Getting Started: Eladrin Wizard – Part 2
Further, taking a closer look at the list of wizard illusion powers, at least until the end of Heroic, there are no benefits for Charisma on any of them!
That's not to say that a Wizard gains no benefit from Charisma at all; at Paragon it opens up Spell Focus, for a -2 penalty on Wizard spell saves. Further, the Phantom Echoes Feat grants you combat advantage against the targets of your illusion spells.
And finally, there's this Feat:
Improved Orb of Deception
Tier: Paragon
Prerequisites: 11th level, Cha 15, wizard, Orb of Deception class feature
While you wield an orb, any creature you hit with an arcane illusion power grants combat advantage to your next ally who attacks it before the start of your next turn.
Getting Started: Eladrin Wizard – Part 1
When we last talked character building, I showed you how to make an effective low-level Fighter. I was originally going to talk about optimizing for mid-to-high Heroic games, but that proved to be a bit more challenging than I'd first thought.
So from here on out, I've decided to stick to two formats for optimization; Getting Started, which talks about low-level character building, and Fun Stuff!, which will focus on more...high-concept builds. More on that later.
I recently played Encounters, where I chose the Eladrin Wizard. It was a fun experience, but a few things about how the character had been made bothered me. Everyone was quick to point out that the Encounters characters weren't meant to be optimized, but the problem wasn't one of optimization; that Wizard was designed to be a powerhouse, with Int 20 and 16 Charisma.
No, the problem was, whoever designed the character had made some faulty assumptions about what makes a good Controller. Which brings us to today, as I talk about how to build a better mousetrap.
D&D 4E: News from the Front! Part 3 – Essentials
Which now brings us properly to the Elephant in the room. Essentials. What is it, and why should we care?
Gaming companies are a lot like paleontologists. Publish or die is the maxim. Yes, that's the reason why we get all-new dinosaurs every few months, each cooler than the last. Now, I take WotC (and the Evil Corporate Overlords of Hasbro) to task for 3.5 and 4.0, but the truth is, a lot of work goes into making a book.
And once you stray from 'core' products, you need to work to sell fringe books. Oh sure, the diehard gamers will want every book, but unfortunately, as someone who has picked up several books of my own over the past few weeks, WotC has kind of shot themselves in the foot.
Scales of War Updated Character Sheets
Could all my Scales of War players please follow the link to the forum and post your up-to-date character sheet from the D&D Character Builder.
And if you have it, also post your character's backstory. If you have written it previously just copy and paste it so that I will have everyone in one location.
As we slowly move closer to the Epic tier of play, I am trying to work in more of each person's story. It is a little more difficult with pre-made adventures, but even a small nod to your origins or greater destiny would be fun. Thanks for your help.
Join the forum discussion on this post
New D&D Class: The Psion
If you are a D&D Insider, today you got a great treat with the release of the 4E Psion class from the upcoming Player's Handbook 3. They released a fully detailed PDF and the Character Builder was updated with all 30 levels of the Telepathy Focus build.
The PDF is a very interesting read as it also contains developer commentary on the creation of this new class, almost like a behind the scenes feature on DVDs. This was a great idea by WotC and I hope we see more of this type of material as they plan to release even more material leading up to next year.
The Psion is a new controller class that uses the psionic energy of the mind to mentally affect your enemies, by either blasting them with telepathy energy or tossing enemies around the battlefield. This preview only details the Telepathic Focus build and I like what I see, but I really can't wait to see the other build that focuses more on force-based powers when PHB 3 comes out in March 2010.
At-Will and Power Point Level Chart
The Psion class introduces a new concept for powers, called Psionic Augmentation. Instead of encounter powers, Psions have access to at-will attack powers that they can beef up or augment with Power Points. You start with 2 power points at first level and gain more at various levels (see chart). You can spend your power points on your augmentable at-will powers, most of which have 2 levels of augmentation. Then, just like encounter powers, you regain use of power points when you take a short or extended rest. I absolutely love this concept, because when you dig down into it, they are just as limiting as encounter powers, but it gives the class a whole new feel to combat as you strategize on how and when to spend your power points and on which powers.
Psions also have access to a Discipline Focus, similar to Wizard cantrips, that give you cool, useful powers. The two detailed in the Telepathy Focus are distract and send thoughts, which give you the ability to either distract an enemy or communicate telepathically with someone.
A Psions' powers focus on ranged and area attacks that mainly target Will defense. As an example a level one at-will called Memory Hole allows you to assault a creature's mind and rip out their memory of you, effectively making you invisible to them. Other psion powers apply penalties to an enemy's attack while or you can force them to attack their allies. We also get a preview of two of the Psion's Paragon Paths. The Cerulean Adept is a order of protectors that are in constant vigilance against the aberrant threat of the Far Realm, which mechanically gives you extra will defense and the ability to use 1 power point for free when you spend an action point. The second path called Uncarnate, focuses on freeing your mind from your body allowing you to become temporarily insubstantial.
Overall, I am really excited to play around with a Psion and this type of content only available to D&D Insider subscribers is exactly what I am paying for. Keep it up WotC.
Player’s Handbook Heroes Set 1 Review and Gallery
The new format for D&D miniatures has been released and the first set we have are Hero miniatures for use with PCs in your game. There are six packs with three heroes each, two male and one female. Each character comes with a card that is a new power for that class. Each pack retails for $10.99 and includes 2 martial hero packs, 2 arcane, 1 divine and 1 primal pack.
I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the new set of hero miniatures from Wizards of the Coast for several different reasons. First of all, I would guess that most players are only playing in one game and therefore only need one of the miniatures. That makes it a $10 miniature and you have two extra minis that you may never use. The next big selling point is the power cards. I really like the idea and for some people they are useful, but for anyone who subscribes to D&D Insider and has the Character Builder, all of these powers are in the program. So for me that isn't a selling point anymore.
Second, and I know I might take flak for this from some people, but 1/3 of the figures are female and I don't think this matches up close to D&D's demographic. I only have my personal experiences to draw from on this but I also saw a large number of D&D games last year at Gen Con and I would say that out of the 6 games and 36 PCs, only 3 were females players or males playing females. That's only 8% out of a small section, but even looking around at other tables, there weren't many female players, maybe 10-15% would be a generous estimate. So when a third of the minis are female, although nice to look at, aren't a selling point. I understand that WotC needs to be "PC" but maybe 1 female out of two packs would be a better idea. And I'm not just upset because the only dragonborn is female 
What I do like are the sculpts and paint jobs. They have really brought up the quality. So overall, I would only recommend buying them if you really want a certain character, or want the power cards, or are a completist Or you could be like me and just buy the individual minis you want online.
Support WeeBeeGamers
WBG Shirts
Pages
Categories
Comments
Tags
Recent Forum Posts
Login / Site Info
Connect with Facebook
Tshirt Stores
Our Hosting Solution
Recent Comments