Season 2 of D&D Encounters starts next week. I came across the six pregenerated characters and must say I’m disappointed (because I like optimized characters and these aren’t). Below are the six characters along with my thoughts on them.

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Barcan, level 1 Human Sorcerer, Spell Source: Cosmic Magic, Theme: Veiled Alliance
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 14, Con 10, Dex 11, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 20.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 14, Con 10, Dex 11, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18.
AC: 12 Fort: 13 Reflex: 11 Will: 18
HP: 22 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5
TRAINED SKILLS: Insight +4, Arcana +5, History +5, Diplomacy +10, Bluff +10
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics, Dungeoneering -1, Endurance, Heal -1, Intimidate +5, Nature -1, Perception -1, Religion, Stealth, Streetwise +5, Thievery, Athletics +2
FEATS: Human: Arcane Reserves, Level 1: Focusing Spellfury
POWERS: Bonus At-Will Power: Arcing Fire, Sorcerer at-will 1: Blazing Starfall, Sorcerer at-will 1: Burning Spray, Sorcerer encounter 1: Ray of the Moon, Theme encounter: Excise From Sight, Sorcerer daily 1: Cosmos Call
ITEMS: Adventurer’s Kit, Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing), Quarterstaff

Barcan is probably the best of the pregen characters since his main stat is a 20. His feats are needed to make up for his lackluster damage bonus (+2 from strength) to bring him in line with the more capable strikers.

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Castri, level 1 Elf Ranger, Fighting Style: Marauder Fighting Style, Ranger: Running Attack, Theme: Gladiator,
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 18, Con 11, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 18, Con 11, Dex 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8.
AC: 17 Fort: 15 Reflex: 15 Will: 11
HP: 23 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5
TRAINED SKILLS: Nature +8, Stealth +7, Perception +8, Acrobatics +7, Dungeoneering +6
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Arcana, Bluff -1, Diplomacy -1, Endurance -1, Heal +1, History, Insight +1, Intimidate -1, Religion, Streetwise -1, Thievery +2, Athletics +3
FEATS: Level 1: Improved Initiative
POWERS: Ranger at-will 1: Twin Strike, Ranger at-will 1: Throw and Stab, Ranger encounter 1: Precise Assault, Theme encounter: Disrupting Advance, Ranger daily 1: Isolation Strike
ITEMS: Bone carrikal, 2 flint daggers, hide armor

Castri is not a bad character, but with only an 18 strength on a melee class he’s not great either. His biggest flaw is probably his daily power which does not take advantage of the extra +1 to hit he gets from Running Attack. He’d probably also be better with either Quick Draw or Lethal Hunter as his feat rather than Improved Initiative. Quick Draw would allow him to re-arm himself faster after he throws his weapon using Throw and Stab, and Lethal Hunter ups his overall damage. His weapons are decent although he could probably use a handaxe in his off hand rather than the dagger for a small damage increase at the loss of +1 to hit. Not sure how I feel about that since I prefer characters with better than average to hit bonuses but perhaps his racial ability will compensate.

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Jarvix, level 1 Tiefling Psion, Discipline Focus: Telepathy Focus, Theme: Veiled Alliance
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 11, Con 10, Dex 10, Int 20, Wis 8, Cha 16.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 11, Con 10, Dex 10, Int 18, Wis 8, Cha 14.
AC: 15 Fort: 10 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 22 Surges: 6 Surge Value: 5
TRAINED SKILLS: Intimidate +8, Perception +4, Bluff +10, Diplomacy +8
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics, Arcana +5, Dungeoneering -1, Endurance, Heal -1, History +5, Insight -1, Nature -1, Religion +5, Stealth +2, Streetwise +3, Thievery, Athletics
FEATS: Psion: Ritual Caster, Level 1: Discipline Adept
POWERS: Psion at-will 1: Dishearten, Psion at-will 1: Mind Thrust, Theme encounter: Excise From Sight, Psion daily 1: Mental Trauma
ITEMS: Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing), Bronze Dagger, Orb Implement
RITUALS: Comrades’ Succor, Create Campsite

Like Barcan, Jarvis also has a 20 in his main stat so he’s a little better off than the other characters. I played a Shardmind Psion in the first D&D Encounters season who was more optimized than Jarvix, but he’s ok. He’d be better off with the overpowered Superior Implement Training (Crystal Orb) feat rather than Discipline Adept. Being able to use Distract a second time in an encounter is nice, but not at the expense of +1 to-hit and +2 damage all the time.

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Phye, level 1 Human Ardent, Ardent Mantle: Mantle of Clarity, Theme: Noble Adept
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 10, Con 12, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 18.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 10, Con 12, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 16.
AC: 16 Fort: 13 Reflex: 12 Will: 16
HP: 29 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 7
TRAINED SKILLS: Streetwise +9, Heal +8, Insight +8, Athletics +4, Diplomacy +9
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics, Arcana -1, Bluff +4, Dungeoneering +3, Endurance, History -1, Intimidate +4, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion -1, Stealth, Thievery
FEATS: Human: Mantle of Readiness, Level 1: Toughness
POWERS: Ardent at-will 1: Energizing Strike, Ardent at-will 1: Focusing Strike, Bonus At-Will Power: Psionic Shield, Theme encounter: Adept’s Insight, Ardent daily 1: Implanted Suggestion
ITEMS: Adventurer’s Kit, Chitin Chainmail, Iron Longspear

Phye is the only leader in the pregens (which should make things interesting in a six person party). I prefer leaders who can either protect themselves or output damage near striker levels. Phye half-accomplishes those. She uses a reach weapon with could keep her away from enemies while still being able to attack with a 1d10 damage weapon. Not bad, but not great. her feats are ok. Toughness helps with her survivability, but I’m not sold on the other one. I’d probably go with Weapon Expertise to up her base to-hit to +7, which is very important since her at-will effects on work if she hits her target.

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Yuka, level 1 Mul Fighter, Fighter: Combat Agility, Theme: Wasteland Nomad
Fighter Talents: Brawler Style
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 18, Con 14, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 16, Con 12, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10.
AC: 19 Fort: 18 Reflex: 14 Will: 10
HP: 29 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 7
TRAINED SKILLS: Intimidate +5, Endurance +9, Athletics +9, Streetwise +7
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics +3, Arcana, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering, Heal, History, Insight, Nature +2, Perception, Religion, Stealth +3, Thievery +3
FEATS: Level 1: Brawler Guard
POWERS: Fighter at-will 1: Threatening Rush, Fighter at-will 1: Grappling Strike, Fighter encounter 1: Serpent’s Coil, Theme encounter: Wasteland fury, Fighter daily 1: Unstoppable Advance
ITEMS: Id Fiend Scale Armor, Obsidian Short sword, Bone Alhulak, Adventurer’s Kit

The complete Mul race writeup won’t be available until the Dark Sun rulebook is released, but players have been able to piece together most of their bonuses. They have +2 Str and +2 Con like Goliaths which makes them suitable to the melee classes dwarves should be able to take (see my previous post). If they can take dwarven feats they will be awesome. In that case, their +2 str combined with Dwarven Weapon Training will make one heck of a nasty warrior.

Yuka uses the new brawler build from Martial Power 2, which is a neat build but is better suited to the Half-Orc. Since Yuka needs 3 stats to perform well he has only an 18 in strength. Not great. He’d be much better off as a battle rager rather than a brawler. At least he has a 19 AC though, but 29 hp is a little weak for a defender. His weapon is only 1d8 so his damage output is not to my preferred level for any character and he only has a +7 to-hit, also a little low. If he had a 20 strength he could go with a larger weapon like a battleaxe.

I have a feeling he will be a popular character since the Mul is new. not sure how my local group is going to decide who gets to play whom.

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Shikirr, level 1 Thri-Kreen Battlemind, Psionic Study: Speed of Thought, Theme: Wilder
FINAL ABILITY SCORES: Str 10, Con 18, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 11.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES: Str 10, Con 16, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 11.
AC: 17 Fort: 14 Reflex: 11 Will: 15
HP: 33 Surges: 13 Surge Value: 8
TRAINED SKILLS: Intimidate +5, Endurance +9, Athletics +8
UNTRAINED SKILLS: Acrobatics +1, Arcana -1, Bluff, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering +5, Heal +3, History -1, Insight +3, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion -1, Stealth +1, Streetwise, Thievery +1
FEATS: Level 1: Melee Training (Constitution)
POWERS: Battlemind at-will 1: Bull’s Strength, Battlemind at-will 1: Twisted Eye, Theme encounter: Wild Surge, Battlemind daily 1: Allies to Enemies
ITEMS: Adventurer’s Kit, Mekillot Scale Armor, Stone trikal, Bone wrist razors

Like the Mul, the Thri-Kreen is a new race that players have only received glimpses of. It looks like they get +2 Con and +2 Wis, but Shikirr’s stats are not optimized. Not all of his points have been spent. Assuming the above statline and bonuses he has 5 more points to spend which could net  a statline of 10, 20, 11, 8, 16, 10 (the same as what I have on my Dwarf Battlemind from my previous post). He is also a defender with a measly AC of 17 and low +6 to-hit. He is going to miss a lot and only does 1d10+4 damage. Plus he is equipped with a reach weapon when he needs to be adjacent to his marked target in order for his defender abilities to work. Sure he could mark somebody and attack to guy behind him, but I’d prefer him to hit the guy he marked. Better that he has a heavy shield and a one-handed weapon like a longsword rather than the way he’s built now. At least they gave him a decent feat although I’d prefer Weapon Expertise.

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Oh well, I wasn’t very hopeful in seeing some good pregenerated characters and Wizards came through with some very lackluster ones. Still undecided whether I will play in the season. The only good thing I can see is that the season is long enough (16 sessions) that the characters will get to level 2 and possibly level 3 so these pregens can see at least one retrain option. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done for those that have 18’s in their main stat instead of 20.

Until next time…