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[scriver]

Does your rwptors have actual raptors?

[mainiac]

olved by whacking it with a sword.
The problem is that blasters and buffers are boring. 4e has shown us that simply turning all magic-users into blasters/buffers is not a good solution. Also it's a deconstructive solution - it solves the problem by lessening the game; a proconstructive solution which would would solve the problem by enriching the game would be better for both the game itself and for the players.

Buffing can encompass a pretty wide range of stuff.  Right now there isn't much there because there are so much more vastly powerful outlets that draw the attention.  Maybe wizard spells could be more along these lines:

Ice Storm (2rd level spell?)
This spell creates a localized gale of wind filled with ice shards that harass your opponents.  Any opponent within 30 ft + 10/caster level must pass reflex save or take 1d4 damage per two casters levels (rounded up).  If save is passed they still take 1 damage per two caster levels (rounded up).  Any opponent in the affect area making an attack must pass a constitution check or suffer -2 to their attack.  Any opponent who moves more then their base movement (charge or full move) through the affected area suffers -4 to their save rolls.  Any opponent who moves no more then half their base movement and makes no attacks avoids all damage.
Once cast this spell lasts for one round for every two caster levels (rounded down, minimum 1).

I doubt it's balanced very well but it shows how spells could work in a different way.  You aren't just affecting individual targets and you aren't doing anything that makes you immune to attacks but you are affecting the battlefield in an interesting way.  And making it so that it has a duration but isn't channeled means a spellcaster could affect the battlefield and then do something else, making them not be a 1 trick pony.

[Sergarr]

Actually there are already a few of these battlefield alteration spells, like http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/softenEarthAndStone.htm  http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/transmuteRockToMud.htm and http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/entangle.htm

But having more fun spells is never a bad thing.

[Tack]

Does your raptors have actual raptors?

Nah it's just normal peeps with jetpacks and claw feet.
Which explains the name, now I think of it.

[Arx]

Why even the claws if they have jetpacks? I mean, one assumes their opponents don't have calf shields.

[Tack]

They have both jetpacks and claws that they may fight in the manner of the noble cassowary.

[scriver]

They are Space Australians, channeling the power of the Ancient Emu Spirits that defeated their ancestors in the ancient Emu Crusades.

They learned from them, so that they will never have to suffer the like again.

Spoiler: Also holy shit look at the feet of this cassowary thing (click to show/hide)

It's like he's wearing combat boots.

[My Name is Immaterial]

I don't even know what's going on in this thread anymore.

[Tack]

They are Space Australians, channeling the power of the Ancient Emu Spirits that defeated their ancestors in the ancient Emu Crusades.

Calling Too Soon on the great emu war.


Also wanna state for the record I thought I was posting in the Tabletop Games thread when I mentioned raptors.
But now the sweet, sugary damage is done.

[Sergarr]

Returning to D&D, Fighters and other martial classes being able to do things that are physically impossible would be because of one of these:
1) They're just that good.
- a little bit nonsensical, and would invite people to cry "Wuxia" on you.
2) The D&D worlds are inherently magical; as creatures get more and more magical the higher in level they get, then so do Fighter
- kind of boring for me, and doesn't give a reason as to why Wizards don't get that.
3) The D&D world are ruled by gods, who dictate their rules through local gods everywhere, which are physically connected to the aspect they enforce; and if you can either punch the reality hard enough or know where to stab it, you can give those local gods a concussion, therefore temporarily disabling one of the physical rules in the immediate area.
- sorta Exalted-ish, but feels the most true to the origin of D&D, where Llolth had 66 hitpoints and was vulnerable to being hit with a sword, as were most other gods.

It also given martial classes a nice flavor difference from spellcasting classes: while wizards use their knowledge of magic to create or alter, fighters use their knowledge of divine to suppress or destroy.

Kinda nice, eh?

[Flying Dice]

3 works decently well, yeah. Though with 1 I'm tempted to ask, "the hell is wrong with Wuxia?" It's a staple example of how people who aren't magicians can be really awesome in surprising ways. Once you pass the superhuman threshold that's basically what DnD already does anyways, just with less artistry.

[Sergarr]

3 works decently well, yeah. Though with 1 I'm tempted to ask, "the hell is wrong with Wuxia?" It's a staple example of how people who aren't magicians can be really awesome in surprising ways. Once you pass the superhuman threshold that's basically what DnD already does anyways, just with less artistry.

That's apparently a major point of conflict between people who want to make Fighter better and people who see these attempts as "anime bullshit". So I've made up an explanation which doesn't make Fighters look "anime", but which still gives him abilities to pull his weight in medium and high-level D&D, and which also nicely correlates with the existing D&D mythology.

EDIT: I've just thought of a nice technique to demonstrate how creative one can get with 3rd interpretation:
Upheaval, circle 8 technique:
Description: You catch the local gods of air and earth and with your sleight of hands switch them around temporarily. People in the affected area first fall through the earth-air and then get smashed by the weight of air-earth for level*d6 damage. When the duration of the tangling (1d4 rounds) ends, anyone who remained in the area get smashed again by earth becoming solid again and get trapped 10 feet underneath.

(that would actually be an effect more suited to Rogues, btw)

[Flying Dice]

If someone whines 'animu' instead of talking about Dynasty Warriors, classical mythology, &c. they're too young and/or ignorant to be making judgement calls like that anyways. 

[Tack]

I just see it as nature liking balance, so if the world has powerful magic it must also have powerful mundane.

[Bohandas]

Plus, in a world where magic is actually legit the line between magic an mundane is pretty arbitrary and artificial.