Category: Class Discussions

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Adventuring With A Sub-Optimal Party

Recent events in the Dungeon’s Master home game have resulted in a sub-optimal adventuring party make-up. What do I mean by sub-optimal? One of the four roles is missing. In our case we are blindly adventuring without the benefit of a leader to keep us healed and buffed up.

The subject of playing in an unbalanced party is one we have covered before. However, over the next few weeks we will take a deeper look at what it means to adventure when one of the four roles is missing. Today our focus is on the absence of the leader.

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Death Pact Necromancer

One of the first articles published at Dungeon’s Master was our series on the Necromancer. It started as a way of addressing the lack of specialist Wizards in 4e D&D. As one of our oldest articles, our series on the Necromancer continues to see regular traffic from a variety of sources. The idea of expanding the Necromancer beyond the Wizard class is one that I’ve had for some time now. The Warlock is a natural fit for the Necromancer.

Nothing speaks of a deal for power, as making a pact with death itself. The Death Pact Necromancer does just that, trading their soul for power and a command over death.

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Class Discussions Editorial

Is More Really Better: A Look At Character Classes

I’m all about options, I love to have a multitude of choices, doing the research and then selecting the best fit for the vision of my character. These choices don’t just include the feats and powers I select for my PC, in fact the decisions start the moment I open up the Character Builder. I’m first confronted with the choice of what class to play, followed by race and so on. While these two early choices may seem simple, they are anything but. They will serve to represent your character as much or more than any other choice you make.

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Class Discussions

Why You Want A Controller In Your Party

Combat in 4e Dungeons & Dragons is a tactical affair. The effective use of conditions and the importance of movement demand that an effective party do more than just attack. The party needs to attack as an efficient cohesive unit, where every resource is used to best advantage.

This requires that someone call the shots. A default assumption might be for the leader in the party to be that person, after all leaders lead. But is that really the best decision? Is the leader dazing, stunning, slowing, moving or immobilizing their opponents?

Didn’t think so, no that duty rest primarily with the party’s controller.

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Necromancer: Epic Tier (Revised)

female necromancerThis is the third and final part of our revised Necromancer powers. Although few players seem to be playing the Epic Tier regularily, there are opportunities for one-off adventures where you can use these powers to try something different. Our goal is to provide options for those who enjoy the Wizard class and want to add a Necromantic feel.

Once again a big thanks to Wyatt from Spirits of Eden for his feedback and providing the motivation to update these articles. If you would like to see more powers and options for the Necromancer visit some of our previous articles on the subject.

Revised Articles

Original Articles

If you’ve enjoyed these articles on the Necromancer and are looking for more then return to Dungeon’s Master in December when we’ll present new and original takes on the Necromancer.

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Necromancer: Paragon Path (revised)

We continue our reimaging of the Necromancer with this update of a Paragon Path for wizards. Perhaps I’m the only one, but I miss the old specialist wizards of previous editions. This revision results from reader feedback and a desire to provide the community with a more workable version of the Necromancer.

Once again I’d like to thank Wyatt of Spirits of Eden for his suggestions to provide more balance to this paragon path. You can read more on our thoughts on the Necromancer and our previous versions of the class. We hope to have a revised version of the Epic Tier in the next few weeks.

Revised Articles

Original Articles

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Class Discussions

PHB3 First Look: The Seeker

seekerThe Seeker, the most recent Player’s Handbook 3 preview content, was released a few weeks ago. This past week my regular gaming group began a new mini-campaign, which gave me the perfect opportunity to play test the Seeker.

I was actually rather excited about playing this new primal controller, due in part to my growing appreciation of the controller role.

In reading the Seeker class in Dragon #380 it became clear to me that the designers enjoyed creating this class. Many of the powers were developed and tested during earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons, however from a mechanics standpoint they didn’t fit those earlier visions. Enter 4e and those idea’s have a new format to find life.

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Class Discussions

Necromancer: Heroic Tier (Revised)

Necromancer
Necromancer

Today we revisit the Necromancer and powers for the Heroic Tier. One of the things I miss most from 3e are specialist Wizards. I’m honestly surprised that this hasn’t been addressed by Wizards of the Coast. Though I suppose they have decided to go in a different direction with the Wizard class in 4e. A big thanks to Wyatt of Spirits of Eden who provided a critique on our original post of Necromancer Heroic Powers.

On a day to day basis I’m amazed at the amount of people who are finding Dungeon’s Master by searching the key word ‘Necromancer’. These posts, which are amongst our first, continue to get a lot of traffic. This revision of our original Necromancer Heroic Tier postcleans up some of the language and also adjusts the power level of the powers. With 4e having been out for a year and a half we’ve had the opportunity to play through heroic tier, and that combined with Wyatt’s observations bring this post back to the forefront, just in time for Hallowe’en.

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The Necromancer

The Necromancer
The Necromancer

Necromancy, the study of the Black Arts.

Necromancers study death in a way that few other mortals would contemplate. Motivated by power, knowledge, greed or life eternal, these individuals will stop at nothing in their search for the understanding of life and the secrets it holds.

Our exploration of the Necromancer in 4e D&D continues at Dungeon’s Master. We’re expanding on our initial Necromancer articles and focusing on the motivation behind this often misunderstood class. In our previous examination of the Necromancer we provided powers and resources that you could use in your regular games.

Revised

We’ve recently undertaken the process of updating these articles to balance the powers.

Over the past few weeks we’ve noticed increased activity on these pages and as we enter into October and Halloween draws nearer, this article on the Necromancer is the first of several articles that will discuss the undead and their place in Dungeons & Dragons.

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Playing In An Unbalanced Party

The PHB suggests that all adventuring parties should have at least one PC representing each of the four roles: controller, defender, leader and striker. Most parties, in my experience generally follow this guideline. But what happens when this balance is disrupted. What if your party make-up is missing some of the roles? How will that affect your game?

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