Post/Author/DateTime	Post
James_Nostack 10-17-04, 12:26 PM	I am fairly new to D&D 3.X, and lately I have gotten interested in "Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed," but I could not find any information on Character Optimization on these boards. This may be a stupid question, but why? AU's classes, races, and especially its spell system are different enough from standard D&D that I'm curious to see how the different game-mechanical pieces fit together. In particular, I'm wondering if the Exotic Spell feat is worthwhile from a CO standpoint, whether the mage-blade class is really optimal for a gish type of character compared to other builds, and how an akashic/unfettered would compare to a standard D&D rogue. Please forgive me if this question has already been answered, or if it's against board rules. I'm new to this forum and didn't see anything forbidding it in the FAQ. I'm aware that Monte Cook runs his own board devoted to that game but its focus generally isn't on character optimization, and since I'm trying to get my head around the mechanical fundamentals I figured I would check here first.
Mucknuggle 10-17-04, 12:56 PM	I am fairly new to D&D 3.X, and lately I have gotten interested in "Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed," but I could not find any information on Character Optimization on these boards. This may be a stupid question, but why?. We mostly use only WotC books here. Although I know that some of the regulars have done some CO with other games. Just be patient, I'm sure that there is someone familiar with the AU rules that will help you out.
James_Nostack 10-17-04, 01:09 PM	Thank you, I'll be happy to see what people come up with. The "Arcana Unearthed" magic system strikes me as extremely different from the one in standard D&D, and I'd be curious to see which of the spell-casters are deemed most effective overall: * the Magister has an extremely wide range of spells, but like the D&D wizard isn't much to write home about in physical combat; * the Mage-Blade has a limited range of spells but also can fight hand-to-hand... though I wonder how effective he is at either * the Witch seems very strange to me and I don't know how to evaluate what the class is good at * the Runethane has some neat tricks, but using them properly would take some thought. I guess what I'm trying to say is that having grown up with earlier incarnations of D&D and its iconic roles, the stuff in "Arcana Unearthed" is just strange enough to make me scratch my head. I'm not entirely sure what's "best" at anything in particular. Exploring this, of course, is part of the fun of the game, but I'm curious to know what others have learned.
Shadowtiger 10-17-04, 01:53 PM	Monte Cook's gaming forums are the best place to go with AU character questions - its where the AU pros hang out. http://p222.ezboard.com/bokayyourturn
Mucknuggle 10-17-04, 03:29 PM	Monte Cook's gaming forums are the best place to go with AU character questions - its where the AU pros hang out. http://p222.ezboard.com/bokayyourturn Isn't there also a popular fan site? I see links to it all the time on www.enworld.org.
Tinkertoy888 10-18-04, 12:47 PM	I noticed you left out Greenbonds. I'm very partial to that class. The variety of spells obviously doesn't compare to the Magister, but the Plant exotics are actually quite good. They also get to wear armor without interfering with spellcasting. As for the others - Mageblades have a lot of problems: they have multiple ability dependency, since they need the physical stats plus charisma and some of the good tricks use Quicken Spell, which requires intelligence; there's no +2 Charisma race; they don't have any good saves. I think they are better off focusing on being a combatant than being spellcaster, but I still think they're a poor choice without very good stats. Witches vary a lot, I think the Sea Witch is really awful, but the Mind Witch is reasonably strong. The key is to try to get as many level-scaling abilities as possible. The d6 hit dice really crimp any serious fighting builds, though, despite all the AC boosting powers. I haven't seen a Runethane in play, but you should keep in mind that the errata limit some of the best tricks that come to mind. Magisters are pretty straightforward; playing one is mostly like playing a Wizard in standard DnD. Tinkertoy
ruleslawyer 10-18-04, 12:55 PM	Isn't there also a popular fan site? I see links to it all the time on www.enworld.org.That would be www.diamondthrone.com , which is very worthwhile!
James_Nostack 10-18-04, 06:20 PM	Mageblades have a lot of problems: they have multiple ability dependency, since they need the physical stats plus charisma and some of the good tricks use Quicken Spell, which requires intelligence; there's no +2 Charisma race; they don't have any good saves. I think they are better off focusing on being a combatant than being spellcaster, but I still think they're a poor choice without very good stats. Thanks, that's the kind of commentary I was looking for. I'm aware that there are "Arcana Unearthed" discussion sites out there, but they generally don't have an optimization focus, which is what I'm wondering about. I've never played "AU", or even D&D 3.X, so I'm trying to learn the system from thought experiments, which is why this forum is so helpful. I should have remembered about the Greenbond, you're right! Incidentally, what would make a good Akashic build? They have such an odd mixture of talents: they have unlimited skill selection, so I'd figure they would make great thief-substitutes, but yet they can also wear heavy armor which imposes skill check penalties. What are they good at?