RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6, Contributor
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Should the necklace of fireballs have the Arcane keyword? It's arcane to acquire, arcane to recharge, but not Arcane on the traits list.
Seoni's pretty short on items worth using her power feat on, it's pretty much just the wand of enervate loot card so far since the wand of scorching ray dropped too low in damage to be worth holding. This one's surely worth it too.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6, Contributor
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Yeah. I think that one goes down as a wasted checkbox. The inability to use an attribute as part of the check makes the two attack wands extremely short-lived for usefulness (not sure force missiles is ever worth it period), and the wand of shield is pointless. Oh well :) At least enervate is good.
Yeah, a really good example of how it will be much easier to pick better feats on later playthroughs once RotR is finished and we already have all of the cards.
Wow. I just realized I'd been playing Seoni's ability all wrong. It didn't even come to me when I originally read this post, though it should have... I'd been playing it as if she got a free recharge on any item with an Arcane recharge roll, not just items with the Arcane *trait*.
I suddenly don't like that feat nearly as much...
I didn't go back through the cards yet - is it just wands then that have the Arcane trait?
I still agree with the above comment that the Necklace of Fireballs should have the Arcane trait (after all the Fireball spell certainly would be an Arcane spell) - and I'd add the Amulet of Life / Sihedron to that as well since I'd been playing it wrong and thought they had it in the first place.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6, Contributor
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Yeah, so far just four wands after I scanned the item list. Someone may be able to correct me. Shield, force missile, scorching ray, and enervate (loot). Looks like a wand of treasure finding still to come.
It's really not many items, and many good ones, to have burned a power feat on. Ah well, I guess really the other choice (1d6+2 on her fire bolt) isn't wonderful either!
Hmm... I'm a bit surprised about the necklace too. I hadn't looked closely at it when I added the deck and haven't encountered it yet.
But Seoni's item power might almost be worth it just for the Wand of Enervation. In other groups I tend to hold onto that card a bit more than I do with Seoni. I know she'll recharge it and I feel she's likely to cycle it back through before too long.
(Using RPG input here to explain it) While the Necklace of Fireballs does cause a spell effect, it, in and of itself, is not casting a spell and its use does not benefit in any way from the user's arcane knowledge.
After the necklace is made, it's not an arcane item (however, it IS a magic item). It's an item that can be used by anybody, regardless of magical knowledge (or lack thereof).
I assume all of this is why the item card within the game does not have the Arcane trait.
Arcane wands, on the other hand, require a certain knowledge to use effectively, and thus, they have the Arcane trait.
You may well be right, I've never actually had an RPG character own a Necklace of Fireballs but it sounds correct that anyone can use it.
*However* the problem I have is that the PACG version while usable by anyone can be reused by making an Arcane check. Now that implies that Necklace is somewhat Arcane based, because if it was just an item for anyone to pick up and use then why would an Arcane caster be able to basically use it better?
To give a different example - this set also introduced the Staff of Heaven and Earth which just auto recharges when used, no roll needed. That seems more like an item for anybody than the Necklace which is clearly at least somewhat Arcane-based, considering the recharge method.
It's also dangerous to make RPG comparisons to this game as I would never let one of my players in an AD&D game wear as many magical belts as they could carry, for example. That's just silly. But in the card game they don't want to get overly detailed with the rules, which I understand. However in this case it would just be a matter of adding Arcane as a trait to the card, so I think it was more of a conscious choice to make only wands have that trait, for whatever reason.
Totally missed that on the Necklace of Fireballs and it means I was wrong when I saw it and said "Now that would make Seoni more interesting!"
As it stands, it really feels like Ezren is a lot more powerful than her. Sad though, it seemed like this item was right up Seoni's alley.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6, Contributor
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Yeah. Technically, Ezren's better with it with his bonus to recharge checks (any card, not just arcane items). In fact, he's close to an auto on it if I recall the DC of 9 correctly (likely +3 to Int, likely +2 to recharge checks, +2 on arcane checks, so +7 vs. a target of 9, just one pip away from automatic). Compare to Seoni, with a probable +5, not worth the investment to make it automatic.
Totally missed that on the Necklace of Fireballs and it means I was wrong when I saw it and said "Now that would make Seoni more interesting!"
As it stands, it really feels like Ezren is a lot more powerful than her. Sad though, it seemed like this item was right up Seoni's alley.
Huh, I always felt like Seoni was the more powerful option in the party. The necklace of fireballs is nice, but I've never really felt lacking for combat potential when playing Seoni. Especially since she actually gets blessings to boost her checks :P
Seoni is certainly more powerful at blasting stuff (if you don't mind having to discard each time) but I think otherwise Ezren has the edge.
Seoni is certainly more powerful at blasting stuff (if you don't mind having to discard each time) but I think otherwise Ezren has the edge.
Well no, I meant I think she's better overall, not just for combat. That's probably a discussion for another topic though :P