Post by Gilvan Blight on Jun 6, 2010 8:33:48 GMT -5
Quickly: very cool new classes and powers but not for beginners.
Summary:
Like Player's Handbook 2, PHB three offers a wide variety of new character options. There are 4 new races, 6 new classes, prestige classes to go with these, 6 new Epic destinies, a slew of new feats and a bunch of Magic items. New to PHB3 are rules for Hybrid Characters and Skill Powers.
The new races are Githzerai, Minotaurs, Shardminds and Wilden. The Shardminds have to be the oddest race released so far for any edition. They are made up of living crystal that shattered off of the gate to The Far Realm. Odd just odd. The Wilden remind me of Dryad's from Warhammer Fantasy as they can take on different aspects based on the seasons. The Githzerai and Minotaurs are old races that it's nice to see get the 4e treatment.
The new classes are Ardent, Battlemind, Monk, Psion, Runepriest and Seeker. Most of these are psionic classes and full rules for how psionics work are included. Basically you get a set of power points that renew each short rest. You use these to improve your powers (augment). Instead of getting encounter powers your at-will powers have 3 different power levels each, a basic 0 cost version and then versions that cost 1 or more power points. It's an interesting change from the old Psi point system to be sure.
The new psionic classes are the Ardent, Battlmind and Psion. The Ardent is a psionic leader. The Battlemind a psionic Defender. The Psion is a psionic controller and has many of the powers from the orgiinal psionic handbooks (Id insinuation ring a bell?).
The Monk has a psionic power source but doesn't use powerpoints. At first I thought this was odd but then when you think of a Martial Artists focusing of Ki it actually does fit the psionic theme. Monks are quite a bit different from previous editions but do keep their mobility and things like Flurry of Blows.
Two non-psionic classes fill the last two spots. The Runepriest is a Divine Leader and the Seeker is a Primal Controller.
Hybrid character rules allow players to make what would have been a dual class character from previous editions. This is more in depth and more of a mix of two classes then the previous multiclass rues where you used a feat and got to select some powers from another class. These rules fully integrate two classes into one new class. Basically there is a hybrid version of each character class that gives you so many hit points, specific skill training, proficiencies, defense bonuses and powers. You chose two of these and combine the powers, bonuses and abilities from both. There are also suggestions on how to make an effective hybrid character.
The chapter on skill powers gives all characters of all races and classes new options. Skill powers are utility powers that you can take when you would normally gain a utility power for your class. These are all based on being trained in specific skills and allow you options based on that training. There are multiple levels of power for each possible skill. There also is also a feat in the feat section of the book that lets you take a skill power without using up one of your 'class based' utility slots.
Next you will find a ton of new Feats, most of which are specific to the races and classes in this book. Feats are followed by new magic items. What's interesting here are the new Ki Focuses and Rune powers which are totally new types for this book. There are some new expendable items as well. Also included are enhanced implements. These rules compliment the rules for special weapons and armour released in previous books (e.g. Adamantine Armour)
A summary of how to read a power finishes the books. There are some rule updates in here as well mostly dealing with Implements and Weapons as Implements.
The Good:
I love the Skill Powers section! There are so many great character options here and they are open to any character of any race and class. They give some great alternative powers to the ones offered by the classes. They also really let you compensate for a characters weaknesses or even more so a parties weakness. For example: if you have no Leader in the group but you have characters trained in Heal, then have everyone train on the Heal Skill Powers Healers Gift and Physician's Cure. The Endurance Skill Powers are especially juicy finally giving reason for characters to train in what was an undervalued skill.
The new classes, at least the ones I have played or played with are really great. They really offer a lot of options and combos on the battlefield. I personally love my Ardent that I put through Dungeons and Dragons encounters. I really liked all the reactive things I could do and the buffs I provided the party as long as they stayed close. I'm also a real fan of the Monk, I've played with two different players playing Monks and they have impressed me each time. I really like the way the Runepriest works as well getting two options an aggressive one and a defensive one with most powers really open up the options. If Darksun wasn't the next encounters campaign I would be trying out a Runepriest.
The Bad:
All of the included classes are more complex then the base PHB classes and are more suited to experienced players. All of them have a lot of options in their powers and most give a wide range of temporary buffs and de-buffs that need to be tracked. This is great for players who want more options but I suggest avoiding these classes for new players.
I'm not sold on the Shardmind. It's just too odd. A living piece of a shattered gate bent on destroying Aberrant creatures. The whole 'every shardmind has a different view on how to fight the abyss' thing seems forced and a cop out for why they don't just all get together and fix the gate. This seemed to me to be a race better suited to Dragon Magazine then a core rulebook.
I did not like the way the rules changes were just there mixed in with all the re-stating of existing rules in the 'how to read a power' section. It would have been nice to highlight where rules have been enhanced or clarified. I almost skipped over this section except for the fact that I knew ahead of time that there were some rule changes.
The Ugly:
I'm not a fan of the Hybrid rules. This seems like something WotC put in because fans wanted to play their old Fighter/Thief from previous editions. It just doesn't seem to mesh well with the other class rules and seems like it could be widely unbalancing in both making characters too weak and too powerful. I had no problem with the feat based multiclass rules and think they sufficed. Not that I should be complaining that a company is catering to their fans but these rules seem unneeded by 4th edition.
Overall:
I know it looks like I had more bad to say then good this time around but that's not the case with my overall impression of this book. The new races are cool enough (except for the Shardmind which is just too weird) but the new classes are excellent. I really like the way psionics are handled and I like what they did with the old favorrite The Monk. The rules on Skill Powers really top this one off as a great book. I personally don't like the Hybrid rules but I'm sure there are gamers out there that have been waiting for these rules since 4e was released. A word of warning for new players though, these new classes are quite a bit more complex then the basic ones in the PHB and I recommend skipping this book until at least your second character.
Summary:
Like Player's Handbook 2, PHB three offers a wide variety of new character options. There are 4 new races, 6 new classes, prestige classes to go with these, 6 new Epic destinies, a slew of new feats and a bunch of Magic items. New to PHB3 are rules for Hybrid Characters and Skill Powers.
The new races are Githzerai, Minotaurs, Shardminds and Wilden. The Shardminds have to be the oddest race released so far for any edition. They are made up of living crystal that shattered off of the gate to The Far Realm. Odd just odd. The Wilden remind me of Dryad's from Warhammer Fantasy as they can take on different aspects based on the seasons. The Githzerai and Minotaurs are old races that it's nice to see get the 4e treatment.
The new classes are Ardent, Battlemind, Monk, Psion, Runepriest and Seeker. Most of these are psionic classes and full rules for how psionics work are included. Basically you get a set of power points that renew each short rest. You use these to improve your powers (augment). Instead of getting encounter powers your at-will powers have 3 different power levels each, a basic 0 cost version and then versions that cost 1 or more power points. It's an interesting change from the old Psi point system to be sure.
The new psionic classes are the Ardent, Battlmind and Psion. The Ardent is a psionic leader. The Battlemind a psionic Defender. The Psion is a psionic controller and has many of the powers from the orgiinal psionic handbooks (Id insinuation ring a bell?).
The Monk has a psionic power source but doesn't use powerpoints. At first I thought this was odd but then when you think of a Martial Artists focusing of Ki it actually does fit the psionic theme. Monks are quite a bit different from previous editions but do keep their mobility and things like Flurry of Blows.
Two non-psionic classes fill the last two spots. The Runepriest is a Divine Leader and the Seeker is a Primal Controller.
Hybrid character rules allow players to make what would have been a dual class character from previous editions. This is more in depth and more of a mix of two classes then the previous multiclass rues where you used a feat and got to select some powers from another class. These rules fully integrate two classes into one new class. Basically there is a hybrid version of each character class that gives you so many hit points, specific skill training, proficiencies, defense bonuses and powers. You chose two of these and combine the powers, bonuses and abilities from both. There are also suggestions on how to make an effective hybrid character.
The chapter on skill powers gives all characters of all races and classes new options. Skill powers are utility powers that you can take when you would normally gain a utility power for your class. These are all based on being trained in specific skills and allow you options based on that training. There are multiple levels of power for each possible skill. There also is also a feat in the feat section of the book that lets you take a skill power without using up one of your 'class based' utility slots.
Next you will find a ton of new Feats, most of which are specific to the races and classes in this book. Feats are followed by new magic items. What's interesting here are the new Ki Focuses and Rune powers which are totally new types for this book. There are some new expendable items as well. Also included are enhanced implements. These rules compliment the rules for special weapons and armour released in previous books (e.g. Adamantine Armour)
A summary of how to read a power finishes the books. There are some rule updates in here as well mostly dealing with Implements and Weapons as Implements.
The Good:
I love the Skill Powers section! There are so many great character options here and they are open to any character of any race and class. They give some great alternative powers to the ones offered by the classes. They also really let you compensate for a characters weaknesses or even more so a parties weakness. For example: if you have no Leader in the group but you have characters trained in Heal, then have everyone train on the Heal Skill Powers Healers Gift and Physician's Cure. The Endurance Skill Powers are especially juicy finally giving reason for characters to train in what was an undervalued skill.
The new classes, at least the ones I have played or played with are really great. They really offer a lot of options and combos on the battlefield. I personally love my Ardent that I put through Dungeons and Dragons encounters. I really liked all the reactive things I could do and the buffs I provided the party as long as they stayed close. I'm also a real fan of the Monk, I've played with two different players playing Monks and they have impressed me each time. I really like the way the Runepriest works as well getting two options an aggressive one and a defensive one with most powers really open up the options. If Darksun wasn't the next encounters campaign I would be trying out a Runepriest.
The Bad:
All of the included classes are more complex then the base PHB classes and are more suited to experienced players. All of them have a lot of options in their powers and most give a wide range of temporary buffs and de-buffs that need to be tracked. This is great for players who want more options but I suggest avoiding these classes for new players.
I'm not sold on the Shardmind. It's just too odd. A living piece of a shattered gate bent on destroying Aberrant creatures. The whole 'every shardmind has a different view on how to fight the abyss' thing seems forced and a cop out for why they don't just all get together and fix the gate. This seemed to me to be a race better suited to Dragon Magazine then a core rulebook.
I did not like the way the rules changes were just there mixed in with all the re-stating of existing rules in the 'how to read a power' section. It would have been nice to highlight where rules have been enhanced or clarified. I almost skipped over this section except for the fact that I knew ahead of time that there were some rule changes.
The Ugly:
I'm not a fan of the Hybrid rules. This seems like something WotC put in because fans wanted to play their old Fighter/Thief from previous editions. It just doesn't seem to mesh well with the other class rules and seems like it could be widely unbalancing in both making characters too weak and too powerful. I had no problem with the feat based multiclass rules and think they sufficed. Not that I should be complaining that a company is catering to their fans but these rules seem unneeded by 4th edition.
Overall:
I know it looks like I had more bad to say then good this time around but that's not the case with my overall impression of this book. The new races are cool enough (except for the Shardmind which is just too weird) but the new classes are excellent. I really like the way psionics are handled and I like what they did with the old favorrite The Monk. The rules on Skill Powers really top this one off as a great book. I personally don't like the Hybrid rules but I'm sure there are gamers out there that have been waiting for these rules since 4e was released. A word of warning for new players though, these new classes are quite a bit more complex then the basic ones in the PHB and I recommend skipping this book until at least your second character.