The first thing I notice about the Warpriest is that it’s not really one build; it’s a bunch of builds, one for each divine domain. The domain makes a huge difference to a warpriest: about 13 powers, including the cleric’s at-will powers, and several class features are determined by the domain.
Only two domains, Storm and Sun, are listed in Heroes of the Fallen Lands. This marks out plenty of room for further expansion, which is a good sign for 4e.
As a player, I want access to all the domains now. I want the complete warpriest! In the economic model of D&D, though, “complete” means “dead”. 4e relies on the developers continuing to dole out new material. When they can’t think of any more stuff to dole out, there’s nothing left to do but make a new edition!
For reference, here are the domains listed in 4e’s “Divine Power”:
arcana, change, civilization, creation, darkness, death, destruction, earth, fate, freedom, hope, justice, knowledge, life, love, luck, madness, moon, poison, protection, sea, skill, storm, strength, strife, sun, torment, tyranny, trickery, undeath, vengeance, war, wilderness, winter
It will take a while to flesh out each of these with class features and powers. And even when the Warpriest build has been completed: WOTC can introduce a new build and start again! May I humbly suggest PEACE PRIEST
Tags: essentials
I can’t wait for the Love domain powers! 4e Book of Erotic Fantasy??
I can’t wait for the endless arguments between warpriests about who is meaner: War domain or Strife domain clerics.
I rolled up a 14th level Sun Domain Warpriest. This is the first time that I have felt compelled to create a character without the character builder. I did it old school 😉 – I dug up my old 3 ring binder with my hand-made character sheets, and started going through the book, following the instructions to make the character, one level at a time. I had a blast.
A couple comments:
1) 4th edition characters take up a LOT of space. I noticed that I used to just write spell lists out, and put tick marks next to the spells that are memorized for the day. With 4th edition, I wrote index cards for each power (prayer) instead.
2) Another thing I noticed: with the build as presented, you don’t really need a holy symbol for attacking. All the default build attack powers are “weapon” (at least up to level 14) – (I might be forgetting something, but I don’t think so).
3) Having Resurrection as a class power just feels right. I was NEVER into rituals. Having this power at my finger tips again is all kinds of wonderful. The only ritual that usually ever gets used with regularity is Comrade’s Succor for the party-wide healing surge redistribution.
4) I’ve never been overly fond of fluff in the books. However, 4th edition went to far in the other direction being too light with fluff (especially with the magic item descriptions). However, the essentials book feel just right to me. I’ve really enjoyed reading the introductions to each new power as you level up.