Blade of Orien [Archive] - Wizards Community

Blade of Orien [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Llochlyn
11-15-06, 05:51 PM Here's the information we got so far :

- Lowish Prerequisites (2 feats, BAB +3)
- full BAB ? Skills ? Saves ?
- More Dimension Leap uses
- Move action dimension leap
- Moving your allies around the battlefield
- Capstone ability : Full attack after a dimension leap.

Blade of Orien (10 levels) (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=10578010&postcount=10)
House: Orien (obviously)
Reqs: BAB +3, Least and Lesser Dragonmarks
Summary: A warrior PrC, BoO gains several abilities that increase the power of their dimension leap ability, including the ability to teleport items to you, teleport your friends, teleport your foes (fun in Sharn!) and eventually to make a shadow pounce-like full attack after dimension leaping. Expect to see this class on the CO boards.
And he was right. Now I know I'll be as satisfied CO wise than DM wise by this book. My orienne piratey guy now has a reason to grab the dragonmark.

Save-Vs-DM was right about orienne guys for bamf fighters. Rest of the book looks promising. Well, I still expect Bad/Good CO surprises though.
Repeekluos
11-15-06, 08:19 PM It seams pretty good.
I think some of the better uses for the ability are the ally movement ones. Setting up the battlefield, and giving your real fighter type classes the ability to charge every round is flippin sweet.

Rogue delays.
Barbarian charges.
Blade of Orien teleports rogue to enemy barbarian charged.
Rogue takes action to full attack.
Next round, barbarian charges.

Ive always loved that kind of battlefield control. I played in a party with two fighters, and two wizards that pretty much did nothing but benign transposition the fighters into great positions.
Khan the Destroyer
11-15-06, 09:10 PM If I remember correctly, the shadow-pounce-like ability can only be used with his Dragonmark ability. How often can he use it?

(In other words, I don't believe you can use other abilities to trigger the pounce, making it less versatile than a traditional Shadow Pounce build.)
Repeekluos
11-15-06, 09:14 PM @ Khan

You are correct.
I'm not sure on how many times he can use the ability before the class (once/day iirc), but the class adds a total of six additional uses per day. You have to take all 10 levels of the class to get all six as well.
Tempest Stormwind
11-15-06, 09:14 PM I wouldn't call it a stellar book all things considered, but I'm not disappointed that I bought it.

The Blade of Orien caught my eye right off the bat as the big CO win (apart from the two Syberis dragonmark feats that people spotted in the preview), although Lyrandar's Storm Sentry also seems interesting (more in a style sense, although the fact that it's only 5 levels, counts as Dragonmark Heir for the power of the marks, and provides several just plain AWESOME abilities -- treat everyone as one size smaller when using Gust of Wind, and bull rush people at a distance, on top of other fun storm/swashbuckling themes? I don't have this name for no reason, fellas!).

I'm still working out how to capitalize upon it, although my first instinct was, of course, shadow pounce. I hate mixing settings, though. (The nice thing, though, is that it powers up your existing dragonmarks, is mind-numbingly easy to qualify for, and is a pretty capable warrior class skeleton on top of nifty abilities.)

There's even a bit of a gem in the book that most people who aren't looking for it will miss. Take a look at the Mnemonic Training sidebar on 75 -- there's a new (and interesting) Autohypnosis use there... and the typical nonpsionic alternative it provides attaches that to Concentration, at +5 DC. The implication is that Concentration may be used as a functional equivalent for Autohypnosis, at least for the memory-related (i.e. the coolest) functions of that skill.

Mind you, there's lots of meh in this book as well. For me, I want to ask: what do they have against the halflings? None of the Ghallanda or Jorasco options are even worth considering (and their PrCs are actually OPPOSITE their Houses' missions!). Normally, I wouldn't mind much, but I'm currently playing a Ghallanda halfling, and she's probably my favorite character of all time (yes, I know, Ghallanda isn't exactly known for adventurers... that's part of why I chose it.).
Tweedledope
11-15-06, 11:28 PM If you could get your DM to houserule that this stuff works on any teleport spell (such as Dimmension Door) this class would be a monster with the Warlock. However, as written, you're looking at less than 10/day. IIRC, around 6/day.

-=TD=-
Endless_Helix
11-16-06, 12:21 AM Well, if you go the route of Dragonmark Heir, it would be more like 11 uses a day, assuming you grab all the feats too. The real thing I was thinking of is the need for multiple move actions in one turn.

If you take two Quicken Dragonmark feats, and you could find some way to get turning before level 3 and still keep the BAB required for Orien, you could pick up Ruby Knight Vindicator for Divine Impetous... The turnings for Swift actions are nice... I think that you could pull off the ultimate shadow pounce buid...
ressurrector
11-16-06, 03:21 AM The class comes with an ability that lets you use the Dragonmark as a Move action IIRC.
So, at 10th PrC level, you can take 2 move actions in your turn (and thus 4 attacks) which isn't that bead, although a teflammar shadowlord can get much more evil using ToB stuff...
I'm actually somewhat glad to see that it's restricted to an ability granted by the dragonmark and nothing else, as it shows that the people who think these things up are actually paying attention to the entire scope of new abilities.

THat being said, what about the suggested variant for non-Eberron games, which uses Dimension Door instead?
Llochlyn
11-16-06, 03:47 AM Aww, what a quick series of kicks in the balls. The pouncage comes at level 10 too. And no move action blink shirt + strikes for me.

Now, assuming we can't use crinti marauder and telflammar shadowlord, we don't want to waste BaB on Shadow Dancer AND we don't want to be able to get bored by having an usual "standard action teleport - full attack/move action teleport - full attack" routine (who said "blink shirt" ?), that's a good addition to a battlefield control light character.

Quicken dragonmark seems mandatory, or I should say IS, so you can get some full attacks at higher levels.

Now, can/should we slip in Dragonmark Heir levels, given the class can be entered at 4th level ? We can use it to grab the prerequisite Least dragonmark, but need favored in house, wich is good but doesn't bring a lot to our fighting abilities...

I wonder what classes make a great entry ? If dimension leaping is considered moving (don't think so), scout could be fun (Scout 3/full BAB1/DrH 1/BoO...)

A swordsage 1/Warblade 2/Swordsage +1 entry is nice for both routes. Quicken is mandatory, you crave standard actions.

Ftr 2/PsyWar 2, lots of feats to make you feel better when taking the dragonmarks at 1 and 3.

A totemist entry allows a lot of natural attacks, and lets you pwn at lower levels. Strong teleporting flavor with the blink shirt if needed, and landshark boot attacks ftw.

Ah, hadn't seen this can be a move action. I say YAY !
ChristopherGroves
11-16-06, 07:39 AM I thought there was a new-use diplomacy in one of the recent books, which would totally rock for the Mark of Hospitality.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Llochlyn 11-15-06, 05:51 PM	Here's the information we got so far : - Lowish Prerequisites (2 feats, BAB +3) - full BAB ? Skills ? Saves ? - More Dimension Leap uses - Move action dimension leap - Moving your allies around the battlefield - Capstone ability : Full attack after a dimension leap. Blade of Orien (10 levels) (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=10578010&postcount=10) House: Orien (obviously) Reqs: BAB +3, Least and Lesser Dragonmarks Summary: A warrior PrC, BoO gains several abilities that increase the power of their dimension leap ability, including the ability to teleport items to you, teleport your friends, teleport your foes (fun in Sharn!) and eventually to make a shadow pounce-like full attack after dimension leaping. Expect to see this class on the CO boards. And he was right. Now I know I'll be as satisfied CO wise than DM wise by this book. My orienne piratey guy now has a reason to grab the dragonmark. Save-Vs-DM was right about orienne guys for bamf fighters. Rest of the book looks promising. Well, I still expect Bad/Good CO surprises though.
Repeekluos 11-15-06, 08:19 PM	It seams pretty good. I think some of the better uses for the ability are the ally movement ones. Setting up the battlefield, and giving your real fighter type classes the ability to charge every round is flippin sweet. Rogue delays. Barbarian charges. Blade of Orien teleports rogue to enemy barbarian charged. Rogue takes action to full attack. Next round, barbarian charges. Ive always loved that kind of battlefield control. I played in a party with two fighters, and two wizards that pretty much did nothing but benign transposition the fighters into great positions.
Khan the Destroyer 11-15-06, 09:10 PM	If I remember correctly, the shadow-pounce-like ability can only be used with his Dragonmark ability. How often can he use it? (In other words, I don't believe you can use other abilities to trigger the pounce, making it less versatile than a traditional Shadow Pounce build.)
Repeekluos 11-15-06, 09:14 PM	@ Khan You are correct. I'm not sure on how many times he can use the ability before the class (once/day iirc), but the class adds a total of six additional uses per day. You have to take all 10 levels of the class to get all six as well.
Tempest Stormwind 11-15-06, 09:14 PM	I wouldn't call it a stellar book all things considered, but I'm not disappointed that I bought it. The Blade of Orien caught my eye right off the bat as the big CO win (apart from the two Syberis dragonmark feats that people spotted in the preview), although Lyrandar's Storm Sentry also seems interesting (more in a style sense, although the fact that it's only 5 levels, counts as Dragonmark Heir for the power of the marks, and provides several just plain AWESOME abilities -- treat everyone as one size smaller when using Gust of Wind, and bull rush people at a distance, on top of other fun storm/swashbuckling themes? I don't have this name for no reason, fellas!). I'm still working out how to capitalize upon it, although my first instinct was, of course, shadow pounce. I hate mixing settings, though. (The nice thing, though, is that it powers up your existing dragonmarks, is mind-numbingly easy to qualify for, and is a pretty capable warrior class skeleton on top of nifty abilities.) There's even a bit of a gem in the book that most people who aren't looking for it will miss. Take a look at the Mnemonic Training sidebar on 75 -- there's a new (and interesting) Autohypnosis use there... and the typical nonpsionic alternative it provides attaches that to Concentration, at +5 DC. The implication is that Concentration may be used as a functional equivalent for Autohypnosis, at least for the memory-related (i.e. the coolest) functions of that skill. Mind you, there's lots of meh in this book as well. For me, I want to ask: what do they have against the halflings? None of the Ghallanda or Jorasco options are even worth considering (and their PrCs are actually OPPOSITE their Houses' missions!). Normally, I wouldn't mind much, but I'm currently playing a Ghallanda halfling, and she's probably my favorite character of all time (yes, I know, Ghallanda isn't exactly known for adventurers... that's part of why I chose it.).
Tweedledope 11-15-06, 11:28 PM	If you could get your DM to houserule that this stuff works on any teleport spell (such as Dimmension Door) this class would be a monster with the Warlock. However, as written, you're looking at less than 10/day. IIRC, around 6/day. -=TD=-
Endless_Helix 11-16-06, 12:21 AM	Well, if you go the route of Dragonmark Heir, it would be more like 11 uses a day, assuming you grab all the feats too. The real thing I was thinking of is the need for multiple move actions in one turn. If you take two Quicken Dragonmark feats, and you could find some way to get turning before level 3 and still keep the BAB required for Orien, you could pick up Ruby Knight Vindicator for Divine Impetous... The turnings for Swift actions are nice... I think that you could pull off the ultimate shadow pounce buid...
ressurrector 11-16-06, 03:21 AM	The class comes with an ability that lets you use the Dragonmark as a Move action IIRC. So, at 10th PrC level, you can take 2 move actions in your turn (and thus 4 attacks) which isn't that bead, although a teflammar shadowlord can get much more evil using ToB stuff... I'm actually somewhat glad to see that it's restricted to an ability granted by the dragonmark and nothing else, as it shows that the people who think these things up are actually paying attention to the entire scope of new abilities. THat being said, what about the suggested variant for non-Eberron games, which uses Dimension Door instead?
Llochlyn 11-16-06, 03:47 AM	Aww, what a quick series of kicks in the balls. The pouncage comes at level 10 too. And no move action blink shirt + strikes for me. Now, assuming we can't use crinti marauder and telflammar shadowlord, we don't want to waste BaB on Shadow Dancer AND we don't want to be able to get bored by having an usual "standard action teleport - full attack/move action teleport - full attack" routine (who said "blink shirt" ?), that's a good addition to a battlefield control light character. Quicken dragonmark seems mandatory, or I should say IS, so you can get some full attacks at higher levels. Now, can/should we slip in Dragonmark Heir levels, given the class can be entered at 4th level ? We can use it to grab the prerequisite Least dragonmark, but need favored in house, wich is good but doesn't bring a lot to our fighting abilities... I wonder what classes make a great entry ? If dimension leaping is considered moving (don't think so), scout could be fun (Scout 3/full BAB1/DrH 1/BoO...) A swordsage 1/Warblade 2/Swordsage +1 entry is nice for both routes. Quicken is mandatory, you crave standard actions. Ftr 2/PsyWar 2, lots of feats to make you feel better when taking the dragonmarks at 1 and 3. A totemist entry allows a lot of natural attacks, and lets you pwn at lower levels. Strong teleporting flavor with the blink shirt if needed, and landshark boot attacks ftw. Ah, hadn't seen this can be a move action. I say YAY !
ChristopherGroves 11-16-06, 07:39 AM	I thought there was a new-use diplomacy in one of the recent books, which would totally rock for the Mark of Hospitality.