... surely this is work of Rajaat!
Jim
Aside from that it looks really good!
Pictures are just flavor, no need to take them seriously.
But the Half-Giant is bulls***. He is medium sized not large, is not as big as he used to be and so on. This is not the Half-Giant i'm gonna use in my upcoming Dark Sun campaign.
I kind of like the look of the kreen myself without the extended abdomen... I may get some tomatoes in the face from others on the board though. *ducks* Both look good.
PLEASE tell me this is what they have done with Psionic combat. I read the descriptions of Intellect Fortress and Psychic Crush, and all they are is damage (Not to mention Psychic Crush is a "Make a save or you die" spell, which I hate). Intellect Fortress halves psionic power damage, and Crush kills on a failed save or does 3d6 damage.
If all they did was reduce Psionic combat abilities to damage dealers, why not just play a bloody wizard?
Hopefully there's a lot more too it once the whole picture becomes available.
Originally posted by Porkchops
Hmmm, upon closer inspection:
PLEASE tell me this is what they have done with Psionic combat. I read the descriptions of Intellect Fortress and Psychic Crush, and all they are is damage (Not to mention Psychic Crush is a "Make a save or you die" spell, which I hate). Intellect Fortress halves psionic power damage, and Crush kills on a failed save or does 3d6 damage.
If all they did was reduce Psionic combat abilities to damage dealers, why not just play a bloody wizard?
Hopefully there's a lot more too it once the whole picture becomes available.
Attack mode: Brain Lock.
Defense Mode: Mind Blank.
Done, done and done.
3.0 psionic combat sucked. A lot. It got put out of it's misery.
Originally posted by Phoenix_Down
I don't think i have heard a positive comment from anyone about WOTC's half giants.
Probably because they're pansies...they're slightly tougher than half-orcs, and wimps compared to half-ogres.
Not sure I understand (Psi)SeveredHead's last comment though. I thought psionic combat was completely out, which I would agree with for the 3.0 version, which was really, really broken... Anyways...
Noticed the Wild Talent feat? And lots of feats at that...
Soulknife is interesting. I would have thought however that this class would have been more of a rogue/psion than what it is now, being a warrior with psionic abilities. Still cool though.
I've only seen psionic combat done well twice.
One was Mindscapes, which I'm sure you're familiar with. If not, I'll give you the brief rundown.
Combat modes are free, and furthermore are free actions. However, they don't do the same things as 3.0 combat modes. You get a mode check bonus based on level (lower for psychic warriors and most PrCs) and so does your psionic opponent. (It has no effect on non-psionic opponents). Each of the opponents rolls, and the winner gets a small bonus (eg +3 to save vs a power, or DR 1/-, or something like that). You can take a penalty to your check to get a bigger bonus (up to a +5 bonus) but then your opponent is more likely to win.
Even though it's free, if you're facing an opponent of roughly equal level they'll win about half the time, so it helps just as much as it hurts.
The other was in an ALTERNITY supplement, not the core book. My comments reflected the latter.
In ALTERNITY Mindwalking: A Guide to Psionics, all Telepathic powers were basically attack modes. There was no penalty for not having a "defense mode" whether the defender was psionic or not. However, there were a few psionic powers that could defend you from "attack modes". One of these powers was a mental shield. It didn't cost too much and lasted 1d4+4 hours ... probably 1 hour/level in DnD terms. It gave you the equivalent of saving throw bonuses against "attack modes" but collapsed if you were actually affected by one of these powers. Psychic armor was another "defense mode" that made you defense points against "attack modes". So, if you had 6 "defense points" you could resist, say, 6 incoming "attack modes". (In ALTERNITY there weren't any power levels, so converting it wouldn't be too simple.)
The biggest problem I've seen with nearly every psionic combat system is that defense modes cost power points and you have to use them. In ALTERNITY you didn't have to use them, which was cool. This way you were getting a bonus for spending power points, and you didn't get a bonus for not spending points, but you didn't suffer a penalty for not using points.
But as far as the 3.5 Psionics, any idea if they're implimenting a system anything like that, or is it just straight damage? (Blah).
I agree that the 3.0 Psionic combat is broken, which is why I was (am) hoping that they do something better in the Expanded handbook. Other than Psionic combat and a few powers, I didn't have too much of a problem with the system.
If their solution to the psionic combat problem is simply to have no psionic combat at all, it just reduces a psion to a wizard without icky things in their pockets.
I infer that psionic combat still exists, but it's integrated into the regular arry of powers. Being psionic makes you more susceptible to certain things, but also potentially able to better defend yourself. At least, that's my guess.
Also, notice that the soul knife gets only a wild talent and his class abilities, he isn't actually a manifester, as such. He's got an open mind, but no defense modes.
My god... must we live in such a world?
I'm not to broken up about the apparent dissolution to the mental combat. Mindscapes is probably the only fair one I've seen thus far.
Originally posted by Dawnstealer
Actually, I like the drawings. Even the kreen. I always thought they looked a little strange with thoraxes...
Yes... the athasian thri-kreen, with floating arms and head, was much nicer! :D
Anyways, I still prefer the thri-kreens with insectoid abdomens.