[4e] Winter's Knights: Paladins of the Raven Queen

[Aron Times]

http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.a...rcact/20091118

Lots of cold and necrotic powers for paladins.

Discuss.

[Leon]

Like the concept, cant see the content sadly

[Hal]

I'm not a good judge of whether powers are good, bad, over or underpowered.

However, this looks like a definite "controller paladin" variant. Interesting. I'd have liked to have seen a replacement for the Divine Challenge, but no matter.

Not much to the article besides the powers. The new feats are interesting; the CD is like an extra Lay on Hands, and the paragon feat is probably worth it for anyone who qualifies. Same with the raven cloak; if you don't have something planned for the neck slot, it's definitely a strong contender.

(Raven cloak - Resist 5 Necrotic and cold, and you automatically reroll a failed save with a +5 bonus as the daily power)

[Kurald Galain]

(Raven cloak - Resist 5 Necrotic and cold, and you automatically reroll a failed save with a +5 bonus as the daily power)

Any item that gives a resistance is a good. Any item that gives two resistances is excellent.

Just like in 3E, investing in non-standard defenses (such as resistances) is much more useful than raising the standard AC/fort/ref/will just a little.

[Hal]

Any item that gives a resistance is a good. Any item that gives two resistances is excellent.

Which is why I wonder if it will remain as such. Almost seems too good.

Next time I can upgrade, my cleric might be taking the healer's brooch (whatever it's called). This really makes me wonder, though. It's definitely a strong option.

[Kurald Galain]

Which is why I wonder if it will remain as such. Almost seems too good.

Ah, there's several armors and cloaks already that give two resistances. Cloak of Survival, Deathcut Armor, stuff like that.

[Ravens_cry]

Like the concept.
One of the things I enjoyed in 4E was a Death Goddess who was Unaligned. Eventually, we must close the book, and all stories must end.

[Mando Knight]

Like the concept.
One of the things I enjoyed in 4E was a Death Goddess who was Unaligned. Eventually, we must close the book, and all stories must end.

They stole the alignment/portfolio combination from at least Forgotten Realms, who had the Lawful Neutral Kelemvor... and then also Greek/Roman mythology, as Hades/Pluto was simply god of the dead, and not evil himself (quite a bit less involved in the world than Zeus, though)...

[Ravens_cry]

They stole the alignment/portfolio combination from at least Forgotten Realms, who had the Lawful Neutral Kelemvor... and then also Greek/Roman mythology, as Hades/Pluto was simply god of the dead, and not evil himself (quite a bit less involved in the world than Zeus, though)...

Well, I a) haven't played Forgotten Realms, and b) know that ancient myths often include neutral deities of Death.
Default D&D 3.5, DMG, PHB, MM, doesn't.
Which is too bad, because Nerull gets a bad ass scythe.

[Asbestos]

She seems more like Hel to me than anything else, minus the whole 'going to participate in the death of the gods' thing. Recall from her background that the she was originally extremely ambitious but was kept in check by being changed from God of the Dead to God of Death, preventing her from mechanically being an ultra-archdevil by getting all of the souls available. At heart she's a giant bitch intent on ruling everything, but the rest of the gods keep her in check.

[Drakefall]

At heart she's a giant bitch intent on ruling everything, but the rest of the gods keep her in check.

This.

I've always hated the Raven Queen more than any other diety I can think of. She seems more like a chaotic evil type being forced to/pretending to be unaligned rather than just actually unaligned. Conversely Kelemvor is one of my favourite deities, that man knows how the death god business is done.

Not having an insider account I can't actually make any particularly worthwhile comments, but more options are always nice and alternative damage types and (possibly?) playstyles for paladin sound interesting.

[Master_Rahl22]

The Raven Queen is my favorite deity in 4E, so this is cool. I don't have DDI, so that's not cool. I have several friends who do, so we're back to cool again.

[Haven]

I can't see it, but I'm glad it exists. My first character in 4e was a Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen; I just really liked that I could play an Unaligned Paladin. Who is also a dragon (with frost breath, naturally).

Though I don't understand why her powers would do necrotic damage. Wouldn't she naturally go for the damage type that hurts undead most?

(The Raven Queen Channel Divinity feat seemed like the best one in the PHB, incidentally)

[Asbestos]

This.

I've always hated the Raven Queen more than any other diety I can think of. She seems more like a chaotic evil type being forced to/pretending to be unaligned rather than just actually unaligned.

Its as if she's subject to some bizzaro Pact Primeval. She has access to the greatest power source in existence, but can't use it and has to give it up anyway. It'd be like a nation with huge uranium reserves, but everyone else is so opposed to them having nuclear power that at best all they can do is sell the stuff. Note this is a purely hypothetical example and is not indicative of any real world nation.

[kc0bbq]

Its as if she's subject to some bizzaro Pact Primeval. She has access to the greatest power source in existence, but can't use it and has to give it up anyway. It'd be like a nation with huge uranium reserves, but everyone else is so opposed to them having nuclear power that at best all they can do is sell the stuff. Note this is a purely hypothetical example and is not indicative of any real world nation.

She's the butt of a cosmic joke. She wanted all of Nerull's power when she offed him. She didn't get it. She lost out on a major element of it and now she's stuck.

[Sir Homeslice]

WotC needs to stop off riding the Raven Queen for everything she's got.

I demand more Paladins of Asmodeus that actually stay Paladins of Asmodeus instead of stealing his tricks and fighting crime.

Seriously, Dragon was made for thie Evil stuff.

[Gametime]

This.

I've always hated the Raven Queen more than any other diety I can think of. She seems more like a chaotic evil type being forced to/pretending to be unaligned rather than just actually unaligned. Conversely Kelemvor is one of my favourite deities, that man knows how the death god business is done.

Not having an insider account I can't actually make any particularly worthwhile comments, but more options are always nice and alternative damage types and (possibly?) playstyles for paladin sound interesting.

I don't think wanting to be powerful makes you inherently evil. Hell, there's not even anything indicating she'd do anything with all that power. Nerull doesn't seem to have - the backstory implies he was just a godly misanthrope enjoying his ultra-powerful reign, but not really interfering with anything.

I think the Raven Queen is definitely power hungry, but ambition isn't evil. Unless she does evil things to get what she wants, she fits the unaligned alignment perfectly - she literally doesn't care about good or evil, she just wants advancement.

[Xallace]

Conversely Kelemvor is one of my favourite deities, that man knows how the death god business is done.

Amen to that. Kelemvor shall forever remain the Death deity in my games.

I feel a little underwhelmed by this. I was expecting something like paladins of Asmodeus or Tharizdun or something. But of course, since Raven Queen is the new Pelor, I probably shouldn't have. Well, the feats look cool and Paladin cold powers are something I've thought awesome since Frostburn... so, I'll hang on to it.

Oh, and did anyone see the title and think Nox Arcana, or was that just me?