Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Nerpherder Feb 26, 2009 18:28:49	Im walking down a dangerous road. Im Homebrewing some WoT stuff, how does this look for balance in the 4e world? Bonding You create a supernatural bond that binds the life force of two willing targets. Level: 10 Category: Warding Time: 30 minutes Duration: Permanent (untill Dismissed) Component Cost: 400 gp Market Price: 1000 gp Key Skill: Arcane, Nature (no check) By magicaly breaching the barier between life and death you are able to entertwine the lives for two people, granting them supernatural insight into eachothers conditions, Hit points and Location. You may only have one bond at a time, if this ritual is performed and either target is currently bonded the ritual fails with no expendature of the components. The bond gives each member the ability to as a free action learn any status effects that are on the other member of the bond, the current Hit Point Total and the general direction and distance to the other bonded ally. As a member of a bond you may spend a minor action and spend a Healing Surge to allow your bonded ally to make a save against all effect a save could end. The first time per combat a member of the bond is reduced to zero or below the other bound member may spend a Healing Surge, and may as a Immediate free action to shift up to double you speed toward the enemy that reduced the bonded ally.
#2 lomn Feb 26, 2009 18:32:34	I think there's a real problem with a minor action granting a saving throw without restriction. Bear in mind that the closest analogue is using a standard action on an adjacent character and passing a heal check to grant a save.
#3 Nerpherder Feb 26, 2009 22:10:18	Ive changed the costs of the Save granting ability and made it end all effects. Also made the movement a Shift and limited it to a double move distance. What do you think now?
#4 matthewswift Feb 26, 2009 22:16:04	I now pronounce you man and wife?
#5 Nerpherder Feb 26, 2009 22:22:41	Not that type of Bond, its based off the Warder Bond in the 'Wheel Of Time' books. Ive got some Ideas for classes and will put them up when I think they are "Play Test" ready.
#6 lomn Feb 27, 2009 14:48:09	I'm still skeptical of the saving throw being almost unlimited. I'd suggest dropping "against all", possibly replacing with "up to 2" along with a proviso of once per turn (that is, either 1 per surge with no per-turn limit or 2 per surge with a turn limit). Particularly for a surge-sack like a Paladin, the ability to grant up to three throws against every condition per turn is ridiculous. I'd also give thought to putting a range limit of can hear and/or see. This advice should be tempered against how you're looking at using the WoT setting, though. If the PCs are all commoners who maybe bump into an Aes Sedai and warder once in their lives, then overpowered makes sense. If your PCs are all Aes Sedai and warders, then their abilities need to be significantly more pedestrian (with regard to existing options) -- the general point of D&D heroes is that you're *already* significantly more powerful than the average person. Point of clarification: when bonded person A is reduced to 0 HP, is bonded person B's healing surge targeted to B or A? It appears to read B at first glance, but I expected the effect to be targeted to A. Along those lines, I evaluate the movement based on the above. If B (the standing member) boosts his own HP, I see no issue with the double move slide (A still needs help). If A gets the heal, I think B needs to be at risk charging across the battlefield to further aid and defend. Perhaps subject to Opportunity Attacks but with a temporary AC bonus? For overall evaluation from a balance perspective, I think you have to ask yourself this: will the players, from a metagaming perspective, be required to use the ritual? As it stands now, the answer is "yes" -- saving early and often is such an advantage that there's no way to argue out of it. This is compounded by the unlimited nature of Rituals: whereas humans at least have to debate spending a feat on Human Perseverance (+1 to saves) versus some other feat, or players taking a +save item versus some other item, every PC can have this along with every other usual means of character improvement. To take this metagaming point back to the WoT setting, consider that Aes Sedai do not universally view a warder as necessary. Even leaving aside the institutional rejection of the Reds, warders are not mandatory for AS leaving the White Tower. If bonding were the advantage described here, this would not be the case.