D&D: Big Damn Hero Moment
Arguably, I made a very critical error when designing my character in our Sunday-evening airship-based D&D game. I had a fighter type in mind, but I was faced with either leaning on Strength or Dexterity. Both seemed pretty equally viable. Strength might have an edge in melee, Dex in ranged. I opted to make a half-orc Strength fighter - pretty archtypal.
The problem with that is there's basically no synergy with anything. On an airship, Strength is not directly useful in much of anything. Weapons are ranged, therefor Dex-based. Navigation and engineering can lean on mental stats. Negotiations fall on Charisma. So, stat-wise, Harrick excels at nothing aboard the ship.
Last night, however, I was so proud of him.
With the party in an ice-swamp searching for a missing clergyman, the group came under attack. Four PCs and 3 NPCs in a trio of canoes were traversing murky waterways to be assaulted by a swarm of javelins from the reeds. I took a look at the ambush and came to the conclusion that escape wasn't terribly viable. With the water blocked, the group might have been able to fight free. Maybe. But then there's the matter of being hounded by lizardfolk far better suited to the terrain. So, no... Harrick went on the attack, leaping out of his canoe and paddling his chain mail-laden ass to what passed for shore.
Stomping up through the mud with a scratch or two, he was almost immediately surrounded by five of the beasties. Two attacks each, too. That was the center of Harrick's battle while the others took a couple rounds shooting from the canoes before moving. While he may not have done the most damage over the fight (that might have been the druid and his Moonbeam), he was sucking up 10+ attacks a round through a combination of decent armor class and the Heavy Armor Master feat shaving 3 points off every hit on him. He personally downed two or three and injured more, but his refusal to go down himself was the best part. Even as the lizard men were routed, the group had to deal with a tentacled aquatic beastie. Harrick was grabbed for a couple rounds, but still managed to hang onto that last hit point and consciousness after pulling out every little trick (fighter Second Wind, racial Relentless Endurance). That feat soooo paid off.
So when the dust settled, Harrick was still standing, covered in mud and gore having survived a near-suicidal rush against an ambushing enemy. Now that is more what he was built for.
The problem with that is there's basically no synergy with anything. On an airship, Strength is not directly useful in much of anything. Weapons are ranged, therefor Dex-based. Navigation and engineering can lean on mental stats. Negotiations fall on Charisma. So, stat-wise, Harrick excels at nothing aboard the ship.
Last night, however, I was so proud of him.
With the party in an ice-swamp searching for a missing clergyman, the group came under attack. Four PCs and 3 NPCs in a trio of canoes were traversing murky waterways to be assaulted by a swarm of javelins from the reeds. I took a look at the ambush and came to the conclusion that escape wasn't terribly viable. With the water blocked, the group might have been able to fight free. Maybe. But then there's the matter of being hounded by lizardfolk far better suited to the terrain. So, no... Harrick went on the attack, leaping out of his canoe and paddling his chain mail-laden ass to what passed for shore.
Stomping up through the mud with a scratch or two, he was almost immediately surrounded by five of the beasties. Two attacks each, too. That was the center of Harrick's battle while the others took a couple rounds shooting from the canoes before moving. While he may not have done the most damage over the fight (that might have been the druid and his Moonbeam), he was sucking up 10+ attacks a round through a combination of decent armor class and the Heavy Armor Master feat shaving 3 points off every hit on him. He personally downed two or three and injured more, but his refusal to go down himself was the best part. Even as the lizard men were routed, the group had to deal with a tentacled aquatic beastie. Harrick was grabbed for a couple rounds, but still managed to hang onto that last hit point and consciousness after pulling out every little trick (fighter Second Wind, racial Relentless Endurance). That feat soooo paid off.
So when the dust settled, Harrick was still standing, covered in mud and gore having survived a near-suicidal rush against an ambushing enemy. Now that is more what he was built for.
"So, just what are you good for besides hauling cargo?" (Flashback to intense fight with lizardmen and tentacles) "What I need to."
ReplyDeleteIt almost makes me want to multi-class him into barbarian, but for synergy issues with heavy armor. Alas. I keep looking at other classes as ways to branch out in utility, but the only thing he does really well is be a fighter. ;)
ReplyDelete