Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Perseus_Stoned 04-28-07, 06:53 PM	I am effectively making the "Master of Many Forms" a base, 20 level, class and am having a little trouble balancing it out. My dilemma is thus: My new shifting ability does not allow any items to transform with it; the class actually loses all of its class abilities if it uses items. Because of this I want to make sure it stays balanced in a game where it can't use items. My class can shapeshift into flying/swimming forms and the like to stay alive and adapt, but I was wondering how people felt the "Vow of Poverty" synergized with wild shaping druids (Were they powerful enough, despite their lack of items, already? Did it overly compensate for a minor disadvantage? Was it a much needed fix for those poor druids and their weak animal forms)? Part of me feels I don't really need to compensate too much for their lack of items, since they get more wild-shaping abilities and the like, but I want to make sure they stay viable in higher levels as well. Thanks for any help!
Novacat 04-29-07, 06:34 AM	Since almost everything from the Book of Exalted Silliness is crazy and stupid, I wouldn't worry about that too much.
epifreak 04-29-07, 09:18 AM	Actually, my impression is that VoP is moderately balanced. It's scarily powerful, but the losses balance it out. That said, I agree with Novacat that I wouldn't worry about BoED unbalancing anything. That's like saying that if you're in a knife fight, and suddenly you pull out a howitzer, you're likely to win.
Razorstorm 04-29-07, 10:04 AM	You also can't forget that character wealth, and USING it, is a huge components of a PC's power level. A Barbarian is great and all, but a barbarian with a flaming axe? big difference. MoMF loses that benefit, so I would highly recommend using VOP for that very reason. Razorstorm
The_Unseen_Illusion 05-06-07, 02:22 AM	you know, inm hearing about VoP everywhere, but i dont know what exactly it does. anyone want to enlighten me?
Crichton 05-06-07, 02:26 AM	you know, inm hearing about VoP everywhere, but i dont know what exactly it does. anyone want to enlighten me?It pretty much gives the character a large list of attribute boosts, armor class boosts and special abilities that rival a rich character with a lot of magical equipment. It's one of my favorite additions to Monk and I love the Vow of Poverty and the Vow of Peace. However, if you don't play in a game where all your fellow PCs have access to substantial amounts of treasure, it shouldn't be used in that game. Vow of Peace opened up alot of roleplaying opportunities for me, and I typically have a lot of trouble roleplaying a Monk. I think I'd have the same problem with Druid. I recommend the Vow of Peace aswell, and some points in Diplomacy.
The_Unseen_Illusion 05-06-07, 02:33 AM	coo. what boo kis it in?
Crichton 05-06-07, 02:38 AM	The Book of Exalted Deeds, personally, I really loved it. It gives a lot of cool material that makes playing a good aligned character actually fun. Because, in the face of true evil it's hard to be neutral. Being good isn't about *****ing at the Rogue in your party for stealing. /end speech It's easy to tell that this is what the designers plan was. The companion book to this is The Book of Vile Darkness. It details the most twisted and evil stuff in D&D that I know of. It would be hard to be Neutral in a campaign using this stuff. I wonder when they're going to release The Book of Vague Neutralness?
endofdreams 05-06-07, 07:16 PM	Heh, the Book of Resounding Maybe. And it would be beige, with no fancy cover art. After playing a couple VOP characters early on in my first DM's career, he approached me and felt the feat was too overpowered. I told him his campaigns were underpowered. We haven't had a problem with it since. I would be interested with a base class for MoMF, but I'm a fiend for new ideas.