Advice for a new player bored with his character

[Nifft]

I was told that the group needed some damage dealers (at that point it consisted of a human Cleric who wasn't doing much, elf Rogue, half elf Ranger, human Sorcerer, and half orc fighter). I decided to be a human fighter (with a classical Greek hero kind of theme) for my first time out, mostly because the wizard section of the ph seemed confusing.

Sounds like you took one for the team. Good for you.

I was really helpful at first, but as we've moved forward my guy is seeming less cool and less useful- my stats aren't good enough to move forward along a feat progression chain to change the way I fight and I haven't tried to get some of the fancy magical gear that we've found cause it doesn't fit my guy's background. Fighting for me consists of charge, stab, stab, take some damage, stab, get healed. We've had trouble with scheduling, and haven't been playing as consistently recently- I find myself reading the ph and think of all the cool characters I could make if my current character were to meet an untimely end.
I've read online that fighters in 3.5 plateau and I'm wondering if this is coming out of that.

Yep yep yep. Full spellcasters are ZOMG powerful, and "Climb, Jump, Swim" are blatantly eclipsed by Fly, Polymorph, Teleport.

How do I go about fixing things so I'm engaged with my character as much as with the broader story, like I used to be? Should I talk with my DM or would broaching this topic cross some line? Is this a normal experience for one's first time out and it will pass?

It is absolutely normal to experience growth. Your understanding of the game has grown beyond your simple starter character. You see the benefit of possibilities which are not available to your current PC.

The growth of your understanding of the system should not be a source of shame. GRAB THE CHEESE WITH BOTH HANDS AND USE IT TO BREAK THE WORLD -- er, I mean, make a character you will enjoy, stretch the limits of your imagination, and allow yourself to exercise your creativity during play.

Make yourself a Druid. You have nothing to lose but your chainmail!

Cheers, -- N

 

[Lanefan]

One suggestion that hasn't come out yet is to let the combats roll as they are, but focus more on what your character does when the dice aren't rolling. Give it a serious personality makeover. Take whatever the character has - alignment, established traits or habits, etc. - and go just a little over the top with it. Make every word your character says unforgettable - at least until the next one. In short, give your character - well, character.

Once you've done that, the personality will creep in when the dice *are* rolling; for example, you ought to be able to ignore the repetitiveness of combat much more easliy when you're busy trying to think up a new battlecry for every single swing you take!

Some of my most memorable characters have been mechanically bland 1e Fighters, due in large part to the personalities I gave 'em; not least of which is my namesake here. I've played him on and off for 26 years now (in fact, completely out of the blue he showed up last weekend in a game I play in due to a wish [not mine] that didn't exactly work as planned) and he still rocks out!

Lan-"yeah, that'd be me"-efan

 

[Cor_Malek]

First thing first: yes, fighter class is somewhat dull in DnD. Even with PF tweaks it still is, even in the olden days it was (ie, in on of (V or VI) Gary's FAQ's the Man Himself admits that he'd rather play clerics than fighters in terms of which "warrior" is more interesting). It can be fun to play, but after a time - yeah, there's only oh so many ways to swing the iron stab you're holding.

As to perceived favourism of other PC's in terms of magic items - see above. It's not necessarily purposeful on DM's part - it's just that it's a lot easier to make a seriously cool item for other classes, because all you need to do is enhance one of the things they're already doing. Hence, bulk of items that can be found: in splat books, published adventures, or even fan-made - is intended for the stronger classes. You think fighters have it bad? Try finding magically enchanted kazoo for your bard ;-)

Rebuilding the character - I'd strongly advise against that. It's your first character, and as with first times - you might be confused what goes where, you might get overly enthusiastic at the start, and it surely isn't as cool as what you'd do with more experience - but that's the beauty of it. You'll look back at that character sheet in a few years and have a chuckle. It's part of the experience.
Retire the character, put his sheet somewhere safe, and start with a clean sleet. Many groups like to keep old PC's as NPC's in the realm, it's often fun to do.
Multiclassing is also a good way - yeah, you'll deal less DPR, and whatnot - but it sure as hell takes away the monotony. If you choose a magical class - there's always spells that are useful, low level and just don't cut it into full-casters prep-list. Since your arcane caster is a sorc, ability to prepare and use utility spells becomes invaluable. Besides, up to about 10 levels of any class can be useful to meet requirements for given PRC.


One way or the other - talk with your DM, he's probably had similar experiences at the start and will know the pain ;-)

 

[Oryan77]

Maybe you can take the Leadership feat and run a Cohort with your PC. Request one that is in a class that would spice things up for you.

That way you can enjoy your roleplaying between your PC and his cohort (you're right, Night Below is very hack-n-slash, especially book 2), and during combat you can support the party with your fighter and still mix things up with the cohort.

This is assuming that you would still like to play the fighter PC in case you've built up some cool history with him so far. Plus it can suck for the other players when a party member that they became close with suddenly vanishes from the group.

 

[Thanael]

Post your build and intended role and let the charop guys give you advice on how to rebuild him. Perhaps this already helps

Why did the Cleric get the magic sword? It should have gone to you imo. Thsi would probably take care of some of your problems right away. Talk to your DM about your problems.

Personality. Get one. Get an agenda, a cohort, a quirk or something like that. Delve into playing his role.

If all else fails retire the PC and make a new one.


Or combine all of the above: rebuild, make the PC steal the sword, then run away. Make a new PC.

 

[mrorangesoda]

Do you have access to the Book of Nine Swords? If so, see if your DM will let you rebuild your PC as a warblade. Much more versatile and tactically interesting than a straight-up fighter, and you'll be able to keep up with the casters unless they're hardcore Batman/CoDzilla types*.

If you want further suggestions on how to re-build your PC, you need only ask on these boards and you'll get more ideas than you could ever use.

Incidentally, what is your current build? From the way you describe it, you sound like a fighter specializing in some type of spear... more details?

I'll check, but I think we're only using the core books. Shield and short sword and I chuck a javelin if I'm not close enough to charge in. I know there are better weapons to use if I'm interested only in amount of damage done, but I like my initial concept and had decided that given his background my PC wouldn't be up for changing what kind of weapon he fights with or wear full plate armor even though it's fancy.

We keep out character sheets at our DM's place so no one forgets it on game night. We're playing tonight and I'll check with him about other books and copy stuff down to bring back to the boards

Post your build and intended role and let the charop guys give you advice on how to rebuild him. Perhaps this already helps

Why did the Cleric get the magic sword? It should have gone to you imo. Thsi would probably take care of some of your problems right away. Talk to your DM about your problems.

Personality. Get one. Get an agenda, a cohort, a quirk or something like that. Delve into playing his role.

Spoiler for A Night Below: the talking longsword "finslayer" chooses its person based on their alignment. In my DM's defense, he asked me what my alignment was first (then the ranger, then the cleric). None of us actually had the proper alignment, but the cleric was only one alignment away while I was two. I guess he could have changed the defaults of the weapon, but I certainly don't hold it against him. If my PC had it, he'd probably spend a few encounters being awkward with it and constantly asking it if it could shorten itself.
I do have some cool magic items (this campaign is very magic item heavy apparently), but nothing that has a coolness factor to replace my (main) issue with the monotony of combat.

I feel like he's got some personality-- my two big things coming in were that he'd be kinda vain/a huge flirt (with people of any race or gender he found attractive) and afraid of the dark (he'd use two torches when only one was needed, etc). The last thing got thrown out when in my first session I learned we had some magic thing that makes it bright around us all the time. I've been playing with the latter (I often take a free action to toss my long hair), but I feel like due to where the campaign is (underground fighting evil things for a long stretch of time), it's been harder to exploit and dig into so the combat thing has prompted this thread.
I'll consider a cohort as another option to mix things up though. Thanks.

 

[Cor_Malek]

Shield and short sword and I chuck a javelin if I'm not close enough to charge in. I know there are better weapons to use if I'm interested only in amount of damage done, but I like my initial concept and had decided that given his background my PC wouldn't be up for changing what kind of weapon he fights with or wear full plate armor even though it's fancy.

Such RP consistency should be rewarded when possible. But note that Greeks themselves were using many short swords. Xiphos can indeed fit the "shortsword" stats, but you could go for makhaira - which would rather fit scimitar stats: 1d6 dmg, crit on 18-20/x2.
Given your PC background, as GM I'd consider allowing him to take exotic weapon prof for spear to treat it as one-handed weapon (like with bastard sword) - so you can use it either with one hand, or with two and add 1.5xstr mod.

 

[Merkuri]

I agree with all of the other posters that you should start by talking to your DM. If he/she is a good DM then they should be happy to work with you to make the game more fun, especially if you're a new player and didn't really know what you were getting into when you made the character.

Can you give us an example of what magic items you turned down and why? Was it something like you turned down an axe because your fighter uses swords? This is also something you might want to talk to the DM about. In some cases he can subtly change the item from what's written in the module so that it's something that is more attractive to your character.

In a game I played a few years ago one of the players (my husband, actually) liked his character, an orc barbarian, in combat but not in RP. He liked playing the stupid oaf stereotype, but felt like if he was true to that he couldn't participate in a lot of the more high-level role playing.

The DM addressed this by taking a magic item in the module (Blackrazor, from the 3/3.5e Arms and Equipment Guide), changed it from a sword to an axe, and made it intelligent (I don't remember if the original Blackrazor was intelligent). Because it was an axe and that was the PC's favorite weapon it was a no-brainier for the whole party that the orc should get it, but the orc had such dismal mental skills that the axe could pretty much take control of the orc at will. The DM told the player what sort of personality the axe had and let him role play the axe in addition to his PC. The end result was a much more complex PC (it was kinda like he had multiple personality disorder) that allowed him to both be the stupid orc comic relief and participate more meaningfully in decision making and higher-level RP. The player did an awesome job making that one of the most memorable characters of the campaign.

I guess the big point here was that if Blackrazor had been left as a sword then the orc PC would've never picked it up and this opportunity would've been missed. Maybe your DM can do a little tweaking of item treasure like this for you.

 

[rogueattorney]

I gave xp to Lanefan for his answer, but also wanted to add to it.

Think about your character on the campaign level instead of the encounter level. Decide what you'd like for him to do and become within the campaign world. Pick a goal. Perhaps an outrageous one - kill every evil dragon, rid the world of undead, journey to Mars or back in time, amass all the world's gold or adamantium, become a wealthy lord, a king, emperor of the world, the universe, a god. Discuss your goal with your DM and make sure it's something that works within the context of your group, but is still entertaining to you.

Then go for it. Succeed or fail, you'll have fun and the tale will be worth telling.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Take a look at what other options you have to mix things up in combat. Try a shield bash, or maybe grapple (you know how those ancient greeks liked their wrestling).

Don't give up on the fear of darkness aspect. Have your PC stick really close to whomever has the magical light source. Have him slow down and maybe drop back in the party as you approach a dark entrance to a tunnel - at least until the light gets a little too far ahead, then have him run back up. If in a combat with a dark cave mouth long one wall, have your PC refuse to turn his back to the cave entrance.

Do you have a reason for the fear of darkness? Is there a way to work that into the role-playing aspect? Maybe have him find a way to get over the fear, but work with the DM to make that into an interesting personal challenge.