In Praise of Bashing
Last weekend I went to UBCon the local Gaming Convention held at SUNY Buffalo. I had a pretty good time except I played in quite possibly the worst D&D event ever. (If you are wondering what makes a good con event read this old article of mine.) It was painful. The DM was very unprepared. He had a dungeon but not much else. No pre-gen characters (1 hour or so making our own), no monsters for the dungeon except for the bad guy at the end and he didn’y really have much for him either. The DM actually said that he didn’t know what to do with the bad guy because he “doesn’t really know how to run clerics.” F-ing hell, how hard is it to flame strike a bunch of PCs? I did it a couple of weeks ago to my players and that was with a wandering monster for cryin out loud. There were also bad die rolls. I rolled 26hp on my 7d10 (good thing I boosted my Con) and when engaging the BBEG both the other Ftr and my Dwarf rolled 2’s on our saves vs our own wizard’s stinking cloud (He needed a 6 I needed a 3.) The worst part for me however was I thought this would be a great time to play a fighter. All the D&D 3.x characters I’ve played have been support types. I started with a bard/wizard went to a Thief then to a short lived Monk and most recently a Druid. I have not been the guy who hits things till they stop moving. The event I played in looked to be a way to scratch that itch; a random dungeon, a self styled ‘kick in the door’ type of event, and a disposable character in a convention event. I was looking forward to bashing some heads in (maybe even my party members.)
Most of the time, when I play an RPG, I get distracted by developing my character and the story. Even if I am playing a violent character I worry more about being consistent about my characters behavior then just reveling in the bloodshed. With Smite’s 4E campaign looming I am considering what types of characters I want to play and I keep coming back to the thug with a stick. At first I was thinking of a well rounded warrior, a tactician and leader of men. Now I just want a guy who can crush things. Give me an Int of 6 and Weapon Focus (Greatclub) and I’ll be happy. Probably not for long, but still it’d be fun while it lasted. Maybe I don’t want to play D&D; maybe I really want to play Whack-a-mole. Maybe I just need a palette cleanser. Hopefully I get this out of my system before 4E comes out. It wouldn’t be fair to the new system to see if I could break the low level power balance with the 4E equivalent to a 18 Str, Power Attack, Cleave, and a Greatsword. (It would be unfair to the game and to my fellow players but it would be exactly what Smite deserved since that is what he did in our first 3.0 campaign.) Of course that is almost exactly what Ichigo is and he’s a great character.
Posted on April 18th, 2008 at 2:23 pm. About 'In Praise of Bashing'.
So maybe bashing just comes more naturally to me… nonetheless I hope that our maiden 4E voyage is more than just a carefully studied act of retribution. If so, well hey buddy, get in line, there’s a long list of bitter hearts out there with an older claim to damages than you!
Seriously, “a well rounded warrior, a tactician and leader of men”, where do you sign up for that at first level, because I’d like some. It’s fair to indicate that potential to start with, but the campaign narrative is about growth more than levelling - watch Band of Brothers again to see the many ways this can happen.
Well, as long as you’re open and adaptable to growing in directions you perhaps didn’t envision (you know, just like real life), then it’ll be worth the ride.
Posted on April 18th, 2008 at 2:53 pm. About 'In Praise of Bashing'.
The folks at WotC have been releasing super spoilerific excerpts from the 4E rulebooks. They already put out a DMG excerpt that lays out in super-clear language how to roll up characters higher than first level. For someone who is familiar with the system, character creation on the fly will be much, much shorter, although you will still have to have a gameplan going in for your “build” and what kinds of feats, powers you want to focus on. Skills and magic item selection, however, are MUCH more clear and straightforward.
Sorry your UBCON DM was a total noob. 4E will be a huge success if it helps to enable the creation of a larger talent pool in the GM community. Whether it WILL do that remains to be seen, but I think the new system has the potential to be more “runnable” and more “teachable”.
Posted on April 18th, 2008 at 7:51 pm. About 'In Praise of Bashing'.
Smite: You sign up for it when you design your character. Maybe you don’t roof your Str but use those points to buy up some Wis or Cha. Maybe you cross class some skill points into Know(History) or Diplomacy. There are no guarantees that your character will become what you hope for but if you build a character with a Charisma of 5 then you really shouldn’t be leading anyone. It is more than just establishing the potential for your characters growth. By showing your interest in these aspects of your character you are showing your DM what you hope for the campaign. By expressing your interest in growing in a certain way you give your DM the opportunity to take that into account while writing his plots.
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 at 10:40 am. About 'In Praise of Bashing'.
Man, screw all that! According to MetalJim’s post, in 4E you just need to roll up a Warlord. Even with CHA 5, ’tis better to be feared than loved and all that jazz.