So, nobody seems to have devoted a thread to just this yet.
That being said, I absolutely love the oath mechanic. It separates the cavalier from the other melee classes nicely and, hopefully, is going to become an even bigger part of the class. More importantly, it's a meeting of fluff and crunch, which is very hard to do. So, breaking this down, let's talk about the individual oaths:
Chastity: This is a decent ability. Enchantment spells are often party-killers, and this mechanic makes a lot of sense. That being said, I'd rather the boost were broadened a bit to be any enchantment spells, as this may be too specific to be worth doing.
Greed: Also very cool. I like that the mechanics are supporting a sonovab~#+& cavalier.
Justice: This one could use a boost. first of all, I feel like, in order for this ability to be not-abused, it should specify that the Cavalier not currently be locked in combat with his target. Second of all, I'm not sure how taking down the foe necessarily gives a boost to saves (which will, overall, already be getting a couple of boosts via the other oaths). How about a bonus to defense?
Loyalty: I like the concept, but this is going to lead to problems. First of all, it may be too specific (I'd like to see all enchantment rolled into chastity). Second of all, it's relying too much on the Aid another action, which is already extremely meh (even for an order of the cockatrice).
Protection: I'm not sure this works 100%. Why does the Cavalier get an AC bonus for this? Shouldn't it be attack or damage bonus? I mean, really, staying next to his charge should make him fight better, not defend himself better.
Vengeance: I don't care for this one at all. It feels like its stealing from the ranger.
Thoughts? Disagreements? Ideas for new Oaths?
So, nobody seems to have devoted a thread to just this yet.Though I did start this thread about banners and oaths. ;)
Another one here thoughts on oaths
First... a quick apology for not being around lately on the boards and not contributing anything more in regards to Mossy Mountain Gathering... my new job has kinda seperated me from my fellow MMG guild members sadly and taken up most of my time. Okay, enough said on that.
I was able to take a break from things to give the pdf a quick glance and a bit of a scratch development of a cavalier character... granted, I'm very much point of entry into this and I must say that I have very strong, yet slightly mixed, feelings about the oaths.... most of my outlook is extremely positive, but I have a minor worry or two.
For the most part, I love them! I particularly found the Oath of Greed to be the best "grow on you" aspect I've seen in a long time... I went from my first reaction of "That's stupid! What were they thinking!" to two minutes later being "You know, if they can pull it off that is the most genious thing I've ever seen in my life! I love it! It actually rewards you for playing a pompous a$*%@&$#!"... basically it adds a huge chunk of actual role playing (over rule playing) potential into the game....
However, my big concern is that some people might find some of the oaths a bit too easy or too unbalanced... personally, I don't see them as such because in some ways they are not much more of a bonus boost than other core classes (particularly some of the latter core classes we saw for 3.5) have already... for free... no oath to follow. Granted, it would be usually easy to meet some of the requirements unless the GM decided to get nasty about it.... (aka creative with the story). There could definitely be a few more possible oaths thrown in, although the potential for player and GM agreed oaths not featured are endless... and could naturally supply an opening for a few 3rd party products down the road if open for expansion... I could easily see alot of strong support of new oaths, particularly in the small product pdf format (actually if I can ever get back to the needs of MMG it would be something I would even consider myself).
On to orders... I'm still reading these but very delighted by the idea... this is what I've been wanting to see for "knight" characters for a long time and also what I always wanted to see for monks (rather than the abilities pre-determined... I always thought a "house" or "order" should have determined those instead). Again, these open up a wide range of 3rd party support potential should Paizo decide to make this open product as well.
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Vengeance: I don't care for this one at all. It feels like its stealing from the ranger.
I have a problem with no limit to the +1/5HD formula. I can see this becoming a problem in a monster specific adventure (i.e. parts of Rise of the Runelords, or Legacy of Fire) there is the possiblity of rapidly racking up big bonuses very quickly. A progressive or even upper limit limit would prevent over powering the ranger at low levels, and abuse at higher levels.
I could see racking up big bonuses quickly if they stacked. However, since you gain a morale bonus every time you kill one, only the largest morale bonus would count. thus you couldn't kill 10 goblins and get a +10 morale bonus to attack at first level.
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Ok so this is ubber minor but I noticed that in "Oath of Justice" there was a grammar error "Oath of Justice: The cavalier swears to bring a specific individual or creature to justice, be it through capturing
individual or slaying him." This should be "Oath of Justice: The cavalier swears to bring a specific individual or creature to justice, be it through capturing (the) individual or slaying him.
Ps. need one o them fancy icon ditties maybe black pudding?
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Another note about Oaths, perhaps when the cavalier takes an oath (say 1st level) this would be the only oath type (say justice) available to him until he chooses a second oath type at level 5 and 9 and so on. This would create a more single minded (or focused) character class until higher levels and limit the possibility for overpowering the class?