As 4e D&D has matured, the sheer number of powers to choose from has grown significantly. At its inception, a character made from the Player’s Handbook would choose two or three at-will powers from a total of four listed, one encounter power from four listed and one daily power form four listed. The occasional utility power sometimes provided three or four choices for a character, which served primarily to enhance either their primary role or their secondary role in the party.

With the advent of non-AEDU (at-will, encounter, daily, utility) character classes, such as the psionic classes, as well as the Essentials classes, the one aspect of the power selection that was not changed was the choice of utility powers at level 2, 6, and so on. The introduction of skill powers in the Player’s Handbook 3 began to finally expand the utility power into more than simply a way to enhance your existing class features and powers. In the last year and a half of development, 4e has introduced themes for heroic tier character characters, as well as several articles on the subject of new racial utility powers. Utility powers have shifted away from their original role in a character, and have taken on a new importance as the new true form of character customization.

Aside from power and feat selection, there are five major choices in a character’s playlife. The first three come at character generation, in the form of race, class, and theme, with the other two being paragon path and epic destiny. Counting the subclasses as separate choices, both theme and race serve to form a solid part of the character out of the gate. While there are mechanical benefits associated with both of these choices, they are ultimately less important compared to the mechanical aspect of class. It is in the way that they define the character for purposes of role-playing and story interaction that the choice of race and theme become the strongest.

Utility powers come at points in a character’s development where they can greatly impact a character’s role in and out of combat. At level 2, a utility power is the first time that a character has an opportunity to choose a non-combat related power, or a power that reinforces a secondary combat role. At level 6, the character has reached the middle of the heroic tier, and the second utility power can be used to further enforce their choice of role or secondary role. At level 10, their option of utility power serves as the capstone of their heroic tier, combining with a feat and theme feature to present the picture of a hero on the verge of paragon. The next choice of utility powers comes at level 16, when the character enters into the drive to the end of paragon tier, and the last is chosen at level 22, at the start of a character’s epic career. Each of these levels can be pivotal moments in a character’s development, and in many ways, the choice of a utility power can reflect that.

Finally, it is in the utility powers that characters are given the greatest choice of options. Many class-based utility powers either emphasize their role or their secondary role in combat. However, there are also many that grant useful applications out of combat. Rogues gain mobility, Wizards can manipulate the masses with magic, and Fighters can get advantages to using brute force. With the introduction of theme and racial utility powers, powers can be chosen which move the character more in line with the iconic depiction of either their character’s race or their character’s heroic tier story. Finally, there are the options for skill powers, which can be selected with both the utility slot of the appropriate level, or a feat. This provides most characters with a choice of at least three, and in many cases four, pools of customization. By not being limited to simply in-class, in-combat options, the utility power can be used to provide the character with new options that might otherwise be denied to them.

From personal experience, I have found that it is often the utility powers that intrigue me the most about a class. While most of the other powers provided by a class follow a fairly strict formula for the level of its power, a utility power can run the gamut in action types, as well as the usage. Some utility powers can change the battlefield dramatically, while others give you options of varying power outside of combat. Many assist in skill challenge, an aspect to 4e that does not receive enough attention or support. As opposed to the attack powers, there is no significant power creep per level in utility powers, and a character will have the utility powers they select potentially their entire career. Most importantly, not every utility power is useful in every game, and since they do not have to directly contribute to the equation of tactical combat, this is good. As 4e continues to mature, and more options in the terms of theme, race, and paragon paths are brought to the table, it will remain the utility powers that truly separate characters from each other.

Related reading:

• Character Creation Tips
• Make Your Character More Than Just Numbers
• Skill Training

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While the Dungeon’s Master team enjoys some well-deserved vacation time, we’re breaking out the greatest hits and shining a spotlight on a few of our favourite articles from 2011. We’ve searched for hidden gems that our newer readers might have missed and our long-time readers will enjoy reading again. Enjoy a second look at these greatest hits from Dungeon’s Master.

Excluding monsters, there are 36 playable races in 4e D&D (so far). Each race brings something unique to the character creation equation. Although a character of any race can become any class, there are obviously some that are more suited than others based on racial bonuses. But even with the choices narrowed down, it’s still unusual to have any two PCs in a party be the same race or even the same class. That’s just the way D&D works. And I for one have absolutely no issues with it.

The challenge with this kind of multiculturalism is coming up with a plausible reason that explains how and why these characters ever came together in the first place. It’s easy to accept the foundations of the fantasy setting in the context of the game, but beyond the high level elements, players still expect a certain level of realism and want things to make sense even in a wondrous setting. Yet time after time we just accept (albeit begrudgingly) that this band of misfits we call a party found common purpose and have become fast friends.

One of the best ways to overcome the “why are we in the same adventuring party?” problem is to find some commonality. Making everyone play the same race is probably the easiest way to accomplish this. As much as I hate to restrict anyone’s options during character creation, a party of the same race does present some immediate benefits, the first and most obvious of which is finding motive to be together.

When the party is made up entirely of just one race there are plenty of ways to create a shared background between some of all of the characters. It also gives the players a chance to look at the racial powers and feats and see if there are ways to try something that they might not be able to if there weren’t other members of the same race in their party.

When Lair Assault offered Glory for a party of the same race that completed the adventure I expected to see a lot of same-race parties. Of the 15+ games I watched or played in, I never saw a single party where the PCs were all the same race. I saw a few parties with four Dwarves or four Genasi, but never the full five. I guess that no matter how appealing you make it, unless the DM puts his foot down, people will exercise their freedom of choice and make the character they want, race be damned. Oh well, their loss.

From August 19, 2011, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Band of Brothers: Adventuring Parties of the Same Race.

In the upcoming Lair Assault public play adventure series Wizards is introducing “Glory,” a new achievement system where players earn points for accomplishing different goals. However, not all Glory is earned for defeating the monsters. In order to encourage repeat play they’re awarding Glory for trying things you might not normally consider trying – one such scenario is playing a party where everyone is the same race.

Have you ever played in a party where everyone was the same race? Normally, when you’re creating a character you can choose from any race or class that interests you; the sky’s the limit. What this usually means is that the party ends up with five PCs each representing different races and classes, and that’s ok. In fact it’s practically expected. A party where everyone’s the same race is an anomaly in D&D. But after hearing that Wizards would reward players with special Glory for trying this unusual party make-up I started considering just what such a party might look like. The more I thought about it the more excited I got about where this might lead.

Although Lair Assault is a tactical encounter and the focus is on combat, there is a lot of excellent role-playing potential for a party where everyone is the same race. Right off the bat it allows the party to create a shared history. No more boring explanations for how and why this group of eclectic misfits came to be working together in an adventuring party. If they’re all the same race there’s a really good chance that they all grew up together, are from the same community or are possibly even all related. This kind of bond adds a level or loyalty and likely a few long-standing grudges that you don’t usually see in a normal party where everyone was just thrown together.

Another interesting possibility about a party of common race is that they’ll all know a foreign language. This gives the party an easy way to communicate secretly when others are within earshot.

DMs can create specially designed campaigns that are going to appeal to a party where everyone is the same race that wouldn’t work nearly as well for a mixed race party. There are plenty of magical items that enhance racial bonuses or bestow special properties to members of a certain race. If everyone in the party is that race then motivating them to go on a quest to find one (or more) of these items should be easy.

So what might a party where everyone is the same race be like from a gaming and mechanics perspective? We’ll that all depends on how creative you want to be. Here are a few suggestions I came up with.

Dwarf

This is probably the most likely same-race party we’re going to see. A group of five Dwarven brothers, definitely from the same clan or possibly even blood relatives venture out on a quest or just to seek adventure. Maybe they’re explorers, treasure seekers or exiles. An interesting quark to add to an all Dwarf party is to have them all use hammers; for whatever reason they refuse to use edged weapons like swords or axes.

The class composition would almost certainly include a Fighter, Cleric and Barbarian, with a good chance of having an Avenger, Invoker, Monk, Warden or Artificer. Obviously classes that favour Wisdom would be well represented and Arcane classes would likely be excluded.

See Dwarves Are The Best Race and Exploiting Racial and Class Abilities: Dwarven Resilience.

Drow

Not as common as a party of Dwarves, a striker-heavy Drow party could deal enough damage to any potential foe so quickly that they’d be down before they knew they were under attack. By using their Darkfire racial power they could target creatures one by one and focus their fire until they drop. An all Drow party that specializes in ranged attacks (bows and crossbows) could be particularly deadly.

The class composition would certainly have one or two Rangers (archers) and Rogues (hand crossbows). Continuing with the all bow theme then you could also have a Warlord (archer build), Bard, and possibly even an Artificer. Of course a straight up Cleric, Wizard or Sorcerer probably wouldn’t hurt either.

See Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Cloud of Darkness.

Dragonborn

Dragonborn may be new to 4e D&D but they are incredibly powerful, popular and mysterious. A party of five Dragonborn could carry enough intrigue and unpredictability to interest a group of players. As most established settings don’t have an abundance of Dragonborn areas, they party is going to stand out no matter what they do anyway. Why not play that up. Have the PCs only converse in Draconic no matter who else is around. Feigning an ignorance of the local language could give the PCs an edge they might not normally have if the party was more cosmopolitan.

With all of the feats and powers available to maximize their Dragon Breath racial power, a party of all Dragonborn could easily get by without a controller. The class composition is likely to have a Paladin, Warlord and Barbarian. Monk and Ranger are good choices if you need more strikers, and the Dragonborn’s naturally high Charisma means that Sorcerer and Bard are good Arcane options. The Honorblade Paragon Path allows the Dragonborn to truly maximize his Dragon Breath so players that don’t choose a martial class right off the bat may want to take a multi-class feat in order to qualify. This makes the Warden a really good build if you’re looking to focus on maximizing Dragon Breath.

A quest to find the items that make up the Silver Dragon Regalia is an obvious and ideal adventure hook for a party of Dragonborn adventurers. The Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor and the Conqueror’s Weapon are mandatory for any Dragonborn looking to truly empower their Dragon Breath.

See Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Dragon Breath.

Eladrin

These fey folk are often looked at as soft by other races. A creative party can easily change that preconception in a hurry. The Fey Step racial power gives every member of the party a “get out of jail free card” if they find themselves in a really tight spot. It also means that they can plan and coordinate attacks from unexpected positions. As long as they can see their destination square they can get there using Fey Step.

The class composition of a party of Eladrins will certainly have a Wizard, Ranger and Rogue. Strong contenders for the rest of the party include Swordmage, Bard, Warlock and Bladesinger.

A party of Eladrin would certainly welcome any opportunity equip each member with an Eladrin Ring of Passage. These rings provide increased range on the Eladrin’s Fey Step and allow them to teleport without line of sight once per day. This advantage is something no foe would expect.

See Exploiting Racial and Class Features: Fey Step.

These are just a few examples of parties where all the PCs are the same race. If you chose to play in a party like this what race would you play? How do you see the class selection of such a party breaking down? Are there any races that you think would be unsuited to this kind of party composition?

Related reading:

• Playing Against Type
• Playing a Recognizable Archetype
• Playing In An Unbalanced Party

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If your Wizard wants to dabble in swordplay he can always choose to multi-class in Fighter (assuming you meet the prerequisites). Or, if this is something you decided during the character creation process then you can make a hybrid character that combines aspects of both classes equally. But what happens if, after many levels as a Wizard, you decide that you don’t just want to be a dabbler who multi-classes. What if he wants to give up the arcane arts entirely and become a Fighter? What does he do then?

If you’re following the rules as written then you don’t really have any acceptable options. However, a creative player may be able to convince an adventurous DM to explore other possibilities, especially if they make sense in the context of the game.

Changing classes after character creation isn’t something that the 4e mechanics allow for. However, previous editions of D&D did. It’s not something that happens often so I’m not surprised that no 4e mechanic exists to accommodate this kind of thing. But sometimes there will be a really good in-game story rationale for why a PC must abandon his old class entirely and pursue another. In these cases we need to get creative.

In previous editions of D&D a characters had a couple of options if they wanted to pick up a different class. When it came to multi-classing in 3e you just took a new class and added the level 1 powers and bonuses to your existing character. It was possible for a level 12 Fighter to adventure along side a level 4 Fighter/level 8 Wizard. In fact multi-classing usually presented a lot of powerful synergies so it was more uncommon to find character that stuck to just their primary class all the way through their adventuring career. But in 4e you pick a class and that’s it. You’re stuck with it. You can still multiclass but you are no more than a dabbler, gaining one basic power from your secondary class. In order to get anything else you have to select feats that allow you to swap out powers one at a time.

Another option that was available back in 2e AD&D was to dual class. This is more along the lines of what I’m thinking of now. You decided at some point to stop being your primary class forever. You began anew at level 1 in your second class. The kicker was that you couldn’t use any of your powers or abilities from the first class until reached one level higher in the new class. So a level 5 Wizard could give up his magic to become a Fighter, but he was unable to use any of his magical abilities until he reached level 6 in his new class. It was a painful process, but once you made it those Wizard powers were yours to use again as you wanted. You could never again advance as a Wizard now that you were a Fighter, but you could benefit from all those years spent studying the arcane arts again.

The dual class model from 2e is what I’m thinking of for 4e. How can we use 4e mechanics for this kind of transformation to happen? I’ve given this some considerable thought and I’ve got a solution.

Let’s continue using the Wizard/Fighter example. Assume that the character reaches level as a Wizard. If he abandons Wizardry he cannot use any powers related to that class. This means none of his at-wills, encounter, utility or daily powers are accessible (for now). Any trained skill not normally allowed for the new class no longer gains the +5 benefit that comes with training. Any feats that are restricted to the original class are also barred.

I’ll bet some of you are thinking “How do you lose training in a skill?” Here’s how I envision it. Since the Wizard is trying to learn something totally new, in this case weapons and fighting, he’s not going to have much use for the Arcana skill. He needs to focus all his resources on the new stuff, like the History of battle tactics or the drills that are represented by Athletics.

After figuring out what you don’t have access to let’s look at what you do have access to. You keep your original hit points (as a level 5 Wizard) and just add the appropriate number per level based on the new class. You also continue to get the +1 to all the usual stats whenever the level of the two combined classes is an even number. Ability bumps still happen when the total character levels is 4, 8, 14, 18, 24, 28 as usual. And you can freely use any feat that is available to your new class. I’d even allow you to retrain class-specific feats to something that’s available to your new class (say, trading implement focus for weapon focus).

All numbers including attack scores, damage rolls, defenses, hit points and healing surges will be based on the PCs total level and not one or the other. In order for the PC to advance he’d need to meet the XP requirements for his combined level and not level 2 in his new class. You won’t select a paragon path for the new class until you reached level 11 in the new class. After all you still require 10 levels of experience to for all paragon paths.

When the PC’s level in his new class exceeds that of his old class then he can again go back to using powers, feats and skills trained from his old class. However, you are still restricted to the number of skills you can be trained in. I’d say pick the better of the two classes and use that number.

Magic items are a little bit trickier. I’d say you get to keep all of your items and material goods. This should help keep a more experienced PC closer to the power level of his adventuring companions who are traditional characters. However, if you’re making an incredibly radical class change, many items from the old class likely won’t be help in the new one. A +2 orb isn’t going to be much use to a Fighter.

Since most of us are utterly dependant on character builder this kind of deviation from the rules will present challenges. However, most of these can be overcome by maintaining two character sheets: one for the Wizard version and one for the Fighter version. You’ll need to mark up the hard copy and adjust some of the modifiers, but for the most part everything else will work as indicated on the sheet.

If you’re still with me you’re likely thinking that this is a lot of work for a character that will probably be less powerful than a full on, single classed character of the same total level. And you’re probably right. This isn’t a build designed for power gaming, this is a build that will allow players to try something really different with the 4e mechanics and open up new possibilities for their game.

I keep using the Wizard/Fighter example because it’s this kind of radical change from arcane controller to martial defender that I see as the most interesting and rewarding to play. I imagine the events necessary for anyone to choose this kind of transformation and it make me giddy. This is the kind of game I want to play. This is the kind of long-term adventure arc that screams of intrigue and sacrifice. This isn’t just a hack-and-slash adventure; this is something with real emotion. It’s gamers that want this kind of experience I believe will find this type of house ruled build the most appealing.

What do you think of a 4e dual class build like the one I’ve presented? Do you think it gimps the PC too much to be viable? Does the incredible story and role-playing opportunities outweigh the possible negative combat mechanics enough for you to consider using this build? How many players actually have experience with a PC that abandoned their initial class for a bran new one (possibly in previous editions)? Tell us about the experience and why it worked or didn’t.

Related reading:

• Adventuring With A Sub-Optimal Party (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4)
• Playing In An Unbalanced Party

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In my local gaming circle, which operates out of a college gaming club, the autumn always brings with it a plethora of new games. With a very active player base, and a wide variety of different parties, I have the advantage of seeing several different parties and classes in action. It allows me to see trends, and not just those that are commented upon increasingly by the editorials released by Wizards of the Coast. While what I have seen at this gaming circle confirms most of what they have said, a recent observation has given an interesting conversation. Other than Clerics and Paladins, divine classes do not get played.

After interviewing most of my gaming circle as to why, I have been able to come up with the same reasons for Avengers, Invokers, and Runepriests. First, there is a lack of distinctive flavor for Runepriests and Invokers to separate them from Clerics and Wizards. Second, the powers and feats are generally lackluster. And third, especially in the case of the Avenger, they simply do not measure up to the other classes for their role in the party. The subject of the Avenger in specific has been discussed before on this blog, and how it fails to be a good striker class. As such, a few friends and I were inspired to take the Avenger back to the drawing board, and re-think the class to solve the issues of a lack of traction, a lack of support, and a lack of being a striker.

The first step to reworking the Avenger into a good, hard-working striker is to examine what traction it does have, and enhance it. The Avenger is an oath-sworn killer for a god, who travels about in plain clothing, able to strike swiftly and dispatch their god’s enemies. They are a divine warrior, with no armor, and an intense religious fervor. The concept of an Avenger is interesting, but how to differentiate it from other strikers and divine classes is necessary, and the execution of the class falls short. While sharing many similarities with the Assassin in flavor and fluff, it is necessary to show the divine blessings of their faith to make the Avenger stand out.

As a divine warrior class, the Avenger should be a build of the Paladin class. This will give it support in the form of several Paladin feats, as well as open up a range of powers without needing to publish the full four encounter, four daily per level. Yes, that loses the access to the currently existing Avenger powers, but considering their lackluster power selections, that is not much lost. And even in further review of powers, Paladins have higher damaging encounter and daily powers than an Avenger, with a 3[W] Encounter (Heedless Fury) and a 4[W] daily (Blood of the Mighty) at level 1. Instead of existing Paladin At-Wills, however, the class would best be served by focusing on a Melee Basic Attack and some new At-Wills specific for their interactions with the Oath of Enmity, which is the Avenger’s defining features. I’ll get into those later.

Similar to the Thane build of the Bard available in Heroes of the Feywild, Avengers should still be an AEDU (At-Will, Encounter, Daily, Utility) class, with different features from the base Paladin. They should keep their focus on being unarmored, mobile holy warrior, and focus on making melee attacks with increased accuracy. However, the Oath of Enmity alone does not make them a threat enough. While they will score a critical hit twice as often, it still puts them behind the curve on damage compared to every other striker out there. Also, as it stands, an Avenger has a very weak Melee Basic Attack, which is one of the key areas of attacking. As such, I propose to remove the need for Wisdom from Avengers as a primary attribute, and move to Strength. This falls in line with the movement towards a Paladin class, as the high damaging Paladin powers are strength based. This will also give them a strong Melee Basic Attack. I would give them a damage increasing feature that does not rely on their Oath of Enmity as well, such as a scaling damage similar to Sorcerers and Slayers based off of Wisdom, or simply +1d8 per tier once per turn on a melee weapon attack. With their increased critical hit chance, I feel the latter to be a stronger choice, as it will maximize more often.

I would keep the Oath of Enmity and Armor of Faith. I feel these two features are their most defining. I would keep their weapon and armor proficiencies unchanged, as well as their defense bonuses. I would drop the Channel Divinity feature. Finally, I would move their hit points and healing surges to the standard Paladin amount, as per the Paladin and Blackguard. This would make them tougher, yes, but even with the Armor of Faith benefit, they will still generally simply get attacked more, and this will make them a more significant threat. The Censures, however, would need to be changed. As they stand currently, they are supposed to be the damage kicker that made the class a striker. However, they fell drastically short of that mark, and they have been replaced. However, I feel that the Censure could be reworked to better suit the class as a form of divine punishment.

Keep the Censure of Retribution and Pursuit. Make them encounter power free actions that trigger when you attack your Oath of Enmity target. Have it deal extra radiant damage on a scaling amount based off of Intelligence (Retribution) or Dexterity (Pursuit) as an effect, similar to the Smites that the Cavalier and Blackguard have. As a light armor class, that would make both Intelligence and Dexterity as secondary attributes. Add a requirement for the usage of the power similar to the existing conditions. The Avenger can only activate Censure of Pursuit when the enemy targeted by their Oath willingly moves away on its turn, and deals damage equal to 2 + Dexterity modifier (scaling) radiant damage. The Censure of Unity can be activated at any point, but deals damage equal to the Avenger’s Intelligence modifier, for every time they were hit since the end of their last turn.

Now, we have an Avenger who is a holy warrior who operates without armor, swings a weapon with better than average accuracy, deals on par striker damage with Melee Basic Attacks, and punishes their chosen target once per encounter under special circumstances. The final piece to the puzzle comes in with their At-Will powers. Similar to the Skald build for the Bard in Heroes of the Feywild, the Avenger is best served by having At-Will divine aura powers that interact with their Oath of Enmity. These powers would be Aura 1. These powers should serve to be the extra hammer to play into the Censures, by which they need to either encourage monsters to attack the Avenger, or encourage the target of the Oath of Enmity to move away from the Avenger.

I feel that a good aura to encourage the latter would be one that gave the Avenger a Melee Basic Attack against the target of their Oath of Enmity as an opportunity action whenever a creature in their aura hits them. For optimization reasons, it is necessary for it not to be an opportunity attack, but a Melee Basic Attack as an opportunity action. This would make the target not to want to attack the Avenger while in the aura, and discourage other monsters from engaging the Avenger in melee so long as the Oath of Enmity is in their melee range. An aura that encourages monsters to attack the Avenger would be one that allowed the Avenger to shift one square as an opportunity action when a creature in the aura moved away from them. This fulfills the Pursuit idea excellently, as well as encourages monsters to focus melee attacks on the Avenger as needing to choose between moving and provoking an attack of opportunity, or shifting, and still having the Avenger next to them. A ranged attack could still shift back, however, and then make a ranged attack with impunity, as the Avenger’s opportunity action on that turn was spent.

With these two auras, we see a growing theme. An aura that allows opportunity actions for the Avenger should continue with the other two auras. These should be similar to the second At-Will aura in that they would work with both Avenger Censures. A third aura would be one that, as an opportunity action to the Avenger being hit by a creature in their aura, dealt their Intelligence modifier in radiant damage to the target of their Oath of Enmity. This would encourage an Avenger to Oath a distant target, and then charge into a group of other enemies. As the damage is an opportunity action, it would not be usable on the Avenger’s turn, and multi-attacking monsters would only activate it once. The fourth aura would fill the gap created by the other three, allowing the Avenger to take on a secondary role. As they are a Paladin class, that role should most likely be Defender. The fourth aura I would have on the Avenger would grant them temporary hit points equal to their Wisdom modifier as an opportunity action when an enemy in their aura made an attack. This would provide a buffer on the damage they would be suffering, as well as add the strategy of whether an enemy is better off attacking the Avenger or another PC.

To prevent these auras from being used by other Paladins, I would suggest them requiring the Armor of Faith class feature. This would give them the flavor of further interacting with the divine power radiating from the Avenger, and protecting them. The nature of the auras would encourage Avengers to switch between them on their turns to best suit the combat as it progresses. The final product is a lightly armored, fast moving weapon based warrior who shields themselves in the power of their faith, and smite the foes of their god with extreme prejudice. This Avenger will deal damage on par with other strikers of its level, and with a few powers, would fulfill the role of a divine striker with traction and competitive support.

Related reading:

• Avenger – Worst Striker Ever
• Role vs Roll: Why I Play A Rogue
• Playing In An Unbalanced Party

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As both a player and Dungeon Master, I’ve seen 4e D&D grow and mature since it was first released. It started out locked hard into its mold of a four role, five player party, with its very linear progression and development. There were some parts of it that worked, and some parts that did not. In the years that have passed, 4e D&D has changed significantly, and there is a wealth of options for any given character at this point. Not all options are even, but that is a given when dealing with any robust and mature game.

Today the Dungeon’s Master team welcomes our newest contributor, Sndwurks (David Buresh). Sndwurks started playing Dungeons & Dragons nearly 20 years ago, and took up the mantle of Dungeon Master one year into the hobby. He is an avid gamer and enjoying gaming across all its various mediums. He is also an author of horror and historical fiction, and a semi-professional storyteller. We welcome him to the team and hope you enjoy his first contribution. – Ameron

Within the four role mold, there are simply some characters who do not fit. Some are classes being played across role, such as a defender being built as a controller, or a controller who hands out party buffs more than enemy debuffs. Others are more complex, and are managing to exist in a nebulous place between two roles, fulfilling each without sacrificing the other. One of these types of characters is the role referred to in my gaming circle as the Offender.

Building an Offender

The primary purpose of the Offender is to hold the attention of one or two enemies on the field through a combination of marking and damage. Marking is optional, but often present. Offenders typically have hit points and defenses comparable to a defender, and deal damage comparable to a striker. The Offender often also has a high amount of effect negation, in order to resist the soft control placed by monsters. The Offender is a highly survivable, melee and close damage dealing beast who can operate at times without party support.

The most common Offender is built using a melee striker class who favours good defenses and hit points. Blackguards and Slayers are typically Offenders, but Sorcerers and Barbarians can often also move into this role. The second most common is a defender class which uses its marking feature against no more than two enemies at a time, and uses its feats and powers to improve their damage output. These Offenders often will force the enemy to break the mark, in order to further increase their damage output. These Offenders are typically built using either a Swordmage or Weaponmaster class as their chassis.

The third and most complicated Offender is built using the hybrid class rules. These Offenders have a tendency to be more fragile than either of their parent classes in the same sub-role, but are capable of inflicting a more sustainable impact on the battlefield. Utilizing their ability to pick and choose AEDU powers (At-wills, Encounter, Daily and Utility powers), the hybrids often use the Assault Swordmage as one of their classes, with a striker class that grants an at-will melee basic attack as their other class. Usually, this is either a Constitution based Warlock using Eldritch Strike, though a Power of Skill Avenger or the new hybrid Vampire using Vampire Slam can be just as effective. The character plays by marking a creature with their Aegis, then attempting to not engage that creature if at all possible on their turn in order to use their immediate action to perform a melee basic attack against the target.

The Offender challenges the traditional roles of 4e D&D by being at times both a defender and a striker. They are often only mildly less durable than a devoted defender, and may only lack the abundance of interrupts and out of turn attacks of a striker. They can take the heat off of a primary defender by engaging one or two enemies at a time, allowing the controller and defender to neutralize the other threats on the board. Starting in upper heroic, and moving into low epic, Offenders can compete with the other strikers for the necessary 3-round kill. In lower heroic, Offenders lag behind in damage with other strikers, and beyond mid epic, Offenders often do not have the damage mitigation necessary to adequately handle the higher damaging monsters.

Playing an Offender

The Offender favours a play style that operates somewhat independently of the typical party support roles. While they still significantly benefit from the presence of a leader or a controller, they are typically in the position where the support role is better applying its effects elsewhere. Offenders are rarely sticky, and are generally only focused on by monsters they are attacking or have marked through their effects. Other monsters will attack them only when they are the best target available and thus playing an Offender requires an understanding of how to make oneself the best target available for a given attack. Typically, the easiest and safest way to be the best target available is for the Offender to be within the monster’s speed while the other characters are not. The other way is to have the lowest relevant defense out of available targets. Maintaining one or two enemies’ attention in an encounter is key for an Offender, and often they have the defensive powers and attributes sufficient to survive this.

Like any character whose focus is damage, the Offender should place artillery as their top priority of targets. However, if that artillery is outside their engagement radius (in this case engagement radius being the distance the PC can move and charge on their first turn), the Offender should focus on Controllers and Lurkers next. If the party has a defender, the Offender should be leaving the Skirmishers to them, while Brutes are better handled by the PC controller. Soldiers occupy an interesting niche in regards to engagement. If as an Offender, you have a comparably good attack scores for your level, you may be the best choice to engage an enemy soldier. Their marking effects will encourage you to attack them, while your own defensive abilities should shield you from their wrath. Offender builds utilizing the Barbarian class or multi-class can even pick up Targeted Assault to better their chances of hitting the soldier. This is a good feat for any melee character to consider if your DM favours Soldiers who mark.

Regarding defensive abilities, an Offender must be adaptable and learn what monster types a DM favours the most. If a DM favours Brutes and Skirmishers, higher defenses and encounter powers that increase defense are necessary to avoid consuming too many healing surges in an encounter. If a DM favours Soldiers and artillery, methods of self-healing and temporary hit point generation become a stronger Defensive measure, as well as resistances. If the DM favours Lurkers and Controllers, then a blend of the two methods of protection can be used, with an emphasis on immediate and free actions that protect you and shake off effects.

Dungeon Mastering an Offender

As a DM, when one of your players chooses to play an Offender, they are telling you that they enjoy playing the hard-line, in the fray sort of character. They want something that is intimidating to fight against, and more than capable of handling themselves without the full support of the rest of the party. They are not playing the most durable character who can stand against wave after wave of enemy assault, nor are they playing the cool and calm character who can kill anything you put against them. They are choosing to play the sort of character who can challenge the hardest, meanest thing in the battle to a one on one fight, and stand a reasonable chance of winning.

Build your encounters accordingly. When laying out an encounter, be keenly aware of the Offender’s engagement radius, and place the monsters you think they will have the most fun fighting based on the order of operation. If you place an artillery monster within an Offender’s engagement radius, they will go for it above all other targets. If you wish to place traps or the like, keep that in mind. Also, do not place a soldier within the Offender’s common attack path, as that will defeat the purpose of the soldier in the fight. Allow the soldier to threaten the less durable characters, such as a striker or PC controller. A good Offender will choose to aggress on the enemy soldier once their primary target is dead.

The main challenge to DMing for an Offender is avoiding letting the Offender hog the spotlight. Like a striker, the Offender gets to have the glory of being most likely to kill a monster. Often, players who favour Offenders also have a tendency to jump for recognition and attention. A DM must make sure that there is a challenge for all players in the game, and to not allow any one player to dominate a combat or social encounter. Be aware of the Offender, and make sure they are provided ways to improve the game experience for everyone.

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In the upcoming Lair Assault public play adventure series Wizards is introducing “Glory,” a new achievement system where players earn points for accomplishing different goals. However, not all Glory is earned for defeating the monsters. In order to encourage repeat play they’re awarding Glory for trying things you might not normally consider trying – one such scenario is playing a party where everyone is the same race.

Have you ever played in a party where everyone was the same race? Normally, when you’re creating a character you can choose from any race or class that interests you; the sky’s the limit. What this usually means is that the party ends up with five PCs each representing different races and classes, and that’s ok. In fact it’s practically expected. A party where everyone’s the same race is an anomaly in D&D. But after hearing that Wizards would reward players with special Glory for trying this unusual party make-up I started considering just what such a party might look like. The more I thought about it the more excited I got about where this might lead.

Although Lair Assault is a tactical encounter and the focus is on combat, there is a lot of excellent role-playing potential for a party where everyone is the same race. Right off the bat it allows the party to create a shared history. No more boring explanations for how and why this group of eclectic misfits came to be working together in an adventuring party. If they’re all the same race there’s a really good chance that they all grew up together, are from the same community or are possibly even all related. This kind of bond adds a level or loyalty and likely a few long-standing grudges that you don’t usually see in a normal party where everyone was just thrown together.

Another interesting possibility about a party of common race is that they’ll all know a foreign language. This gives the party an easy way to communicate secretly when others are within earshot.

DMs can create specially designed campaigns that are going to appeal to a party where everyone is the same race that wouldn’t work nearly as well for a mixed race party. There are plenty of magical items that enhance racial bonuses or bestow special properties to members of a certain race. If everyone in the party is that race then motivating them to go on a quest to find one (or more) of these items should be easy.

So what might a party where everyone is the same race be like from a gaming and mechanics perspective? We’ll that all depends on how creative you want to be. Here are a few suggestions I came up with.

Dwarf

This is probably the most likely same-race party we’re going to see. A group of five Dwarven brothers, definitely from the same clan or possibly even blood relatives venture out on a quest or just to seek adventure. Maybe they’re exiles, treasure seekers, or exiles. An interesting quark to add to an all Dwarf party is to have them all use hammers; for whatever reason they refuse to use edged weapons like swords or axes.

The class composition would almost certainly include a Fighter, Cleric and Barbarian, with a good chance of having an Avenger, Invoker, Monk, Warden or Artificer. Obviously classes that favour Wisdom would be well represented and Arcane classes would likely be excluded.

See Dwarves Are The Best Race and Exploiting Racial and Class Abilities: Dwarven Resilience.

Drow

Not as common as a party of Dwarves, a striker-heavy Drow party could deal enough damage to any potential foe so quickly that they’d be down before they knew they were under attack. By using their Darkfire racial power they could target creatures one by one and focus their fire until they drop. An all Drow party that specializes in ranged attacks (bows and crossbows) could be particularly deadly.

The class composition would certainly have one or two Rangers (archers) and Rogues (hand crossbows). Continuing with the all bow theme then you could also have a Warlord (archer build), Bard, and possibly even an Artificer. Of course a straight up Cleric, Wizard or Sorcerer probably wouldn’t hurt either.

See Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Cloud of Darkness.

Dragonborn

Dragonborn may be new to 4e D&D but they are incredibly powerful, popular and mysterious. A party of five Dragonborn could carry enough intrigue and unpredictability to interest a group of players. As most established settings don’t have an abundance of Dragonborn areas, they party is going to stand out no matter what they do anyway. Why not play that up. Have the PCs only converse in Draconic no matter who else is around. Feigning an ignorance of the local language could give the PCs an edge they might not normally have if the party was more cosmopolitan.

With all of the feats and powers available to maximize their Dragon Breath racial power, a party of all Dragonborn could easily get by without a controller. The class composition is likely to have a Paladin, Warlord and Barbarian. Monk and Ranger are good choices if you need more strikers, and the Dragonborn’s naturally high Charisma means that Sorcerer and Bard are good Arcane options. The Honorblade Paragon Path allows the Dragonborn to truly maximize his Dragon Breath so players that don’t choose a martial class right off the bat may want to take a multi-class feat in order to qualify. This makes the Warden a really good build if you’re looking to focus on maximizing Dragon Breath.

A quest to find the items that make up the Silver Dragon Regalia is an obvious and ideal adventure hook for a party of Dragonborn adventurers. The Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor and the Conqueror’s Weapon are mandatory for any Dragonborn looking to truly empower their Dragon Breath.

See Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Dragon Breath.

Eladrin

These fey folk are often looked at as soft by other races. A creative party can easily change that preconception in a hurry. The Fey Step racial power gives every member of the party a “get out of jail free card” if they find themselves in a really tight spot. It also means that they can plan and coordinate attacks from unexpected positions. As long as they can see their destination square they can get there using Fey Step.

The class composition of a party of Eladrins will certainly have a Wizard, Ranger and Rogue. Strong contenders for the rest of the party include Swordmage, Bard, Warlock and Bladesinger.

A party of Eladrin would certainly welcome any opportunity equip each member with an Eladrin Ring of Passage. These rings provide increased range on the Eladrin’s Fey Step and allow them to teleport without line of sight once per day. This advantage is something no foe would expect.

See Exploiting Racial and Class Features: Fey Step.

These are just a few examples of parties where all the PCs are the same race. If you chose to play in a party like this what race would you play? How do you see the class selection of such a party breaking down? Are there any races that you think would be unsuited to this kind of party composition?

Related reading:

• Playing Against Type
• Playing a Recognizable Archetype
• Playing In An Unbalanced Party

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Defenders soak up damage. Leaders heal the wounded. Strikers inflict devastating amounts of damage. Controllers manipulate the battlefield.

A character’s place in a D&D party is largely defined by the role the class associates with. We’ve all been in situations where we have needed an opponent dazed so we could move without provoking an opportunity attack or so we could gain combat advantage. We’ve all wanted an opponent moved so that we wouldn’t start our turn in its aura and subsequently take damage that would drop our hit points below zero. In short, we’ve all needed the benefit of a control power at some critical point during combat. The question is which control power is best?

Now, I’m not asking if a Wizard is better than an Invoker. Instead, what I want to know is what is the best condition a controller can apply on his attacks?

For a recent home game I created a new character that was primarily a highly specialized controller. You can read about the process I used to create the character in a recent post: Move Over Character Builder. The design and subsequent play of this character has led me to question what the most effective control power is.

I asked Ameron this very question and I received the expected answer. The best control power is stun, however it is rare. I can’t say I disagree. I hate being stunned and love it when the enemy is. However, given its rarity we need to look beyond just one stun power and dig a little deeper to find the best control power. I would argue that the best control power is damage.

Never in my time playing D&D have I been told not to inflict damage. Never have I been told I have dealt too much damage. Damage, and the ability to deal a lot of it, is the ultimate way to control the battle. The best part about being a controller is that you usually get additional control conditions with your damage. You also generally target multiple opponents with your attacks.

Now I will admit that the average controller is not going to deal more damage than the average striker. With burst damage and builds that focus on destroying single targets, strikers are the undisputed masters of high amounts of damage. However, controllers can do something that strikers cannot and that is target multiple foes with their attacks. If, as a controller, you can maximize your damage output you will find that you are the envy of many a striker.

Admittedly at the lower heroic tier your controller may not appear to be anything other than a glorified minion killer. However, as you advance into the paragon tier that begins to change. As more feat slots open up so to do the opportunities to select feats and magic items that allow you to maximize your damage.

The Dungeon’s Master home game is on the threshold of entering into the epic tier. As this level of play is where I am currently playing the game I decided to do a small test. Creating a level 18 Wizard I looked to see how high I could get my damage output. I ended up with a +22 to all damage. Given a Wizard can normally attack in a burst or blast that’s a substantial amount of extra damage to multiple opponents. I compared this to the Ranger in our party. What I found was that the Ranger was doing more damage on average, however the Ranger’s damage was only being applied to one target (or two if Twin Strike hit both times).

What this comparison really emphasized was that as characters progress in level the line between what each class and role does begins to blur. The absolute exception to this is the leaders encounter healing powers, which are exclusive to the leader role.

In considering what is the best condition a controller can apply I won’t disagree with Ameron. I’ll always take a stun, however I’d like that mixed with a healthy dose of damage.

What conditions or effects do you like your controller to apply? Is a strong offense better than dazing and forced movement? Have  you found a balance of powers or a series of attacks that can keep your foes off guard?

Related reading:

• Why you want a Controller in your Party
• You’re a Striker, He’s a Defender… Big Deal: Looking at Roles
• Redefining Character Roles

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Last week we gave you 10 Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters. Today we add to that list by providing 10 more. As we mentioned in last week’s article, adventure hooks featuring divine characters can be a lot more complex than typical hooks.

The faith of the divine PCs will often dictate which side of the conflict presented in the adventure hooks they land on. It’s up to the DM to decide which side of the conflict will make for the most interesting encounter. Just remember that divine PCs may choose to act in the best interest of their faith even if it’s not in the best interest of their party.

10 More Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters

1. A divine PC faces excommunication. He has to defend his behaviour and past deeds or else be cast out. Will this bother the PCs? How hard will he fight to stay in the church’s good graces? Why are they questioning them all?
2. An intelligent and typically evil monster arrives on the doorsteps of the local church. The monster wants to repent his sins and join the fold.
   [A powerful divine NPC spared his life and converted him. Now the monster sees the light and genuinely wants to change.]
3. A local high priest deems that living constructs (Warforged) are not allowed to practice religion because they don’t have a soul. How do divine PCs and construct PCs feel about this declaration?
4. A call goes out to Bards everywhere: a local church is commissioning a new hymn. The reward for the lucky composer chosen to have performed the best hymn is a rare holy item that enhances a person’s Charisma.
5. All churches in the province stop making Healing Potions. The only explanation they give to adventurers looking to stock up is that their deity commanded production be halted.
   [In reality they are out of a key component or that the ritual has stopped working without explanation. Rather than look weak in their own church the faithful have concocted this lie.]
6. An NPC claims to be the child of a deity. He has been wandering the countryside spreading the teachings of his parent. Some within the church embrace the NPC and accept his claims at face value. Others fear his growing popularity regardless of his true origins.
   [The NPC found a rusted old ring that he wears on a string around his neck as a holy symbol. It is in fact an old relic that keeps the NPC safe from harm and allows him to perform minor miracles. He has no memory of his past and genuinely believes that he is a deity’s offspring. His motives are truly peaceful.]
7. Marriage ceremonies performed by one church are deemed invalid by the new Lord. Many wives are leaving husbands, taking material goods and wealth with them. This is upturning local economy.
   [The Lord was looking for a way to have an affair with a married woman without breaking her oaths. He just nullified all weddings since he’s not of the same faith.]
8. An old church is scheduled for demolition. The local citizens have been raising funds to build a new church for years. Now that the funds are available the Clerics won’t allow a single brick of the original structure to be destroyed.
   [A secret sect of Avengers works out of a secret room in the church’s basement. Demolishing the church will likely reveal the secret room and spark unwanted questions. Is a PC a member of the secret sect or are they a generous donator who is insulted that his donation was rejected?]
9. A series of numbers are discovered carved into the stone masonry in all churches of similar faiths throughout the countryside. The PCs are asked to try and discover their meaning.
   [This is a celestial treasure map. The numbers represent coordinates, dates and locations. The reward is a holy relic’s final resting place.]
10. A young, charismatic figure has quickly risen through the ranks of the church. He’s winning over the locals regardless of their faith. No one really knows who he was before he rose to power. The PCs are asked to investigate his background.
    [He is in witness protection. He got bored and decided to hide in plain sight. Until recently he was very quiet and reserved. By going big no one even suspects his true identity.]

Related reading:

• Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters (Part 1)
• Divine Intervention
• Divine Connections

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Warforged are an unstoppable race. They wade into battle and keep fighting long past the normal limits of other their flesh and blood companions. Their durability bolstered by their racial power, lets them call on their deepest reserves to heal damage, gain temporary hit points and make saves to shrug off ongoing damage. Few other races are as all around tough as Warforged.

Warforged Resolve is a great racial power because it allows your PC to gain temporary hit points as a minor action. If you wait to use the power when you’re bloodied it also provides a way to get healing without expending a healing surge. The fact that it scales as your level increases. makes this power even more versatile. This alone may at first make Warforged Resolve seem like a poor cousin to Dwarven Resilience (which lets you use your second wind as a minor action and thereby spend a healing surge to regain a lot of hit points), but thre’s more. On top of the real and temporary hit points, you get to make a save against ongoing damage when you use Warforged Resolve.

There are two ways to really exploit Warforged Resolve. The first is to couple a Warforged PC with a class that really benefits from having temporary hit points. This is really any class, but I’m thinking that the Battlerager Fighter and the Vampire clearly among the classes that will reap the greatest rewards from having more temporary hit points.

The second is to work on modifying your saving throw. By choosing as many feats, powers and itemsthat will improve your chances of making the save, you allow your PC to basically shrug off one harmful effect every fight when you use Warforged Resolve.

Exploiting Temporary Hit Points

Although a Warforged of any class can benefit from temporary hit points, the class that has the most to gain from this kind of build is in the new Vampire class offered in Player’s Option: Heroes of Shadow. With only two healing surges, this class is dependent upon temporary hit point and must limit when they expend healing surges during combat. Although there aren’t many ways to provide more temporary hit points when using Warforged Resolve, there are a lot of ways to give a character temps during battle.

Feats

All of these feats will provide Warforged characters with ways to get additional temporary hitpoints.

• Improved Warforged Resolve (heroic): All Warforged PCs must take this feat. It’s silly not to. It gives you 5 more temporary hit points when you use your Warforged Resolve.
• Component Modification (heroic): Available only to Warforged characters, your Warforged Resolve grants 1 extra temporary hit point for each Warforged component you have.
• Gritty Determination (paragon): When you need temporary hit points all you need to do is expend a daily power and this feat grants temporary hit points equal to one-half your level + your Constitution modifier.

Items

All of the items below provide temporary hit points in one way or another. Some can do it as an encounter power, others as a daily power and some for free. The key is to know when to use these powers to their maximum benefit. Wherever possible, Vampire PCs will get the most benefit out of waiting to use any power that grants temporary hit points until after they’re bloodied. This lets their regeneration restore real hit points while giving them a temporary hit point buffer.

• Stoneskin Cloth Armor (Armor): Since Vampires can only wear cloth armor this is the best choice. As a minor action you can activate the armor’s encounter power to get 15 temporary hit points.
• Great Hero’s Gauntlets (Hands): When you spend an action point to make an attack you get a +2 bonus to the attack rolls and if the attack deals damage you gain temporary hit points equal to your healing surge value. Not bad for Vampires since the class only has two initial healing surges.
• Fey-Blessed Circlet (Head): At the start of each encounter, you gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier. Since Vampire’s are a Charisma-based class this should be a decent number of temps.
• Amulet of False Life (Neck): The item’s daily power provides temporary hit points equal to your healing surge value as a minor action when you’re bloodied.
• Ring of Shadow Guard (Ring): The resist 10 cold and resist 10 necrotic make this a good ring in its own right, but the item’s daily power that really helps a Vampire. As a standard action you draw on the power of the Shadowfell and any enemy that starts its turn or moves adjacent to you takes 2d10 cold and necrotic damage. If you’ve reached a milestone today, you also gain 15 temporary hit points.
• Ring of the Warforged (Ring): The ring’s daily power is an Immediate Interrupt that grants 10 temporary hit points when an attack bloodies you. If you have reached a milestone it grants 20 temps.
• Sorrowsworn Ring (Ring): As a Vampire you already have darkvision but the +4 item bonus to Intimidate checks is a nice fringe benefit. The ring’s daily power grants temporary hit points equal to your healing surge value when you kill a creature. As a striker this is likely to happen a lot so these are the easiest temporary hit points you’ll get every day.
• Stalwart Belt (Waist): When you score a critical hit you gain temporary hit points equal to your Constitution modifier.
• Restful Bedroll (Wondrous): Why not begin each day with a few temporary hit points? After an extended rest in the restful bedroll gain 1d8 temporary hit points.

Exploiting Saving Throws

Regardless of what race or class you’re playing, bonuses to saves are a good thing. However, since the Warforged gets a free save when he uses Warforged Resolve (which you assume he’ll use every encounter) then ensuring that this save succeeds becomes increasingly important. Although it may seem like a more sensible idea to wait and use Warforged Resolve when you’re bloodied in order to gain the maximum healing benefits, there will definitely be times when making the save is more important. This is especially true if you’ll loose more hit points by not saving than the power will grant you in free healing.

Feats

• Immutability (heroic): After Improved Warforged Resolve, Immutability should be the second feat any Warforged character selects. It lets you save against any effect instead of only against an effect that deals ongoing damage when you use your Warforged Resolve. It also provides a +2 feat bonus to that save.
• Luck of Champions (heroic): If you’re playing a combat heavy character (like a Vampire striker, for example) then this feat compliments the save build you’re creating. After making your first successful save you get a +2 bonus to all attack rolls, skill checks and saving throws made before the end of your next turn.
• Disciple of Freedom (heroic): Although this feat doesn’t provide a bonus to your saving throw it does let you save against being immobilized, slowed, or restrained at the start of your turn as well as the end. The prerequisite is a 13 Charisma, but if you’re building a Vampire you’ll likely have a high Charisma anyway.
• Superior Will (heroic): This is another feat that doesn’t give you a bonus to save but like Discipline of Freedom it lets you save against being dazed or stunned at the beginning of your turn. It also have the added benefit of providing a bonus to your Will defense (+2/+3/+4 at heroic/paragon/epic). This feat also has a prerequisite of Charisma 15 or Wisdom 15 but this shouldn’t be a problem for a Charisma build.

Items

All of these items provide bonuses to saving throws. It’s up to you to determine which will serve you best. 

• Charm Bracelet (Arms): Grants a +1 (heroic) or +2 (paragon) item bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage.
• Boots of Free Movement (Feet): Grants a +2 item bonus to saving throws against being slowed, immobilized or restrained. It also lets you make a save against one of these conditions as an minor action every encounter.
• Helm of the Mental Juggernaut (Head): Grants a a +2 item bonus to saving throws against effects that daze or stun. As a daily power you can make a save against any one effect that a save can end.
• Circlet of Continuity (Head): Grants a a +2 item bonus to saving throws against effects that daze or stun.
• Grace Ring of Salvation (Ring): Grants a +1 item bonus to saving throws against dazing or stunning effects.
• Amulet of Bodily Sanctity (Neck): Grants a +2 item bonus to saving throws against ongoing damage.
• Amulet of Physical Resolve (Neck): Grants a +2 item bonus to saving throws against poison or being weakened, slowed or immobilized.
• Gaj Headdress (Head): Grants a +2 item bonus to saving throws against ongoing psychic damage and effects that daze, stun or dominate. Saving against one of these effects also gives you 5 (heroic), 10 (paragon) or 15 (epic) temporary hit points.

The Verdict

With so many items that provide bonuses to saves and so many others that grant temporary hit points, the real trick is to know which item to choose for which slot. After all you can only wear one neck item at a time.

As stated above, the list of items are certainly beneficial for Warforged Vampires, but it’s are also incredibly useful for any PC that just wants to get some temps or succeed at more saves. In this case selecting the right combination of items and feats makes the Warforged Resolve racial power a lot more beneficial.

Related reading:

• Warforged – Creating an Identity for an Artificial Being
• Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Dragon Breath
• Exploiting Racial and Class Powers: Cloud of Darkness

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Adventure hooks are usually pretty simple. One or two sentences serve as inspiration, helping the DM create his next encounter or even a whole arc of the camping. However, adventure hooks designed to include divine characters have the potential to be a lot more complicated.

Right from level 1, divine characters have the support and resources of their church behind them. The PC may not be important or powerful enough within the hierarchy to request a magic item or demand an audience with the high priest, but this relationship exists. Even in circumstances where a divine character has left or been expelled from his order, he still has his faith. Should this character require aid he only needs to find others with similar beliefs and he’ll likely get it.

In most cases, PCs are in good standing with their church. They will often aid followers of the same faith and other members of the church if they need it. Likewise there is a good chance that these same people will assist the PC if the situation is reversed. This makes adventure hooks that feature divine characters a lot more complicated.

What may at first seem to be a very straight forward adventure hook could be used in multiple ways and result in very different outcomes depending on a number of factors. If the divine PC follows the same deity as the organization in the hook they will likely take different actions then if they are directly opposed to this organization.

This becomes even more complicated if there are multiple divine PCs in the same party. You’d assume that they either follow the same deity or at least follow deities that have some overlapping dogma. However, this will certainly add spice to any hook that involves only one of the divine character’s churches. So keep all of this in mind as you look for inspiration in these adventure hooks.

10 Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters

1. A Cleric has been taken prisoner in a neighbouring country whose inhabitants don’t worship the same deity. The PCs are asked to find him and rescue him.
   [He isn’t a prisoner. He found purpose serving a different deity and changed religions.]
2. A divine PC has made a holy pilgrimage to witness the arrival of “The Chosen,” as described in prophesy. When “The Chosen” arrives his race shocks the faithful.
3. A group of people seek out the divine characters in the party in order to bask in their greatness. Some “worship” PCs, others constantly criticize. How do the PCs react? How do the non-divine PCs react to the followers or to the divine PCs themselves?
4. All faithful followers of a particular deity are asked to convert a friend before the next religious holiday (a month from now). Everyone who is successful is promised a reward. Some parishioners will do anything to convert a friend and get that reward. Will a divine PC try to convert a member of the party? Is he doing it because his church asked him to or because he too wants the reward?
5. A divine PC is given a task by his church that seems opposed to the beliefs of the faith.
   [This is a test of the PC’s faith and loyalty to the church.]
6. A quiet, mild-mannered member of the church is thrust into supreme leadership despite his reluctance to step up. His shy demeanor could be bad for the church in the short-term. A divine PC is asked to act as the face of the church during the transition.
7. Clerics are forced to go into dangerous lands to spread the holy teachings to the locals. A divine PC is asked to accompany the next expedition and keep the travelers safe since the last three expeditions never returned.
8. A radical change in church doctrine is to denounce material wealth. A local perish is distributing cash from their reserves to the locals. The town’s population is booming and locals are flocking to join this religion. A divine PC is asked to investigate. Will a PC of the same faith follow this new mandate and give up his own personal wealth? If the PC is of a different faith perhaps his superiors are suspicious of the motives for such generosity.
9. Two divine-classed NPCs of differing faiths have started a holy war. The locals are caught in the crossfire and are suffering. The PCs (one of whom is the same religion as one of the NPCs leading the fight) needs to step in and resolve this conflict before more people are hurt.
10. A local church believes that a great battle will soon be upon them. They are stockpiling supplies to survive. Part of the preparation is to acquire potent magical items to defend the church. A PC currently possesses one of the items they seek. If it’s a divine PC does he follow the same deity? What will it take for the PC to relinquish the item either way?

Visit Dungeon’s Master next week when we provide more Adventure Hooks for Divine Characters (Part 2).

Related reading:

• Divine Intervention
• Divine Connections
• Adventure Hooks: Welcome to the Sun & Moon Tavern (Part 1 | Part 2)

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