Wow. This is, hands down, my favorite 4e player-oriented book since ... well at least since Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, but probably before that, too. There's a wealth of great, mechanically-deep and interesting stuff in here for players. As a note, the options here are pretty complex - probably the most intricate since psionics, if not moreso - and some are just game-changing.
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Quick, Capsule Summary:
Positives: Three new and incredibly interesting subclasses, design that integrates 4e from the PHBs to the Essentials line, a great collection of feats, some great themes, well-written flavor text even if some of it is a re-tread, and at least two well-designed (though somewhat setting-specific) races, out of the three presented.
Negatives: The fourth class is more stuff for Wizards, there's at least one fairly bland new race, potential power creep from some of the themes, and ... well, I kinda hate the cover art; it's too dark and almost looks like a misprint. It looks very amateurish on Amazon's page, and sadly, their image is pretty accurate.
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So the main question on many players' minds from the announcement of this book was, "Will this book build on all of 4e, or mostly just build on the Essentials line, like Heroes of Shadow did?"
In what I hope is the way forward, the answer is "All of the above." Everything here is self-contained - you can run any of the new options out of the box no matter if you're running an Essentials-only, non-Essentials, or Kitchen Sink game. Now, while the options here largely don't need other sources, they build on PHB2 more than anything else, and the designers kept an eye on integration, making sure that we have both multiclass feats for the new options AND ways for PHB2 characters to poach the class features from here. So while Heroes of Shadow was still about 80% useful for a game without the Essentials options, Heroes of the Feywild is 100% useful for pretty well anyone.
Okay. So with that out of the way, let's dig in.
First off, there's an abundance of fluff in this book. A lot of it reminds me of the Feywild section of the Manual of the Planes, but I haven't compared them side by side. I don't know if this is a re-write or a re-print, but let's be honest - it's not why we're here! (Although, I like the map!) I'm going to focus on the mechanical stuff, since it's what I more or less live for; the flavor text is awesome, and I love reading it, but you and I both know why we're here, amirite?
So to start, we have three new races. I'm still mostly thinking I have enough races right now, so it's tough to get enthusiastic about more - especially fairly genre-specific ones like these. On the plus side, much like the races in Heroes of Shadow, all three have a suite of racial utility powers they can pick from in addition to their normal class utility powers.
Hamadryads are up first; since the 4e dryad is a nasty wooden monster, they take the role of the "pretty" dryads. Female-only, they wear their "tree faerie" stuff on their sleeves and have a pretty nice suite of racial abilities, including save bonuses versus the nastiest effects in the game. Their encounter power lets them turn into wood, or dazzle enemies with their beauty. Not bad. I don't care for Wilden or Shifters, so these are probably my favorite nature-themed race so far.
Pixies are next, and will undoubtedly make the biggest splash and cause the most confusion. There's a preview on the WotC site which has the majority of their mechanics, but in brief... They are tiny. They fly, but their altitude limit of 1 means they need to be no more than 1 square (er... cube?) above the ground (that's 1 empty square under their feet) at the end of their turn or they fall. So they can fly into a tree, but can't stay hovering out of melee range forever. They mechanically act as Small creatures for most purposes, including weapon rules and reach. They have a way to shrink gear to their size, which is helpful for DMs. ("Why yes, Briarthorn, the orcs *were* randomly carrying around a Tiny Rapier!") They can speak with beasts. And, awesomely, they can share a space with an enemy or an ally, making Pixie defenders kind of insane in a few ways.
Last up are Satyrs, which are the male side of the Hamadryads. You know 'em - Panpipes, goat legs, too much wine, etc. They are pretty durable, and get more mileage out of their healing surges after a rest, and their encounter power gives some added control effects to attacks. They can pick an at-will utility power which will make them insane jumpers. And ... eh. I never really wanted to play Mr. Tumnus, so I think I'll end up passing.
OK! On to classes! These, by the way, are awesome, and truly 5-star.
First up is the Barbarian (Berserker) who's kinda insane, and looks to be an admirable choice for the fifth member of your party. He's Martial and Primal (and those power sources actually mean something for him) and switches between Defender and Striker. The basic way it works is, he starts out as a somewhat below-par, but still relatively potent, Knight-like Martial Defender. He has a defender aura, a punishment mechanic, and some nice bonuses to AC. (Also, he can slow with an At-Will attack, which is great for a Defender.) Once he uses a Primal power, he flips out, goes into a rage, loses his defender aura and AC bonus, and turns into a pretty competent Primal Striker. It's bizarre but it looks like it works. At every level, they look to have choices between Martial (defender-oriented) and Primal (striker) attacks. Picking Barbarian powers from PHB2 will knock them into Striker mode - which works great, too, since those all have their Striker mechanics built in. PHB2 Barbarians can pick many of these powers, too, though will obviously avoid anything referencing the Defender Aura mechanic.
Next is the Bard (Skald). And ... where do I start? They're so ... weird! First, the book suggests giving all Bards (including the PHB2 ones) some new Signs of Influence which are out-of-combat perks demonstrating how socially awesome they are. It's something I'd rather leave to role-playing, but it all looks handled well. And then ... well, jeez. Their Leader mechanic is an Aura 5. Instead of you using Minor actions for it, you and your allies in the aura can take their healing on their own (or give it to an adjacent ally) with a Minor action. They get two Dailies at every Daily Attack level, but rather than prep one like a Wizard, they pick what they're using at the time. (Song of Rest and Skill versatility are still here, ala PHB2.) Their Level 1 At-Will "Attacks" are Minor actions that give your allies in the Aura benefits when you hit with an MBA (for which you use Charisma instead of Strength). Their Encounter and Daily "Attacks" don't have actual attacks at all - they key off of other stuff, sometimes basic attacks, sometimes any attack with a weapon, and so on. Like I said, it's just weird and completely unlike anything we've seen so far in 4e. They straddle the line between a traditional class and a new essentials-style class. And, icing on the cake, there's a feat which lets PHB2 Bards switch from Majestic Word to the Skald's Aura if they so choose. Since all of these powers are Attack powers with a level, the Skald can freely poach from PHB2, and the PHB2 bard can poach from the Skald. There's a lot of brilliant mechanics here, but I have a feeling it will overwhelm some players! They look like they will play incredibly different from anything we've seen yet, and I'm more excited about them than any other option I've seen in 4e.
Next up is a third druid build. I don't care for the original Wild-Shape druid very much, but I love the Sentinel despite all its (many) warts. The new build - the Protector - is another controller, and the first real, true, dedicated Summoner class of the game. They don't wild-shape, but they do pick up either Primal Guardian or Primal Predator, much like the wild-shaper does. They get some nifty cantrips, like having little air spirits do their bidding. They all get a Controller feature which lets them make a zone of Difficult Terrain that has different effects based on their Circle. Most critically, they get uses of Summon Natural Ally instead of regular Daily attacks, letting them fill the battlefield with relatively self-sufficient summoned monsters from wolves to bulettes to ... tyrannosaurs? On the one hand, having your Dailies chosen for you can be rough. On the other hand, their summons look pretty great. Two of their new At-Wills - especially Magic Stones - will probably prove popular with druids of all shapes and sizes in the future. Otherwise, the powers are a healthy mixture of Controller and Leader stuff useful to all druids.
Finally, it's the Witch. Yep, it's YAFW (Yet Another "Friendly" Wizard). Because we apparently have to have a new Wizard build in every book, now. I'll give them credit for sticking to the theme - witches get Familiars and can bargain to trade out their Utility and Daily powers every extended rest by bargaining with their patrons - but it's still mostly a Wizard. You get a locked-in Encounter attack, but then you're a Wizard with a free familiar, and that's about it. The powers are geared towards either Transmutation (e.g. Foe to Frog), Enchantment/Charm, and a few Conjurations, but mostly it's yet another extension of the rather bloated Wizard spell list. It's okay, but I don't think Wizards need any more support for a while.
Okay, so themes! We have some great ones here, including the Fey Beast Tamer (aka, "You guys were all jealous of Sentinels' pets, so now you can all have them"), the Sidhe Lord (aka, "I come with a built-in bodyguard"), Tuathan (aka, "Everyone can change into animals now!), and Unseelie Agent ("Magic weapons? I make my own, thanks.") I think the beast tamer may be a chart-topper, power-wise, especially with their Level 5 Feature which basically makes their animals all have the Sentinel's Wolf's aura, but they're going to largely be restricted to classes who don't low-ball Constitution. Maybe. While I think having a pet owlbear or displacer beast is just awesome, it still feels quite power-creepy, letting everyone poach an entire class's defining feature. Also, with more summons and freely-available beast companions, the battlefield might get mighty crowded.
Then there's paragon path and epic destiny support for the new options. Not much to say here.
And then ... FEATS!
Several of the new feats are "interoperability" feats which let the new options and old options play well with each other. For example, Protector Druids can snag Wild Shape and the ability to take normal Dailies. Bards can swap Majestic Word for Skald's Aura. In addition, there's some stuff I don't know if I ever expected to see much of again - class- and race-specific feats, for two. Paragon-tier feats, for another. It's like taking all the good stuff from the PHB series and mixing it with the innovative design of the Essentials line, and I love it.
As expected, there's a section with new Items and "Fey Gifts." I think I've rambled on enough already, so I'll just note that I love alternative rewards as a DM, and it never hurts to have more!
Oh, and to close things off, there's a Building Your Story section which I mostly missed on first read - I missed the first page, and it all looked like fluff to me. It's ... not, exactly. It's again, very neat and radically different from anything in previous 4e books - it's basically phased, background-oriented character generation which starts from your upbringing, moves to your region, and includes events from your earlier life. It's specific to the Feywild, which is expected, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it for the generic Nentir Vale setting in an upcoming Dragon. It's extremely innovative, and makes for an awesome way to start a new campaign with established and interesting characters.
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