Need help with first Fantasy toon

[NuSoardGraphite]

And get off my lawn!

 

Damn straight!

 

 

[phydaux]

Re: Need help with first Fantasy toon

 

Thanks a bunch. I think I've got a good handle on how I want to build the toon.

 

Str 15

Dex 18

Spd 4

 

Bastard Sword & Shield

 

No special Powers as Skills, just a bunch of 3 & 5 pip skill levels.

 

Hey guys!

 

OK, I've got my fantasy swordsman up and running. STR 18 (so he can swing a bastard sword 1-handed) , DEX 18, SPD 4, PD/ED 6, half END cost on STR, chainmail (6 resistant PD/ED), bastard sword, medium steel shield (+2 DCV), Swordsman (+1d6K with all swords), +2 melee skill levels, and +4 skill levels with swords.

 

With a base CV of 6 and +2 DCV from the shield, I use 1 skill level for +1 DCV, 3 skill levels for +3 OCV, and 2 skill levels for +1DC. So he's rocking a 9 OCV, 9 DCV and hitting for 3d6 HtHKA.

 

I've got to say the guy is just wading through NPC bad buys like a Cuisinart, and really outshining the other 150-point player characters, who don't hit that often, get hit a lot, and take a long time to overcome their adversaries. I actually think a few of the other players have hurt feelings.

 

Although last night I rolled trip-sixes for an attack roll, and the GM ruled that my bastard sword went flying. First time in four sessions that I even missed with an attack. Oh well. Bye-bye, most of my character points. LOL!

 

My character ran around for the rest of the combat, yelling "A SWORD! Someone give me a SWORD!" We all had a good laugh that "the combat monster" got his comeuppance.

[phydaux]

Anyway, the GM has been very generous with XP,. I've got 10 points free, so I'm wondering how to develop the character.

 

There's a good argument to be made for making the character more well rounded - Upgrading the Sword skill levels to full melee skill levels, or upgrading Swordmaster to full Deadly Blow. Or perhaps adding outdoor skills like Tracking.

 

Although I'm kind of enjoying being the "one trick pony." I'm thinking real hard about sword only skill levels for hit location only. 2 points each?

 

Called shot to the head is cool. and called shot to unarmored body parts to bypass armor. What would a called shot to a limb do for me? I don't recall rules for loping off limbs. Will a called shot to the leg knock someone down? Will a called shot to the arm or hand knock something out of someone's hand? Called shot to the neck to cut off a head?

 

T-Ball, anyone?

[Lucius]

Find out if you can buy a Martial Art a little at a time or are required to purchase it all at once. If the latter, save your points for a while yet.

 

You'll want to spend the extra point for Weapon Element to have it both with swords, and barehanded. Maybe with shield too.

 

No, you don't need extra damage, extra OCV, or even extra DCV.

 

You want

 

Throw: Either "stab his legs" or "trip him up" to make an opponent fall. Once they're prone, make the called shot to the head on the easier target.

 

Grab Weapon: Next time you lose your sword, take someone else's.

 

Dodge: To avoid getting hit as you dodge across the melee to retrieve your sword.

 

Disarm: Since you seem to want to knock stuff out of people's hands.

 

 

What called shots to limbs etc do depends on if you're using Impairing or Disabling rules, or not.

 

 

Also consider Fast Draw if you don't have it yet.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says superior swordsmanship makes a pig sound like a horse.

[phydaux]

What page is the optional disabling rules on?

[phydaux]

Also, most of the mooks the GM has us fighting are CV of 4 and the PCs are just clowning them. At least my PC is.

 

I'm going to recommend to the GM that he assume all melee mooks have shields (+2 DCV) and +2 skill levels with their primary weapon (just 6 points). And maybe use weapons that have a built in +1 OCV. So they'll be rocking OCV 7 DCV 6 and maybe I won't outshine then so bad.

 

As it is I've been trying to talk the other players into buying Deadly Blow for their PCs, and they all seem rather obstinate in their refusal to do so. The more XP the GM awards, the less bad I feel about outshining them in combat.

[bigbywolfe]

How many people are in your group? If you are outshining the competition and every other character is struggling I would not expect the GM to change the entire game just to challenge your PC. Are the other characters poorly built? Did you just build a combat monster with no real skills? Is something else going on here to cause the discrepancy?

[phydaux]

Five PCs including mine - Mage, Bard, Rogue, Scout/Archer and me.

 

My character has all the skills you would expect to find in a courtly knight who also is a heavy, armored fighter.

 

Aside from that he is a highly specialized melee combat monster. No ranged attacks at all. He does have the Lance weapon familiarity, but he focuses on fighting afoot rather than mounted fighting. And nearly all his skill levels, plus his Deadly Blow, are all Sword Only.

 

The biggest problem the other PCs have in combat is overcoming armor. Most of them are using weapons like short bow or rapier, so they're rolling at most 1d6+1 for damage where I'm rolling 3d6. So they're taking entire turns to bring down one enemy while I'm one-shoting a mook every action phase.

 

It's funny, too, because my toon doesn't have the highest SPD (mage does(?)) or the highest DEX (archer does). And he has no outdoor skills to speak of. But he does have the highest STR by far.

[Michael Hopcroft]

High SPD might not be such an advantage for a mage. It's expensive, and while it does get you one extra shot a turn at most you're going to be using a lot of extra END to power spells, meaning you'll tire quicker. END is a much better investment for a mage, especially since it will save him points when buying his spells if he has a decent amount of END he can burn in a combat and doesn't have to take so many Advantages to limit that. The standard SPD for the party is enough for the typical mage.

 

Swashbuckler/light types are the ones who benefit more from a higher SPD. It allows them to hold more actions for defense which is useful if you don't have heavy armor, and in appropriate situations the extra attacks can be very useful (especially if used as a part of teamwork).

[Markdoc]

Actually, I'd disagree. Many people think that high SPD is appropriate for rogues or swashbucklers (and it is) but it's just as appropriate for mages or other archetypes (and just as useful). Yeah, you tire out faster in a fight if your build doesn't take END use into account, but more actions typically mean the fight is over faster. I'd rather run out of END than BOD any day. This is especially true in Fantasy Hero where fights are often over quite quickly, and taking BOD damage a very likely outcome. In my last campaign, it was rare for fights to last more than a couple of turns (though, of course, there were always exceptions). In the campaign before that it was rare for fights to go more than one turn (pitched battles being an exception). Running out of END was rarely a problem, outside those few cases that involved prolonged chases, etc., or characters with prodigious END use.

 

I think the connection of SPD with rogue/swashbuckler types is a hangover from the days when DEX was directly connected to SPD. Now that they are uncoupled, extra SPD could just as easily reflect a cool, swift intellect, as swift springy limbs.

 

cheers, Mark

[Markdoc]

As for the original poster, being a combat monster is a good thing , but it's a thing with a built-in ceiling. If you are already hitting most targets, adding extra points into combat skill levels does not get you very much. If you are already one-shotting most targets, boosting your damage output is not going to add much utility either.

 

It might be worth thinking about your character and what else you could see as relevant. It doesn't have to be non-combat, if combat is your shtick. One thing I am fond of is combat tricks - think of them as "feats" like in that other game system. So for example, buying an autofire attack, allowing you to hit multiple foes at once, or a triggered attack allowing you to block an attack and immediately counter with an attack ... that sort of thing. Other useful skills are defensive talents like blindsense - an innate combat sense that allows you to respond to attackers, even if you can't see them They build on your character's strengths, but also add a little flexibility. Options are always good.

 

cheers, Mark