How do I, in the name of the 20th level horror dungeon, make my fighter/any other melee class be able to force creatures to attack me - or rather not harm the squishes in my party?
Fire away
:D
If it's 4ed, you've got combat challenge, divine challenge, and other similar methods of marking
in 3.5 you pick the Knight class (PHB2 I think), or you get into a bickering with your DM
At level 20 in 3.5 the 'squishies' can tell reality to shut up and set down. They shouldn't need to be defended.
What edition are you using?
If it's 4ed, you've got combat challenge, divine challenge, and other similar methods of marking
Too bad those don't make what you are fighting attack you, it only gives negative to hitting the already easily hit characters of the group.
Too bad those don't make what you are fighting attack you, it only gives negative to hitting the already easily hit characters of the group.
Combat challenge gives an immediate interrupt if your mark attacks something besides you or if your mark shifts away from you, so ya it forces the target to fight you.
Combat challenge gives an immediate interrupt if your mark attacks something besides you or if your mark shifts away from you, so ya it forces the target to fight you.
Not forcing exactly, but an incentive. A BIG incentive IMO.
3e the squishies can bend reality. They're fine.
I was referring to 3.5 and NOT the 20th level.
Haha, I wasn't thinking about 4e (I thought this isn't the 4e forums. oh well).
I was referring to 3.5 and NOT the 20th level.
This isn't a 4th ed. forum it's D&D in general. Alot of people just assume it is.
Best bet is to lable what ediion you are using. I still see the occasional post on 2nd ed . it's been a whil though.
Haha, I wasn't thinking about 4e (I thought this isn't the 4e forums. oh well).
I was referring to 3.5 and NOT the 20th level.
So much bickering I've got with my DM in a 3.5 game (hopefully ending soon), because my dwarf paladin is being ignored as soon as a rogue gets in a sneak attack or the sorcerer uses one of her fire spells. The reason?
"They dealt more damage than you so the opponent see them as a more potential threat.":headexplo Of course they do, that is the whole point of balansing between defensive and offensive classes!
What we do in this case that might be good advice for you, is that the rest of the group fights and concentrates their fire on one singular monster, while I try to lure the rest of the monsters on beating on me.
Yeah, it seems rather computer game headline of me to use that as a title, but the problem remains the same:
How do I, in the name of the 20th level horror dungeon, make my fighter/any other melee class be able to force creatures to attack me - or rather not harm the squishes in my party?
The short answer is, you can't.
The long version is, there's no mechanic for it (except for the Goad feat, sort of), so you're really going to have to have this conversation with your DM. johnnii's frustration aside, in a 3.5 game you're going to have to either min/max the heck out of your character or get used to being the smallest threat on the board.
The good news is, once you get out of the relatively strange 1st-level paradigm and get into the meat of the game, you'll find that the squishies aren't quite so squishy anymore. Clerics can wear heavy armor and carry shields, druids can shapeshift and buff, and wizards get stackable low-level buffs. You've probably still got better hit points than any caster, but your AC won't be significantly better--so when the enemies ignore you, they can't just rampage through the party's rear rank.
So much bickering
"They dealt more damage than you so the opponent see them as a more potential threat.":headexplo Of course they do, that is the whole point of balansing between defensive and offensive classes!
They generated more aggro than you. :P
Lrn2tank noob. I bet you didn't even hit the def cap. You prob get +crit gear too. :P
it's rather "palies cnt tank u n00b, l2hel or gtfo" :P
I didn't think that WoW has made it's way into this boards... well... I can believe, I am one of those crazy players of WoW. Still I try to diffrenciate between the two.
[JK] you nubcake! huntards are best. u dont know *&^%. I am l33t!11!1!1[/JK]
I really hope to hear another answer. The truth was out there but I was avoiding it in hope. Meh... That shows you.
However there is some ways that I found, looking again at some of the material:
There's an old PrC in sword and fist old splatbook called devoted guardian or something. 3 level dip let's you make a couple of save the silly's ass.
There are feats in the drow of the underdark that let's you do the same as the mentioned class (I think, I don't remember them clearly enought).
Also I think that there's kind of shield feat, probably in PHB II about granting adjacent allies shield bonus.
Finally, if you have a friendly mage in your group you could ask him to cast baleful transportation to switch places of a squishy under attack with yourself.
...
You think that there would be more Shield oriented feats about defending comrades than "shield bash" silly feat-chain.
I'm kicking an idea around to just make 'Goad' a basic combat option (no feat required). Maybe keep the feat around, improving it's effect so that it only requires a Swift action to execute, and the target takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls and save DCs against any creature other than you (on top of the normal goad effect).
I'm kicking an idea around to just make 'Goad' a basic combat option (no feat required). Maybe keep the feat around, improving it's effect so that it only requires a Swift action to execute, and the target takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls and save DCs against any creature other than you (on top of the normal goad effect).
That might work. You could call it "marking" the target... :D
Everyone can 'goad,' and if you take the 'Improved Goad' feat, you basically 'mark' the target 4e style.Interrupt a foe with a trip and he doesn't reach the squishies. Interrupt them with a disarm and they must either stop to retrieve their weapon or do less damage to the squishies when they get there.
None of this will force the enemy to attack you, but will limit their ability to attack your squishy allies.
I'd have to dig up the old character sheet to see what else he had. But I had fun, and the worst that ever happened was getting bull rushed off a dock. (Plate, Heavy Shield.. I only met the DC for moving on a 20.. took 3 rounds but I rolled it, all the while still protecting via the Guardian ring)
You ARE the squishy!
That or create a situation where you happen to be in the way.