Props to the alternate ability modifiers for the classic races. So many possibilities open up for these races now that wasn’t present before:

• Dwarf: Strength opens up dwarves for both fighters and barbarians! Dwarf has always been a solid race mechanically, with an awesome racial power (dwarven resilience) and a few great feats. In particular, Dwarven Weapon Training (+2 damage and proficiency with all axes and hammers!) and Shield the Fallen (adj. bloodied allies get +2 to all STs and Defenses!) are both very powerful and work well for either a fighter or a barbarian. It was always tempting to play either one as a dwarf already but the lack of a primary ability score always kept me away. Now I have no excuse!
• Eladrin: Another awesome race that was crippled by having Dex and Int as primary scores, making for only a handful of good builds (wand wizard comes to mind). Adding Charisma into the mix really opens the class up for both Bards and Warlocks. Fey step is such a nice racial power that I can definitely see considering Eladrin for either of those classes.
• Elf: Int/Dex is a weird combination. I know some classes use it. An obscure rogue build sure does. In any case, elves have one of those awesome racial powers that is super useful, elven accuracy, so for those classes that can use those stats, elf will be high on the list, I’m sure.
• Halfling: Dex/Con is another one of those combinations that doesn’t see a ton of use, though the idea of a super dark and creepy Halfling assassin does have some appeal!
• Human: Humans don’t get any ability mods, but heroic defense is yet another example of one of those awesome super useful racial feats. Getting a bonus to either an attack roll or a saving throw when you miss is huge. At higher levels failing a saving throw can be very rough, so the party really needs a nice group of powers they can draw one and so having a flexible like this one is awesome. My only regret is that I doubt I’ll be able to bring myself to take a third at-will anymore when I play a human (which is fun if not usually super useful!) since this power is definitely one of the crucial use at just the right time abilities!

More Essentials thoughts…

Tags: essentials

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 3:00 pm and is filed under 4e D&D, news, RPG Hub. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.