Post/Author/DateTime	Post
shuman 04-22-07, 03:34 PM	After a bad incident with my Fighter/Barb Frenzied Berzerker, my DM is letting me rebuild my character. I've thought of taking more levels of Runescarred Berz from Un. East, but want other suggestions. I have played it like my character is distraught over the incident, and is taking a more enlightened path. Swordsage? Kensai? Dont have my books with me, so any information is appreciated. My character is often the only frontline fighter, and others make excuses to not let their characters enter melee, so I do have to be effective, but they all played like they didnt know I could turn on them until it happened. Oh well. Thanks, D
Aaarrrgh 04-22-07, 04:55 PM	I'm getting curious... What did you do?
Prom 04-22-07, 05:09 PM	Hi shuman, How many are in your party? You should not have to hold the frontline all the time. If you are rebuilding your character because other people are not pulling their weight, maybe it is time to discuss this with them. If there is more then one foe, then people can spreadout and have two melee encounters so you do not go berzerk and hurt your own party. You could always retire the character early, due to trust problems in your party, that is character development. This could follow on from your character being distraught over the incident. Your character may not want to carry on and sees the only way out is to leave the party. Last resort could be that you let this character go berzerk and get killed. Is retraining your character going to improve player co-operation? Prom
shuman 04-22-07, 05:17 PM	I'm getting curious... What did you do? Basically, my character has been the Greatsword wielding, meat sheild up front fighter, and others would never have stood a chance without my ability. I was a melee machine before I took Leap Attack, etc. but took one level of FB as my character was more the FB type, than the RSB type I had planned, due to party needs I had been forced to the forefront. The other party members take levels of three or four classes, so they can do lots of things, but it seems to give them deniability when it comes to close combat. "My fighter is the light armored guy, not meant for front line fighting." Basically, it is survivability. I wasnt optimizing my character, but they were shocked at the damage I could do by Leaping, PA, etc. and were greatful, until we brought down the enemy quickly, then I turned on the two closest party members, and brought them down in a round. No one had taken Hold Person ,etc. to prevent this. They blamed me as a powergamer. Believe me, I could do much worse if needed. I have since rebuilt my character, and reintroduced him to the party, but am thinking about sandbagging a bit, to force the others do so something. During the rebuilding, I switched his alignment to CN to reflect the changes. I dont want to hurt others intentionally, but want them to appreciate the danger my character goes thru as the upfront warrior.
shuman 04-22-07, 05:20 PM	Hi shuman, How many are in your party? You should not have to hold the frontline all the time. If you are rebuilding your character because other people are not pulling their weight, maybe it is time to discuss this with them. If there is more then one foe, then people can spreadout and have two melee encounters so you do not go berzerk and hurt your own party. You could always retire the character early, due to trust problems in your party, that is character development. This could follow on from your character being distraught over the incident. Your character may not want to carry on and sees the only way out is to leave the party. Last resort could be that you let this character go berzerk and get killed. Is retraining your character going to improve player co-operation? Prom Well, I thought of retiring him, but decided to rebuild him to maintain group harmony, but now feel that i'm once again relied on to do the majority of the fighting, and am deciding how I want to handle this. Talking has done no good, as they make excuses, etc for their nonparticipation. Wondering what I can do to force the issue? We are high level, for us (10-11), so the instant death stuff is much more prevalent now than before.
Jacob_Crowe 04-22-07, 09:22 PM	to me you have two options. these are based on you personal preference. in my most recent campaign i was hoping to wander down the arcane trickster path, but all the other players were picking melee classes so i went with a Half-Orc cleric of the Red Knight. then i made a bad mistake against a winter wolf (at level5) and had to make a new character :-P ANYWAY my point is you can take the route or least resistance, and make him an immovable object to keep the rest of the party safe, or you can make him a melee beast and defend through offence. former route: complete rebuild, go for LN align, take eleven levels of knight. you get two bonus feats from it (limited list though) but more importantly you get several abilities that allow you to decide just what goes past you or not in combat. you can still take leap attack, power attack and wield a greatsword, but now it's more of a situation where thier lives depend on you and they know it. keeping you alive is thier ticket to success. latter route: get tricky. take more levels of fighter than barb, get yourself a nice load of feats. get yourself improved trip to keep foes away from fragile team mates, grab a spiked chain or whip if ya really wanna, they both help your trip attempt. barring that, dire flail, two-weapon fighting and imp trip. i played a quaterstaff wielder in an eberron campaign, and i can tell you with a little work, a double weapon can be your best friend. (shifter ranger, i had 7 attacks per round at level 12) either way, you should let your group know that you are feeling a bit of stress over them being, well, wusses. they need to know that soon there's gonna be stuff that, even if you're right in its face, can still reach them or send lackeys thier way, to devastating effect. game should be fun for all, and if you're bugging out over something that's not really right.
Fithero 04-23-07, 07:31 AM	First off, if your party members arnt pullin their weight, do something about it. Second, a FB should *NEVER* be a solo front line fighter. I cant remember who said it, but someone once said that they are the d&d equal of a tactical nuclear warhead... and you wouldnt use them on every scouting party of kobolds you come across would you? They way i played was this = the wizard and cleric buffed me before i went into combat. The rogue stood back and shoot into melee while the wizard blasted and the cleric healed me. All the while im in a frenzy with some nice stat boosts thanks to the spell casters. But yeah, you shouldnt have to re-work your character just because the rest of the party doesnt know how to work with you. It's like running into melee when a wizard is casting a Fire Ball... you just dont do it. Peace