First off, races now provide only benefits and no negatives.
Here are the PHB I races:
The Dragonborn:
Not those pussies from 3E's draconomicon, these guys are badasses with a racial breath weapon. They make excellent Warlords, Paladins, and Fighters.
The Dwarves:
They're wise and tough as nails, pretty much the best categorization of the tough dwarf I've seen in tabletop roleplaying games. They make great Paladins, Clerics, and Fighters.
The Eladrin:
The "Elves" of last edition were split into two different races this time. The eladrin live in ridiculously magical feywild cities and make good wizards, warlords, and rangers. They can also teleport as a racial ability. Sweet sorcery, bro.
also Elves Elves lol.
The Elves:
The other half of the elves from last time, they're forest living guys who are really accurate. They make good rangers, rogues, and clerics. See what I mean by Elves lol?
The Half-Elves:
Proof that humans will screw anything. They're pretty tough and personable, and make excellent multiclassers. They make good warlords, paladins, and warlocks.
The Halflings:
Short, fat... actually no, these are about as far from tolkien's halflings as a fat american on his couch eating potato chips is from a bush tribesman in africa. Except they both speak english. Halflings continue their tradition of being really lucky and quick, as well as make excellent rogues, rangers, and warlocks.
The Humans:
Look in the Mirror. They're good at everything again and are the most adaptable, again. They make good anythings.
The Tieflings:
Their ancestors made pacts with devils and we're not half-breeds anymore, also we fought a war against Dragons. We get angry really well as a racial ability. We're also merciless, etc. We make good Warlocks, Warlords, or Rogues.
Also they really AREN'T the same tieflings we've had for 20 years.
We also have a bunch of new races now since PHB II came out
Deva: Former spirits under the service of good gods fighting an unending war against darkness. Must remain tirelessly good lest they be reborn into Rakshasa. Good avengers, clerics, invokers, and wizards.
Gnome: Small Feywild natives who learned trickery during slavery to fomorians. Curious, stealthy, and small, these short Elflike creatures make excellent bards, sorcerers, warlocks, and wizards.
Goliath: Mountain-dwelling nomads, covered in pebble-like bone growths that make them extra tough. Tall, massive, and strong, goliaths revere primal spirits and make excellent barbarians, fighters, and wardens.
Half-Orc: Channelling the strength of orcblood and the decisive, resourceful nature of humans, some say these warriors were hand-made by Kord himself. Others consider them an abomination. They don't much care, so long as they've got food and battle. Half-Orcs are excellent barbarians, rangers, and rogues.
Shifters: Descended from lycanthrope ancestors, these animal-like men see nearly everything in terms of hunter and prey. Able to draw on their ancestor's instincts, they are excellent druids, fighters, rangers, wardens, and surprisingly good clerics.
And now DDI is adding a few more to the game as well.
Revenant: These guys have come back from the dead or were prevented from dying by some other force (the Raven queen in the default cosmology). They're unique because they actually have the undead subtype and can take feats that make them fully undead. Fun with a cleric in the party that's for certain! They make for decent assassins (another new class coming out in DDI), rogues and warlock.
And if that wasn't exciting enough, we have PHB 3 races on top of that! We're just getting absolutely spoiled now:
Githzerai: They are a planar race formerly enslaved by the Illithids whom have curbed their more war like tendencies. They spend their time stabilizing parts of the elemental chaos through the sheer force of their will and practicing being awesome monks. Apparently they make great "seekers" as well as monks, the seeker being a new PHB III class. It's also NOT a psionic class.
Minotaur: The horrible monster of labyrinths and killing people is now... a playable race. Possibly because the 2010 campaign setting could very well by Dragonlance, which has more sociable minotaurs than other settings. Minotaurs presumably will be strength/con; making great Fighters and Barbarians in particular.
Wilden: A new race with all kinds of potential in the world. They were born to fight intrusion by monsters from the Far Plane and are basically plant people.
Then there are the races from the campaign setting books. First Forgotten Realms:
Drow: Classic villains turned into PC races by the popularity of Drizzt, essentially another kind of elf with some different powers. I will say they make amazing rogues because of their darkfire and cloud of darkness racial powers.
Genasi: Half-elemental planars who join the ranks of the Deva and Tiefling as being plane touched PC races. They make good wizards and depending on your elemental type they can suit a wide range of classes. They also make good swordmages.
And the Eberron players guide added a bunch of them as well.
Changelings: These guys, when you want to be derogative that is are classically known as "Dopplegangers" but most people to be polite call them Changelings. Like the name suggests, they can change how they appear and they make terrific rogues or wizards (they get a choice of stat boost!).
Kalashtar: These are a humanoid race who have bound themselves to dream spirits called Quori. They have some racial psionic talent (communication by telepathy for example) and should obviously fit in well with the Psion and other psionic classes.
Warforged: People usually refer to them as robots but these guys are more of a metal and plant "cyborg" than a robot. They have pretty strong racial abilities and make fantastic fighters and especially barbarians.
Playershandbook 3 added some more races! Before clicking, it's worth noting that all these races get a fixed bonus score and then a choice of adding +2 to one of two other stats, like the Eberron changeling, which is a good decision.
Githzerai: Everyones favourite astral monks are back and now a player race! They make pretty decent monks (as you would expect), and their stat spread make them okay for many other classes (as they get +2 wisdom and a choice of +2 int or dex.
Minotaur: Yeah, minotaurs are now a playable PC race, probably inspired off the more noble and civilized minotaurs of dragonlance. They haven't changed much since their dragon racial write up, but do get strength and their choice of con or wisdom - making them more flexible in what classes they can play.
Shardmind: These are the leftovers of a defensive gate or similar from the Far Realm that shattered, leaving them behind. Sentient crystal people like constructs, Shardminds get +2 int and then a choice of +2 wisdom or charisma making them excellent psions and wizards.
Wilden: Plant People from the feywild who are a "young" race that has arisen to fight the abominations of the far realm. They get +2 wisdom (this was definitely the +wisdom book) and +2 con or dex.
Introducing the Classes:
Every class now has a "Role" within the party, and a party is recommended to have every role represented to succeed, though it need not have to. It is considered "pro" to have proper party balance.
The Cleric:
Is classified as a Leader.
He's the priest of a god with some pretty wicked spells to heal his allies and disable his enemies. Usually at the same time. Rarely will the cleric spend entire turns casting Cure Light Wounds.
The Fighter:
Is classified as a Defender.
He's a badass with a sword and board or a Two handed weapon, his job on the battlefield is to keep the enemies from stomping his friends, and he can do so with a variety of weapons, which all behave differently depending on how you choose your powers.
The Paladin:
Is classified as a Defender.
This guy is the champion of a deity, who uses some pretty powerful melee spells to lay waste to the enemy. He does alot of glowing holy magical energy damage, too. He also uses either a sword and shield or two handed weapon. His crappy spellcasting from previous editions has been replaced by a whole host of wicked awesome prayers that can heal his allies and smite his enemies.
The Ranger:
Is classified as a Striker.
This guy can use either a bow or two one handed weapons to mercilessly mutilate his enemies. He can also designate specific enemies as his quarry, this includes a giant glowing red arrow above their head.
The Rogue:
Is classified as a Striker.
Is only good for picking locks and disarming traps, not really though. Sneak attack has been toned down a bit, but the rogue's huge damage boost makes up for it, because he really tears shit up with some pretty awesome powers.
The Warlock:
Is classified as a Striker.
Makes soul selling pacts with either Fey, Demons, or Cthulhu. Fires blasts of eldritch energy and murders people. Also, curses people so that he deals even more damage. Strikers are nuts.
The Warlord:
Is classified as a Leader.
This is the new class focused on tactics and inspiring your fellows. He's pretty cool and can actually replace a cleric in your party very effectively, and he brings a different playstyle to the table too. Cleric Inc. hates him for breaking its monopoly on this role.
The Wizard:
Is the only Controller.
The wizard is good at killing lots of enemies, very fast. He's not as amazingly and unstoppably powerful as he used to be, but still is pretty cool.
The Swordmage:
Is classified as a Defender.
The Swordmage was released in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. He combines arcana and swords to make wonderful stabby magic. But probably not swordchucks.
We also have some new PHB II classes just to add to the excitement and the EPG has the artificer!
Class: Avenger
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Divine
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Intelligence, Dexterity
"My god has words for you. This blade will show you to him."
Avengers are excellent at isolating and eliminating single targets. Other followers do what should be done. You do what must be done. Pro: roll two attacks under certain circumstances. Con: Reliant on enemies for static damage boosts.
Class: Barbarian
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Strength, Constitution, Charisma
"My strength lies in the fury of the wild."
Barbarians are savage warriors, channeling primal energy through themselves and their massive weapons. Darting back and forth across the battle, your fierce shouts make the enemy quake in fear. Pro: Big damage dice, lots of damage potential. Can fly into mighty rages. Con: Rages are daily powers, so don't expect to use them a lot. Also low defenses that get lowered during certain attacks.
Class: Bard
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Arcane
Primary Abilities: Charisma, Intelligence, Constitution
"I play the song of my ally's victory over your corpse."
Bards are artists, channeling magic through unbelievable skill with music, drama, or poetry. Your skill with blade, book, and hymn are the stuff of fables. Pro: lots of fancy rituals to help in conversation. Can take as many multiclass feats as she wants. Con: Comparatively less healing than clerics, and less effective hazing abilities.
Class: Druid
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity
"I am the seeker. I am the stalker. I am the storm."
Druids are the most effective and purist channelers of primal fury and embody all aspects of nature, from the calm of the still leaf to the fury of the thunderbolt. Pro: Alternates between caster form and wild shape for effectiveness in every situation. Con: Too many At-Will choices, fewer burst options than Wizard/Invoker.
Class: Invoker
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Divine
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence
"Mighty Pelor! I beseech ye! Smite these wicked foes with your unending light!"
Invokers are invested with a pure spark of their chosen god, rather than being merely ordained by corrupt priests and weak rituals. They are the purest of their god's mortal agents. Pro: Arguably a better controller than Wizard, plus gains access to the sweet Channel Divinity stuff. Con: Less overall damage potential, less powerful rituals, and lacking the utility spells that make wizards such good generalists. Also I'm not that fond of the PP choices.
Class: Shaman
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence
"The spirits surround me, guiding my movements and obeying my commands."
Blessed with a mighty spirit companion that aids his allies, the Shaman is a primal, spiritual force. His mighty companion serves as both a focus for his attacks and as a shield to protect both him and his allies. Pro: Protector spirit makes an excellent backup Defender or Striker. Con: You have to give up your actions to command it.
Class: Sorcerer
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Arcane
Primary Abilities: Charisma, Dexterity, Strength
"The difference between you and me? You wield magic. Magic wields me."
Sorcerers are natural founts of arcane power, resulting from either a history of dragon's blood or a product of mysterious, chaotic forces. Either way, you practically bristle with barely-contained magic, parcelling it out as needed in battle. Pro: Potential for very high damage and lots of cool effects. Con: Those effects are typically random, some of which can hit your allies.
Class: Warden
Classification: Defender
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities: Strength, Wisdom, Constitution
"Get past me? You might as well try to push the mountain aside."
Wardens are protectors of the earth, drawing on primal spirits to protect their allies from harm, and the natural world from the encroachment of those who would corrupt it. Pro: You are a brick wall, but harder to hit and probably more resilient. Con: You're not supposed to wear heavy armor, and marking all adjacent enemies means you're going to need all that toughness.
and the EPG Artificer
Class: Artificer
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Arcane
Primary Abilities: Intelligence, Constitution and Wisdom
"Let me just help you with your wounds in a minute, right after I finish making this...."
The Artificer is a really solid leader, capable of taking other characters healing surges and making his healing powers out of them. This helps to spread around the parties healing surges so everyone can keep fighting longer. They can use a variety of weapons and fighting styles (ranged, melee and binding constructs like a summoner wizard), making them pretty flexible in general.
finally last but not least is the new DDI exclusive class, the Assassin
Class: Assassin
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Shadow
Primary Abilities: Dexterity, Constitution and Charisma
"Please don't mind while I stab you with my Fullblade here - oh you were expecting a dagger? Well that can be arranged after I'm done disemboweling you..."
The Assassin is the first "exclusive" DDI class to be published and is pretty interesting. They can apply "shrouds" to enemies that they can use when attacking to inflict greater damage on their enemies. They also have a wide variety of weapon proficiencies and can teleport between creatures at-will. It's a pretty solid class for a DDI exclusive effort, with the only real flaw being they don't have their Ki-focus elements out just yet.
Of course now we have even MORE classes with PHB 3 and dear god I'll try to restrain myself here about the new additions to the family "Psionics".
Class:Monk
Classification: Striker
Power Source: Psionic
Primary Abilities: Dexterity, Strength and Wisdom.
"HYAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
The Monk is a great new striker with unprecedented mobility in 4E. Like the name would suggest they are masters of unarmed fighting and if you've ever wanted to punch a dragon in the face with your iron fist of pure Bruce Lee inspired rage - this is definitely the class to play. They can get a pretty solid unarmed attack and using ki-focuses means they can turn any part of their body into a lethal weapon.
Any.
Part.
:winky:
Overall this seems like a solid addition to the striker family of classes.
Class:Runepriest
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Divine
Primary Abilities: Strength, Constitution and Wisdom (IIRC)
"The runes are the language of the gods and I am the interpreter of their words through my hammer into your skull."
A new leader with some pretty strong all purpose party buffs. They get different "runes" that apply either a damage bonus to the party or a large defensive buff. Seem pretty handy and they like stirring it up in melee. I will say I love this class, but I must honestly feel bad for the strength cleric who has been almost kicked in the gut with the nerf to righteous brand and this class just outdoes it in every way as a close up divine melee leader.
Class:Seeker
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Primal
Primary Abilities:"My arrow flies straight and true to pin the enemy down and punish them for their transgressions..."
A ranged controller that uses a bow and is pretty interesting. In many ways there is some overlap with the ranger here, though the seeker is unusual in that it has a lot of ranged basic attacks that are encounter powers and similar (they play nicely with a warlord that can grant ranged basic attacks as a result). Many of their powers create zones and similar around a target they hit and it's certainly an interesting idea.
Class:Psion
Classification: Controller
Power Source: Psychic
Primary Abilities: Intelligence, Charisma and Wisdom (I think)
"I am Mentock the Mind Taker and I am here to take your mind!!!"
The first psionic class shown that uses a power point system to "augment" at-will powers into encounter powers using power points (PPs). The class seems to suffer from numerous problems, such as higher level at-wills not being equivalent to some lower level powers that scale better and due to taking less PPs can be used far more often in an encounter. Personally I feel the experiment with PPs was not a good decision.
Class:Battlemind
Classification: Defender
Power Source: Psychic
Primary Abilities:"Those that ignore me will be burned by their own attacks with the power of my mind!!!!"
The battlemind is the psionic defender and has similar issues to the psion as it shares the same PP system. Unlike a fighter its mark isn't as easy to enforce, albeit can be highly damaging in the right situations and I think they will be a good secondary defender.
Class:Ardent
Classification: Leader
Power Source: Psychic
Primary Abilities:"By carefully manipulating my allies minds, I shall make them fight better without them even realizing my presence!"
This is a psionic version of the warlord, but not as mechanically strong as the warlord and again has the same general PP flaw that all three of these psionic classes share. They do have a lot of close burst and similar powers that have interesting effects on allies and they do like sticking it up close to enemies as well. Of the three psionic classes, they're not too bad and I think was one of the better thought out power point using ones.
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Posts
Metallics and chromatics are working together because the Bahamut/Tiamat divide is less emphasized in my campaign world. Also, I like to think of each dragon as doing it's own thang.
Also, irons are dicks.
Jalanvaloss is her name.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
A pair of elites tend to do better when the party can pin one down in bad terrain or with a good stunning attack.
For a relatively low-level party, you're probably good either way.
Of course, I mostly run encounters with three players, where I can use Elites as solos so long as they have a Standard ally or some traps/hazards. But there are similar principles in ensuring your single enemy doesn't get locked down or stuck in a corner.
Exciting!
If I don't get them all killed maybe I should relay how it went.
Actually, especially if I get them all killed.
God damn thread grognards!
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
Fail.
So is this a case of the character builder just not recognizing these two rules together, or would this be a case of the specific trumping the general, i.e. the weapon property explicitly states avenger and paladin powers ONLY, so despite the fact that hybrids in general can use either implement, you can't in this case?
Yeah, the latter imo.
The text specifically says you can use this as an implement, not that "these are class implements" which is what would be shared.
I'd imagine the interpretation in CB is correct for this one. A vigilant weapon specifically can be used for paladin or avenger powers.
Two elite dragons can really really suck. We fought two in our last encounter and ended up floating in the sea next to the smoldering remains of our ship with all but one PC unconscious.
Hrrmm... well, on the plus side, at least holy symbols can be worn, still allowing a hybrid pally/lock to swing a two-hander. Just makes keeping any warlock implement powers up to snuff on attack rolls a little more expensive.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
...but only after he gives you your father's old Radiant Longsword
Don't forget the animated portrait of a princess asking for help that you find in the smaller Warforged.
I thought we were making Star Wars jokes.
Unless Aegeri is doing Anakin from Ep II.
In which case, good job.
Then of course they have to go to a tavern to meet up with the rest of their party, the crossbow Rogue and the Berserker.
Man, the inclusion of the Bigfoot race ruined D&D just like Bigfoots ruined my staircase.
Well, I did some thinking, and now I'm wondering why Dexterity determines accuracy. Why would a gymnast be better with a bow and arrow than a weight lifter?
You are thinking of agility.
Hand-eye coordination is also in the domain of dexterity.
But in D&D agility and hand-eye coordination are inextricably linked. I'm wondering why that is.
Simplicity.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
True, but if you're going to pick on why it's lumped together, pick on Dexterity representing all sorts of things related to the bodily agility rather than the actual meaning of it, relating to the hand only!
It's really not worth overthinking something that is an intentional simplification.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
The solution is to separate the Abilities into 16 separate stats for 5th Edtion.
Strength, Endurance, Stamina, Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Intelligence, Alacrity, Wisdom, Perception, Knowledge, Charisma, Willpower, Domination, Creativity, and Gumption.
STR, END, STA, CON, DEX, AGI, INT, ALA, WIS, PER, KNO, CHA, WIL, DOM, CRE, and GUM.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
So it will be STR, END, STA, CON, DEX, AGI, INT, VIM, WIS, PER, KNO, CHA, WIL, PUL, CRE, and GUM. You heard it here first, people.
So I guess that means one of the five or six Bard builds for 5th will be the Folk Bard, Charisma/Vim/Gumption-based.
Virtue of Folk
When an ally within 5 squares misses a target with a ranged attack, the ally gain a bonus to their next ranged Strength attack equal to your Vim modifier, or a bonus to their next ranged Dexterity attack equal to your Gumption bonus.
Hopefully they'll have a race with +2 to CHA/INT/VIM/GUM.
Twelve actually.
Back in 2nd edition / TSR days though. :P
Muscle Stamina Aim Balance Constitution Toughness Knowledge Reason Intuition Willpower Appearance Leadership.
(From my Player Option: Skills and Powers book.)
I don't have the character builder handy on this machine, so I take if you get one or both of the Oath of Emnity and Sneak Attack without having to spend a feat on Hybrid Talent?
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991