D&D 4E In 4e, why do you play the Race/Class you play?

[Minifig]

I'm curious to know what my fellow posters play. My first post made it abundantly clear that I love my Wilden Warden.. but I never went into details why.

I will, after a while when this post takes off, but I'm curious as to what my fellow posters on here play, and why they play it.

What drew you to that race and class (or multiclass) combination.. what keeps you playing it?

Do you have any advice for someone looking at going into your character's choice of Paragon Path or Epic Destiny?..

Gather round folks, lets throw some dice and have some fun, we don't have a DM around so lets just tell some stories.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Characters past and present, in order and with final fate:

Cleric because I wanted a character that always could contribute (via healing) even when the dice were against me. (Dead in airship crash.)

Fighter because there was a Rogue I wanted to tag team with. (campaign never got off the ground)

Swordmage because I liked the fluff. (campaign temporarily on hold)

Barbarian because I wanted to run around and yell a lot. (campaign on hold)

Rogue because I wanted to experiment with being the party face. (Dead from 3 death save failures.)

Warlord (tactical) because I wanted to try out the mechanics. (living)

Wizard because I wanted to try playing a controller. (living but dull)

I chose the races for the mechanics. 4 human, 1 dwarf, 1 halfling, 1 barbarian. You can probably match them up yourself.

 

[Mengu]

Many reasons, in no particular order

* Because I like the mechanics
* Because I haven't tried it or seen it in action yet
* Because we need one
* Because I want to simulate some fictional character (Indiana Jones, Fezzik, Wolverine, Galen from B5, Aragorn, etc)
* Because I woke up thinking about a gnome artificer with a switch blade
* Because someone on the internet said it sucks

I chose the races for the mechanics. 4 human, 1 dwarf, 1 halfling, 1 barbarian.

This barbarian race sounds intriguing

 

[drothgery]

Race is usually human unless there's a good reason not to.

Class is some combination of what I'm interested in playing and how that fits in with what everyone else is interested in playing.

 

[Herschel]

Genasi is my most-played race these days. I love the elemental flavor and versatility within the race. The Str/Int stat boost is cool because it lets you be strong AND (or) smart for amazing versatility that way too. So either flavor or stat boost makes them "work" for a wide variety of classes. Before genasi I played mostly humans. I like Deva too, hate "monster" races (half-orc, minotaur, elves and with 4E gnomes. ) and fanboy races pulled from the half- templates from 3E I really hated (tieflings and dragonborn) but have a soft spot for warforged and kalashtar.

Genasi work flavor AND stat-wise for my favorite class: the Swordmage. I love being lightly-armored yet viable in the thick of battle. I love being a defender, but not just a meat shield. I prefer to be more like the search & rescue type where I go in to the thick to pull people out and works better with outside-the-box play that drives Char-Op types bonkers. I've gotten more use out of Lightning Lure than should be legally allowed.

I've also discovered an affinity for the Seeker. It's another outside-the-box class that's really fun on a bun. He doesn't work well as a "solo", but he can make a defender a star and can step in to melee if it gets too thick.

I also like my Thaneborn Barbarian. Skip the stereotypical meaner-than-a-bear-and-dumber-than-a-stump stereotype, make him a Genasi and go with the rebel leader persona.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Human often at low levels - I like a wide variety in what I can do, and that third At Will can be extremely useful. Current characters: a Bravura Warlord because I like the approach of leading from the front and taking not-as-insane-as-they-look risks. And a Monk to see what it was like. (The answer: not too powerful, but incredibly mobile and fun).

 

[TarionzCousin]

I am a deva avenger in real life, so it seemed like a natural choice.

 

[cpendlet]

After DMing for a long time (5+years I think) I finally got a chance to play 4E.
Party needed a leader so I went with a Warforged Rune priest (str/con build). Looked different and fun to play (and he has been for the 3 sessions - I need to get better at remembering the bonuses he grants and when ).

When the Essentials stuff gets in the character builder I may change him to the new cleric build (need to see check out the rules for that better before deciding).

 

[mysticknight232]

1. Elf Rogue - I wanted to play a rogue ever since our 4 year campaign set in 3e and never got the chance to. So this was the first class I played when 4e came out. Result: Lvl 4 and still living. We played 4 or 5 sessions and then our DM up and quit the group and moved 2 hours away to a bigger city. Campaign over.

2. Half-Orc Barbarian - In 3e, I was deathly afraid of melee combat because of all the save or dies that our campaigns entailed. After playing the above rogue for several months, I was hooked on melee action in 4e. I wanted to dish the dmg so I started with a Dwarven charging Fighter for 1 session until PHB2 and the Barbarian came out. I switched and instantly loved the DPR it could dish out. Result: Lvl 9 and still living. We had issues with 2 group members and canceled the campaign after 8 months.

3. Dwarf Cleric - Following my love of melee in 4e, I still wanted to try to play a healer and this Cleric fit the bill. I tried the caster version for a session but hated it. Result: Lvl 9 and still living. We played 3 or 4 sessions and then I convinced everybody to play LFR.

4. Githzerai Monk - Melee trend continues with the launch of the PHB3. The Monk looked amazing for BF movement abilities and he hasn't disappointed. I play him in our at-home LFR campaign. Result: Lvl 4 and still alive. We've played nearly 10 adventures over the last several months and are putting the campaign on hold to pursue Dark Sun.

5. Warforged Warden and his owner an Eladrin Wizard - 2 other friends and I are doing the season 1 encounters on our own. 1 guy is DM'ing while 2 of us are playing 2 characters each to fill out a party. I've never played a defender and the Warden seemed awesome given his burst marking ability and saving throw at the start of the turn. He's been one of my favorite classes to play so far and I will consider playing him longer. I'm not a fan of living constructs...but I came up with a backstory I'm happy with so I'm enjoying the Warforged. Eladrin Wizard on the other hand is quite boring and I'm swapping him out for a Halfing Sorcerer. I played an Evocation Wizard in 3.5 and absolutely loved the devastation and destruction he caused. I was hoping to make a 4e "battle wizard", but it's not to my liking. Result: Lvl 3 each and still kicking. We just finished encounter 3 and are still going strong every other week. Warforged Warden gets 5 outta 5 stars, Eladrin Wizard gets 2 outta 5 stars. Sorry WotC, but I hate the new Magic Missile. Just standing there and dealing X points of dmg per turn sucks IMO. Halfling Sorcerer will be played next session.

6. Shardmind Shaman - I want to revist the leader role for our new DS campaign starting next month. I have problems staying focused at the table during other people's turns and so I thought playing the Shaman would help me stay focused because of the need to manage my Spirit Campanion every turn. I'm looking forward to playing a ranged leader class. We'll see how it goes. Result: Lvl 1 and starting in a month or so.

Race choices...I prefer to match up primary stats as I like getting the most bang for my buck. However, a solid racial power suits my purposes more than stats do and so I chose most of my races to work with the class I was choosing. I despise being a boring human (since I'm a boring human every day of my real life). Other races just bring something different and fun to the table so I will try to avoid playing a human as best as I can for all of 4e.

And there you have it. All the classes and races I played and a snippet on why I played them.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

goliath bard... just because it is more than cool...