Crane Wing in Shattered Star


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


Tonight was our first session since the CW nerf. We are 10th level in Shattered Star, which is being run by a very experienced DM (with an ENnie) to his name. I suggested I could try out the new version for the night and he told me "Hell no, it is fine the way it is keep using it."

I am playing a 2 monk (MoMS)/ 8 barbarian. We also have a sorcerer, rogue, gunslinger/ranger, and bard (archeologist). Over the course of the campaign I have had many opportunities to shine but never overshadowed the group. Tonight was no different.

On a number of occasions I did not bother using crane style because it seemed far better for me to rage and grab my longsword with two hands for the extra damage output. During our climactic encounter of the evening, we fought 6 minions and a high level evil cleric. I did go into crane stance while the rogue and I fought a minion with 2 natural attacks and another minion with 4 natural attacks. I did get a few blocks in but was still pounded into negatives by the minions (and the spells and negative energy bursts of the cleric). Upon being healed I switched to raging damage mode with better results.

Throughout the evening the whole group laughed as we jested about how OP crane wing was NOT in each encounter of the night.

A lot of people seem to love the statistical analysis of any given build and I admit that is a valid method to examine things. However, I think a discussion of actual campaign experience can be just as valid.

Has anyone else been in an adventure path with someone who had crane wing? How did it go?


Great post.

A lot of people deride things like this as anecdotal, but the truth is Actual Play Reports are really the best way to analyze the game.

Unfortunately it takes a lot of play reports because every group plays a little differently. Trends and patterns are hard to spot with so much potential variance.

That's why things like PFS seem like they get an unfair amount of support from their feedback.

It isn't because they are more important. It's just that their data is more readily available to the designers. There's a huge infrastructure in place to collect actual play data from Society scenarios.

Unfortunately that data is skewed by the PFS "house rules," tendency toward low-level play and the way the encounters in the scenarios are usually designed.

That combination of factors can make something like Crane Wing look way more powerful than it actually is in the vast majority of home games out there.

Which, by the looks of things here on the boards, is becoming very apparent.


Not had crane wing come up in any of the games I've been in, but it didn't seem overpowered before the nerf. Most enemies you come up against have multiple attacks anyways, and most combats you'll be fighting multiple enemies. Don't really get why it was nerfed. Out of interest though, how are you multiclassing monk/barbarian? I though monks have to be lawful and barbarians have to be non-lawful.


Ricard the Daring wrote:
Not had crane wing come up in any of the games I've been in, but it didn't seem overpowered before the nerf. Most enemies you come up against have multiple attacks anyways, and most combats you'll be fighting multiple enemies. Don't really get why it was nerfed. Out of interest though, how are you multiclassing monk/barbarian? I though monks have to be lawful and barbarians have to be non-lawful.

Probably house-ruled away. I have never played a game where they actually enforced alignment restrictions on any class but Paladin (and most don't even do that)


Ricard the Daring wrote:
Not had crane wing come up in any of the games I've been in, but it didn't seem overpowered before the nerf. Most enemies you come up against have multiple attacks anyways, and most combats you'll be fighting multiple enemies. Don't really get why it was nerfed. Out of interest though, how are you multiclassing monk/barbarian? I though monks have to be lawful and barbarians have to be non-lawful.

Ex-monks who become non - lawful lose none of their abilities. My character was sent off for monk training to deal with his rage issues as a teen. After returning from the monastery his training hasn't entirely stuck. He still tries to control himself but fails sometimes. He is 10th level and he has only gone into rage 5 times total.


Derringer wrote:
Ricard the Daring wrote:
Not had crane wing come up in any of the games I've been in, but it didn't seem overpowered before the nerf. Most enemies you come up against have multiple attacks anyways, and most combats you'll be fighting multiple enemies. Don't really get why it was nerfed. Out of interest though, how are you multiclassing monk/barbarian? I though monks have to be lawful and barbarians have to be non-lawful.
Ex-monks who become non - lawful lose none of their abilities. My character was sent off for monk training to deal with his rage issues as a teen. After returning from the monastery his training hasn't entirely stuck. He still tries to control himself but fails sometimes. He is 10th level and he has only gone into rage 5 times total.

"ROLEPLAY!" /Lovitz Master Thespian

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