So, for those who have completed the Adventure Path, if you had to go back and do a mid-level adventure (say Adventure 3 or 4 ish) and you could only take one or the other, would you rather have the basic character as they were at the start, with a deck full of Adventure 5 & 6 cards, or the powered up character with all their feats and a deck full of basic
boons?
|
So, for those who have completed the Adventure Path, if you had to go back and do a mid-level adventure (say Adventure 3 or 4 ish) and you could only take one or the other, would you rather have the basic character as they were at the start, with a deck full of Adventure 5 & 6 cards, or the powered up character with all their feats and a deck full of basic boons?
Powered up character with their added feats and skills. Survivability. At Adv 3 or 4, you have more cards to draw from, your powers have a lot of added bonuses, your skills have increased bonuses. You're facing banes that can rip you apart if you fail and you have a far greater chance of failing as a basic character than with an advanced character.
Ok... so say you have basic Ezren with Disintegrate:
d12 + 2 + 4 d6 = range of 18-38
Fully powered Ezren with Lightning Touch
d12 + 6 (assuming 4 int bonus) + 2 d4 = range 9-26
In this one example I think you eschew the bonuses and take the better card. Other ones may play out a bit closer I am sure, I think melee weapon users in general would come closer to cancelling out card vs. bonus.
I think the bigger question is whether or not you are ok with just 15 cards jumping into AP4. I think casters in general would rather have the better spells... weapons users are more of a coin flip.
|
|
Ok... so say you have basic Ezren with Disintegrate:
d12 + 2 + 4 d6 = range of 18-38
Fully powered Ezren with Lightning Touch
d12 + 6 (assuming 4 int bonus) + 2 d4 = range 9-26
In this one example I think you eschew the bonuses and take the better card. Other ones may play out a bit closer I am sure, I think melee weapon users in general would come closer to cancelling out card vs. bonus.
I think the bigger question is whether or not you are ok with just 15 cards jumping into AP4. I think casters in general would rather have the better spells... weapons users are more of a coin flip.
Yeah, after I posted, I realized I was thinking more from the melee and ranged classes. The casters are going to be better the other way around. However, if you have to factor in various checks both combat and non, you lose out on allies, items and blessings that will add a lot.
So looking at both sides, I don't think it's a good idea for either method. Adv 3 & 4 require both the powered characters and the better cards. In some cases the balance will swing to better chars and others for better cards. Neither is ideal. And I think Adv 4 type scenarios have the potential for TPK with either method.
For me, feats. I just like the idea of my character growing, moreso than my character having a lot of cool stuff. I'm not sure from a power standpoint which is better, though.