I had a brief look at the DLCS and AoM and was delighted by what I saw. I still have a hard time realizing that's all of it is true, that there presently are DL gaming books up-to-date with current D&D.
It has been such a long time since we've had the chance... [wipe a tear]Ok, enough sentimentality, and on with the questions:
First about the death knight. It' s nice to have a DL-specific template and all, but I rather liked the 2nd ed version of it, and some things apparently didn't make it to 3.5rd ed. I'm thinking principally of the spell resistance that turns back spells if the check is too low. I'm not sure how exactly it could be implemented, though. I can see why 1-3 (15% in 2nd ed) wouldn't be possible because of high-level casters, but maybe on a natural 1? 5 % is still better than nothing...
And, I loved the idea that it was very risky to engage a death knight in combat: most of your spells wouldn't get through, and since it was already a formidable melee fighter...
So I thought perhaps their spell resistance could be 20 + [ half their HD ]. It's not a big increase but it can make a difference.Among other things to consider are their spell-like abilities. I don't see how allowing them to detect magic at will would hurt anybody, and being able to cast dispel magic and wall of ice twice or thrice a day would be a plus, too.
As for their armor class, I think there was some kind of miswrite in the template description, where it says you take whichever is better between its natural armor (5) and the one it wears, because Lord Ausric seems to benefit from both, if I am not mistaken. In my point of view this seems like the most logical thing to do, since his bonelike hardness/evil aura/magical deflection shouldn't disappear when he put something on, but help better his protection.
I guess the CR could go one point up for all these changes, but I'm no expert in that domain, so any help would be welcome.
Armor class is also something that puzzled me with draconians: They had a significantly better AC in 2nd Ed. I guess the reason for lowering it would be that the monstrous compendium 2nd ed. factored in natural armor, worn armor and dexterity in the AC. But even then, I don't think auraks wore any armor because of spellcasting, and they had 0 AC (or 20 for you 3rd ed youngsters ;) ). Shouldn't a race coming directly from dragons, which must be some of the creatures with the highest AC, have a very good natural armor, with their scaly hide and all that? When I compare to the natural 5 AC of the ogres I'm all
.What really irked me though was the tone-down of the aurak death throes. I'm really curious about the reasons behind this. Anybody has an idea??
Well that's it for my two-[insert appropriate money here] worth. Remember: we only criticize the ones we love.:D
In the case of death knights and draconians, one has to remember just how loaded with powers those creatures were in AD&D. We place a fairly high emphasis now on balance and suitably challenging encounters in 3rd edition, and at some point the decision has to be made on whether the monster should retain all the abilities they used to have or whether there's a better (or somewhat more well-adjusted) way to approach it. I think the SP team did a very good job of putting the draconians into the realm of suitable challenges, especially considering the fact that these creatures can now have class levels (aurak sorcerers, baaz fighters, kapak rogues, etc). It's important to provide a decent foundation for that kind of expected development.
So, just as you won't find a con artist or cavalier base class in Dragonlance any longer, you may find that some of the monsters, races and even magic items are somewhat different. Thematically, they're the same, and I don't expect people have complaints about that (the staff of Magius is still the staff of Magius, regardless of what its exact abilities are) but if a monster no longer has super-powerful features, consider whether that's now something a feat, class levels, or template will handle instead.
Cheers,
Cam
I guess it makes sense, with all the possibilities given by the feats and level/class advancement of 3rd ed...
But I still think an aurak should be formidable during both his life and death.
edit: Granakrs, oh wisest amongst the Scaled, can you provide enlightment on this suject?