Dragon Magazine #382, Dragon
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ISSUE 382 | DEcEmbEr 2009
A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
®
ROLEPLAYING GAME SUPPLEMENT
®
CONTENTS
Features
5
Player’s Handbook 3 debut: tHe ardent
Get an exclusive look at another new class from
Player’s Handbook
®
3
. This
month, the ardent!
45
Class aCts: FigHter
By Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Learn the secrets of the School of Twenty Blades.
17
swordmage essentials
By Andy Collins
Learn the secrets to building and playing the swordmage, arcane defender.
48
Class aCts: warloCk
By Robert J. Schwalb
The Blasphemous Libram is capable of great evil—and granting great power.
25
Familiar Power: wizards
By Arthur Wright
Familiars are more than just shoulder dressing for your wizard. These new
powers feature kickers that activate if you have a familiar.
53
Class aCts: druid
By Aidyn Newman
New options for the shifting druid in all of us.
30
assassin’s toy CHest
By Mike Mearls
More goodies for your assassin, including more feats and ki foci!
56
Class aCts: invoker
By Robert J. Schwalb
New options for those invokers who awaken their inner god fragment.
33
avenger essentials
By Rodney Thompson
Learn the basics to building a complete avenger, divine tool of justice of the
gods.
59
Power Play: arCane Power
By Stephen Radney-MacFarland
All arcanists seek more power, but the followers of the Gloaming Path seek it
in the place some say arcane power was born: the Feywild.
42
Class aCts: avengers
By Rodney Thompson
More toys for avengers, featuring a slew of new power options.
62
Power Play: Primal Power
By Tavis Allison
Those who learn the secrets of primal mapping can find their way more
easily in the world.
65
winning raCes: drow
By Bruce R. Cordell
The drow are known for their treachery and viciousness, but some learn to tap
these innate callings to serve a higher cause.
Columns
68
winning raCes: elves
By Robert. J. Schwalb
Twilight elves are Sehanine’s chosen, and they have gained some of the
patron’s mystery, and much of her power.
4
editorial
106
ConFessions oF a Full-time wizard
By Shelly Mazzanoble
D&D
’s “Player-in-Chief ” shares more of her
wisdom and insight.
111
rPga rePort
By Chris Tulach
The Living FR campaign is in full swing. Learn
more about how to get involved!
71
CHannel divinity: tHe traveler
By Chris Sims
Those who are devoted to misdirection and stealth often find the Traveler’s
ways suit their own.
74
solo adventure
By Chris Sims
A
D&D
4th Edition solo play adventure for one 1st-level character. Rescue
your adventuring party and help the goblin Splug at the same time!
115
amPersand
By Bill Slavicsek
Bill discusses more of the changes in store for
D&D
in 2010.
99
know your role: Controller
By Robert J. Schwalb
New feats and tips to give your controller more oomph.
102
guilds & grouPs: moon CatCHers
By Bruce R. Cordell
The followers of Iltani the Blue seek to return her to the sky and guard the
world against a great catastrophe.
on tHe Cover
Illustration by Steve Prescott
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ungeon
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ragon
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com/dnd
E d I T oR I A L
382
CAREER CHANGE
(or, Your Character Sheet as Résumé)
Dragon
De c emb e r 2009
Editor-in-Chief chris Youngs
SeniorArtDirector
Jon Schindehette
WebSpecialist chris Sims
WebProduction bart carroll, Steve Winter
Those of you following
Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard
(and if you don’t, you really should), are likely aware
of the friendly
waging between the author and
myself—which, in no small part, involves honor, trust,
betrayal, life, death, and the career choice of one slight,
black-feathered fellow named Holden Cawfield.
While Holden may be crow-like in appearance (he
is, you see, a kenku), his actions are more cuckoo-like
in nature. The cuckoo hides its eggs in another bird’s
nest to be raised unwittingly. And this is how Shelly
viewed Holden. He presented himself as one thing only
to become another—not for his party’s interests, but
entirely for his own.
A little backstory to this debate: Shelly and I play in
the same
Scales of War
campaign. A few months back,
Holden auditioned for an open spot at the table, won
it, and promptly joined the Wyld Stallions’
as a much-
needed cleric.
Then
Dragon
published the assassin class. Holden
simply couldn’t resist.
I won’t go into the intrinsic coolness of the assassin
class, how I’ve played one since 1st Edition, or how well
I feel its mechanics work in 4th Edition (though I am
campaigning for a ranged assassin/sniper build). I’ ll
only say that once the assassin appeared, I lobbied to
change Holden’s class, and our dM agreed.
Shelly cried fowl (last bird reference, I promise).
Holden had been hired as a cleric, and—she felt—should
remain one.
My defense, and the point of this editorial, goes as
follows: There are, quite thankfully, a wealth of classes
in this game, and a typical campaign involves sessions
spanning months, if not years, of play. Many players are
satisfied to run their character as originally designed for
the entire length of the campaign. To them, adventur-
ing parties resemble the Fellowship of the Ring; it just
wouldn’t fit for Gimli to put down his axe or Legolas his
bow and start learning to cast spells under Gandalf ’s
tutelage. on the other hand, some players like the
opportunity to sample classes. They are experimenters,
dabblers, the cobblers of mechanics. Without forcing
their character’s death or retirement, it makes sense
that they be allowed to change careers mid-campaign.
There’s no judgment being cast here on either style; you
should play your character however you see fit, which is
the heart of my argument.
Career changes happen, at the best of times, for the
advancement of the character in question. Bilbo Baggins
started out as a middle-aged homeowner, became a bur-
glar, then later a traveling historian. Aragorn started as a
ranger of ill-repute, only to become a field marshal, and
finally king. Look at Cattie-Brie, who literally did lay
down her bow to learn spellcasting. In fact, consider vir-
tually anyone you know in the real world. I have myself
worked at amusement parks, as an overnight hotel valet,
delivered phone books, operated as a CIA hit man,
taught English, and edited technical manuals along the
course of my career.
All that said, I would not advocate career changes
often or thoughtlessly. You should ask your dM’s advice
and permission—and you should consult your fellow
players, to make sure they don’t feel an important role
is being vacated to the party’s detriment. In Holden’s
case, this meant multi-classing as a cleric (of the Raven
Queen, of course) and purchasing magic items to further
help with healing, to soften the blow of my decision.
We often talk that the job of the dM is to make sure
everyone around the table is having fun. To a large
extent, the same holds true for you as the player—your
job is to make sure that you’re also having fun, and so
contribute to the group’s overall enjoyment of the game.
At the most basic level, your fun begins with the char-
acter you’re playing; if that character is interested in
changing careers, that option should be on the table.
Just take our recent playtesting of oP’s Lair Assault
adventure. Afterward, Shelly herself considered a career
change for her character—from Tabitha the wizard to
Tabitha the barbarian.
The defense rests.
GraphicDesign Keven Smith, Yasuyo Dunnett
ContributingAuthors Tavis Allison, Andy collins, bruce
r. cordell, Shelly mazzanoble,
mike mearls, matthew Newman,
Stephen radney-macFarland,
robert J. Schwalb, chris Sims,
bill Slavicsek, rodney Thompson,
chris Tulach, Arthur Wright
Developers Stephen radney-macFarland,
Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert,
chris Sims, rodney Thompson
Editors michele carter, Jeremy crawford,
miranda Horner
CoverArtist Steve Prescott
ContributingArtists Alex Aparin, Eric belisle, Wayne
England, Tyler Jacobson, mcLean
Kendree, Jorge Lacera, Patrick
mcEvoy, William O’connor,
David rapoza, Evan Shipard,
Eric L. Williams
WebDevelopment mark A. Jindra
D&DCreativeManager christopher Perkins
ExecutiveProducer,
D&DInsider chris champagne
DirectorofRPGR&D bill Slavicsek
SpecialThanks
richard baker, Greg bilsland, Logan bonner, michele carter,
Jennifer clarke Wilkes, Andy collins, bruce r. cordell, Torah cottrill,
Jeremy crawford, mike Donais, rob Heinsoo, Nina Hess, Peter Lee,
mike mearls, Kim mohan, cal moore, Stephen radney-macFarland,
Peter Schaefer, Stephen Schubert, matthew Sernett,
rodney Thompson, rob Watkins, James Wyatt
Class traits
role:
Leader.Youfillyourallieswiththewilltofight
andtheclarityofpurposeneededforvictory.When
youattack,youloosethoughtsthatintensifyemotions
andlaybaretruths.Dependingonyourchoiceofclass
features,youleantowardeitherdefenderorstrikeras
asecondaryrole.
Power source:
Psionic.Youareaspiritualwarrior
whosethoughtsswirlaboutyoutoinfectyourenemies
withdoubtandfillyourallieswithconfidence.
key abilities:
Charisma,Constitution,Wisdom
armor Proficiencies:
Cloth,leather,hide,chainmail
weapon Proficiencies:
Simplemelee,militarymelee,
simpleranged
bonus to defense:
+1Fortitude,+1Will
Commentary
James Wyatt:
The ardent is the psionic warlord.
While the warlord shouts encouragement, inspira-
tion, and commands to his allies, the ardent taps
directly into his allies’ minds to achieve similar
results. I like the ardent as a passionate, tempestuous
foil to the psion’s calm rationality.
ARDENT
By Robert J. Schwab
Commentary by James Wyatt
and Peter Schaefer
illustrations by Chris Seaman
“The fate of the world rests on
the fire of your passions.”
Hit Points at 1st level
:12+Constitutionscore
Hit Points per level gained:
5
Healing surges per day:
7+Constitutionmodifier
trained skills:
Fromtheclassskillslistbelow,choose
fourtrainedskillsat1stlevel.
Class Skills:
Arcana(Int),Athletics(Str),Bluff(Cha),
Diplomacy(Cha),Endurance(Con),Heal(Wis),Insight
(Wis),Intimidate(Cha),Streetwise(Cha)
Commentary
Peter Schaefer:
Just like the psion’s design made
it clear that it should be an Intelligence class, the
ardent’s method of projecting and wielding emotions
make Charisma the perfect choice.
JW:
When we designed the kalashtar race in the
Eberron Player’s Guide
, bonuses to Wisdom and
Charisma seemed like a really good fit. I remember
somebody saying, “But that doesn’t make them good
psions.” And I said, “They’ll be good at some psionic
class, I’m sure.” And here’s that class.
Class Features:
ArdentMantle,
ardent surge
,Psionic
Augmentation
Tm & © 2009 Wizards of the coast LLc. All rights reserved.
De c emb e r 2009
|
Dragon 382
5
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