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In the weekly game I run, a player of mine has a Wizard (Diviner) 5/ War Weaver 4 (ref War Weaver, Heroes of Battle). This is the first time I have seen a war weaver played and my initial thoughts are that this class packs a tremendous punch as a utility caster, quite likely too much punch.
The player has a 20 Int, allowing him to apply a single spell of 4th level or lower on all 6 members of the party. Thus a single casting of displacement, darkvision, invisibility, spider climb, fly, gaseous form and so forth effects everyone in the group. In addition, he can place up to 3 spells in the weave (each of 4th level or lower) for casting later. These “quiescent spells” remain suspended in his weave for 24 hours and can be released all at once with a move action from the wizard. Again, these spells affect everyone in the group.
On the positive side, the player has not done anything to break the game nor have these spells turned challenging encounters into trivial ones though admittedly I have upped the number of foes or their difficulty if I felt it warranted.
Has anyone else had experience with this class? Have you found it overpowered? If so, what have you done to tone it down while still letting the player feel like he has invested well in a PrC?
Sorry; can't help you as a result of my infamous ban on all 17,000 classes with "war" in the name.
I've never had the opportunity to deal with this class, so I'd first just suggest that you make sure to enforce the limitations on Eldritch Tapestry. Namely:
* Everyone in the tapestry must be near (LoS) when it's woven.
* No 'personal' spells.
* Harmless spells only.
* Costly components (GP, XP) incurred for each person affected.
* Spell range enforced (touch spells require the WW to touch everyon in the tapestry). Less of an issue at 5th level.
This class is really just focused on rapid and super efficient buffing - to me, the savings on spell slots is a boon to the /game/, since it helps a bit with caster longevity during any given adventuring day.
The biggest challenge I see in dealing with this class is that they have the potential to change the dynamics of the encounters. There's a time savings when everyone in the party can fly over the chasm, instead of having to go around or devise some way of crossing it. Invisibility becomes a significant factor in group tactics (everyone can have greater invisibility).
But that's okay. Let the group have their easy victories. Look at it as an opportunity to flex your creative muscle to challenge them in spite of such advantages. Mix it up for them, so some spell strategies will work better than others in given situations... Maybe to reach a high cave opening, they can fly, or spider climb, but they'd be exposed to powerful winds (making spider climb and a carefully chosen path the more prudent way to overcome).
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But that's okay. Let the group have their easy victories. Look at it as an opportunity to flex your creative muscle to challenge them in spite of such advantages. Mix it up for them, so some spell strategies will work better than others in given situations... Maybe to reach a high cave opening, they can fly, or spider climb, but they'd be exposed to powerful winds (making spider climb and a carefully chosen path the more prudent way to overcome).
QFT
QFT
Who? Sorry, don't know that one. :)
QFT = Quoted For Truth.
Good lord. Watch out for the warweaver.
I approved the prestige class in my AoW game a while back, not quite taking into account certain high level spells. I just had the (then current) Bull's Strength type effects in mind. (and haste already effects everyone) But yes, at high level the warweaver can keep everyone under a slate of powerful minute/level buffs all the time. Also, everyone flies like a superhero.
In my campaign, the wizard in question completely abandoned offensive spells to focus on buffs, and with the spell compendium he didn't have a problem with it. Because of the doze or more buffs on the rest of the party (and himself in polymorphed form) this team took out Dragotha in 2 rounds. They handled all three of the Dragon generals in Kings of the Rift simultaneously, and immediately following Brazzemal's death. And I buffed all of those dragons up past their printed stats.
My only redeeming grace is that he never used the weave to polymorph the entire team. Or shapechange. Eeew. Also, they took on Kyuss without weakening him, and it cost the warweaver (he snapped a staff of power to strike the final blow)
Good lord. Watch out for the warweaver.
<snipped stuff for brevity>
My only redeeming grace is that he never used the weave to polymorph the entire team. Or shapechange. Eeew. Also, they took on Kyuss without weakening him, and it cost the warweaver (he snapped a staff of power to strike the final blow)
You wouldn't have to worry about shapechange; the maximum spell level that can be cast through the Eldritch Tapestry is equal to their class level, so 5th level spells are the most potent that can be used.
-And thanks, Lilith. :)
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I've never had the opportunity to deal with this class, so I'd first just suggest that you make sure to enforce the limitations on Eldritch Tapestry. Namely:
* Everyone in the tapestry must be near (LoS) when it's woven.
* No 'personal' spells.
* Harmless spells only.
* Costly components (GP, XP) incurred for each person affected.
* Spell range enforced (touch spells require the WW to touch everyon in the tapestry). Less of an issue at 5th level.
Yes I do this very carefully and thus far the player has been perfectly willing to accept these limitations. I am particularly strict on the last requirement, forcing him to be able to touch all party members as part of his two-action turn each time he uses the tapestry. The player has put considerable effort into ensuring his mobility so he can reach everyone when needed. At times he is forced to exclude members from his casting because he cannot reach them.
But that's okay. Let the group have their easy victories. Look at it as an opportunity to flex your creative muscle to challenge them in spite of such advantages. Mix it up for them, so some spell strategies will work better than others in given situations... Maybe to reach a high cave opening, they can fly, or spider climb, but they'd be exposed to powerful winds (making spider climb and a carefully chosen path the more prudent way to overcome).
I approved the War Weaver because of the discussion in the "Fixing the Wizard" thread that appeared here some time ago. I felt wizards were underpowered and noticed they were underplayed; the war weaver seemed to address some of these concerns. Thus far, the party has not been trouncing the opposition and in fact the war weaver has been a big help to the party without serving as a game wrecker. I have adjusted encounters slightly given what I know about the class, and this has allowed the player to be very happy with his choice of wizard as a core class. My only concern was that there might be hidden problems that started in the 4th-5th level spell range that really caused all kinds of problems. It certainly has sped up game play (another issue with the wizard) by making his prepared spells last longer.
I appreciate the feedback and am still looking for "horror stories" concerning this PrC so I can prevent them from happening in my game.
Thanks for the feedback!