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How Can You Politely Say, "Your Character Sucks?"
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<blockquote data-quote="pawsplay" data-source="post: 5074139" data-attributes="member: 15538"><p>I'm not sure what you're saying is untrue. It is true that someone is the smartest Swordmage, and someone else is not. We're not talking about anyone being forced into it. Why can someone not simply choose to play a Swordmage who is not particularly intelligent, for a Swordsmage?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's at least four points smarter than a character who is not particular intelligent. If everyone else starts with 18 and ends up at 30, what's wrong with starting at 14 and ending up with 26?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I said he was plucky, not a bumpkin. If he's a swordmage at all, presumably he's had training. Because of his pluck.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is one of the least accurate things I have ever seen on this board.</p><p></p><p>Maybe this is just my training, from starting with Basic D&D, but I don't think there's anything that weird about someone being in an adventuring profession with only a mildly raised score in their "prime requisite." So there's one mark against your argument.</p><p></p><p>Second, many characters will not survive past level 4, even if the game does.</p><p></p><p>Also, there is no guarantee a character will fulfill a conventional rise to fame. For instance, I don't think it would be shocking if a swordmage multiclassed a little as a fighter or something. As an another, entirely different example, maybe the character is sticks doggedly with the whole swordmage thing, but takes a paragon path that suggests something other than extraordinary competence at swordmaging. Any of those paths are possible even for a character with very high Intelligence. Anakin and Luke both excelled as pilots long before they came into their own as Jedi, so even the original analogy falls flat on this point.</p><p></p><p>Finally, you are conflating legendary achievements with extraordinary innate gifts. Unless you are saying great heroes are born, not made, I think the case can be made for a swordsmage with a merely exceptional level of intelligence one day becoming a great hero through hard work and pluck. </p><p></p><p>One of my favorite 3e characters of all time was a bard. This was before 3.5, before they could even cast in armor. I had him wear padded armor and take lance as a proficiency, and he served as the paladin's squire. Despite being suboptimal in many respects, he was a useful healer, had some nifty defensive tricks using his skills, and most of all, was interesting. When the party fought a blue dragon, he was actually the last man standing and dealt the killing blow. The fact that his stats were not exceptional is of less interest to me than the fact that we had some good times together, that bard and I, and I felt that given the constraints I placed on him in the beginning, every victory was worth celebrating.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pawsplay, post: 5074139, member: 15538"] I'm not sure what you're saying is untrue. It is true that someone is the smartest Swordmage, and someone else is not. We're not talking about anyone being forced into it. Why can someone not simply choose to play a Swordmage who is not particularly intelligent, for a Swordsmage? It's at least four points smarter than a character who is not particular intelligent. If everyone else starts with 18 and ends up at 30, what's wrong with starting at 14 and ending up with 26? I said he was plucky, not a bumpkin. If he's a swordmage at all, presumably he's had training. Because of his pluck. This is one of the least accurate things I have ever seen on this board. Maybe this is just my training, from starting with Basic D&D, but I don't think there's anything that weird about someone being in an adventuring profession with only a mildly raised score in their "prime requisite." So there's one mark against your argument. Second, many characters will not survive past level 4, even if the game does. Also, there is no guarantee a character will fulfill a conventional rise to fame. For instance, I don't think it would be shocking if a swordmage multiclassed a little as a fighter or something. As an another, entirely different example, maybe the character is sticks doggedly with the whole swordmage thing, but takes a paragon path that suggests something other than extraordinary competence at swordmaging. Any of those paths are possible even for a character with very high Intelligence. Anakin and Luke both excelled as pilots long before they came into their own as Jedi, so even the original analogy falls flat on this point. Finally, you are conflating legendary achievements with extraordinary innate gifts. Unless you are saying great heroes are born, not made, I think the case can be made for a swordsmage with a merely exceptional level of intelligence one day becoming a great hero through hard work and pluck. One of my favorite 3e characters of all time was a bard. This was before 3.5, before they could even cast in armor. I had him wear padded armor and take lance as a proficiency, and he served as the paladin's squire. Despite being suboptimal in many respects, he was a useful healer, had some nifty defensive tricks using his skills, and most of all, was interesting. When the party fought a blue dragon, he was actually the last man standing and dealt the killing blow. The fact that his stats were not exceptional is of less interest to me than the fact that we had some good times together, that bard and I, and I felt that given the constraints I placed on him in the beginning, every victory was worth celebrating. [/QUOTE]
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