Decided to do some character gen and run through some encounters, in a playing-both-sides-of-the-screen fashion. 15 point buy, using level appropriate slices of Rise of the Runelords. (Will attempt to avoid outright spoilers by [roviding general gameplay summary, not blow-by-blow.)
Used the bullet updates/corrections provided by SKR in the various “discussion” threads as of 11/26. Some of my reactions consider the “week 1” blog post, but I didn’t assume anything out of that in character creation.
Char gen reactions, 3rd level:
- Characters chosen reflect my groups’ typical preferences – heavy on martial/skill characters, low on arcane magic. General theme of sneak-in-and-hit-hard-first, with a little glass cannon action.
- Half-elf Hunter first built. From opening flavor text, excited to play this class as melee-flanking combatant, but not necessarily well supported with 3/4 BAB and weapon selection. Elven curve blade & ape animal companion.
- Human Slayer built as archer – probably would have been better to start here for melee, but then what would hunter /animal companion niche be? List of slayer talents seems remarkably short, but do like the favored target over trying to figure out a favored enemy before ever hitting the table.
- Gnome Shaman of the Heavens as controller: like the class concept / flavor, but holy heck a lot of fiddly little bits to worry about. Took several reads to figure out how Spirit and Wandering Spirit interact on various resources (not at all,at 3rd level, but seems like a major pain to track at higher levels?) Maybe easier if I’d ever played a witch; I have played a Heavens Oracle that I’ll compare to.
- Human Bloodrager (Abyssal) to finish party. Forgot how much I love barbarians, and the bloodline powers seem to fit here in a way that I’ve never found satisfying in Sorcs (I play wizards when I go full arcane). Rules are clear and a breeze to make a character.
3rd level encounters at Thistletop:
Slayer and Hunter’s skills make it a breeze to find the entrance and the directest path, everybody stealths at least well enough to effectively bypass one encounter and get the drop on two more with aid of spells from Shaman and Hunter before one gets away and things start go south. They avoid a trap by dumb luck, but manage to speed ahead of the alarm and regain control. Bloodrager dismantles groups of mooks with ease, not even needing to rage. Level-boss encounter plays as written, plus the little-bad who got away earlier rejoining making for a very hairy (APL+4?) combat; the dice are bad to both sides, but the party eventually prevails, with only the Slayer going negative.
3rd level reactions:
[list]
- Bloodrager is a quite able smasher of enemies, but at this level actually feels like a slightly weaker barbarian: lower hit die and the need for positive Cha modifier but spells and most bloodline powers haven’t kicked in yet to balance out. (Other bloodlines might offer more early distinction, such as the natural weapon ones.) Maybe offer “0” 1st level spells at 3rd level instead of “-“, to reward Cha investment with bonus spells?
- Hunter’s first attack was a charge/power attack, critical hits with elven curve blade, and rolls high for 33 damage. Way to set up for future disappointment. His Ape companion and teamworked Precise Strike were about all that saved the final encounter, though, allowing enough actions to hit through big boss’ high AC. Would have been a lot less satisfying without the Shaman combo, though.
- Shaman’s only direct combat action was a color spray that knocked out a single goblin. Heaven’s Leap hex perfect for setting up flanks, getting past front line defense, or getting teammates out of trouble—very situational to the Heavens spirit, but maybe even too good an ability to be able to pick up so early. (1/day per ally at second level can be a lot of actions, with animal companions or summons running around.) If cleric spell list were replaced with druid, though, these more powerful hexes would be welcome.
- Slayer is appropriately lethal for the name without being overpowered – a similar level Fighter archer would be even more damage-y, but extra skills role, sneak attack and slayer talents add a lot of flavor. Favored target is good with stealth, or with sullenly sitting in the back of the party while the face distracts a baddie; meaningless in a combat with lots of little enemies, though. More talent options will definitely be welcome.
Schedule-permitting, I hope to walk these chars up to 6th and 9th levels for more testing – they were definitely all interesting enough for me to want to keep working with them!