D&D General What does the mundane high level fighter look like? [+]

[Oofta]

An optional layer of rules on top could I believe 'get there' for some folks who are actually looking for a solution.

I just think that anime is so deliberately over-the-top that it changes the nature of the game in a very fundamental way. It would not longer be a mundane high-level fighter, it would be an anime high level fighter which are completely different things to me. In any case it's a side-track on a "+" thread.

 

[MuhVerisimilitude]

It is a super cool scene, I agree. Posting link for anyone who was wondering "what they heck are they talking about?"



But, at least for me, this is completely leaving behind my suspension of disbelief around "mundane fighter" that @Sacrosanct gave a definition for in the OP, and entering the realm of Supernatural Anime Physics. For me, I could NOT play a fighter destroying a boat like this and claim with a straight face "I know this secret totally nonmagical technique that I trained for years to master." But anime is popular & I'm likely in minority.

This is exactly what fighters need, though. At high tiers they need more than just the ability to hit harder.

 

[Quickleaf]

This is exactly what fighters need, though. At high tiers they need more than just the ability to hit harder.

Well, I want to point out you are conflating two different things.

1 - our shared desire for the fighter to be more interesting at higher levels

and

2 - that Mihawk style anime "not-magic" is the solution

IMO, 2 is an answer to 1, but it is not exclusively the only answer to 1.

I often play fighters (or similar no-magic characters) when I get the chance to play. I think the fighter class is flawed - and I know I'm in the minority, as most folks really enjoy it, and by the metrics we have it's very popular. Yet I still gravitate toward it despite the flaws I perceive. Because the "armed only with my sword and my wits" grounded fantasy appeals to me. Your answer for the design challenge of the fighter may be #2, and that's totally legitimate, but you lose the interest of players like me who enjoy the class precisely because of its "mundanity."

It's fine to implement solution #2, but I think it's important to consider what attracts players to run a hero lacking magical ability in the first place. And I think that's a shifting target based on audience, btw.

 

[Scribe]

This is exactly what fighters need, though. At high tiers they need more than just the ability to hit harder.

Fighters do not need to chop a Galleon in half with a single swing. Ever. lol

 

[Vaalingrade]

Well, I want to point out you are conflating two different things.

1 - our shared desire for the fighter to be more interesting at higher levels

and

2 - that Mihawk style anime "not-magic" is the solution

IMO, 2 is an answer to 1, but it is not exclusively the only answer to 1.

It is , however the correct answer.

 

[Quickleaf]

It is , however the correct answer.

Uff, deep cut. My sword slash color is only teal. It's, uh, definitely not magic.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Fighters do not need to chop a Galleon in half with a single swing. Ever. lol

Since we're discussing mundane fighters, you might be right.

Although that begs the question of how a group of T4 mundane fighters could slay a Tarrasque (or other beast of similar titanic stature)? Assuming they have a Wish in their back pocket, do they just stab it in the toe until it bleeds to death? That doesn't really seem mundane to me, by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Scribe]

Although that begs the question of how a group of T4 mundane fighters could slay a Tarrasque (or other beast of similar titanic stature)?

I'm not a huge fan of that group being able to, if I'm honest.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I'm not a huge fan of that group being able to, if I'm honest.

IMO, if a group of fighters couldn't slay the Tarrasque or an Ancient Wyrm (without resorting to some extraordinary measures), that would definitely too mundane for high level D&D. The dragon slaying knight is iconic fantasy.

 

[Scribe]

IMO, if a group of fighters couldn't slay the Tarrasque or an Ancient Wyrm (without resorting to some extraordinary measures), that would definitely too mundane for high level D&D. The dragon slaying knight is iconic fantasy.

The Dragon slaying singular Knight is iconic plot armour protected fantasy.

D&D is a different brand of Fantasy, and it should (all imo of course) require additional classes to form a cohesive party to take down such monsters.