Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JLaurHughes 03-04-07, 04:45 PM	I originally posted this in the general discussion board. She's a bit of a beginner and came up with the concept. Mairivar Chalee (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=11663119&postcount=1)
kharnethedestroyer 03-07-07, 04:52 PM	i looked at the character and the question i ask as a d.m. is why bar./wiz.? when raged you can't cast spells..and your better off taking a class that messes well with barbarian. I would look at fighter/barbarian or thief/wizard. makes more sense. it seems boring, but then again as a fighter/barbarian in the game I'm playing at tenth level i can deal almost 130 pts of damage with a great axe. its all a matter of feats and the way you combine them with class abilities.
JLaurHughes 03-07-07, 10:19 PM	Not meant to cast spells while raged.
kharnethedestroyer 03-07-07, 10:53 PM	then why would you do that? are there anymore frontline fighters in the party? is there another wizard? it just doesn't make sense....
BlakesTiger 03-08-07, 12:02 AM	I haven't read the original post in question, maybe I'll check it out after work and try to add constructive advice. However, in defense of the player's base concept (Barbarian/Wizard): There's a prestige class called Rage Mage that allows you to cast spells during Rage. This is the Development forums, not the CO forums, so, in my opinion, a Barbarian/Wizard is not boring. It's actually pretty challenging from both a design and character perspective if you're trying to put any effort into it at all. Now, if what was meant by "boring" was not boring, but "the character will be underwhelming in comparison to his compatriots during battles," then that's true. If being the center of attention during a battle is what you enjoy, you may find this character isn't as much fun as you hoped.
BlakesTiger 03-08-07, 12:20 AM	Oh... I should have checked out the link first. It looks like she wants opinions from the Character Optimization forums. I'll comment on the two pieces that seem to deal with character development, but it may be unwanted advice. Keep in mind that I am not trying to force my opinion on her character, just offering a suggestion. She has an elf with a Charisma of 6, which is going to be interesting (difficult) to play if the player had her heart set on playing a traditional elf. There's a statement in her character description, paraphrased: She's one of the few elves who has managed to incorporate fits of anger into her fighting style. The statement appears to intend that she purposefully saught the ability to Rage. However, an interesting stance to take, given that she's an elf with levels in Barbarian and a Charisma of 6, might be the following: During her early apprenticeship as an armorsmith, she was attempting to infuse a particularly complex enchantment into one of the suits of armor for her master. She lost control of the magics which resulted in an explosion of flaming coals, boiling water, and shards of white hot metal. This left her scarred on the outside and, unable to cope with the ruined perfection of her elven body, scarred on the inside. She became more withdrawn and sullen and prone to fits of anger, which over the years she focused in her fighting technique to serve as an advantage. Eventually she left her homelands for the lands of the humans where, while still bitter and hot tempered, she was not reminded daily of the beauty she lost as she is surrounded by filthy, fur-faced, clumsy humans. That's just one of many possibilities. ...and the Rage Mage prestige class might be perfect for her, if it is allowed in the game.
JLaurHughes 03-08-07, 01:13 AM	I'm fully aware that the character is going to be underwhelming in battle, not being the center of attention actually has advantages at the same time as disadvantages. Actually, opinions, optimization and future development of the character as a whole is what her and I are looking for. I've never been very good with back stories for a character myself, I don't think she really had a backstory in mind when she came up with this concept. The apprenticeship idea is a good angle, something to toy around with, I'll run it by her. As for Rage Mage: I'll save it for her next levels since the character itself is still considered young in elf terms, and it's her first character idea. I'm actually happy she's showing a little interest in this hobby.
Crusher Nate 03-15-07, 06:28 PM	Low-Charisma elf? Snooty, and lots of it. Especially fitting with Wizard levels, as she'll have the Intelligence and knowledge to back up her claims of superiority with all sorts of "proven scientific facts" that really amount to little more than pretentious and rambling elven poetry. And she gets really angry when bad guys actually seem to think they can beat her and her party. I mean, she's an elf! She's a perfect being, and she's not about to be defeated by some scruffy goblinoid hick with a rusty dagger! Edit: She can tone down her snootiness a bit when she's dealing with other partymembers, though; her friends are important to her, even if she can't say so or even admit it to herself.