Multiple classes gain there greatest benefit only at level 20.
Are these classes bad, then? Achieving level 20 doesn't mean your adventuring life is over. Quite to the contrary, for some players the whole game only starts at level 20.
Fun new activities like Darklord-hunting or other sports which would be suicide in lower levels only become possible for the really REALLY high leveled guys ; )
As for the Herbalish getting a d8 hit die, Full Combat-skill progression with spears and stuff and an animal companion.
It ain't really all that much of a big deal I'd say.
A 10th level Dessi-Mage with his Wizard staff has full Combat-skill progression(+10/+5) too, in addition to a free +6 to his AC just by virtue of being a Dessi.
He can dish out 7d6+(!!!) damage per hit with his little Glowstick, has an enhanced critical range and will deal triple critical damage at level 12(Which basically means if you get hit by a critical, you're dead due to grievous wound rules).
A high level Dessi-Mage in rapid attack mode can make 5 attacks of 8d6+4(or more) damage per turn, each with a 15% chance to do triple (24d6+12) damage. He's practically Death with a stick :wink:
Wouldn't be all that bad if Dessi-mages were full-on melee fighters, but NO, their melee prowess is a completely secondary side-effect from their "normal" powers, the Elder magicks.
Add in that they're naturals with psionic combat too(and darn hardy at it due to their insane Willpower scores) and you could almost think Dessi-mages were too powerful eh?
In fact, when I got the Main rulebook and read it for the first time, I'd stop after every character class and think "Damn, this class is far too powerful! What were the guys at Mongoose thinking!?"
Well, then I bought Darklands and Magic of Magnamund.
Turns out all classes throughout the books managed to maintain this very high powerlevel.
In Magnamund, if you're powerful, you're REALLY powerful.
I'm cool with that, it kinda reminds me of playing the GreyStar gamebooks(or the later LoneWolf books).
You always somehow had the impression that Grey Star was larger than life. When he pointed with his Wizard staff, he could pulverize most normal people in an instant, when he entered into a large scale battle, the tide instantly changed to favor his side. He could summon elementals as means of transportation, destruction or distraction and speak with the ghosts of the deceased and tons of more stuff.
So yeah, basically ALL classes in Magnamund are really powerful, why shouldn't the Herbalish be powerful too?
Sure the Herbalish is pretty versatile with a d8 hit-die, full CS progression with a spear and his Circle magic, but then again, just take another class from Magic of Magnamund and compare them.
A Vakeros Knight with his Cobalt Equipment has very high base damage, full CS progression, a totally insane armor class, more freedom of movement in his Heavy Armor than a Sommerlund Knight could dream of, can cast Battle Magic, can counterspell, can use Mystic Manoeuvres, has a high Willpower score which can act as a psionic buffer if need be and can get access to Brotherhood Words of Power over a Specialist Ability(Keron college).
The real hooker is that a full-fledged Brother of the Crystal Star learns his first Word of Power at level 11 while a Vakeros who learns Words of Power through his Specialist ability gets his first word at level 9!
Not to mention that those guys from the Keron College have practically every single skill in Magnamund as a Class-skill(he has 18 of them, not counting sub-version of the Knowldge skill).
Oh yeah, almost forgot, Vakeros get a pet too(if you're willing to call an eagle that's as big as an elephant a "pet" that is).
I say let the Herbalish's magic be immune to counterspells, the poor sap needs some love :wink:
Besides, we only have 2 classes capable of counterspelling right now(Brothers and Vakeros) and it's pretty unlikely that a Herbalish would fight one of them so it doesn't really matter all that much wether his magic can or can't be counterspelled
