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Bust out the map: Terrain Experiments


So recently my party, "The Clearwater Knights" found themselves able to finish a retelling of an encounter with "and then we killed her with a boat!" And I was just as flabergasted when it happened as they were.

More after the jump.

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Rule Zero: Combat Ritualist


I've always thought that the ritual system needed some tweaking - and I'm not sure what I would do to make rituals more acceptable in non-combat situations, but we here at Forced Movement have come up with a way to use Rituals in combat. Based on the Alchemy system, these new items - called Combat Rituals - key off of a specific ritual, and require the caster to have the Combat Ritualist feat.

Combat Ritualist
Prerequisites: Ritual Caster
You can create and use Combat Rituals.

Combat Rituals
Your character has learned the art of tweaking a ritual so that it can be cast in the heat of battle. A combat ritual is a new type of magic item that only a character with the Combat Ritualist feat and the proper ritual memorized may create and use.

Creating a Combat Ritual:
Creating a Combat Ritual takes half the amount of time it would normally take to cast the full ritual, during which the character spends time scribeing the nessesary components onto a specially prepared scroll. The cost of these special scrolls and component is given on each Combat Ritual, and can usually be found for sale at most places that sell ritual components.

Sample Combat Rituals:
Immediate Repose:
You use a small portion of the healing ritual Gentle Repose to staunch a friend's bleeding.
Level 1
Price: 20gp
Required Ritual: Gentle Repose

Power (Consumable): Minor action. You succeed on the next Heal check made to stabilize a dying ally.

Protective Circle:
You intone the final words of the Magic Circle ritual that you began earlier, with slight variations and a circle of blue-white ethreal runes shoot out around you.
Level 5
Price: 50 gp
Required Ritual: Magic Circle

Power(Consumable): Standard Action. This power creates a zone in a close burst 2 that acts as difficult terrain to any creature of a type, chosen when this power is used. This zone lasts until the end of the encounter or for 5 minutes.

Arcane Reserves
Your eyes glow softly as you refocus some of your energy to ease your minor cuts and bruises.
Level 1
Price 20gp
Required Ritual: Simbul's Conversion (FRPG)

Power (Consumable): Move action. Gain 1d8+half your healing surge value in temp hp. While you have these temp hp you take a -2 to all the damage you deal.


Deadly Pyrotechnics
You have learned how to turn these otherwise harmless child's playthings into deadly weapons.
Level 2
Price 25gp
Required Ritual: Pyrotechnics

Power (Consumable): Standard action. Ranged 10; +5 vs. Reflex; on a hit the target takes 1d10+3 damage and ongoing 2 fire damage (save ends).

Fatefull Attack
The power of fate guides your hand but cares nothing for the risks involved.
Level 4
Price 35gp
Required Ritual: Hand of Fate (PHB)

Power (Consumable): Minor Action. +4 on your next attack roll and a -2 to all defenses until the end of your next turn.

Illusionary Ally
Using the magic stored within this ritual you create the illusion of having more friends then you have.
Level 12
Price 500gp
Required Ritual: Hallucinatory Creature

Power (Consumable): Standard Action. Close Burst 2; targets all enemies in burst; + 15 vs Will; On a hit the target grants combat advantage until the beginning of the target's next turn.

Instant Bonds
You cast your hand out with the final incantations of this ritual, and spectral chains burst forth wrapping themselves around the target.
Level 10
Price 300gp
Required Ritual: Tenser's Binding (DR. 366)

Power(Consumable): Standard Action. Ranged 5; +13 vs Ref; On a hit the target is restrained (save ends) and cannot teleport (save ends)

True Teleportation
Using this ritual's power your attack is everywhere at once.
Level 28
Price 85,000gp
Required Ritual: Linked Portal

Power(Consumable): Move Action. Until the end of your current turn you may determine targeting for a single power from any square on the battlefield, regardless of line of sight or effect. For powers the rely on enemies being adjacent to you or your powers effect, you must choose a single square. At the end of your turn you may teleport yourself or any one ally to any unoccupied square.
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January 2010 Content Calendar

After a quick look at the content calendar this month, it looks like it's promising to be a very "Class Acts:" heavy month, with six classes getting some more love. I am really glad to see the Artificer finally getting some attention, as one of the "non-core" classes it tends to get left out of a lot of the articles and such.

I dont have time to give my thoughts on every entry on the calander (I'll do that as the articles come out) but real quick I saw a few that interested me instantly:

On the 19th we get a full look at the hybrid rules that will be presented in the PH3. I am currently playing a hybrid and there are some definite things that need to change - I have no idea what and  right now they work mechanically okay, but instead of feeling like I am making a new "Avenger | Swordmage" class I really feel like I am just a cruddy Avenger and a cruddy Swordmage. Now the combinations you can come up with are interesting and varied and all but the features still just seem to distant from each other...

So of course on the 22nd they are giving us some more Artificer-y goodness. I hope to see a more melee focused set of powers, or perhaps a full on alchemist build, you know like an at will that is quickly mixing the correct components and then throwing the vial to see it either explode or freeze the enemy or become a sticky goop. We shall see, but most likely it's gonna be some new daily powers and a new familiar or something like that - just to spite me. :)

The 22nd must be my birthday - well okay I mean to say Jan 22nd because the 22nd is my birthday just in a different month... Anyway, on that day WotC is hitting us with a Winning Races: Humans. I was actually just ranting to my group the other day about this, how there seems to be a lack of Human love going on around R&D at Wizards. Like how in 3.5e they where releasing the "Races of..." books and when it finally came around to "Races of Destiny" the human book, most of the book was about the Illuminati or whatever they where.

And finally on the 25th, there is an article called "The Art of Binding." I saw that title and nearly exploded with joy. In 3.5e I never did get to play my all time favorite class, the Binder, nor did any of my players ever actually play one. My big baddy at the end of my campaign was a Binder, but that is a far cry from actually playing one. Then 4th ed. hit right after it was released and I never looked back (yet). I know it's probably not what I think it is, its not the resurgence of the Binder class, obviously they already gave the distinction to the Warlock with his Visage pact and such. But I was saddend by that move - it makes sense totally and completely - but one of the things I loved about the Binder was the act of Binding the Visage and then the resulting quarks that came over your character as a result. Also I have a bit of a thing against playing a Striker (even though I think when I have played instead of DM I usually get that role) and the Binder of old was so versatile... Oh well, either way the title has peaked my interest.

And the other articles look great too! Cant wait, to see all this month holds!
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