Also, confirmed 4 Races and 6 Classes, as predicted. And Battlemind next month! Woot!
That means we won't get to see the Divine class until the book, save perhaps in a preview in March...
Side not: 4.jpg looks awesome! Class portrait for the Psion class probably.
I'm wondering the same thing about 5.jpg. I was trying to figure out what race it was at first but then I noticed the legs and realized that must be new. I have no idea how long I looked at that thing before noticing the legs, which makes me feel stupid. Anyways, my money is that it's the new Wilden. The way the head is shaped reminds me of the previous Wilden art. I hope I'm wrong, though. I really like the idea of a playable plant creature...
Side not: 4.jpg looks awesome! Class portrait for the Psion class probably.
Agreed. I prefer it to the Psion from the Debut article.
Wilden is a playable plant creature, though...
Wilden is a playable plant creature, though...
I don't know. If that is indeed the Wilden, then it doesn't look very plant-like to me anymore.
Wilden is a playable plant creature, though...
I don't know. If that is indeed the Wilden, then it doesn't look very plant-like to me anymore.
The head looks slightly wooden... there is also a leafy shield-like thing on the back... but I get your point...
I like that they show the Githzerai Monk holding a severed head of an Illithid, because back in 3e I always saw the rather high damage an unarmed strike could do as something that could dismember or decapitate.
So what do we have?
Races:
1) Githzeri
2) Minotaur
3) Wilden
4) ????
Classes:
1) Ardent
2) Monk
3) Psion
4) Seeker
5) ????
6) ????
Hybrid - is it a separate class?
Assassin - was it DDI only?
Battlemind - is it a separate class, paragon path, or Psion build?
Assassin is DDI excluse.
Battlemind is a separate class.
It's still called the Battlemind? For Bahamut's sake...
Let's not get into that again. It's not any worse than Sword-Mage, and if you don't like it, you can always rename it or not have your character identify that way. It's time to let it go. It's just not a big enough deal to keep worrying about it...
It's still called the Battlemind? For Bahamut's sake...
Let's not get into that again. It's not any worse than Sword-Mage, and if you don't like it, you can always rename it or not have your character identify that way. It's time to let it go. It's just not a big enough deal to keep worrying about it...
But I like complaining! It's....it's what I do.
And while most of us realized there was only going to be 6, there were still many holdouts that were absolutely convinced we were wrong. All I have to say to them is, "Neener neener neener!"
Oh, and yeah - that's almost certainly the Wilden.
Plus, those two Gith pics rock.
Well, Battlemind was mentioned once in the update of the Wilden PC race entry, but has never been officially mentioned elsewhere.
Until now, you mean, right?
Well, Battlemind was mentioned once in the update of the Wilden PC race entry, but has never been officially mentioned elsewhere.
Until now, you mean, right?
Until now.
I generally watch these mentions very carefully, as some people thought it was a sure thing there was going to be an Empath, based on one mention. However they were proven wrong once the Ardent came out.
Is that the new look at the Wilden, or is that a Faun I see (using the Seeker class)?
Also, confirmed 4 Races and 6 Classes, as predicted. And Battlemind next month! Woot!
That means we won't get to see the Divine class until the book, save perhaps in a preview in March...
It's also possible we'll get some info from this month's hybrid preview. After all, it's supposed to be straight from the book.
Wilden is a playable plant creature, though...
I don't know. If that is indeed the Wilden, then it doesn't look very plant-like to me anymore.
Could it be a raptoran? The leaf-like thing on its back could maybe be a wing? The legs, head shape and claws would fit.
Could just as easily be the finalised wilden design though.
Until now.
I generally watch these mentions very carefully, as some people thought it was a sure thing there was going to be an Empath, based on one mention. However they were proven wrong once the Ardent came out.
That is completely wrong.
First, the Empath mention was from the beginning of the 4e, and it's clear that just like the Avenger is a renamed Templar (also early mention), the Ardent is a renamed Empath.
Also, the Battlemind reveal being in the Wilden update is an official announcement, just like the Seeker reveal in the Githzaerai article was official. Even if both were unintentional.
Could it be a raptoran? The leaf-like thing on its back could maybe be a wing? The legs, head shape and claws would fit.
Honestly, I think that would be even worse than if it turned out just to be the Wilden after all...
They wouldn't spoil the unnanounced race like this, I think it's Wilden's neew look...
The head is similar enough, and the body style fits as well. I'd say it a wilden manifest the aspect of the hunter (hence the claws, and a good fluff fit for the seeker it clearly is).
Looking forward to Battlemind. I have always loved psionics.
PHB3 is turning out to be a great buy for me. Psionics, wilden (the spiritual succesor of the Killoren), and Minotaurs make me happy.
I would have expected the last psionic class to be kept under wraps, not the divine class.
First, the Empath mention was from the beginning of the 4e, and it's clear that just like the Avenger is a renamed Templar (also early mention), the Ardent is a renamed Empath.
The Empath was mentioned in an offhand comment in a post by a designer (certainly not the beginning of 4e) and never confirmed anywhere else, and everyone assumed it was an official statement.
And even then, some official statements don't come true (such as the ki power source).
Looks to me like the Wilden is just turning out to be fey cat people, which is about the most boring thing I can think of. Looks like theres not going to be anything about this race that I like or even makes sense.
Side Note: the class picture for Psion looks really cool, I like that she looks like the 3.5 Wu-Jen.
Looks to me like the Wilden is just turning out to be fey cat people, which is about the most boring thing I can think of.
Agreed. I would rather the imagery for the Wilden became even closer to the Killoren, not further away from it.
Another strike against PHB3 for me (yes, something as simple as the imagery of a friggin' race is enough to turn me off to a book...).
Very harsh lines, very awkward stance, looks more like chiseled stone then leaves (although I suppose the hair could be bark.....green bark....), and is far too human for a race that shouldn't even be mammal. From the nose down and the waist up, that's a man. A man with a psycho haircut and no mouth who has been slapped onto a satyr's waist.
Yeah, two for two on complaining. I suppose I'm to blame: I've had absurdly high hopes for the PHB3 with the return of psionics and a new, nifty plant race, so the ridiculously high bar isn't being scaled.
On a related note, I LOVE the depiction of the Seeker's arrows causing vines to entwine that storm giant. Sure, I imagined Seeker powers doing things like that but actually seeing a picture of it really hit the concept home for me.
Edit: Also, considering the uproar over breasts on Dragonborn, I'm sure that many people will be wondering why on earth a race of sentient plants has breasts. Yep, I'm still not giving up on the fact that they're PLANTS!
Maybe a divine themed ranger lol
Imo, it would be more fun for us to get a second psionic striker class than a new divine.
It would fit better too.
That never has looked obviously plant-like, to me. It's has more feral, cat-like qualities. I think the Character Builder has a couple of wilden portraits that don't say "I'm a little walking tree," either.
Now, it's possible that they've changed their appearance to downplay the plant-like characteristics of their appearance even more. But I don't think they ever played up those characteristics all that much.
I don't understand why people ever thought wildens looked plantlike.
It probably had something to do with their "Physical Qualities" description:
"Sprung whole from the dense foliage of the Feywild’s most remote wilderness, wilden are fey creatures with plantlike characteristics. Their flesh is formed of leaves and vines coiled around bones formed of wood."
Also, the two mugs shots in the play-test article do look very plant-like, especially the first one.
In other words, I don't know how anybody could think that they wouldn't be plant-like...
For my part, i would prefer 5 psionic class + The Seeker and no more divine. I think we've got all Divine class already covered with 4 and we dont need one more. It seems to me it would only be creating a poorly divine linked class for the pupose of selling a Divine Power 2 easier like the seeker is.
Maybe a divine themed ranger lol
Imo, it would be more fun for us to get a second psionic striker class than a new divine.
It would fit better too.
That would make sense if the Primal Power source wasn't in the exact same boat as the Divine Power source in terms of classes (both have four classes and a complete "grid"). I, personally, think that six classes per power source should be the max (i.e. Arcane Power source is DONE). This would leave both the Divine and Primal Power sources a slot for a CS book or future PHB (though Divine had better not appear in another PHB).
For my part, i would prefer 5 psionic class + The Seeker and no more divine. I think we've got all Divine class already covered with 4 and we dont need one more. It seems to me it would only be creating a poorly divine linked class for the pupose of selling a Divine Power 2 easier like the seeker is.
Maybe a divine themed ranger lol
Imo, it would be more fun for us to get a second psionic striker class than a new divine.
It would fit better too.
There will probably be at least another Psionic class in PHB4, since it seems to be the pattern with a bunch of the power sources (martial being the exception).
My OTs: I'm totally in LOVE with the Psion official pic and I still like to think that we'll get some kind of "Runecaster" with this mysterious new Divine class. If they don't make it, I swear I will rain on them concepts until they understand how much it is worth it and either steal my idea or make me publish it.
I think that the article already told us the fourth race. Read the Arcane Trickster paragon path...
Don't know what you're talking about. Unless you're talking about Shadar-kai, which were released both in digital and book form (Dragon Magazine Annual 2009).
Eladrin, Shadar-kai, Gnomes, Drow, and Changelings all make good Rogues that are especially good in the Arcane Trickster PPath.
I think that the article already told us the fourth race. Read the Arcane Trickster paragon path...
I sincerely hope it isn't Shadar-Kai, don't they just have another stat overlap with other races already? That'd just be so... homogeneous
edit: they're also really similar to things like eladrin already in features and stuff, blegh
I think that the article already told us the fourth race. Read the Arcane Trickster paragon path...
I sincerely hope it isn't Shadar-Kai, don't they just have another stat overlap with other races already? That'd just be so... homogeneous
edit: they're also really similar to things like eladrin already in features and stuff, blegh
Shadar-kai are already published in a book. They withheld things like the Minotaur because of future publication in PH3. They would have withheld Shadar-kai too if that was the case.
It probably had something to do with their "Physical Qualities" description:
"Sprung whole from the dense foliage of the Feywild’s most remote wilderness, wilden are fey creatures with plantlike characteristics. Their flesh is formed of leaves and vines coiled around bones formed of wood."
Also, the two mugs shots in the play-test article do look very plant-like, especially the first one.
In other words, I don't know how anybody could think that they wouldn't be plant-like...
I'll have to be clearer when I write next time, because I totally dropped the ball on what I meant to convey.
Yes, you are exactly right, based on the text we would expect pictures of the wilden to show many plant-like features.I guess what I meant to say was that I see a lot of people complaining about how the wilden artwork in the preview depicts them as cat people. I get the impression that these people think the artwork has suddenly changed from what was originally presented, that these people thought the wilden originally had pictures that made them look obviously plant-like (that is, they literally looked like little walking trees).
For example, earlier you said:
I don't know. If that is indeed the Wilden, then it doesn't look very plant-like to me anymore.
But I look at the art that was originally presented and I say to myself "Nothing about this art screams 'plant' to me." I can see how someone might think the mugshots in the original article might look like a plant to them, but those mugshots don't push my "It's a plant!" button. Honestly, the first thing I thought of when I saw them was Brak from Space Ghost: Coast to Coast:
In any case, I don't think the picture I linked to in my previous post looks like a plant at all. But since that pic is an unfinished example, perhaps with more detail and coloring I'll say otherwise.
The point of all this is that there has been no sudden change in art direction to make the wilden look like cat people. IMO, most, if not all, the art we've ever seen has protrayed them as feral and cat-like. Now, if people have been saying "I've always hated how WotC has made them look like cat-people," then that's a better complaint IMO.
- Change their appearance, depending on their manifistation, as others have mentioned
- Possess a greater than normal level of intra-species variation, with some members of the species looking very different from others. (Domestic dogs have a lot of intra-species variation; cheetahs have relatively little.)
Also note that, like, the shadowy preview image of the Wilden, the character in the image has the split swept-back "hair" and the unusual leg shape.
Whatever the creature is, it's definately a seeker. It's a bow-using combatant whose arrows made vines grow all over the giant. There's no way that there's more than one class introduced in PHB3 that uses the "my arrows make magical vines grow on you" combat model.
I guess what I meant to say was that I see a lot of people complaining about how the wilden artwork in the preview depicts them as cat people.
IMO, most, if not all, the art we've ever seen has protrayed them as feral and cat-like.
I totally disagree. I've never seen any such complaint, and I don't think that they looked like cat people at all. What pictures have you been looking at? o_O
I get the impression that these people think the artwork has suddenly changed from what was originally presented, that these people thought the wilden originally had pictures that made them look obviously plant-like (that is, they literally looked like little walking trees).
They don't have to look like walking trees to look plant-like. The original face pics look very plant-like to me, but I sure as hell wouldn't describe them as "walking trees" by any stretch of the imagination.
I'm honestly not sure what about this you think looks cat-like. It looks totally plant-like and not the least bit cat-like to me...
That one has a venus fly-trap on its head! And that other one obviously has either leaves or petals on its head! That screams plant to me, but I've honestly never heard of a cat with a venus fly-trap or petals or leaves on it... Unless you count that one Pokemon, Leafeon.
I think it's primarily the brown, woody coloration...
What brown, woody coloration? Are there Wilden pictures somewhere in color that I missed? Because the ones in the article (the ones posted in this thread) were all gray-scale concept sketches that hadn't yet been colored.
EDIT: Ah, yes, I just checked the Character Builder and there is indeed a brow, colored portrait. However, I still fail to see how this is feline in any way. It just looks autumn-ish or winter-ish, which fits in perfectly with the Wilden's plant-like life cycle:
As a wilden ages, its body moves through the
seasons. Young wilden exist in the spring stage,
filled with life and vigor, their bodies a rich green
hue. The summer phase marks maturation and the
wilden’s body reaches its full size and stature. Wilden
in autumn phase undergo a profound change, their
bodies turning colors to fiery reds, yellows, and
orange. Finally, the winter phase, the last stage, her-
alds the end of the wilden’s life, as bright colors give
way to browns and white, and the body thins and
withers
Check the sample portraits in the Character Builder.
I use Linux so sadly no CB, could you please post a screenshot of these portraits?
Check the sample portraits in the Character Builder.
I use Linux so sadly no CB, could you please post a screenshot of these portraits?
They're orange, and look woody and autumnal, rather than catlike.
There's been no indication in the fluff that the Wilden are anything BUT plant-people. I just don't understand this current picture, since the body structure is similar, just the bodily accessories aren't plant-like at all (besides the "shield").
I'd hate to think the Wilden got transformed into this, as I really like their debut appearance.
And, on the cat thing, aren't wilden conceptually descended from the killoren? That may explain any animalistic traits, as the killoren artwork I've seen (races of the wild) seemed semi-feline.
Uh oh... I'm smelling out a case of THIS phenomenon: ↓↓↓
I have no idea what you're talking about.
Uh oh... I'm smelling out a case of THIS phenomenon: ↓↓↓
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The American cover of Megaman 2, depicting those... "men" instead of robots, a famous case in the videogame world in which art direction probably failed at communicting with developers... I really hope the image we're discussing here is not a case of this phenomenon...
Uh oh... I'm smelling out a case of THIS phenomenon: ↓↓↓
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The American cover of Megaman 2, depicting those... "men" instead of robots, a famous case in the videogame world in which art direction probably failed at communicting with developers... I really hope the image we're discussing here is not a case of this phenomenon...
It could be worse....
Uh oh... I'm smelling out a case of THIS phenomenon: ↓↓↓
I have no idea what you're talking about.
You poor poor soul. I pity you for your lack of classic 80s trivia.
You poor poor soul. I pity you for your lack of classic 80s trivia.
I was born in 1989.
Also, I was never into Megaman.
You poor poor soul. I pity you for your lack of classic 80s trivia.
I was born in 1989.
Also, I was never into Megaman.
Same here, but that doesn't stop me from recognising those pictures. Though, I guess it helps that two of my best friends were into Megaman…
Unfortunatly i'm going to have to go with the "megaman" idea. It seems like it's supposed to be a wilden, perhaps one of the prototype versions of it.
It's sad, but it would have been sadder to have to accept this as the default look for the Wilden. Let us hope it's just an error.
Unfortunatly i'm going to have to go with the "megaman" idea.
I too think the art for Megaman would make a much more interesting race than Wilden
I too think the art for Megaman would make a much more interesting race than Wilden
I don't care what you say. Anything is better than yet another race that's just "humans but with pointy ears" or "humans but shorter".
I too think the art for Megaman would make a much more interesting race than Wilden
I don't care what you say. Anything is better than yet another race that's just "humans but with pointy ears" or "humans but shorter".
How about blue warforged who steal powers and have guns for arms?
How about blue warforged who steal powers and have guns for arms?
That doesn't really sound like a race. It sounds like a specific race/equipment/class combination. Warforged (painted blue) with Crossbows as an attached component plus some sort of Spellthief class or whatever best emulates it.
I can't change it now, but I thought I might confess.
* I very much liked Nyronus' Rockman joke. And Crimson's missing of it.
I feel guilty that I made the mistake and called this topic "February and Beyond previews" when it's actually "January and Beyond" for this month.
