D&D 4E Player’s Handbook 3: In-Depth Review

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The Player’s Handbook 3 for 4E D&D adds to the game with a pile of new character options. New races, classes, the Psionic Power Source, Feats, Hybrid classes and more immediately show it’s an interesting read… but how does it measure up? What are the new options like, and what impact will this have on how the game runs?

The PHB3 features a few new races: the Githzerai, Minotaur, Shardmind, and Wilden, along with a Racial Paragon Path for each. As the book says itself, none of these are particularly thematic for Heroic characters, but they’re not too out of place in higher level campaigns.

The classes introduce the Psionic Power Source, with four Psionic classes (one for each role): the Ardent (Leader), Battlemind (Defender), Monk (Striker), and the Psion (Controller). Also featured are the Seeker (a curious ranged Primal Controller), and the Runepriest (a Divine Leader).

The book also introduces Hybrid Classes, which are an entirely new way of Multiclassing. If you don’t like 4E multiclassing, want to have a more mixed character, or liked the 2E Multiclass system, it’s worth a look.

Plus: Skill Powers (extra options for Utility Powers), Epic Destinies, Feats, Superior Implements, and Magic Items.

Illustrations: For some reason, the artists seem to think that every Psionic class need some sort of halo of Psionic energy around them. There are a lot of arbitrary halos in this book. Be warned.

[Complete list of D&D Character Races]

The most curious thing about the PHB3 races is they give the player the option of choosing, slightly, what Ability Scores the race enhances. For example, the Githzerai gives +2 Wis, and then +2 Dex or +2 Int. I suppose the main advantage of this is it allows more viable class/race combinations. Take of it what you will.

Anyone who’s been around D&D for a while has heard of these guys, or their brethren, the Githyanki. Whilst 4E has messed with a lot of fluff, the Gith* haven’t changed: they’re still slightly-creepy planeswalking decendants of former Mind Flayer slaves. Nice comfortable brain-eating familiarity.

Whilst the stats and abilities of Githzerai could allow many class choices, they and their racial feats are really geared towards being Strikers. On the subject of racial feats, there are quite some number to choose from, which is great.

The racial Paragon Path is quite viable. It enhances the Githzerai’s existing advantages (like Initiative), and gives a few nice tricks (like unlimited shifting to chase foes). It’s very Striker-centric, which is great, since Githzerai are designed to be fighters. The fluff is quite cool, too: elite Mind Flayer hunter.

As vaguely humanoid, fairly normal-looking creatures, I think, out of all the new races in this book, the Githzerai would fit best into normal campaigns. I also think they are, overall, the best race added in this book by far.

From a race probably feasible in many campaigns, we go… to something that many would say should be restricted to the Monster Manual. I don’t exactly see how a Minotaur can wander around a town and sit down in a pub with other adventurers.

Suffice to say, Minotaurs are another big, tough race favouring big, tough classes like Barbarians, Fighters, and Wardens. Finesse is not required.

Their racial Paragon Path extends this motif. There really isn’t much to it: more damage, more tanking. A lot of Paragon Paths add some interesting theme or mechanic to your character: this just makes you a bigger, tougher, stronger Minotaur. Yawn.

If you’re in to brute force, and don’t have any qualms about hitting your head on doorways or getting attacked by an angry mob, then the Minotaur is for you. However, I think this is one race that will probably be excluded by many DMs.

From socially awkward, to just plain weird. To all those that think 4E books are plain and without background information… here is a race entirely defined by the fairly solid background fluff of 4E D&D. They are (over?)written as crystalline defenders of the world against the Far Realm (which is where all those creepy Aberrations come from).

As a race… they’re still weird. As mentioned, they’re crystalline. They’re genderless, have strange personalities, and feel like swarms of nanobots. Basically all their racial abilities have something to do with their crystalline form, such as splitting into a million shards are reforming. Both their ability scores and powers lend themselves to spellcasting, particularly Controlling: they’re aimed at the Wizard, Invoker, and Psion classes. Since they have  racial feats boosting Psionic abilities, I think you’ll see far more Shardminds as Psions than anything else.

The Shardmind racial Paragon Path is curious in that it is specifically a Psionic Paragon Path, with Power Points and Augment (read the Classes section for explanation of this). Since Shardminds are designed to be Controllers, this makes the Paragon Path pretty restrictive: either Psion, or some Hybrid or Multiclass probably involving Psion. Luckily, the powers are designed to be Controllery, but I think most people will probably ignore this one for a Psion Paragon Path.

Whilst Shardminds are curious and all, I think their extreme strangeness makes them excellent for antagonists… but as player characters, even in a high-level campaign, I reckon it’ll be hard to find a situation where they won’t be out of place.

For all those who have ever wanted to play a Dryad or a Treant as a character… now’s your chance. Whilst not technically Plant creatures, Wilden are basically anthropomorphic nature spirits. They can shift into different nature aspects, and can acquire more through feats. The Wilden are aimed at Primal classes in general, although their stats and powers could lead to a variety of options… although to be honest, I think that they are a bit wishy-washing, and their supposed versatility means they would be easily outdone by other races with a firmer focus.

The racial Paragon Path mirrors these advantages and disadvantages. You enhance the power of each of your nature aspects, giving more versatility and power. Unfortunately, the granted powers seem to be a mix of Striker, Defender, and Controller, so once again, a more focused Paragon Path will easily outdo this in most situations.

My main qualm with Wilden is the developers didn’t think about roleplaying when they wrote this in their background:

“…all wilden regard themselves as parts of a greater whole. When speaking of themselves, wilden use the plural, saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’”

A yup. Anyone who actually tries to roleplay this will probably drive their DM insane. Like the Shardmind, written fine as a monster, but not so great as a player character.

[Complete list of D&D Character Classes]

What is the core rule of D&D? DM’s always right? Roll a d20? Don’t hug a wraith? No: D&D writers are incapable of writing a Psionic class without creating an entirely new mechanic for them. That’s right: despite 4E standardising just about everything, Power Points are back.

The Ardent, Battlemind, and Psion (NOT the Monk) do not have Encounter Powers: they have At-Wills, which they can Augment with Power Points. As they level, they can retrain for better At-Wills, and they gain more Power Points. Power Points can also be used to Augment other stuff, particularly some Magic Items.

This basically means increased situational versatility at the expense of overall versatility. That is, you can do more with your powers, but you have less powers to do stuff with.

Naturally, there are several paragraphs on how this works with Hybrid classes and Multiclassing, in the appropriate sections. It’s all pretty simply: swapping an At-Will for Encounter makes you lose Power Points (based on the level of the Power), and the other way makes you gain them. The rules text is daunting, but that’s just because it’s trying to cover every technicality. Sometimes I feel sorry for the writers.

When I first read about the Ardent, I didn’t really see the point. Yeah, it’s a Psionic Leader. Whatever. However, after reading the full class, I can definately see how the Ardent fits in the game.

The main problem that many Leaders face is lack of appropriate allies. If you have a party full of casters, then your average Leader has no crazy melee Strikers to help position and buff, and no tanks to protect and heal.

The Ardent is the casters’ Leader. Most of the Ardent’s Powers and abilities focus on granting straight bonuses and temporary hitpoints to allies, and straight penalties to foes: no messing around with sliding allies or anything. When you don’t have a solid Defender or crazy melee Striker to focus your buffs and healing on, the Argent Powers are great for enhancing your backline. The usage of temporary hitpoint over healing means that the Ardent is great at supporting the ‘squishy’ characters, who don’t have the hitpoints or Healing Surges to simple take lots of damage and heal it later.

The Ardent Paragon Paths don’t do so much for the Ardent’s base abilities, but give them a splash of another class:

• Argent Soul -> Splash of Cleric (Healing is always good)
• Psionic Binder -> Splash of Wizard (Hmm. With huge over-reliance on Immobilization…)
• Stygian Adept -> Warlock (Over-reliance on Fear)
• Talaric Strategist -> Warlord (Tactical Movement)

I’m not a fan of the theme-specific Paragon Paths which are too focused. For example, the Stygian Adept relies on Fear… which is less than useless if you come up against Undead. I think some more simple Paths which keyed off the basic powers of the Ardent would have been valuable.

Overall, I think Ardents are a good choice if you:

• Have a party that is mostly squishy spellcasters and other ranged attackers
• Want to mess around with Power Points

The role of a Battlemind fits somewhere between the capabilities of the other Defenders. They tank, but not as well as a Warden. They do area-denial/control, but not as well as a Fighter. They’ve got some pretty crazy tricks up there sleeve, but not as many as a Swordmage.

The power of the Battlemind is their versatility, both from their overall capabilities, and their use of Power Points.  They’re a bit of a jack-of-all-trades in the Defender world. They can fill a secondary role as Striker or Controller, and can do so quite well. Their Powers, augmentation options, and abilities are all written well to provide a good selection of interesting options.

From a player perspective, the Battlemind basically fills the position of a spellcaster-ish Defender that is more ‘solid’ that the Swordmage. If you liked the Swordmage but thought they were too pansy, then the Battlemind is for you.

As for the Paragon Paths, they do a good job of covering each branch of the Battlemind’s playstyle. Depending on which particular class feature you find most enjoyable, or how you like to play, there is a decent option.

• Eternal Blade -> A bit of Fightery control, with excellent Opportunity Attack trickery
• Iron Guardian -> Taaaank.
• Steel Ego -> More punishment for ignoring you, making you do more damage and protect allies better
• Zephyr Blade -> Superior mobility

I think you should try the Battlemind if you:

• Want a quite versatile defender
• Like a tough character that isn’t just a tank

Unlike the other Psionic classes in this book, the Monk does not use the new Power Point system: it uses the standard practice of Encounter Powers. However, they have their own special trick: Full Discipline.

Monk At-Will and Encounter Powers are marked as Full Discipline, and feature both an “Attack Technique”, and a “Movement Technique”. The Attack Technique gives a some sort of attack, which is a Standard Action. The Movement Technique offers some sort of non-attack, and is a Move Action. When you use a Full Discipline Power, you can use both the Attack and Movement Techniques, in either order.

For example, the Level 1 At-Will Crane’s Wings has the Attack Technique as a pretty normal attack, and then the Movement Technique as the ability to make a huge jump. Basically, the Monk either leaps across the room to pound someone in the floor, or punches them and jumps away before any retaliation. You could also use these outside combat just for the Movement technique.

This mechanic, a core defining feature of the new 4E Monk, is why I reckon the Monk is both the best class in the PHB3, and the best version of a Monk ever to be published in D&D. They are unique, they are mobile, they have awesome abilities. For the first time, a Monk can do all the crazy stuff you see in kung-fu movies, like run on water and fly, all whilst fighting for their life.

That’s not to say the Full Discipline Powers are the 4E Monk’s only feature. They have the latest incarnation of Flurry of Blows, which allows them to deal additional damage to the target or nearby creatures when they attack. They can also have the standard unarmed combat stuff, but they are setup to technically allow you to use absolutely any weapon you want; this is great for roleplaying, as you aren’t hampered by the mechanics whether you want to punch people, thwack stuff with a staff, or knock them on the head with a club.

As far as roleplaying goes, the 4E Monk has tried to hark back a bit to the western Monk (a la Friar Tuck), rather than simply being Oriental martial-arts experts. Whilst a lot of the Powers still have names more like the Oriental style (…”Way of the Autumn Wind”), the fact is is, especially with the weapon freedom, it’s much easier to imagine a 4E Monk slotting into just about every campaign in a sensible way.

The Monk Paragaon Paths support a good selection of playstyles. In my opinion the first and the last Paragon Paths are the most awesome because they feature Powers enabling you to grab someone, teleport yourself and them up in the air, then pummel them as you both plummet towards the ground. Epic.

• Ghostwalker -> Support for the sneaky Monk
• Initiate of the Dragon -> If like like just doing lots of (fiery) damage
• Mountain Devotee -> A bit Defender-esque, with additional survivability
• Radiant Fist -> Nice option for a more traditional western Monk, with a solid connection to the Divine

The Monk is probably good for you if you:

• Want a Striker with superior mobility
• Like having a pile of neat tricks, many of which can be useful outside combat

Ever since the start of 4E, the Psion was laid out. The Wizard lost a lot of mind-affecting spells and similar powers, because now that Psionics were to be integrated properly, such abilities were the job of the Psion. Sure enough, that’s what they’ve got: a stack of mind-affecting powers and psychic damage.

Whilst the Power selection is a little different (and the abundance of psychic damage makes Psychic Lock awesome…), the core difference between the Psion and other Controllers is really the fact that they use Power Points.

A conventional Controller, like a Wizard, has a large variety of Powers which often do quite different things. They will have a Power to Daze, a Power to Immobilize, a Power for damage over time, and so on. The Psion has a reduced range of options, but can choose to augment those options best suited to the situation. For example, if the Psion is facing extremely mobile foes, they can augment their Slow- and Immobilize-causing Powers. If the terrain suits, they can augment their force movement Powers.

The Powers have a good mix of single- and multi-target effects, with a very good selection of proper control Powers. The writers have done a pretty good job of avoiding pure damage Powers, which really shouldn’t be in a Controller class.

The Psion is currently considered the most powerful Controller. They don’t have any strange cheese like Wizards, they aren’t particularly party-friendly like Invokers… it’s just that a solid selection of good powers combined with the versatility of the Power Point system makes them quite good at what they do.

I think that the 4E Psion has accomplished its aim: to integrate Psionics into the game without the simply being a Wizard with a different way of casting spells. The feel of the class is good, with thematically appropriate Powers, and basic abilities portraying the simple Telekinetic and Telepathic abilities of a Psion, whilst being distinct from the Wizard Cantrips (which, btw, are freaking awesome).

The Paragon Paths presented for the Psion are all a little odd, to various extents. Of the four, one focuses on improving the Psion’s core abilities, whilst the others do… strange and unusual things. That said, the diversity of the Paragon Paths offers a good choice for Paragon Psions.

• Cerulean Adept -> Focuses on improving At-Will Augmentable Powers
• Dreamwalker -> Um. Weird. You summon a dream copy of yourself, not completely disimilar to the Shaman’s Spirit Companion
• Time Bender -> A few good hard control options, plus some crazy time-borrowing shenanigans (borrow a Move Action from your next turn, for example)
• Uncarnate -> Lots of insubstantial stuff; particularly good if survivability is becoming a problem (your DM keeps trying to kill you…)

I reckon the Psion is a good option if:

• You like mind-affecting Powers
• You want Controlling with the specific versatility of Power Points
• saying “I can kill you with my brain…” appeals to you…

The Runepriest is a stark contrast to the Ardent, and yet strangely similar. Why? Because like the Ardent, the Runepriest is not designed for perfectly balanced parties. Just as the Ardent shines in a party of ranged attackers and spellcasters, the Runepriest is a Leader for a party of front-line melee combatants.

The Runepriest focuses around giving bonuses to nearby and adjacent allies. They are designed to easily switch between “rune states” to grant either damage or defence bonuses as required. Many of their Powers grant bonuses to allies adjacent to either you, or to your target.

My biggest criticism of the class is Rune Feats. There are a variety of Rune Feats specifically for the Runepriest which add various bonuses, however the
bonuses scale linearly by how many Rune Feats you have. This means, to get much out of them you have to waste lots of Feat slots on Rune Feats, which is a bit limiting.

The general style will appeal to those whose liked, in previous editions, Clerics who ran into combat and hit stuff with large hammers: Runepriests are specifically designed for that kind of playstyle. Anyone who likes Warhammer Dwarves will likewise be quite comfortable with the feel of this class.

The Paragon Paths mainly focus on givin additional capabilities to the Runepriest. Three of the four Paths give a new rune state for the Runepriest to enter, with different effects.

• Hammer of Vengeance -> Punish foes and enhance allies’ damage further
• Light Bringer -> Pretty lame. Cause blindness, prevent blindness, shed light. Meh.
• Master of the Forge -> Enhance the power of weapons and armour. Very thematically appropriate.
• Rune Shield -> Extra defence and area control

The Runepriest is probably good to try if:

• You have a party that is mostly hard melee combatants
• You want a Leader who wades into combat and can handle it

The Seeker is odd: they are a Controller using weapons, specifically bows or thrown weapons. This is the first such class, and its implementation is… interesting.

One quirk of the Seeker is that whilst they do have attacks which affect multiple targets, they are usually performed by attacking a single target, and then all foes near that target are affected. This can limit the Seeker’s ability to attack the exact foes desired. The other quirk is their main class feature: they can basically cause a missed shot to richochet as a Ranged Basic Attack. This may sound lame… except for the fact that multiple At-Wills and quite some number of Encounter Powers actually count as Ranged Basic Attacks.

The thing with Seekers is they are basically Controller/Strikers. They can’t compete, at a control level, with other Controllers. They have a few minor advantages, like their attacks are generally party-friendly, but overall the best Seeker is one who does a lot of damage, with other effects added as an afterthought. Even the single-target control the offer is just not great.

The most popular way of doing this is with optimizing Ranged Basic Attacks, through Power selection, equipment, and feats. Unforunately, this does limit the class a bit. I would have liked to see the class support far better solid control. There’s also pretty bad feat support overall.

I really like the idea and theme of the Seeker, but I really don’t think it’s been done quite right. They are hemmed into a single way of playing, spamming Ranged Basic Attacks, and I think the class concept has a lot more potential than that. It’s a bit computer-gamey, but with their single-target control concept, I would have liked to see some Seeker Powers as Immediate Interrupts, directly stopping or affecting a monster’s action. Such mechanics would also have distinguished them further from other Controllers.

As for the Paragon Paths, they suffer the same problem as the rest of the class. One is clearly the best, and the others fail in the face of far superior control options in other classes.

• Crimson Hunter -> Improved Ranged Basic Attacks. Surprise! It’s by far the best option.
• Death Arrow -> The main feature is heavily conditional area -2 to hit. Uh huh. A Psion or Illusionist Wizard can do the same, unconditionally, with just a single feat (Psychic Lock). Forget it.
• Seven Fates Archer -> For people who are confused and think they’re a Leader
• Swift Strider -> This is the Paragon Path for thrown weapon users. Unfortunately, it’s still not that great, and using a thrown weapon is inferior to using a bow anyway, due to the other Seeker class features and Powers.

Overall, I think the Seeker might be for you if you:

• Want to be a mix between a Controller and a ranged Ranger
• Would like to play with Ranged Basic Attack shenanigans
• Can cope with a looming feel of inferiority when standing within 5 squares of a Wizard

A lot of people don’t like the multiclass system in 4E. It was not designed for ‘true’ multiclass characters, but more for a single class with a splash of another. The Paragon multiclassing was simply borked, and even after slight (Half-Elf specific) improvements in the PHBII, it was very difficult to have a properly multiclass character.

Well, those days are over. The new hybrid class system allows you to literally have two classes, from level 1. Basically, you get the ability to choose your Powers from either class (with a few technicalities), in exchange for losing some class features. For example, a hybrid Wizard loses their free Rituals, Spellbook feature, and Implement Mastery. A Feat can be taken to regain some lost class features, and you can Paragon Multiclass for even more.

The overall feel of the hybrid rules is cautious. The writers have erred on the side of underpowered for the individual features, because of the inherrent power than having two classes offers. For example, many of the Striker class features (like Sneak Attack) are granted, by only function on that class’s Powers (such as Rogue).

If you have felt limited by the multiclassing rules and wanted to have a character who, from level 1, was defined by two classes, then the hybrid character rules are definately good, and worth using. They do not replace the existing multiclassing system, but offer an alternative depending on exactly how you want your character to be defined.

The Hybrid Characters chapter of the PHB3 details the exact details for hybriding with all the character classes from the PHB1, PHB2, PHB3, plus the Swordmage (FRPG) and Artificer (EPG).

The PHB3 offers a few new class-specific Epic Destinies. I have no experience in Epic play, so I’m not particularly qualified to comment on them, but I would note that they read more imaginative than many of the others I’ve read in sources like Arcane Power. Since they are class-specific, if you are playing a very theme-focused character, these Epic Destinies would help to extend that.

An interesting addition to the game, the PHB3 adds a list of Powers which you can take instead of Utility Powers, should you be trained in the correct skill. For example, a Rogue trained in Acrobatics could, instead of taking a Level 2 Rogue Utility Power, could take a Level 2 Acrobatics Utility Power. In addition, you can take the feat, confusingly called Skill Power, in order to gain a Skill Power without having to swap one of your Utilities for it.

In a curious move, some number insignificant number of the Powers basically allow you to use one skill check in place of another, such as an Arcana check instead of Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate. Thinking about it, this is similar to non-combat magic in previous editions, through spells like Glibness. It allows a party to use their special abilties to circumvent the party’s skill shortages. That said, I’m a little disappointed with Skill Powers because I expected more of them to be non-combat focused: most are still designed for combat use.

My personal favorite Power here is “Snap out of It”, a Level 10 Intimidate Utility which allows you to help allies Save against certain effects… by slapping them in the face. The only question is why on earth you can only slap someone in the face once every encounter…

The most important feat to comment on in the PHB3 is Versatile Expertise. It grants a +1 feat bonus to hit per tier, with both a chosen weapon and a chosen implement. This was added to cater for those classes such as Paladins, Monks, and other, who use both an implement and a weapon, and should not have to pay for it. Versatile Expertise replaces the Implement and Weapon Expertise feats in the PHB2. (They do not stack, because the PHB2 feats were quite correctly errata’d to being feat bonuses)

Other than that, and the class- and race-specific feats for new classes and races in the book, a lot of the feats are designed either to enhance interesting tactics, like bull rushing, or to encourage teamwork. An example of the teamwork feats are some which grant attack or damage bonuses against prone, immobilized, or slow targets, thus encouraging Strikers and Defenders to work with Controllers.

There are also additional feats for continued support for forced movement, and for specific weapon categories, which is good to see. For polearm users, Hafted Defence helps counteract your loss of a shield, an Polearm Flanker allows you to gain and give the benefits of flanking whilst attacking with reach. Finally, there is a lot of love for those who want to further enhance their opportunity attacks.

Superior implements are special implements that have additional special abilities. They basically offer implement-users the same kind of choice that weapon users have. To balance it out, you must take a feat, Superior Implement Training, to use a superior implement.

For example, you can choose an Accurate implement, granting +1 to hit. This is like a weapon-used choosing a +3 Proficiency weapon, like a sword. Alternatively, you can choose an implement giving more damage on a critical hit, similar to similar to a high crit weapon. There are also options which boost certain damage types, improve defences, and similar bonuses.

The option of superior implement can both give your character a bit of a boost, and also help to distinguish them from other characters by using an implement with a unique twist.

Like in the PHB2, the magic items presented in the PHB3 mainly aim to cover the new classes. Many of the new weapon, armour and implement options specifically tie in with the new system of Psionic augmentations, by giving augmentable Powers. Generally, these augmentations simply enhance the Power of the item, but sometimes add additional functionality (such as Dazing the target), or allowing you to regain the use of the item’s Power.

The PHB3 is definitely a good book, but you’ll get the most out of it if you actually play one of the new classes: there isn’t much for an existing character, except for a few feats. Thus, you will get the most out of the book if you are starting a new character.

The new classes are well-written and quite interesting, and the new Psionic system gives a fresh mechanic for those getting tired of the same-ness of 4E classes. The hybrid class system is a nice addition to the game, especially for those who longed for a multiclass system closer to that of 1st/2nd edition.

Purchase from Amazon here: Player’s Handbook 3: A 4th Edition D&D Core Rulebook

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