Today, for a laugh, I thought I'd repost today's Primal Power Excerpt!
"In today's Primal Power preview, we present a new build for warlords -- the Storm Warden!"
Interesting choice for WotC .... I wonder if we'll also see a primal build for the ranger ... wait ....
Have a good Monday!
Jared
Host of The Power Source
www.powersourcepodcast.com
Yeah, I found that pretty amusing myself! XD But more importantly, the Storm Warden is suuuuuper awesome. I really like the way it makes use of the Warden's mad marking abilities to carry rider effects! Form of Mountain's Thunder in particular is pretty awesome. I'm definitely going to play one of these soon!
Now the divine thing on the seeker article makes sense. the people writing the captions have no idea what's going on.
I found the description of the Life Warden build, "you share your reserves of healing power with your allies," to be very interesting. Obviously this is a secondary leader, and it likely has the ability to use its own surges to heal allies, much like the Paladin's Lay on Hands. This is done most effectively if the build's secondary stat is CON (more surges to go around), but the Storm Warden's secondary stat is CON. So either we'll have 3 CON builds, or the Life Warden will be a bit MAD (STR primary, CON for the surges, and likely WIS secondary).
Also, the Storm Warden is going to be an excellent minion killer based on some of these "each enemy marked by you..." effects/riders.
I like the "storm" motif as much as the next guy, but does anyone else wonder about why even class and its dog is getting an entire build devoted to it? Storm Sorcerer, Thunder Barbarian, Storm Warden... who's next?
I know there's a few storm-themed Paragon Paths for other classes, too; Stormwarden PP for 2W Rangers, anyone? It's in your PH1.
"Hi, I'm a Storm Warden!" "Pleased to meet you! I'm a Ranger with the Stormwarden Paragon Path!"
:P
I think the Storm Warden was more of a needed concept than the Thunderborn Barbarian. Simply because the next obvious aspect of Nature's wrath would be storms.
Barbarians on the other hand, I would think they should have tried Fire before thunder, as I tend to think of fire being more associated with rage.
I like the "storm" motif as much as the next guy, but does anyone else wonder about why even class and its dog is getting an entire build devoted to it? Storm Sorcerer, Thunder Barbarian, Storm Warden... who's next?
I know there's a few storm-themed Paragon Paths for other classes, too; Stormwarden PP for 2W Rangers, anyone? It's in your PH1.
"Hi, I'm a Storm Warden!" "Pleased to meet you! I'm a Ranger with the Stormwarden Paragon Path!"
:P
Thank god characters in my games don't run around declaring their class and paragon path! =P
Barbarians on the other hand, I would think they should have tried Fire before thunder, as I tend to think of fire being more associated with rage.
Barbarian is the least magical of the primal classes by flavor. They probably got a thunder build rather than any other element because thunder can be feasibly reflavored as just a bunch of ear shattering roars, ground shaking stomps, and weapon swings so mighty they cut the air apart creating a sort of sonic boom. It's all over the top, but it makes it feasible to pretend the barbarian is just an angry warrior rather than a wildman who channels the power of nature.
Storm does seem to be getting a rather disproportionate amount of mechanical attention though. This could be to do with it being sort of the new kid on the elemental block, now that WotC has expanded beyond the four classical elements. Yes this expansion has brought us other new elements as well, notably ice, but storm seems to be getting all the hype. I'm not really sure why, it may just be some kind of cool factor (crackling lightning and swirling winds make for impressive motifs), or it could be because storm has so many ways in which it can be expressed (lightning, thunder, clouds, wind, rain).
Personally though, I can't wait to see the full builds for both the storm warden and thunderborn barbarian, so that I can see what I can use from them in creating a nice Thor inspired character.
I like the "storm" motif as much as the next guy, but does anyone else wonder about why even class and its dog is getting an entire build devoted to it? Storm Sorcerer, Thunder Barbarian, Storm Warden... who's next?
I know there's a few storm-themed Paragon Paths for other classes, too; Stormwarden PP for 2W Rangers, anyone? It's in your PH1.
"Hi, I'm a Storm Warden!" "Pleased to meet you! I'm a Ranger with the Stormwarden Paragon Path!"
:P
Thank god characters in my games don't run around declaring their class and paragon path! =P
No doubt, brother!
That gives me an idea for a campaign:
The PCs are the last remnants of the once-powerful Storm Tribe, a group dedicated to the primal forces of Thunder and Lightning. Their mission: to restore the tribe to its former glory, via kicking the ass of everyone who caused its downfall, and everyone who might think of causing it to fall even further.
Of course, I might be able to flesh that idea out more when I see some of the fluff in Primal Power.
I hereby declare Lord_Ventnor Winner Of Thread.
Oh, well, if you insist. 
I like the "storm" motif as much as the next guy, but does anyone else wonder about why even class and its dog is getting an entire build devoted to it? Storm Sorcerer, Thunder Barbarian, Storm Warden... who's next?
I know there's a few storm-themed Paragon Paths for other classes, too; Stormwarden PP for 2W Rangers, anyone? It's in your PH1.
"Hi, I'm a Storm Warden!" "Pleased to meet you! I'm a Ranger with the Stormwarden Paragon Path!"
:P
There's a 'Stormage' wizard PP, too. The storm is more metaphysical, but still.
Maybe Storm is the new Spike. Did you notice that there was a 'spiked' just-about-anying in 3e? Spiked Gauntlet, Spiked Armor, Spiked Shields, Spiked Chain... freak'n Kytons... I think someone 'spiked' the punch...