[sblock=For Anyone Interested]This post is probably gonna come across as an overreaction to questions asked about my character - please don't take it that way. I am feeling a little defensive about Kat, b/c I am aware that her 'special' magic items are somewhat overpowered for our character levels. Possibly it would be a good idea for me to post my ideas about the nature of the game and my style of play, and then get some feedback from the rest of the players. If y'all don't think I'll be a good fit for the party after reading this, I understand, and I'll bow out with absolutely no hard feelings. Just be aware that it's not my nature to mince words - I speak (or write) what's on my mind - I don't mean to offend, I've just found it saves time.
I'm not a rules guru or a suplements fiend (I don't even know what a Warblade is, and don't care to look it up - I'm certain I'm going to love discovering what you can do with one through playing the game with one in the party). I do understand the need for rules, but I tend to think of them more as guidelines (I think it even says somewhere in one of the rulebooks that this should be the case, but they may have taken that out for 3.5
). The game is listed as 'Homebrew' rather than D&D because our beloved GM has similar beliefs about the rules. I like to play cool characters, and when I get an idea for one I try to make it work (I love the idea of ambidexterity, for example. I mistakenly listed it as a 'trait' rather than as a 'talent,' but it
was taken in place of one of my precious feats).
I don't want to unbalance the game, and I'm not competing with other party members for the spotlight - I want to be effective, and I want to celebrate the joys of victory, experience the drama of a game well played, and yes even mourn the agony of defeat or loss. I like to gripe when I have a run of bad luck with the dice (we call it the 'IC Curse' in the group I usually play with). I'm pretty careful about checking stuff out with my GM before I add it to my character, and I expect him to call me on anything he doesn't particularly like. When he does, I'll probably gripe about that as well - my griping doesn't mean anything, it's in good fun and I try to make it humorous when I can.
That being said, I was aware when I spoke with Todd about those 'special' items that they are overpowered for our character levels. They actually come to Kat from a player character I ran years ago in the face to face incarnation of this very campaign. (Rhun, Slabhra Dragan just means 'Dragon Chain' in Gaelic). I actually offered to tone down both the armor and the swords a bit, with the idea that the current powers would be discovered as Kat matured (leveled up). However, I wasn't going to argue when Todd said she could use them as is.
Finally, my understanding of the reason we post our characters is so that we can share cool things with the rest of the party, and so that we'll be able to play to our strengths. I
truly don't mean to be arrogant, snooty, or whatever, but my understanding is
not that we post characters so they can be picked apart by other party members. I know most people who do this do it from a sense of fair play, and I'm not offended by it, but it is a pet peeve for me. If you are looking through my character sheet and see where I've made a mistake in my figures, if you see I've taken four feats when I should have only taken three, etc. PLEASE let me know. Just when I think I've got most of the calculation errors ironed out of that spreadsheet, another one rears it's ugly head. But if you see an ability/feat/piece of equipment/whatever listed, even (maybe especially) if it seems unusual, you can trust that I've checked it out with Todd (or whatever other GM is running the game) and gotten it approved - that's what we do, right?
OK, I've gotten all that off my chest now. Since I took the liberty of venting all that, please feel free to sound off as well![/sblock]
