Initial Concept: A Martial/Arcane Weapon-based Striker

[macklinr]

So, after last night's D&D 4/e game -- the end of the campaign -- I was playing around with some thoughts about a new class. I should warn you, this post will be all stream-of-consciousness

Comments

[milambus]

I like the idea, but I'm not sure its full there yet.

If this is a Striker, then where is the bonus damage (or re-roll or whatever) that other Strikers get? (Sneak Attack, Quarry, Curse, Oath of Enmity, etc)

Perhaps a class feature Free Action Chain ability. Have the feature based upon the Path they select. One could do bonus damage, another could be a shift, one could be +2 to the attack...

Before I got to your narrative explanation I was thinking the class should be more like an Artificer, basically buffing up his own weapons or other items.

[macklinr]

It's definitely not full there yet.

The bonus damage would, I think, come from type -- +1d6 per type of damage you do (or something like that) for Elemental Arcane Hunters, or +damage based on squares moved during the attack.

I need to look at the Artificer.

[ladylakira]

Call it "nemesis" as a working title? Because it sounds like the kind of assassin designed to take advantage of elemental or positional weaknesses on the fly. I would argue for relative low-mid damage output with the elemental/positional stuff bringing it into striker level damage output, plus something like the wizard's "choose two dailies - you get one a day" kind of deal for added flexibility. Or maybe have higher tiered stuff let you pick X or Y elemental with A or B effect.

Also, drawing on the monk playtest, you could have multiple actions attached to encounters/dailies like so:

Standard action: Make an at-will attack. Hit - Deal normal damage for that daily plus 1[W] thunder damage.
Minor action: Trigger - A chained attack which successfully hits. Target is also knocked prone.

(I apologize, incidentally, for the sloppy word usage and formatting - it's been awhile.) The way I see it, it shouldn't cost someone a minor plus a standard to pull off an encounter/daily since they tend to use only one action.

[ladylakira]

1. Thinking more, I take back the low-mid damage comment. The most common complaint I've seen with strikers is that they just don't do enough damage to make up for their squishier nature.

2. "Bounty Hunter"? "Arcane Hunter"?

[macklinr]

All good stuff. Thank you

[ladylakira]

:) Glad you find it useful