Introduction and Team Concept

This variant is intended for play on Diablo II Expansion, under patch 1.10 or later.

CONCEPT

The Rogue Revival team variant has been a huge success. My team is already talking about what to do after we complete that concept, so I have been thinking about why it has worked out so well and how to build another good design.

After looking at several ideas, I believe I have come upon one that I can balance, at least within reason. This concept will not translate to a 4dot run, as it will not work under Friendly Fire conditions, but it may be worth a 3dot run.

NATURE'S CABAL

Up to eight may play. All characters involved are of the Druid class. Each character will be limited to specific skills. Some will have item restrictions. The design is meant to be balanced, fair, and sturdy, meaning that the team should be able to function even if one or several characters are absent from a given session. At least that will be my aim.

+SKILL ITEMS

Skill bonuses ARE allowed, but only on Druid Pelts (helms). Exception: the Rabid Clubber may find +skills on clubs.

SKILL CHOICES

Each Cabalist must abide by a set of skill restrictions, specific to his definition. Synergy-only means these skills are NOT ever to be used, but player may invest points in them to obtain synergy with usable skills. Prereq-only means one point max to this skill, and do not use this skill unless specifically allowed by your rule set.

RUNEWORDS

All runeword items are forbidden. We will make our way on what we find, buy, or gamble.

MERCENARIES

No mercs.

ITEMS WITH CHARGES

Knock yourself out. However, if you need a recharge, you have to pay your own way.

NATURE'S CABAL CHARACTER TYPES:
* Rabid Clubber
* Bearly in Motion
* Frozen Turkey
* Spin Doctor
* Boulder Bowler
* Fissure Fisher
* Spirit Keeper
* Ursa Major

RABID CLUBBER

Unrestricted Skills:
* Werewolf
* Lycanthropy
* Feral Rage
* Rabies
* Fire Claws
* Hunger
* Cyclone Armor

Prereq-Only:
* Werebear
* Maul
* Arctic Blast

Synergy-Only:
* Poison Creeper

Skill Requirements:
* Must obtain slvl 10 Rabies before advancing to Nightmare.
* Must max Rabies before advancing to Hell.
* May add up to one point to Poison Creeper for each act completed. (Max slvl = 14, in Hell Act 5)

Stat Requirements:
* Must invest enough into Dexterity to maintain proficient blocking (as good as the shield claims or better).

Item Restrictions:
* May ONLY use clubs as weapon. Club, Spiked Club, and the improved versions of these.
* Must use a shield.
* May not use ranged weapons, including throwing potions.

BEARLY IN MOTION

Unrestricted Skills:
* Werebear
* Lycanthropy
* Maul
* Fire Claws
* Hunger
* Shockwave
* Cyclone Armor

Prereq-Only:
* Werewolf
* Feral Rage
* Arctic Blast

Stat Requirements:
* Must invest at least 40% of stat points into Vitality. More is allowed.

Item Restrictions:
* Must use two-handed weapons.
* May not ever equip any items with Increased Attack Speed

FROZEN TURKEY

Unrestricted Skills:
* Raven
* Arctic Blast
* Cyclone Armor

Synergy-Only:
* Twister
* Tornado
* Hurricane

Stat Restrictions:
* May not exceed 25 points of base Strength.
* May not add to base Dexterity.

Item Restrictions:
* May not ever equip any item that provides Cold Resistance!

SPIN DOCTOR

Unrestricted Skills:
* Cyclone Armor
* Twister
* Tornado
* Solar Creeper

Prereq-Only:
* Arctic Blast
* Poison Creeper
* Carrion Vine

Synergy-Only:
* Hurricane

Skill Requirements:
* Skill level on Tornado may not exceed that of Twister.
* Allowed to use prereq Arctic Blast until reaching character level 18 and obtaining Twister.

Stat Requirements:
* May not exceed 25 points of base Strength.
* May not add to base Dexterity.

Item Restrictions:
* May not ever equip any item that provides Lightning Resistance!

BOULDER BOWLER

Unrestricted Skills:
* Firestorm
* Molten Boulder
* Cyclone Armor

Prereq-Only:
* Arctic Blast

Synergy-Only:
* Fissure
* Volcano
* Twister
* Tornado
* Hurricane

Stat Requirements:
* May not exceed 25 points of base Strength.
* May not ever add to base Dexterity.

Item Restrictions:
* May not ever equip any item that provides Poison Resistance!

FISSURE FISHER

Unrestricted Skills:
* Fissure
* Cyclone Armor

Prereq-Only:
* Molten Boulder
* Arctic Blast

Synergy-Only:
* Firestorm
* Volcano
* Twister
* Tornado
* Hurricane

Skill Requirements:
* Fissure base skill level may not exceed that of Cyclone Armor.
* Allowed to use Molten Boulder between character levels 6 and 11 (until you get to Fissure).

Item Restrictions:
* May not ever equip any item that provides Fire Resistance!
* Must use a shield.
* Must equip throwing weapons in left hand. (Prevent Monster Heal items are recommended! Potions are OK, too.)

SPIRIT KEEPER

Unrestricted Skills:
* Summon Spirit Wolf
* Spirit of Barbs
* Cyclone Armor

Prereq-Only:
* Raven
* Oak Sage
* Heart of Wolverine
* Arctic Blast

Synergy-Only:
* Summon Dire Wolf
* Summon Grizzly
* Twister
* Tornado
* Hurricane

Stat Requirements:
* Must add at least 40% of stat points to Dexterity.

Item Restrictions:
* Must use a bow (not crossbow) as weapon, to be equipped at all times.
* Lacking for AR bonuses from skills, player will have to sort out how best to balance weapon use and magic use.
* Allowed to use your starting equipment until such time as you can obtain a bow and equip it.

URSA MAJOR

Unrestricted Skills:
* Oak Sage
* Summon Grizzly
* Cyclone Armor

Prereq-Only:
* Raven
* Arctic Blast

Synergy-Only:
* Summon Spirit Wolf
* Summon Dire Wolf
* Twister
* Tornado
* Hurricane

Skill Information:
* Your only attack skill is Summon Grizzly, and this does not arrive until character level 30! This may be the most boring of the eight roles on the team in that regard, but we turn you loose with weapons, sans Lycanthropy help, so that you can do something other than stand around watching.

Item Restrictions:
* Must equip polearm weaponry in one slot. This includes Bardiche, Voulge, Scythe, Poleaxe, Halberd, War Scythe, and upgraded versions. This does not include any form of spear.
* May equip crossbow (not bow) in second slot, or a second polearm.
* Allowed to use your starting equipment until such time as you can obtain a polearm or crossbow and equip it.

NATURE'S CABAL TEAM VARIANT

* Each character has specific skills and strengths.
* Each character has a specific weakness. Melee chars are exposed to more danger. Chars required to equip two-handed weaponry forego blocking and resistance benefits from shields. All others have one resistance vulnerability.
* The Cabal is a tight Brotherhood. They may not play with any characters except brother Cabalists. (This means they play only with fellow team members, in private team games. No "passersby" or "guests", no joining RBD games or AB games, etc.)
* Only Cabalists are allowed in the brotherhood! No Amazons, no Paladins, no regular Druids, etc.
* If a Cabalist "leaves" the brotherhood, he may play with other characters but never return to the team.
* No twinking. Use what you can find, buy, or make for yourself. This is a pure team concept.
* No "variant within the variant". You can run a cabalist solo any way you like, but no macho stuff when playing as part of a team. Follow the rules and play within them to your full potential.
* Any number of players may play, up to the maxium 8 of course.
* Any late-starting players who are trying to "catch up" and "join the team" must build their chars solo, in isolation. There are no exceptions to the purity concept. If you are to prove yourself to your brothers and join the order, you must show discipline and commitment!
* Although this team variant is highly flexible, it is not meant to be played in "pickup" fashion. Any true team variant requires regular gaming nights and scheduled activity.

- Sirian

The inspiration for this variant was provided by BWardly, who asked on the Realms Beyond forums if anyone was interested in playing some Diablo 2. I responded by posting Sirian's unplayed variant concept, and we shortly expanded out into a full group of eight players. Here are the hardy souls who joined the group:

Player Name	Character Name	Team Role
Jaffa	jt-Cujo	Rabid Clubber
Sullla	Bearlin_Wall	Bearly In Motion
Zed-F	ZedF-FroznOdin	Frozen Turkey
Namarie	ViolentVertigo	Spin Doctor
T-Hawk	Fissure_Fisher	Fissure Fisher
Dathon	NC_DrDolittle	Spirit Keeper
WildViking	Benetnasch	Ursa Major
BWardly	WalterSobchak	Boulder Bowler*
sunrise089	BouldOver	Boulder Bowler*
ShadowHM	BowlingBeyond	Boulder Bowler*

* We went through three different Boulder players while running this variant!

I tried my best to give everyone the variant role that they were most interested in, and I think that things worked out fairly well. The design for this team is similar to that of Sirian's Elemental Strike Teams; the "mage" druids provide most of the fireworks with their spells, while the other "melee" druids do their best to keep them alive. Nature's Cabal would lack the benefit of necromancer curses (outside of charges, anyway) but compensate with decoy Spirit Wolves and Grizzy Bears. The mage druids would be pretty frail in Hell difficulty, with their low strength and resistance penalties, so my job as the giant werebear was to become a walking damage sponse, an ubertank along the lines of the EST's Cy_Cleric. Or that was the plan, anyway!

With the setup finished, it was time to get started and see how this team played out!