RSS
email

Channel Divinity: The Traveler


Article: Channel DivinityThe Traveler

This is a very interesting choice for a Channel Divinity article. Though it seems to me like WotC must be getting a whole bunch of feedback from people that want to play evil god worshiping characters because there have been quite a few Raven Queen oriented articles the last few months and now they move over to Eberron (finally) and they pick the god that is the most evil-but-only-by-association type deity there is.

So this article starts out talking about the followers of the Traveler, a character concept I'll be honest I had never thought of this way. Basically, it talks about them being agents of change - not just agents of chaos - that pick a direction and go just to see where they land. When they get there, they believe it is destined for them to invoke some sort of change in the area so they go to work. Once they have stirred up a bunch of change they just quietly slip out the back to move on and do it again.

Conceptually this sounds very interesting. But as far as a player goes, I could see this concept getting you into a bunch of trouble at the gaming table. As a DM I love this style of player/character. The instigator they call them. This character would almost have to be that way, as they are just looking for a change -- something to do, someplace to go. I as the DM love them so much because they drive the story forward, and frequently they pull the game off track, heading in directions I never thought of. This gets me into improv mode, and these character/player types tend to be able to roll with the improv stuff without thinking too much about it.

But, as a player at the table sometimes this type of character concept can lead to bad blood. I have known more than one player that is rubbed the wrong way by the character that isn't a team player. When roleplay comes up, instead of doing what the party thinks is best to pull the story onward this character could say or do anything. Plus, an instigator type character tends to take front and center with their character most often, which can lead to other players feeling left out.

So my advice to anyone thinking of playing the "Agent of Change" style character would be this: Remember that you are playing in a collaberative game with your friends, so dont build your character's personallity to be a chaotic loner. Also, remember to step back and let your party take a whack at deciding where to go and what to do every once in a while, and just step up with the crazy change instigation when the party seems to not know what to do next.

Back to the article now, they also give a single paragon level Channel Divinity feat and a new paragon path: Traveler's Harlequin. The paragon path is a little weak in my opinion, because most of what it gives your character is the ability to freely multiclass like a bard and the changeling's ability to change shape.There are some reroll options there too, but really if your a Changeling Bard who multiclasses into Avenger for the oath you pretty much are this paragon path. I know thats a very specific thing to say, and this paragon path does probably open up some additional character breaking-ness along the way due to the fact that now anyone that took the right background and a single multiclass feat can start ripping through mulitclass powers like candy without the downfall of having your main class be Bard, but all in all I just wasn't that impressed with it.

As for the article as a whole, its a good article and I would suggest you give it a read. If for nothing else then to better understand another god of Eberron.

Bookmark and Share

0 comments:

Post a Comment