Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tempest Stormwind" data-source="post: 4933175" data-attributes="member: 85396">MythSSK, it's pure coincidence that I found this thread whilst googling for the Marshal. I don't really spend all that much time gaming any more (grad school...) but I did want an archive of some of my developer work from WotC. While looking for that, I found this thread.In the years since I wrote those things, I've been a playtester for WotC's Star Wars Saga line, which changed my perspective on what makes a rule elegant and easy to use. As a result, I've been retouching all the material I've used in the Marshal (along with RT's ranger and my Dwarven Defender remix; my Strike Leader PrC (white raven ranger or ambush marshal) seems to have been lost to the abyss, but I have its thread ID (770221)), and I'd *just* started on the maneuvers. Coincidentally, you seem interested in them as well.I don't have finalized versions yet, but I can explain the thought processes involved in writing them and responding to comments here.Adrenaline Surge: it doesn't affect yourself because it's porting the Player's Handbook 2 Marshal alternate class feature, which didn't affect yourself. I put it as high a level as I did since I was balancing it against Iron Heart Endurance and Order from Chaos. I agree with immunity-to-fatigue notation (and had made the same change myself). My revised version is likely lose Language-dependent (my vision of it was a roar, and the description is akin to Leonidas' last moments in 300, when the nearly-dead Spartans actually try to keep fighting) and will probably last a fixed duration (I'm thinking either 5 rounds or until end of encounter), but also potentially knock targets unconscious if it's used too frequently. (The "willing" ally bit was deliberate on my part here with just this contingency in mind.) How frequent "frequent" is depends on back-of-the-envelope testing; I'd be open to results from actual active gaming playtesting, of course (especially if it seems fine affecting yourself, compared to Iron Heart Endurance).Rally the Legion: My revised marshal doc actually has the following illustration in it: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98MtWe2nCS4]Faced with overwhelming odds, a legendary warlord rallies the legion and leads his army to their rightful place in history.[/ame]Evidently, we were apparently thinking similarly (though I maintain Aragorn is just using a regular marshal or commander aura in his excellent speech; Rally the Legion is meant for, well, legions - either mass combat, or large battlefields where your PC allies are spread out further than your auras can reach). I agree wholeheartedly with its duration being wonky (doubly so since official FAQs since clarified the key "ability score" for White Raven is INTELLIGENCE, not Charisma, so I royally goofed there), and am more likely to just simplify it to say the aura effects last 5 rounds or until superceded (i.e. the marshal who used it is near you and switches auras). It doesn't change much, but what it doesn't change is clarification text to make the maneuver more useful for non-marshals. (Oh, and for the record, in the original thread, it wasn't typed. None of the three maneuvers I'm discussing had a type specifically because they weren't strikes, boosts, or counters.)Call to Glory: It can be simplified fairly dramatically if altered (the complaints here are in the right direction). For the record, I restricted White Raven from the list of maneuvers that could be shifted to prevent White Raven Tactics or Flanking Maneuver cheese (note that I wrote the Strike Leader, which *does* allow White Raven maneuvers to be shared, so I did test that possibility - the strike leader gets around it by requiring ambush scenarios, which aren't easy to orchestrate), and I caused the maneuver to de-ready itself to keep martial adepts reasonably "special" (imagine a crusader using this maneuver like an energizer bunny - the entire party becomes martial adepts! It'd be like clerics doing perpetual Imbue With Spell Ability, but without the whole vancian drawback.) I'll be taking StreamOfTheSky's feedback to heart when I rewrite this (perhaps due to my reputation by that point, no one on WotC gave me that type of feedback when I wrote the ability!) - I'm thinking of keeping either the XP cost OR the standard-action "concentration" (ironically, I originally used diplomacy in the first draft, but changed it for reasons unknown; the final will use diplomacy), but not both, and definitely changing the header information as he suggested (it's clearer by far). I may even ditch both (since the de-readying mechanic and the level limit is a pretty solid restriction). (By the way, StreamOfTheSky, it's written for marshals. There's a very real reason it de-readies itself: Some of the second- and third-level maneuvers can really, really add up if used by enough troops. I'll present an example for playtesting next time, when I have more time to explain, but suffice it to say followers (from Leadership) proved a valuable asset in a CR 15 battle, potentially outdoing War Master's Charge.)I'm unlikely to reply often here (as I never check ENWorld and just registered to post this), and I used a throwaway mail address (standard practice when registering somewhere), but I'll check in tomorrow or the day after. I don't have enough time to help on things I'm not already familiar with (i.e. my stuff or RadicalTaoist's stuff), but I'll help where I can.</blockquote>

Verification