Woo-hoo! Heroes of Horror preview!!

[Mercule]

Divine Spells just require belief and that's all that matters.

No. A divine caster must have the favor of his deity, also. Unless you can tell me what the source of the spell power is that is volutarily allowing the divine caster to tap into it, it isn't divine magic. Things like Kabbalah are definitely arcane.

 

[Mercule]

In designing this book, however, we took a deliberate step away from Gothic horror, with its virginal heroines and everyman heroes, toward a flavor of horror that I think fits better in the D&D world, with its superheroic characters. Influenced more by Clark Ashton Smith than Bram Stoker, Heroes of Horror threatens characters with the possibility that the evil they fight might corrupt them -- not just by luring them into evil deeds, but also by eating away their flesh or devouring their souls. Thus, even high-level characters have plenty to fear from this book.

This is awesome. Not so much the "superhero" part, but the corruption bit. That's a theme I love to add to my games. But it's really difficult to do without either being too subtle to be noticed or without being heavy-handed. If that's the focus of the book, it's a sale.

 

[Silveras]

No. A divine caster must have the favor of his deity, also. Unless you can tell me what the source of the spell power is that is volutarily allowing the divine caster to tap into it, it isn't divine magic. Things like Kabbalah are definitely arcane.

Perhaps you should re-read the section of the Players' Handbook on Clerics again. Clerics do not have to follow a deity; they can be believers in a philosophy or an abstract idea.

 

[Aaron L]

Perhaps you should re-read the section of the Players' Handbook on Clerics again. Clerics do not have to follow a deity; they can be believers in a philosophy or an abstract idea.

Exactly. Kabbalah and the like is definately divine, as it is derived from a divine source. Arcane magic is along the lines of advanced science, IE learning the underlying laws of the universe and manipulating them. Divine magic is using the hidden names of gods and unlocking the hidden mysteries of scripture to call upon the power of divinity.

The Archivist is really cool. Now if all I need to do is tweak the granted powers to something not so monster hunter focused.

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Heroes of Horror

I picked up this, and Magic of Eberron today.

So far I like Heroes of Horror a lot.

The Dread Necromancer is great -- everything a Necromancer should be. He's like the Necromancy equivalent of a Warmage, with some cool powers and a lot of general creepiness. He even gets to be a Lich at level 20, for free.


The Archivist is in there , of course.

There's also a new Prestige Class -- the Fiend-Blooded. It's basically a prestige class for Sorcerers who get their powers from a fiendish heritage. It requires two crappy feats for entry, but is really good after that. I don't mind this -- I generally consider sorcerers to be a bit underpowered, relative to wizards.

Ken

 

[Mercule]

Perhaps you should re-read the section of the Players' Handbook on Clerics again. Clerics do not have to follow a deity; they can be believers in a philosophy or an abstract idea.

Yeah. I'm aware that I disagree with the developers on this one. My actual opinions on that line aren't exactly grandma-friendly, though. Suffice it to say, I would not include them, if I were in charge of 4E.

 

[Mercule]

Exactly. Kabbalah and the like is definately divine, as it is derived from a divine source.

Ah, but it is harnessed through such means as true names, hidden languages, etc. Basically, Kabbalah is a pseudo-scientific approach to harnesses magic. Really, a little bit of poking at Kabbalah shows that it is spot on for arcane or Hermetic magic.

In truth, though, discussing a division between arcane and divine magic and using historical examples is a bit off. There aren't exactly a lot of real-world magical traditions that don't invoke the divine in some way.

 

[Mercule]

There's also a new Prestige Class -- the Fiend-Blooded. It's basically a prestige class for Sorcerers who get their powers from a fiendish heritage. It requires two crappy feats for entry, but is really good after that. I don't mind this -- I generally consider sorcerers to be a bit underpowered, relative to wizards.

So, what about the Dread Witch? I'm excited to hear what makes Ari's witch different and "dreadful". It sounds like it could be a really cool PrC, just based on the name.

 

[Mouseferatu]

So, what about the Dread Witch? I'm excited to hear what makes Ari's witch different and "dreadful". It sounds like it could be a really cool PrC, just based on the name.

Well, no reason for me not to address that one myself.

Without going into too much detail, the dread witch is a fear-based caster. She gains bonuses to fear-based spells, can add fear effects to spells that are not normally fear-based (such as a fearful fireball, and can even invoke fear effects on people who are normally immune, such as paladins, under some circumtsances. The touch I'm particularly proud of, though, is that she can use her own fear to empower her spells, or to cast extra spells, based on the severity of the fear effect that's been cast on her.

Hence the "dread" in dread witch.

 

[Mercule]

Well, no reason for me not to address that one myself.

Without going into too much detail, the dread witch is a fear-based caster. She gains bonuses to fear-based spells, can add fear effects to spells that are not normally fear-based (such as a fearful fireball, and can even invoke fear effects on people who are normally immune, such as paladins, under some circumtsances. The touch I'm particularly proud of, though, is that she can use her own fear to empower her spells, or to cast extra spells, based on the severity of the fear effect that's been cast on her.

Hence the "dread" in dread witch.

Wow. That sounds pretty cool. So, is it cleric-based or wizard based?