I've got a battle Oracle in my game with tongues curse going through Bastards Of Erebus currently. We've done the sewer encounter and the rescue. So far seems much like a Cleric with better weapons and less spells due to the player taking the "Skill at Arms" revelation. This revelation is good but really won't show it's potential till the player gets heavy armor.
Here's what I've noticed going from 1st to 2nd Level. They don't get enough spells off the start. The revelations help but not enough. Going to 2nd level didn't help much but 3rd looks a bit better.
The curse seems extremely detrimental at low levels.
The player playing the Oracle is having fun though with it. A few extra known spells seems to be the only problem with class in the early levels. Though if he wasn't the primary healer he could have chosen something other than cure light as one of those spells so this might be an issue with party design. Had there been a cleric the choices for spells would be different.
Over all fairly solid class so far. A few tweaks might be all it needs.
Next week hopefully, depending on weather, we will continue CoT 25 and see how this class works. I expect I won't see much more till we get into CoT 26 though as that's when the party will be 3rd level.
I've got a battle Oracle in my game with tongues curse going through Bastards Of Erebus currently. We've done the sewer encounter and the rescue. So far seems much like a Cleric with better weapons and less spells due to the player taking the "Skill at Arms" revelation. This revelation is good but really won't show it's potential till the player gets heavy armor.
Here's what I've noticed going from 1st to 2nd Level. They don't get enough spells off the start. The revelations help but not enough. Going to 2nd level didn't help much but 3rd looks a bit better.
The curse seems extremely detrimental at low levels. ** spoiler omitted **
The player playing the Oracle is having fun though with it. A few extra known spells seems to be the only problem with class in the early levels. Though if he wasn't the primary healer he could have chosen something other than cure light as one of those spells so this might be an issue with party design. Had there been a cleric the choices for spells would be different.
Over all fairly solid class so far. A few tweaks might be all it needs.
Next week hopefully, depending on weather, we will continue CoT 25 and see how this class works. I expect I won't see much more till we get into CoT 26 though as that's when the party will be 3rd level.
I played a Battle foci oracle in the same AP earlier this week, but with the Clouded Vision curse. Same revelation as well, 17 point buy stats.
17-point buy
Level 1 Medium Human Oracle
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 8
CHA (16(+2 racial mod))18
Battle Focus;
Revelations: Skill at Arms
Attacks: Guisarme +2 (2d4+2)
Trip Maneuver +2
Toughness
Combat Casting
I used a guisarme to stand behind my allies and trip foes up ahead in front of us. I'd theorized that going trip focus as a non-fighter would be the best course of action since then the cavalier and the eidolon's summon could go to town on the enemy before it got up, but I didn't expect that thanks to this strategy we took maybe 10 points of damage between us four for the entire game! With the eidolon using its bite to trip (Quadruped: claws, pounce and trip) and me using my guisarme to trip, we easily had a lot of foes completely locked down to avoid damage. And that's with them standing up-- they'd get a single swing off before the eidolon or I brought them down again, and at level, one, they'd usually be done by then.
I spent one Cure Light Wounds the entire game-- from the beginning of the AP all the way to the end of the carriage rescue. I'll admit the carriage rescue was because of ridiculously good planning from the party,
The wizard in our party got up in a tree and cast Silent Image on the bridge, with the appearance that the bridge was out and that a single other guard was attempting to fix it. The rest of the party hid inside of the silent image! The guards came up (with a lot of "Are they close yet?" from me to the cavalier, all thanks to my blindness ><) with their huge crossbow turret rollin' on their carriage (omg) The cavalier rolled his acting check to convince the guards that the bridge had gone out, he didn't know why, he was just a roadwarden, it's a living... and he rolled a 20, scoring him a 25 after his 16 cha, 1 rank in perform (acting) and the bonus from the campaign trait. The guards believed him hook line and sinker! They began to formulate a plan to get around the broken bridge when the rebels attacked from the trees and drew the men on horseback away.
As the carriage began to turn to draw away from the rebels, we struck. The wizard dropped his silent image and bombed sleep on the guards-- which they all completely aced, making us sweat. The summoner greased the top of the carriage, and Shanwen the cleric slipped and fell off onto his back. As this happened, me and the cavalier jumped the guards nearest us, the summoner throwing me my guisarme from the silent image and the cavalier going all out non-lethally. I tripped a guard and the cavalier hit them with his sword with its scabbard on.
The second sleep spell put two guards to sleep, me and the cavalier mopped up the remaining guard on our side, and the eidolon and the summoner's summoned monster soundly thumped Shanwen while he was stunned on his back. The entire ordeal took only two rounds-- and we escaped not only with all of their gear, but without a single scratch! Wolfguard (our old outlaw troupe name from WFRP, now adapted to this game) rides again!
One thing I'm concerned about is what feats to take. With Battle focus, it's difficult to decide considering there are entire trees like Maneuver Mastery and Weapon Mastery that grant 2-3 feats per tree. Thanks to this, I can't take feats like Weapon Focus that might benefit me the most this early because later on I can get so much more in a package deal.
I think once the game gets ramped up a bit (the DM is now compensating for us being gods) then I'll start feeling the limitations of the class...
Oh, how true this was.
If the AP script hadn't given us 4-5 potions each, we would've TPK'd in the Bastard's lair. If the GM hadn't graciously allowed us to alter Shanwen's plate armor for our cavalier, his unhittable 25 AC wouldn't have been present and we most likely would have TPK'd. The cavalier lead the charge through the entire dungeon and absorbed an enormous brunt of the blows.
At the end, it was me and the sorceror (the sorc at 1 hp, me at 19 and everyone else in negatives) vs. a single wizard and we barely managed to down him.
In the end I cast Shield of Faith 4 times and Cure once. I'm now a really big advocate for maybe 1 extra spell per day per spell level that must be dedicated to a Cure spell, because running along after I'd run out of spells as a "half-fighter" with the cavalier in front of me kind of sucked.
My new stats for 3. My GM let me swap out a feat.
17-point buy
Level 3 Medium Human Oracle
HP 30 (3d10+3) [I know how lucky I am.]
AC: 17 10+6(chainmail)+1(dexterity), 11 touch 16 flat-footed
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 8
CHA (16(+2 racial mod))18
Battle Focus;
Revelations: Skill at Arms, Weapon Mastery (Guisarme)
Attacks: Guisarme +4 (2d4+2)
Trip Maneuver +4
Toughness
Improved Initiative
Quick Draw
I was considering rocking the +1 items in the dungeon itself, but had to sell them so I could pay the party wizard to allow me to give the people of Westcrown back their looted items. He'd pocketed the ledger and refused to give it to me, wanting instead to sell all of the pilfered goods, and, well, I couldn't let that fly. I hope there's a reward for that because well otherwise I'll feel kind of (read: really) gipped.
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I'm playing through CoT with a battle oracle as well. I however took the deaf curse, and while I find that the flavor is absolutely wonderful for the character, the curse itself does hurt and is only barely balanced out by the first curse ability. I have another thread about that on the boards though.
Secondly, I'd have to agree with the statement that the oracle needs more spells known per spell level. My suggestion would be to move the foci spell down to 1st, 4th, 6th, etc. and possibly add the extra known at the end. My reasoning for this is that from choosing spells the Oracle simply doesn't have as many of those big "oomph" spells like Sleep, Burning Hands, or Color Spray that are game changers, but it looks like the Foci spells in general are very good spells, especially considering part of the reason you choose a Foci is for the spell selection. This makes spell selection very hard as almost every single spell for a cleric is situational... except the cures. I ended up choosing Doom and Cure Light Wounds at first level. What did you two choose if I may ask?
Note for Ice:
The guy playing the Oracle in my game took Cure Light wounds for sure as he used that several times. I believe he took Divine Favor as the second spell but he hasn't actually used it yet.
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Our Cleric just elected to swap to a Battle Focus Oracle in my CoT game (they are in the Asmodean Knot currently, about 1/3 through the dungeon).
His offense is MUCH better than his previous Halfling Cleric (Greatsword and decent strength, plus Power Attack I believe).
His Defense is also superior (Fullplate + Shield of Faith) against regular attacks.
His saves are a bit weaker, but the Halfling bonus and good Fort going away are the likely culprits there.
As far as spells go, he has Cure Light, Cure Mod, Shield of Faith, and I think 1 other spell (they're 4th level right now).
Against regular melee threats, he excels, as he can absorb the attacks through either AC or healing himself, and do some significant damage. He has basically occupied 2 threats by himself, and what he couldn't finish the Paladin could.
All in all, seems to be a good alternate to the Cleric, but without another healer in the group (Bard in ours, plus Use Magic Device on the Sorcerer) the spells know limitation is going to hurt. A lot.
I would LOVE to see a "Healing Focus," granting the Cure Wounds spells as bonus spells, freeing up the others known to be whatever you'd like.
-t
I'm playing through CoT with a battle oracle as well. I however took the deaf curse, and while I find that the flavor is absolutely wonderful for the character, the curse itself does hurt and is only barely balanced out by the first curse ability. I have another thread about that on the boards though.
Secondly, I'd have to agree with the statement that the oracle needs more spells known per spell level. My suggestion would be to move the foci spell down to 1st, 4th, 6th, etc. and possibly add the extra known at the end. My reasoning for this is that from choosing spells the Oracle simply doesn't have as many of those big "oomph" spells like Sleep, Burning Hands, or Color Spray that are game changers, but it looks like the Foci spells in general are very good spells, especially considering part of the reason you choose a Foci is for the spell selection. This makes spell selection very hard as almost every single spell for a cleric is situational... except the cures. I ended up choosing Doom and Cure Light Wounds at first level. What did you two choose if I may ask?
Note for Ice:
Shouldn't your attack bonus with the Guisarme be much higher? By third level you'd have a masterwork weapon. +2 BAB +2 Str +1 Weapon Focus +1 Masterwork = +6 attack? Also damage should be 1.5 times strength... 2d4+3.
The spells I chose were Cure Light Wounds and Shield of Faith. The Cavalier covers doom for me by completely dominating his intimidate checks for his Order of the Dragon Braggart power. I took Bless as my spell for 3rd level.
I wish I had a masterwork weapon! And I also do tend to forget the 1/2 part of 1-1/2 strength bonus with a two hander...
I had to sell all of the magical items I found in the Bastard's lair and split it among the party (sans self) to get the wizard to agree to give me the ledger so I could return all of the Bastard's stolen goods back to the people of Westcrown. I have around 360 gold and the rest of the party has anywhere between 1,300 and 1,000 gold now.
I'm still planning on giving my gold to the Cavalier to get him a masterwork bastard sword though.
Session two of COT and the Oracle has only used Cure Light wounds. I asked my player and it was DOOM he had not Divine favor.
Anyways we concluded Bastards of Erebus. The Oracle mainly was a secondary fighter in the group providing flanking opportunities for the rogue. So pretty much like Cleric but with less spells. Hitting 3rd level though did add a good boost with +2 to hit due to increased BAB and the Weapon Mastery Revelation. Getting Boost to Reflex and Fortitude helps. The additional spells known with one chosen haven't shown up yet as cure light still eats up all the Oracles spells because they hoard healing potions.
They leveled up after taking on the Bastards then went after WhiteChin who I made as Wererat with a bunch of goblin dogs, dire rats, and a ratswarm. The Oracle was hitting better for sure but still not much change as the Oracle was only casting Cure spells, still coming off much like weaker cleric but as my player put it the potential is there at higher levels to be really kick ass.
A question did come up with the Weapon Mastery. My player was wondering if that revelation could be taken more that once. I ruled it could in my game as it only applies to single weapon. This seems kind of expensive when it comes to revelation though.
Played through the first part of Sixfold Trials last night. We finally had a combat with the Cavalier's mount present! After wiping the last module's namesakes out we went to "retake the night!" by painting our symbol all over an administration building in Westcrown, along with some slogans... choice ones being "Power of the people, unite!" and "Take back the night!"
While painting during the dark of night, shadowbeasts attacked us. I did literally nothing the encounter (healed the wizard with CLW, rolled a 1 on the d8 and gave him 4hp, next round, swung with a 2 and done) but the cavalier *destroyed* the shadowbeasts. The horse (lovingly named Boar... thank you, random name chart) critically hoofed a shadowbeast, stomped on others, bit shadowbeasts... all in all, the horse did more damage than the cavalier did! It was amazing.
In addition, the order of the dragon cavalier took Intimidating Prowess as a feat, putting his intimidate at... well, I don't remember, but I know he always demoralizes me even if he rolls a 1 on his check. He's a destroyer of worlds with braggart now, even more so than last session where he spent a majority of his turns using braggart. We learned later on that he couldn't shake people more than once, which I think is balancing so intimidatomancer dragon cavaliers don't become popular, but it was hilarious. We had him stationed at a door they had barred, just bragging constantly as we tried to break it down. I'm seeing the class come into its own right now that he can actually fight on his horse and now that he's getting a good feat selection going.
The rest of the module was standard fare. I'm finding it rather annoying that I'm playing a charisma caster without Bluff as a class skill. Diplomacy, on the other hand... very good stuff.
At the end of the session we got to level 4 and I was finally able to take Divine Something-Or-Other as a 1st level spell. Cure moderate as 2nd. I still think Oracles need to learn these spells automatically (and maybe even get dedicated spell slots to the cure spell of that level) because otherwise it's fairly unexciting to get a new level of spells. I see the 4th level spell allotment as a great place for me, since I have 4 dedicated cure moderates and 7 spells that I can use for support and self-buff now. It makes me feel more useful that I can let loose with my level 1 spells now instead of always worrying that someone might go into negatives and I won't be able to stabilize them because I blew my last spell slot on enlarge person or shield of faith.
I also finally got that fricking MW guisarme. :P
17-point buy
Level 4 Medium Human Oracle
HP 37 (4d8+7) [I know how lucky I am.]
AC: 17 10+6(chainmail)+1(dexterity), 11 touch 16 flat-footed
STR 14
DEX 12
CON 12
INT 10
WIS 8
CHA (16(+2 racial mod)(+1 ability score increase))19
Battle Focus;
Revelations: Skill at Arms, Weapon Mastery (Guisarme)
Attacks: MW Guisarme +7 (2d4+2)
Trip Maneuver +6 (does MW increase this check?)
Feats:
Toughness
Improved Initiative
Quick Draw
Spells:
1: Shield of Faith
Divine Power (is that the 1st level one?)
Enlarge Person
Bless
2: Cure Moderate Wounds
EDIT: I think it's funny that Voska's oracle is going along the same path as me. Is he going to take Maneuver Mastery at 7th, too? If so, awesome.
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that looks similar to Evan in my CoT game. I'll try to get Glenn to post his stats here, or link if he drops it in one of my threads.
I may put them up on DMTools.com if i can ever get e-versions from my players.
looks good, and does the Oracle feel more like a Cleric or Sorcerer when it comes to actual game-play. You can throw spells like a sorcerer, but they're typically heals, and if you don't heal, people die. I'll have a better grasp on it after Sunday.
-t
that looks similar to Evan in my CoT game. I'll try to get Glenn to post his stats here, or link if he drops it in one of my threads.
I may put them up on DMTools.com if i can ever get e-versions from my players.
looks good, and does the Oracle feel more like a Cleric or Sorcerer when it comes to actual game-play. You can throw spells like a sorcerer, but they're typically heals, and if you don't heal, people die. I'll have a better grasp on it after Sunday.
-t
Generally my party is quite good at minimizing the damage we take and maximizing our damage output. I buff a lot more than I heal, and I only heal when people are at half health or less... which means more often than not I'm healing the wizard or the summoner.
I've never played a sorceror (being the full-time DM is awesome, right? ... sigh...) but I have played a cleric. He was 8th level so I can't say I can compare them yet, but at 3rd I felt constrained by having my cure spell be the same level as my "fun" or buffing spells, like I said. Now at 4th I have 4~ cure moderates and 7 level one spells, so I can use level 1s when I want and I have an entire spell level dedicated to curing, so I feel more versatile.
I have a feeling when I hit 5 and get another 2nd level, I'll feel much less versatile again and constrained.
Part of me feels like if the oracle just got the spell progression of a cleric with the spells per day of a sorceror, they'd be balanced in terms of the cleric. I feel like I could be playing the exact same concept (battle-focused melee) as a cleric right now, using the Good and Strength domains. I just wouldn't have Weapon Focus, and I wouldn't have clouded vision. But I would be playing a dwarf, and that'd give me Darkvision 60 at 1st level.
In fact, let me compare the two... one minute!