WotC Mailbag Podcast up

[Hawke]

I started thinking about it, a sorcerer could also fill a striker or even defender (mage armor?) role as an implementless caster. Yeah, maybe not the aoe and traditional spells of a typical wizard, but the ability to do burning hands like stuff up close seems reasonable. Just reaching there, though... I'd prefer not to have just an unflavored warlock type striker.

Here's hoping to an oversight... though I'd love confirmation that it was.

 

[Dedekind]

Love the podcast. It sounds like the Skill Challenge stuff is still something people are trying to get comfortable with, but I'm glad they addressed the thinking behind the DC update.

I like the idea of a "Lackey" lord... but is ultimately unrealistic*. If the minions are alive then they would die all the time. A more reasonable approach would be something like a Necromancer that rises undead and can direct them in combat. Or perhaps a Spirit Shaman that uses spiritual animals as minions. Or, even better, a summoner that brings in dire badgers as minions or whatever.

* I know, I know, this is a fantasy game. However, what poor schmuck would ever agree to be the cannon fodder?

 

[Hawke]

Lackey Minion could work with most of the power sources pretty easily - I imagine an Elemental guy with summoned elementals to be another fun lacky-type-class. Martial gets a bit rougher...but you could always reflavor it so that minion one-hit-deaths aren't actually deaths but knock them out... Or spend one of your own healing surges to bring em back. Or perhaps make them sturdier and get some kind of ritual to bring them back simulating your charismatic attempts to find bodyguards.

Though I agree, a Necromacy guy with undead is the easiest and most likely. Could even have a warlock-curse type thing that allowed killed cursed monsters to instantly-minionify with a generic ghost/zombie/whatever when they die...being a sort of 'incredible hulk' of the party. As the others blow their dailies and surges and whathaveyou, Your minions grow in number and you get stronger. Flavor in some of the ShadowPact "oops, you hurt your allies" in with that as balance and you've got a crazy class.