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So, my wife and I decided to jump in on the APG base class testing. I rolled up 4 characters.
Elven Cavalier of the Dragon
Elven Summoner
Human Witch
Halfling Oracle (Wind focus/Haunted curse)
In the first game, at first level, versus the module involving the Straw Man from one of the magazines, we came up with the following feedback.
Summoner bringing up an Eidolon is... rough at 1 minute summoning time. Walking around everywhere with an Obviously Supernatural Creature With A Glowing Rune On It That Matches One On The PC's Forehead is... a bit beyond the setting of my wife's homebrew world. The Summoner in question was a long way from home, and was unwilling to bring out the Eidolon just to have it there. The telegraphing of the adventure allowed me to have her start the summoning of the Eidolon, but she was not able to complete the summons until combat round 3. After that, though, the Eidolon was the savior of the party.
Also, I might like to see a feat mechanic for "Summoning Swarm" or some such. With the ability to make Summon Monster spells last 1 min/level, I personally think it would be awesome if they could Summon more than one. Now I know that this scales to this mechanic by using (for example) Summon Monster II to Summon from the Summon Monster I list, but I just find the idea of a horde/swarm/flock of Summoned creatures flying/running/charging to the Summoners aid Very Nifty Indeed. Just my tuppence.
Cavalier No real problems in combat, save for utterly crap dice rolls. (Seriously, the poor ponce couldn't hit the broad side of a barn..never rolled over 6) The mechanic that stuck in my craw here was the Oath of Greed mechanic that requires a 1st level character to acquire (somehow) 1Kgp to trigger the bonus. My input here, this Oath does not scale at low levels as well as any other Oath.
Additionally, I (through RP) lost my Cavalier's Mount before the game 'started'. (Teleport mishaps SUCK, but it made for good fluffy story) So I can't currently speak to that mechanic. Of course, I the player gimped the character by taking Mounted Combat as a feat.
Also, the GM and I both forgot to apply the extra 1d6 of precision damage on the few instances where the Cavalier did land a hit. Mea culpa
Oracle Love the Oracle. It's the perfect new flavor, and the class feels VERY unique. It adds to the game dynamic significantly, and playing a haunted Halfling that can breathe lightning was AWESOME! Really looking forward to the level gain in the next few sessions.
Witch The else-thread discussion of the missing Goat stat block aside, I love my Witch. She's taking the "I'm a good witch" route and is a skilled midwife and healer. The flavor is awesome, the mechanics are solid and well-conceived. The familiar mechanic is like unto other critter mechanics that have come before. Once the fecal matter impacts the HVAC unit, the familiar was completely forgotten. I can see how it could be useful for touch spells on some character concepts, but for the way I made my Witch, when combat started the Goat fell by the wayside.
I'm making a note here, Huge Success.
My wife's already cooking up the next 1st level test-run through a Dungeon Crawl Classic. Let's see if our intrepid explorers survive!
Join us next time, on this channel, for more...
Poncy Elven Theater
*cue Elven poncy music*
Just to add to the above - the adventure in question was a (somewhat modded) copy of Night of the Straw Men from one of the early online issues of Dungeon IIRC.
Next playtest I hope to see how the Cav fairs with his mount.
(Also, as the DM for the above, I'd suggest Poncy - elitist - elven theater.)
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(Also, as the DM for the above, I'd suggest Poncy - elitist - elven theater.)
You have NO idea just how poncy the Elves of this world are. I had to play Dennis Leary's A-hole song to get in character.
The way I got the Halfling and Human together with the poncies? Barbed racial insult exchange. Once they realized they despised each other, they could get along just fine.
The Cavalier has a signal whistle. Why? To attract the stares of bystanders to him during combat.
My wife's been wanting to have someone run an Elf in her world for years. I'm the first to do so, and it's FUN to be that poncy and elitist after finishing Bastion of Unborn souls with my Paladin.
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Just to add to the above - the adventure in question was a (somewhat modded) copy of Night of the Straw Men from one of the early online issues of Dungeon IIRC.
Next playtest I hope to see how the Cav fairs with his mount.(Also, as the DM for the above, I'd suggest Poncy - elitist - elven theater.)
... Oh hi sweetie, somehow I missed that was you!
*cues up the Kobold Chorus*
... Oh hi sweetie, somehow I missed that was you!
Cloaking device ..... SUCCESS!!!
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What was the Eidolon's build?
Serpentine base. Added the evolutions: Tail (giving it two) and sting/sting (one for each tail). This gave it multiattack for free, which really came in handy with Sting/Sting/Bite. Got right through the BBEG's DR where few other hits could.
And I thought it would look totally awesome!
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What was the Eidolon's build?Serpentine base. Added the evolutions: Tail (giving it two) and sting/sting (one for each tail). This gave it multiattack for free, which really came in handy with Sting/Sting/Bite. Got right through the BBEG's DR where few other hits could.
And I thought it would look totally awesome!
Technically it's better than multi-attack as multi-attack still gives a -2 to attack rolls and 1/2 strength. Yours would be full BAB on all attack rolls and full strength :)
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Session two. In which we have the following.
A question. Do Eidolons require food and water? Outsiders usually do, but this is subject to interpretation. We didn't rule one way or the other on that, save that my serpentine Eidolon ate an enchanted rat for RP reasons.
Also in this session, we learned that I am a better RP'er than I thought. We were running a module that shall remain nameless (in case I ever get to play in it again) and had two meat shields with the party. One PC died horribly without even getting to roll initiative. An NPC died shortly after. The Elves (Cavalier and Summoner) turned on the Oracle and the NPC warrior. Cut down the warrior with a challenge and left the Oracle holding the corpses.
I may be bad, but I feel.... good.
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Technically it's better than multi-attack as multi-attack still gives a -2 to attack rolls and 1/2 strength. Yours would be full BAB on all attack rolls and full strength :)What was the Eidolon's build?Serpentine base. Added the evolutions: Tail (giving it two) and sting/sting (one for each tail). This gave it multiattack for free, which really came in handy with Sting/Sting/Bite. Got right through the BBEG's DR where few other hits could.
And I thought it would look totally awesome!
Oh really? I'll need to re-read that, as I got a different read. If that's the case, that's awesome!