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Martyr, Incomplete Channeler, and Witch Redux
🕑 Added 2020-02-02 14:33:15 +0000 UTCWe have a lot of plates -- arguably too many -- plates spinning in the run up to our next hardcover project. The biggest pile of spinning plates is making sure our base classes are hilariously watertight before they see print. As such, we're going back and reviewing every aspect of them with fresh eyes and red ink pens.
Here, we've got the fruits of two months' labor:
The Martyr: Finished, polished, and playtested. The martyr works like a well-oiled machine.
Incomplete Channeler: Improved lore, better presented core mechanics, and two new subclasses. Finally, this class lives up to its potential.
Witch Redux: The first 10 levels of the class's rework. So far, we've reworked core class features, heavily edited the list of hexes, reworked parts of the spell list, and added a few new spells.
I hope you like what we've done so far. Let me know if you have any feedback whatsoever, and have fun playtesting!
Changelog:
- 2/4/20: Witch Redux: Spells added
- In-Complete Channeler: Typos
Comments
Suzuki
I believe so, but I don't think it moves with you.
Suzuki
Are you ever gonna finish the Channeler? If you have already, then I can't find it-
akodorokku
Also I see that all the hexes that gave permanent effects are gone, Understandable, since not having the opportunity cost (requiring a standard action to benefit from them) made them inherently stronger. It looks like the intent is for the Witch to focus more on spellcasting than hexes in this version while before it was roughly 50/50, is that correct?
akodorokku
The "Mire" hex could really use its range wording cleared up. Is the intent that it's a 30 foot radius around the caster?
Larry Eger
Any class that's doing a large single attack needs to be doing slightly higher damage than a comparable fighter or paladin, since they can't leverage SS and GWM to the same extent.
Brandon Laing
I like the new witch. When can we see the rest of it and the changes to the other archetypes ? I want mah blue magic.
Mage Hand Press
Spell channeling allows you to replace one spell attack with a melee weapon attack, which means you only replace one of the scorching ray attacks. Battlefists aren't currently considered magical weapons, but I'll fix that in further versions of the subclass.
Aron Smith
How does the Channeler’s Spell channeling interact with spells like Scorching Ray? And are Battlefists considered magical weapons? Is Meteor Blow an action? My thinking is yes, but the way its written is unclear, at least to me.
Mage Hand Press
This is actually fairly interesting, because the whole issue is one that we introduced last time we visited the class. When the channeler was exactly on par with similar classes, it always came across as especially weak in playtesting. This might have to do with the lack of shields or heavy armor proficiency, but I reckon it has to do with how it feels to channel a spell and then miss, dealing no damage on a turn. The solution we came up with was to keep the class's defensive capabilities at a lower tier, but keep their damage potential at most levels a bit higher (5-8 damage per round) than other classes at base. For most players, the response was positive: the class _feels_ like it's doing what it should be doing. Moreover, it's hard to throw out crazy damage like a paladin, so it hasn't robbed the top damage spots from competitive classes. You should hop on the discord and DM me there if you want to talk this over in detail. We're revisiting all the classes, so this sort of feedback is sorely needed at the moment.
Fabhar
That's fair, although I'd argue there's still resource consumption going on to facilitate that - namely, the healer's resources. Still, I see your point.
Mage Hand Press
Great question! The number of spells they get per day is actually equal to the number of spell slots a paladin or ranger gets per day. The reason this needed to be limited was to ensure that they couldn't achieve a scary level of spellcasting with some help from a healer.
Fabhar
Is there any reason that Martyrs have such limited spellcasting? If it was purely spending HP to cast, I could understand, but additionally limiting how many times they can do it (an amount similar to Warlock, except LONG rest rather than short) seems to make spellcasting focus a bit unviable with this class.
Matt
Please note: I’m not trying to be overly negative and nit picky, I really love Channeler and in fact played a Blinkknight for a year so I feel as though I’m aware of some of their strengths that became too large within the game we had played that we had to nerf. Edit: Especially of note, the tendency to out damage other martial classes is a trait that Channeler possesses at all levels even through just the use of Cantrips as soon as the Spell Channeling feature becomes available. Right off the bat they can deal five more damage, on average, than a fighter or paladin with a great sword with only a longsword. I’m not saying out damaging other classes is necessarily a problem, however it’s of note that they tend to have greater utility than comparable martial classes and versatility through the use of spells on top of dealing greater damage, I would argue.
Matt
Yes, and if I recall correctly you may attack the same target twice at that level thanks to the improved spell channeling feature, unless I am mistaken, so that would come out to 5d10+str*2 with no resources expended. If we average the dice rolls and assume max str mod for all three, we come out to 32 for the pally, 37.5 for Channeler, and 34.5 for fighter. Perhaps that’s not the most out of bounds numbers possible, but Channeler is getting some pretty high numbers there and that only grows greater when their cantrips get even stronger whereas Pally does not receive a similar power spike to my knowledge.
Mage Hand Press
Compare to a paladin, which gets 1d12 + 1d8 + Str twice a turn. Or a fighter, who is attacking three times, for 1d12 + 3*Str.
Matt
Doesn’t it seem a bit extreme that a Channeler can deal 4d10+atk mod on a single target with one attack at 11th level without expending any resources?
Mage Hand Press
I'll get them in the doc right away.
Mage Hand Press
Good catches!
Mage Hand Press
It's 100% intended!
Mage Hand Press
Yes! Many of the subclasses have small (and medium) mechanical errors, and there are huge differences in power between them. We'll be reworking the vast majority of them, and, in the interest of getting the class ready for print, we may cut a couple of the weaker entries. It's too early to know.
Mage Hand Press
I would really love to, but that changelog will literally be as long as the class itself. Frankly, changelogs this long hampers the creation process.
Joshua Crouch
Are there any changes to the 15 some-odd witch subclasses as a result of the redux?
Joshua Crouch
I would love a Change Log for the Witch class changes...for all the Redux classes actually.
James Olmsted
By RAW temporary hit points don't stack, so I don't believe Spellstrike Ward works like you want it to Also Meteor blow says at 14th level
Matt
Is it intended that Spell Channeling can be used for free with a cantrip by base rules or is that a wording mistake?
AstralSeer
Besides mentioned prehensile hair* skill absence, the is no description to soul bond* and protect threshold* and curse weapon* has only a d6 tablet without description.
Tina
Looking over the witch redux, I noticed that the spell prehensile hair is noted in the spell list as a new spell, but is does not have a description in the new spells section of the pdf.
