Tomb Under the Tor (New Playtest Report)

[GreatLemur]

I think if this happens, it will be a general thing that affects all races, not just tiefling/eladrin/aasimar. So you'll have dwarf feats, elf feats, gnome feats etc.

Absolutely. Remember that initial 4E Design & Development "race" article?

 

[Jer]

The other thing I am wondering is what dynamics the new wizards will be using for their spellcasting. We see the wizard casting through a staff at 1st level ostensibly, and there was a quote that once a wizard blows off their memorized spells they'll still be at about 80% power.

So, I am thinking that perhaps the spellbook still governs that extra 20%, and the staff the other 80%. Perhaps a wizard without a staff is like a fighter without a sword using improved unarmed strike. Makes me wonder if you could in fact specialize in using magic without a staff and spellbook. Kind of like the 4e equivalent of a sorcerer, but still using the wizard class.

Actually, I suspect that the staff will be much like a fighter's sword. There was a hint that there will be "+6 wands" in the new edition, I suspect that the staff will be similar to that -- a weapon that the wizard can use to channel magic through. My question is whether (and how) they'll make a distinction between staves and wands.

Also, I'm betting that the phrase "pulled out all the stops" when describing the fiery blast that the wizard hurled means that its one of her prepared spells. She can throw these eldritch blast-like "wizard strikes" around all day, but when she needs to really put the hurt on something she has to use up a prepared spell. Monte Cook suggested something like that years ago, and it's good to see that they were taking it seriously.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I'm glad that they seem to be using wands and staffs as focus items. The charged item thing never struck me well.

"I've got a staff, it helps me haul out the boom." That sounds fun.

Less playtest report, more playtest document! And ... and then give me the playtest document, of course.

--fje

 

[Traycor]

I very very much like the idea of wands and staves being focus items (instead of charged "spell guns"). I hope the staff/wand dynamic becomes much more intregal to the wizard class.

However.... there needs to be a mechanic for focus items that are not staves. My spell wielding elf fighter/wizard will want to fight with a sword and still be able to use magic.

 

[Mercule]

Eh. That's like saying a half-elf becomes more and more like an elf as it gains levels.

I'm in a "wait and see" mode for all of the racial advancement for the traditional PHB races. I really don't know what they have in mind for any of them. Humans, especially, are hard to imagine what abilities they'd gain. Since I've always considered human to be baseline, my gut says that anything added would actually make them less humanly.

For an outsider, though, I have no problems imagining the outsider heritage becoming more apparent as it is repeatedly called up over an adventuring career.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I very very much like the idea of wands and staves being focus items (instead of charged "spell guns"). I hope the staff/wand dynamic becomes much more intregal to the wizard class.

However.... there needs to be a mechanic for focus items that are not staves. My spell wielding elf fighter/wizard will want to fight with a sword and still be able to use magic.

This may be where the gish stuff we've heard comes in. The staff HELPS you haul out the boom, so the gish who isn't using a staff is hampered somewhat by this and perhaps needs to invest character resources either in non-focus spell use or in turning his weapon into a focus, etc etc.

--fje

 

[Traycor]

This may be where the gish stuff we've heard comes in. The staff HELPS you haul out the boom, so the gish who isn't using a staff is hampered somewhat by this and perhaps needs to invest character resources either in non-focus spell use or in turning his weapon into a focus, etc etc.

That sounds like a bad idea to me. The end result would be gish chars that ran around fighting with staves. A gish that used a sword would be gimped and the ones that used wands to poke out people's eyes in melee would have the advantage.

 

[ScotMartin]

A random thing I noticed: the goblin acted prior to the Ranger on the surprise round, and under 3.5 rules the Ranger would have been flatflooted. Yet, the Ranger was able to "immediately" counterattack (I assumed this was happening as an "immediate" action).

So, this could mean:
1. Flatfooted is a state that no longer exists in 4e.
2. Immediate actions can be used while flatfooted in 4e.
3. The counterattack is a special action that specifically can be used while flatfooted.

Given their desire to simplify things, I would lean toward the first possibility, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that flatfootedness has just been simplified to losing your dex bonus and nothing else.

-Scot

 

[Green Knight]

The Ranger had noticed the goblins, and so wouldn't have been flatfooted. The Warlord, Fighter, and Wizard are the ones who would've been caught flat-footed had they been attacked.

 

[Drkfathr1]

A random thing I noticed: the goblin acted prior to the Ranger on the surprise round, and under 3.5 rules the Ranger would have been flatflooted. Yet, the Ranger was able to "immediately" counterattack (I assumed this was happening as an "immediate" action).

So, this could mean:
1. Flatfooted is a state that no longer exists in 4e.
2. Immediate actions can be used while flatfooted in 4e.
3. The counterattack is a special action that specifically can be used while flatfooted.

Given their desire to simplify things, I would lean toward the first possibility, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that flatfootedness has just been simplified to losing your dex bonus and nothing else.

-Scot

Or the Ranger class itself grants a special ability that allows it. Or perhaps a feat/fighting style? This may not necessarily be something that any character can automatically do.