Hi All,
As I put in the pre-order thread, I have received my email with a DL link at RPGNow for this product. It is damn slow DLing, but I am happy as more Core Book hasn't arrived and the 13th is over for me here in NZ, delivery wise!
So if you have pre-ordered this, check your email. Quick notes to come latter in the evening. I will have time to read it as my regular XBox battlefield mates are off to the movies, win win win!
Arrrgh! the DL failed, start again at 20kB/sec bleergh. C'mon RPGNow get your servers sorted ;-)
OMG Chase Rules. Finally, somebody did it right. Awesome. So Cool. And they have "DAMN THE TORPEDOES" maneuver !!!!!!!!!!!
And the Warlord. And the Bucketslasher...erm, Swacketbusher... AHEM !
ha you been at the whiskey to celebrate?!?!
Don't you just LOATHE the time remaining thing on your downloads, you know, watching it increase as the download speed decreases? heartbreaking :p
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I just downloaded my copy and so far I'm impressed.
This is an excellent product from Adamant that seems to have learned from many of the mistakes made by third-party publishers in the past.
I haven't seen anything wildly unbalanced yet and I will definitely use some of the new options in my own campaign.
The chase rules look good...as do the morale rules...
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Also, this book has perhaps the longest OGL source reference section ever. There are dozens of OGL books cited there, and I think it's a testimony on how brilliant idea the Open Gaming is. All those years later, stuff from those great books can be mined, compiled, updated and ushered into the new era. Splendid.
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I'm already in love with the spellblade and warlord. I'm informing my players ASAP that the spellblade is officially taking the place of the 3.5 Duskblade in my games. The Duskblade always rubbed me the wrong way because, while I understand that the DB is meant to be a fighter-type, it never quite made sense to me to totally cut off noncombat spells.
This is extra-nice because I was planning on taking a break from my group's normal Eberron fare and running a game based around Myth Drannor, so this class fits perfectly with the whole elven arcane knight thing...
Well 2nd DL attempt worked, I am off to fire up my iRex DR1000S eReader, curl up on the couch with the rugby on in the back ground and a bottle of Tui beer in hand.
BLISS!
Well 2nd DL attempt worked, I am off to fire up my iRex DR1000S eReader, curl up on the couch with the rugby on in the back ground and a bottle of Tui beer in hand.
BLISS!
Yeah, right. :-P
From what I've picked out of it to read tonight, despite the Tui reference it should be a good read.
what no spoilers?
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Briefly, because I should have been asleep a very long time ago:
Character Options
Three new races:
Half-Ogre
Ratkin (Dire Rat/humanoid hybrids)
Saurians (ceratopsid-like reptilian race)
Eight new classes:
Artificer
Knight
Priest (religious scholar)
Shaman
Spellblade
Swashbuckler
Warlock
Warlord
Drawbacks
Occupations (minor bonuses in character creation based on pre-1st level background)
GM Options
Morale
Skillful Stunts (Using skills for advantages in combat)
Temporary Weapon Enchantments
Chases
Magic Item Generator
Alchemical Items
Monster Modifiers
Random Adventure Generator Tables
Flintlock/Firearms
The only very minor quibble I have is that I'd have liked height/weight/age info for the new races. Otherwise? I love the book so far.
Yeah I dunno if it has been done before, but drawbacks are balanced by giving skill points, what a great idea! I never allowed drawbacks (or whatever) before 'cos the rule I always saw they were balanced by feats. That is cheese, this much less so; though still open to abuse (taking drawbacks that only make your PC's worst areas even worse)
I would like a little info on the knight, warlord, priest and spellblade...firearms as well
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The drawbacks seem to be more flavorful and less cheesy than the Unearthed Arcana ones. I can still see "Gullible" and "Honest" getting way too much mileage in a combat heavy game, but that's what the GM is for.
I think I just like these drawbacks way better than "Murky-Eyed" and "Shaky" from UA...easy to cheese as they are way too irrelevant to some character types, and not particularly flavorful, as compared to some interesting personality flaw options in the ToS, like "Intolerant" or "Fanatic"...
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After reading through the classes in more detail, a few stand out to me as real winners. The Priest is very cool (it's a cleric with the combat capabilities swapped out for more spellcasting mojo and the bardic knowledge ability), the Artificer looks like fun (it's similar to the Eberron Artificer in it's ability to emulate all classes and spells for the purpose of crafting magic items, but the infusion system is swapped out for a spell emulation system called "weird science" that looks like it will be a blast) and the Warlord, Shaman, and Spellblade look like simple, solid representations of their respective concepts (Warlords are warriors who do a lot of team buffing, including passing out temporary hitpoints a few times a day, but it's all passive/aura type buffs, so the Warlord doesn't have to miss out on the fightin', Spellblades are straight-up hybird warrior/casters with the fast base attack progression and up to 6th level spells, the Shaman is a spontaneous caster that gets to pick new spells known every day, off of the druid list). Those are my personal favorites, though I'd really recommend any of the classes to someone who was looking for a proper representation of their character concept. I'm just really excited to see the artificer, warlord, and spellblade in play...and my next campaign is going to include a lot of Warlord and Spellblade allies and enemies for the PCs...
@seekerofshadowlight
OK, just a quick bit:
Knight: lawful, all armour, d12, warrior. Has abilities which help mounted combat and protect allies from fear. A few appropriate bonus feats. Is restricted in his behaviour to be 'honourable' don't attack helpless foes, can't get flanking bonus and no attacking some one fleeing.
Warlord: all armour, weps, d10, 4 skills. Gives initiative, att & Damage, temp HP and fear save bonuses. A few bonus feats.
Priest: cloistered cleric (low BAB, d6, 6 skills, more spells and bardic knowledge)
Spellblade: COOOL: Full BAB, med armour and shields, d8, INT based spells upto 6th (like sorcerer, and same list), gets % off arcane armour fail that increases, can infuse weps with magic bonuses and special abilites (like icy burst)
Firearms: quite a lot here, not just hand held arms. canons and stuff, with pretty standard full round load (feat=move). even spells that apply to fire arms. A lot more info on them than I have seen before.
New favourite draw back: Bad luck: once per session the DM can negate any success, even a critical hit....
oh how much fun could that be. My players know I'll take bribes in beer not to do it :p (@paul ryan: Yeah Right ;-))
To stop drawback abuse (and I have no probs with the PCs having more skills) I will institute that if they decide to take more than one drawback for every extra drawback they choose I roll for another one randomly, also they still get the extra skill points but have to put them in things like Knowledge, craft and profession. Yep love that idea, just a tiny bit of randomness for those that are OK with it
See I am having real issues with them just ignoring stuff like HD/BAB link. I just don't know how much they just went eh to hell with it we'll stick the logo on there anyhow.
Breaking that with 3 classes really bugs me. One exception I could deal with but they seem to just chuck it at every angle. Just bugs me
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I would like a little info on the knight, warlord, priest and spellblade...
A bit more in-depth look at the classes:
Knight (d12 HD; full BAB; good fort and will saves):
A knight has a code of conduct similar to the knight in the Player's Handbook II.
A knight can demand 'hospitality (ex. a place to eat and sleep for the night at no cost)' for himself and his allies when in a region that is friendly towards his lord.
When wearing heavy armor a knight gains bonuses bonuses to intimidate checks.
Knights gain bonus feats as they gain levels (gaining a total of five feats by 18th level).
Knights gain bonuses to diplomacy and sense motive checks as they gain levels.
Knights gain bonuses to attack and 'defense' rolls (no clue what a defense roll is) so long as they are mounted. The bonuses scale with level.
Knights grant bonuses against fear to nearby allies and eventually grant partial immunity to fear effects. Knights eventually become immune to fear.
Knights can add their class level to acrobatics checks made to get around them (think like a counter-tumble or something).
Knights can grant 1/2 their armor class bonus to a nearby ally. Doing so reduces the knights armor class by the granted amount.
Knights don't multiclass well. They're under limitations similar to the monk. Knights must be lawful.
Priest (d6 HD; poor BAB; good fort and will saves):
Priests are pretty much clerics that don't wear heavy or medium armor and are more bookish. Think Cloistered cleric.
Spellblade (d8 HD; full BAB; good fort save):
Spellblades reduce the arcane spell failure of armor they wear by a decent amount. The class ability that allows them to do this stacks with similar effects.
Spellblades can infuse their weapons with temporary enchantments. Initially they can only temporarily grant a +1 bonus to a weapon. This scales up to a +5 bonus at 20th level. The bonus can be used to grant the weapon special properties instead of a flat enchantment bonus (ex. a 20th level spellblade could have a +3 keen flaming falchion or a +5 falchion). The spellblade gains additional properties to add to an infused weapon as he gains levels.
A spellblade casts spells similarly to a sorcerer (he draws his spells from the sorcerer/wizard spell list) though he can only cast spells of up to 6th level.
Warlord (d10 HD; full BAB; good fort and will saves):
A warlord grants bonuses to attack rolls to nearby allies.
A warlord can grant his allies temporary hit points. Up to 10d6 at a time by 19th level.
Warlords grant bonuses to allies who 'hold the line' (stand in a line and fight defensively) with them.
Warlords gain bonus feats; they'll have 5 by 16th level.
Warlords can rally allies in a way similar to knights, granting a bonus on saves against feats.
Warlords can 'cry havoc' and cause all attacks made against a foe to threaten critical hits on an 18-20.
At 20th level, warlords can allow allies to make an attack as a free action after taking a standard action.
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There ya go. I'm sure someone else can detail firearms for you; I'm off to bed.
And it's Paizo's linking of HD and BAB that bugged me, so hey, if it works why not.
Though I'm still amending Artificers to d8/Med BAB.
See thats the thing, Its a compatible product from day one...yet seems to ignore core assumptions. Makes it seem like hey lets just place a logo on there close enough
I do see the classes being cool looking so far but it bugs me bad, enough to make me have 2nd thoughts bout the book really.
yeah One I could. But the barb was kinda grandfathered in really. It just is to much. Your not making exceptions your just not using the rule
Anyhow sorry guys. I will stop do enjoy your books
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Just bought it.
I can see half-ogres mercenary groups in qadiran service, shamans of Gozreh and Erastil (the warlord is another winner for me), cinematic chases (great detail!).
Oh, I love the alchemical items, drawback and occupations chapters too.
Just from a very quick look, it has a boatload of useful stuff both for players and DMs, fitting a large variety of gaming styles (even for hack'n slah fans, as the magic items generator "Diablo-style" is a nice touch).
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(even for hack'n slah fans, as the magic items generator "Diablo-style" is a nice touch).
10 bucks says someone gets a Wounding Sword of Wounding within two weeks of release!
I'm curious about the chase rules. I love chases. I love chases that are also fights.
My players stay out:
Argh! No PFRPG yet, so I go to download this... and the server is down at rpgnow!
No fair! Waaaaaaahhhh!!!
/Goes back to jealously reading the boards
Keep the F5 burning, my first DL attempt failed.
Argh! No PFRPG yet, so I go to download this... and the server is down at rpgnow!
No fair! Waaaaaaahhhh!!!
/Goes back to jealously reading the boards
EDIT: It's back - whoopeeee!
Yeah, I copied and pasted the link to my browser and it says it can't open the page. I assume this isn't an anomaly? I'll keep trying.
Another voice not real happy with breaking the HD/BAB tie. Easy enough to house rulle, I suppose.
Does anyone else thing the Half-ogre may be too powerful? +4 Str and +2 Con for -2 Int and Wis. With absolutly no other drawbacks. Why would anyone choose any other race Fighter or Barb ever again? I'm thinking about dropping the Con bonus or dropping Str tp +2.
Thought?
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Does anyone else thing the Half-ogre may be too powerful? +4 Str and +2 Con for -2 Int and Wis. With absolutly no other drawbacks. Why would anyone choose any other race Fighter or Barb ever again? I'm thinking about dropping the Con bonus or dropping Str tp +2.
Thought?
I'm thinking about upping the Int penalty to -4, or maybe adding a Dex penalty of -2. The Dex most warrior-types would miss... Int, not so much.
I'm thinking about upping the Int penalty to -4, or maybe adding a Dex penalty of -2. The Dex most warrior-types would miss... Int, not so much.Does anyone else thing the Half-ogre may be too powerful? +4 Str and +2 Con for -2 Int and Wis. With absolutly no other drawbacks. Why would anyone choose any other race Fighter or Barb ever again? I'm thinking about dropping the Con bonus or dropping Str tp +2.
Thought?
That's a third option I thought about after making the post. Hmm, a race that adjusts 5 out of 6 stats. :-D
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I cant go to those sites at work... How much for the book? I will get it tonight. Is the Warlock any good?
9.99 for the PDF. If you're hoping for an OGL version of the 4e Warlock, you'll be disappointed. It's more or less the Complete Arcane version, with most of the spell-like abilities swapped out for spell-like and supernatural abilities like the school powers of specialist wizards. In fact exactly like the school powers of specialist wizards, as that's where half of the powers are directly taken from (not reprinted, just referenced as coming from The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game - the bolding is from their text, not any personal hyping of it), along with a few new ones along their lines.
I've been really dubious of this book thus far (couldn't tell you why, so it's not founded on anything logical). I'd love to see some in-depth reviews though!
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My group stayed 3.5 and went Pathfinder when the beta came out. I have not even looked at the 4.0 versions of the characters. The 3.5 warlock was a personal favorite of mine. Also, we amay be starting a new campaign soon and a player asked me to convert the warlock to pathfinder. This may solve my problem for me. $9.99 = done! Thanks for the info!
I just bought it and downloaded it (no problem during the download).
I "flipped" the pages and it looks good, especially the classes, which is the part i am more interested in.
Good product, good price.