to power, but I have little doubt that there will be certain combinations of powers that do.

 

[rhm001]

I think the half-elf looks good, especially if the "human and elf for feats" is correct. That said, I agree with the earlier posts suggesting it might come up a little short. What seems to be missing is a defensive bonus. Most of the other races either get a bonus to one or more defenses, defenses to specific types of attacks, or both.

Humans gain a bonus against everything, eladrin on will and more against charm, halflings on reflex and against attacks of opportunity, tieflings fire resistance, dwarves a bonus on poison saves and the minor action second wind, and dragonborn get draconic heritage and dragonborn fury. Elves have the terrain bonus, which might be a tighter fit in the category, but they get an extra square of movement, too.

I think there's a good argument that the cross-class extra attack option is pretty powerful, but I would hope we might see a bonus to one type of defense or against one type of attack for the half-elf. For example, we know they're charismatic; the eladrin bonus against charm sounds like it might not be a bad fit.

 

[Zelgadas]

We also know, from the excerpt on racial abilities and feats, that half-elves get their own suite of racial feats (even if they do wind up getting access to both human and elf feats). We also know that racial feats are designed to make races better at what they do, and a large part of what the half-elf does well is multiclassing. Thus, I don't think it's outside of the realm of possibility that half-elves gain access to racial feats that make them better at multiclassing than the other races. Maybe they get to poach other powers at higher levels, or even make that at-will as an encounter into a true at-will eventually. Personally, I think that, for a certain kind of character, the half-elf makes a lot of sense based just on what we know about it now. But we have to remember that we're not seeing the whole picture. We're seeing the helf-elf at level 1, and personally I think it's pretty well balanced as is. But it might get even better as the campaign progresses.

 

[Cadfan]

I'm cool with the half elf the way he is, I think. If he's got a +2 Cha and a floating +2, he's in a very good position. Any class that uses Cha as a primary or secondary stat will be great for them, because he can ensure perfect efficiency on his racial ability score bonuses. That's a pretty big benefit.

 

[Zelgadas]

Very true. And of the 8 classes in the PH, 5 (that we know of) use Charisma as a primary or secondary stat: Rogue, Warlock, Warlord, Cleric, and Paladin. So there you go.

 

[tecnowraith]

Is there any rules for crafting mundane items from the either PHB or DMG? We have not seen anything on this or a complete skill list to see if there is a skill still.

 

[Caliber]

Thalmin or anyone else, did you happen to check out the various "builds" each class gets? Like, what are the Warlock's pacts? Do Wizard's specialize in an implement? What about Clerics or Paladins? Anything analogous to Rogue's or Warlord's focus on a secondary stat?

Is the Fighter sword-and-board or two-handed?

Thanks so much for posting this info!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

not in 4e, in 4e being a wizard mean blasting enemies with magical energies.

Actually that's being a 4E **PC** wizard. A wizard who has chosen the career of an adventurer. They are to regular scholarly wizards what Indiana Jones is to regular archeologists.

Fitz

 

[tuffnoogies]

IMO the best way to make raising the dead rare and mysterious is to ban death. It works very well!

Yes, but it would make adventuring rather boring if the characters weren't risking death.

Or did you mean ban raise dead?