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4th edition D&D - Classes
Again, I'm going to LJ-cut this because it's going to be long.
Okay, let's start off this review with what isn't here. In the classes in the new Player's Guide, there are no bards, barbarians, druids, monks or sorcerers. Now, the book is labeled as for "Arcane, Divine and Martial heroes", which apparently, those first four classes aren't. Why aren't sorcerers in the book, as they would clearly be arcane casters? Well, with the way abilities/spells work now.... it would be tricky at best to include them. (WotC has pretty much confirmed that barbarians and druids will draw upon Nature as a power source, and monks will draw upon Ki. Bards? Groupies perhaps. I don't know.)
Each class follows the same format. There's a into block of mechanics that detail the base guts of the class... things like what armor and weapon proficiencies that class has, how many hit points they start with (and how many they gain per level), how many healing surges they get (I'll explain that in a bit), how many skills they get (and what their skill list to choose skills from is), and so forth.
Probably the first big thing people are going to note is that every class starts with more hit points. A wizard with an average Constitution score (10) starts with 20 HPs. Fighters and Paladins are going to start with HPs in the high 20s/low to mid 30s. The next thing you're going to see is that you gain a static amount of HPs per level. You never roll your HPs any more, and Constitution never plays a factor in how many HPs you gain per level. I feel this is a big mistake. Yes, it sucked in previous editions to roll that 1 or 2 for your level's HPs (well, unless you were a wizard, then it happened 50% of the time), but it could always be made up with a high Constitution. That's gone now. What it also means, based on the values listed for the classes, is that several classes (ones that typically required higher then average Constitutions) are going to end up with overall less HPs then the same character at the same level.
After that is a description of the class, a couple of build options (recommendations for feats, skills, etc.), and then the abilities that the class starts with, and what they can pick up/learn as they level.
Unlike previous Player's Guides, all the spells are not lumped in one big section near the end of the book. All the cleric abilities are grouped in the cleric entry, and all the rogue abilities are grouped in the rogue entry, and so forth. While some classes have abilities that are similar to other class abilities, there are no spells that are Wizard 1/Cleric 1 like in 3rd edition.
There are also a number of new mechanics presented in the class section (well, to be fair, some of them were first shown in the race section), and just like in the race section, it follows a predictable and annoying pattern of giving mechanics without actually explaining what the notations really mean. So you see things like "Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier" and you're left wondering what the heck the 2[W] is. (The W means weapon damage. So 2[W] is 2 times weapon damage.)
Another new mechanic is healing surges. Each class gets a certain number of them a day, based on their class and their Constitution modifier. If you expend a healing surge, you heal 1/4th of your maximum Hit Points. You can do this during an encounter or after it.
And now, a digression on abilities. If you owned/borrowed/read the 3.5 supplement "Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords", a lot of the feel of the new ability system is going to be familiar. If you didn't really like that book, you're probably not going to like 4th edition a whole lot.
All class abilities are broken into four basic groups - At-will abilities, Encounter abilities, Daily Abilities and Utility Abilities (which are somewhat confusing because they can be At-will, Encounter or Daily as well... but I'll get to them in a bit.)
At-will abilities are attacks or spells that can be used as often as you want to. You can use them round after round after round, and you will never ever run out of uses of them. They also do not tend to be flashy or powerful, but if you have nothing else to fall back on, they are solid and reliable.
Encounter abilities can only be used once an encounter. You have to rest five minutes or so before using it again. These abilities are a little flashier and potentially more effective at what they do.
Daily abilities can only be used once a day. That's it. They're so powerful (comparatively) that they require resting for at least six hours before you can use them again.
Utility abilities can be at-will, encounter or daily, but they count as a separate group of abilities. You see, depending on your level, you know a certain number of at-will, encounter, daily and utility abilities (confused yet?) so while a utility ability might be usable once an encounter, it is a utility ability first and foremost, not an encounter ability.
Alright, enough of that.
Class breakdowns:
Most classes stayed pretty much the same.
Clerics are still healers, but they're also more leader-like. Clerics are also no longer required for healing. Yes, they can do it, and they can be pretty good at it, but thanks to healing surges, they don't have to save all their spells to convert to cure spells because the fighter is being an idiot. Clerics do have to choose a deity, but their powers don't come from that deity. Alignment does play a factor in what deity you follow, but there is an out... if you're unaligned, you can follow any deity.
Most cleric abilities involve healing, smiting things, or buffing allies. However, as part of the "side effect" of healing surges, most of the classic cure spells are usable once per day.
Fighters are still fighters. The big bonus they had of getting feats every even level is now shared by all classes. (Yes, you read that right. Every even level, you get a feat.) But fighters still excel in combat and defending their allies, as most of their abilities involve beating things into the ground or applying penalties on monsters that choose to ignore the fighter. One big change is that fighters do not automatically start with the ability to wear plate armor.
Paladins are likewise much the same, although their Lay on Hands ability works differently. When they use it, they use one of their healing surges on their target. Shockingly, they also get the most healing surges per day. They are also the only class that can start with plate armor without spending a feat to know how to use it. Most of their abilities are fighter-like (beat things into ground, protect allies) or cleric-like (healing, buffing).
Rangers are not the same. They get screwed. Okay, that's just my opinion, but they no longer have an animal companion, and they don't get spells. They also lose a couple other features from 3rd edition, such as swift tracking and camouflage, but (and this will be important later), there's no mention of the "this ability won't work if you wear heavy armor" stuff. Rangers do still have to choose whether they're going to be two-weapon or archery rangers, but the big bonuses they got to their fighting style as they leveled are gone as well. You do get a free specific feat based on your fighting style, but that's it. Most of their abilities involve dealing extra damage, and while some of them are specific to using melee weapons and others to ranged weapons, there are some abilities that can be used no matter how the ranger is armed.
Rogues are much the same (see a pattern here?), although backstab damage has been significantly dropped. The bonus damage is still based upon what level you are, but instead of going up every other level, it goes up every 10th level, so that from 21st-30th level, you're only getting +5d6 backstab damage. (There is a feat that changes the bonus d6s to d8s, though.) This damage loss is made up, however, in the abilities that a rogue gets. You see, before, in 3rd edition and earlier, the rogue had two options for combat... either you are backstabbing, or you aren't. Now, you get a lot of combat abilities which let you do things like blind your opponent, or knock him prone, or steal his pants (okay, I'm kidding with that one). There are also abilities which let you move all over the battlefield, which is always good, because a stationary rogue is a dead rogue.
Wizards are still wizards. Damage spells, damage spells, and more damage spells. They also get a few extra at-will abilities known as cantrips, which lets them cast ghost sound, light, mage hand, or prestidigitation whenever they need to. Their at-will 1st level spells include the venerable magic missile although it doesn't increase in damage until you get to 21st level. Most spells add the Intelligence modifier to the damage, so really smart wizards will be doing a lot more damage then ones who just barely passed the classes. Two things are important to note, however. (1) There is no more "You must have a minimum Int of 10+spell level to cast the spell." and (2) although Wizards start with only cloth armor proficiency, there is nothing keeping them from taking feats to wear better armors as there is no more of the "Somatic component" restrictions.
And now the two new classes. Yes, as I mentioned at the beginning, bards, barbarians, druids and monks aren't in this book, but Warlords and Warlocks are.
Warlords are designed as a leader/buffer class. They can wear up to middle levels of armor, have decent hps, and most of their abilities revolve around leading groups of people and buffing allies. One of their basic class features actually gives initiative bonuses to any allies within a certain range. Warlords are all about tactical play, and that's the big weakness of the class. If you're not playing on a battle-mat/with miniatures, a lot of their abilities are really pointless. Also, if your group has all the tactical coordination of a bowl of oatmeal, anyone playing a Warlord is going to scream in frustration.
Warlocks are for those players who want a little slice of something different in their character. They are damage dealing spell-casters, like Wizards, but they go about it a different way. Where Wizards get their spells from intense study of the arcane arts, Warlocks make a pact with something from outside normal reality. You get to choose from among the Fey, the Far Realms (think H.P. Lovecraft), or the Infernal. That pact gives you some power in the form of a bonus ability, but it also determines one of your starting powers. It doesn't affect what can you learn later in the game, though. (However, certain pacts enhance certain abilities....) Warlocks also get the ability to curse enemies, which means if they deal damage to them after applying the curse, they deal some extra damage. Why play a Warlock over a Wizard? Well, from what I can tell, Warlocks are more about single-target damage. Wizards get a lot more in the way of area-effect spells.
For each class there are also "Paragon abilities" which are only accessible upon getting to 11th level and meeting certain requirement. You might think of them as Prestige classes, but you'd be wrong. Most of them grant a few extra options and a few extra abilities, but there's not the same sense of structure as from Prestige classes.
There are also Epic destinies, which you really can't start on until you're at least 21st level, but they mostly look really silly, as one of them is Demi-god.
In short (too late), the classes and their abilities are presented in a relatively straightforward manner, even if they don't explain what certain things mean until later in the book. Most of the classes are the same, most of what you expect them to be able to do is the same, or at least recognizable in its new form. Enough changed for each class that it's going to feel different at first, but for most gaming groups, it should not take too long to get into the swing of things.
Okay, let's start off this review with what isn't here. In the classes in the new Player's Guide, there are no bards, barbarians, druids, monks or sorcerers. Now, the book is labeled as for "Arcane, Divine and Martial heroes", which apparently, those first four classes aren't. Why aren't sorcerers in the book, as they would clearly be arcane casters? Well, with the way abilities/spells work now.... it would be tricky at best to include them. (WotC has pretty much confirmed that barbarians and druids will draw upon Nature as a power source, and monks will draw upon Ki. Bards? Groupies perhaps. I don't know.)
Each class follows the same format. There's a into block of mechanics that detail the base guts of the class... things like what armor and weapon proficiencies that class has, how many hit points they start with (and how many they gain per level), how many healing surges they get (I'll explain that in a bit), how many skills they get (and what their skill list to choose skills from is), and so forth.
Probably the first big thing people are going to note is that every class starts with more hit points. A wizard with an average Constitution score (10) starts with 20 HPs. Fighters and Paladins are going to start with HPs in the high 20s/low to mid 30s. The next thing you're going to see is that you gain a static amount of HPs per level. You never roll your HPs any more, and Constitution never plays a factor in how many HPs you gain per level. I feel this is a big mistake. Yes, it sucked in previous editions to roll that 1 or 2 for your level's HPs (well, unless you were a wizard, then it happened 50% of the time), but it could always be made up with a high Constitution. That's gone now. What it also means, based on the values listed for the classes, is that several classes (ones that typically required higher then average Constitutions) are going to end up with overall less HPs then the same character at the same level.
After that is a description of the class, a couple of build options (recommendations for feats, skills, etc.), and then the abilities that the class starts with, and what they can pick up/learn as they level.
Unlike previous Player's Guides, all the spells are not lumped in one big section near the end of the book. All the cleric abilities are grouped in the cleric entry, and all the rogue abilities are grouped in the rogue entry, and so forth. While some classes have abilities that are similar to other class abilities, there are no spells that are Wizard 1/Cleric 1 like in 3rd edition.
There are also a number of new mechanics presented in the class section (well, to be fair, some of them were first shown in the race section), and just like in the race section, it follows a predictable and annoying pattern of giving mechanics without actually explaining what the notations really mean. So you see things like "Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier" and you're left wondering what the heck the 2[W] is. (The W means weapon damage. So 2[W] is 2 times weapon damage.)
Another new mechanic is healing surges. Each class gets a certain number of them a day, based on their class and their Constitution modifier. If you expend a healing surge, you heal 1/4th of your maximum Hit Points. You can do this during an encounter or after it.
And now, a digression on abilities. If you owned/borrowed/read the 3.5 supplement "Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords", a lot of the feel of the new ability system is going to be familiar. If you didn't really like that book, you're probably not going to like 4th edition a whole lot.
All class abilities are broken into four basic groups - At-will abilities, Encounter abilities, Daily Abilities and Utility Abilities (which are somewhat confusing because they can be At-will, Encounter or Daily as well... but I'll get to them in a bit.)
At-will abilities are attacks or spells that can be used as often as you want to. You can use them round after round after round, and you will never ever run out of uses of them. They also do not tend to be flashy or powerful, but if you have nothing else to fall back on, they are solid and reliable.
Encounter abilities can only be used once an encounter. You have to rest five minutes or so before using it again. These abilities are a little flashier and potentially more effective at what they do.
Daily abilities can only be used once a day. That's it. They're so powerful (comparatively) that they require resting for at least six hours before you can use them again.
Utility abilities can be at-will, encounter or daily, but they count as a separate group of abilities. You see, depending on your level, you know a certain number of at-will, encounter, daily and utility abilities (confused yet?) so while a utility ability might be usable once an encounter, it is a utility ability first and foremost, not an encounter ability.
Alright, enough of that.
Class breakdowns:
Most classes stayed pretty much the same.
Clerics are still healers, but they're also more leader-like. Clerics are also no longer required for healing. Yes, they can do it, and they can be pretty good at it, but thanks to healing surges, they don't have to save all their spells to convert to cure spells because the fighter is being an idiot. Clerics do have to choose a deity, but their powers don't come from that deity. Alignment does play a factor in what deity you follow, but there is an out... if you're unaligned, you can follow any deity.
Most cleric abilities involve healing, smiting things, or buffing allies. However, as part of the "side effect" of healing surges, most of the classic cure spells are usable once per day.
Fighters are still fighters. The big bonus they had of getting feats every even level is now shared by all classes. (Yes, you read that right. Every even level, you get a feat.) But fighters still excel in combat and defending their allies, as most of their abilities involve beating things into the ground or applying penalties on monsters that choose to ignore the fighter. One big change is that fighters do not automatically start with the ability to wear plate armor.
Paladins are likewise much the same, although their Lay on Hands ability works differently. When they use it, they use one of their healing surges on their target. Shockingly, they also get the most healing surges per day. They are also the only class that can start with plate armor without spending a feat to know how to use it. Most of their abilities are fighter-like (beat things into ground, protect allies) or cleric-like (healing, buffing).
Rangers are not the same. They get screwed. Okay, that's just my opinion, but they no longer have an animal companion, and they don't get spells. They also lose a couple other features from 3rd edition, such as swift tracking and camouflage, but (and this will be important later), there's no mention of the "this ability won't work if you wear heavy armor" stuff. Rangers do still have to choose whether they're going to be two-weapon or archery rangers, but the big bonuses they got to their fighting style as they leveled are gone as well. You do get a free specific feat based on your fighting style, but that's it. Most of their abilities involve dealing extra damage, and while some of them are specific to using melee weapons and others to ranged weapons, there are some abilities that can be used no matter how the ranger is armed.
Rogues are much the same (see a pattern here?), although backstab damage has been significantly dropped. The bonus damage is still based upon what level you are, but instead of going up every other level, it goes up every 10th level, so that from 21st-30th level, you're only getting +5d6 backstab damage. (There is a feat that changes the bonus d6s to d8s, though.) This damage loss is made up, however, in the abilities that a rogue gets. You see, before, in 3rd edition and earlier, the rogue had two options for combat... either you are backstabbing, or you aren't. Now, you get a lot of combat abilities which let you do things like blind your opponent, or knock him prone, or steal his pants (okay, I'm kidding with that one). There are also abilities which let you move all over the battlefield, which is always good, because a stationary rogue is a dead rogue.
Wizards are still wizards. Damage spells, damage spells, and more damage spells. They also get a few extra at-will abilities known as cantrips, which lets them cast ghost sound, light, mage hand, or prestidigitation whenever they need to. Their at-will 1st level spells include the venerable magic missile although it doesn't increase in damage until you get to 21st level. Most spells add the Intelligence modifier to the damage, so really smart wizards will be doing a lot more damage then ones who just barely passed the classes. Two things are important to note, however. (1) There is no more "You must have a minimum Int of 10+spell level to cast the spell." and (2) although Wizards start with only cloth armor proficiency, there is nothing keeping them from taking feats to wear better armors as there is no more of the "Somatic component" restrictions.
And now the two new classes. Yes, as I mentioned at the beginning, bards, barbarians, druids and monks aren't in this book, but Warlords and Warlocks are.
Warlords are designed as a leader/buffer class. They can wear up to middle levels of armor, have decent hps, and most of their abilities revolve around leading groups of people and buffing allies. One of their basic class features actually gives initiative bonuses to any allies within a certain range. Warlords are all about tactical play, and that's the big weakness of the class. If you're not playing on a battle-mat/with miniatures, a lot of their abilities are really pointless. Also, if your group has all the tactical coordination of a bowl of oatmeal, anyone playing a Warlord is going to scream in frustration.
Warlocks are for those players who want a little slice of something different in their character. They are damage dealing spell-casters, like Wizards, but they go about it a different way. Where Wizards get their spells from intense study of the arcane arts, Warlocks make a pact with something from outside normal reality. You get to choose from among the Fey, the Far Realms (think H.P. Lovecraft), or the Infernal. That pact gives you some power in the form of a bonus ability, but it also determines one of your starting powers. It doesn't affect what can you learn later in the game, though. (However, certain pacts enhance certain abilities....) Warlocks also get the ability to curse enemies, which means if they deal damage to them after applying the curse, they deal some extra damage. Why play a Warlock over a Wizard? Well, from what I can tell, Warlocks are more about single-target damage. Wizards get a lot more in the way of area-effect spells.
For each class there are also "Paragon abilities" which are only accessible upon getting to 11th level and meeting certain requirement. You might think of them as Prestige classes, but you'd be wrong. Most of them grant a few extra options and a few extra abilities, but there's not the same sense of structure as from Prestige classes.
There are also Epic destinies, which you really can't start on until you're at least 21st level, but they mostly look really silly, as one of them is Demi-god.
In short (too late), the classes and their abilities are presented in a relatively straightforward manner, even if they don't explain what certain things mean until later in the book. Most of the classes are the same, most of what you expect them to be able to do is the same, or at least recognizable in its new form. Enough changed for each class that it's going to feel different at first, but for most gaming groups, it should not take too long to get into the swing of things.
no subject
Oh and ah... you forgot one class that got left out from 3e: Sorcerer.
I will def share a link to this post w/ others. :)
no subject