Is there anything wrong with a Combat Character

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

DocMoriartty post got me thinking.

DnD, when started, was a tactic combat game. It was for small scale group versus monster or group versus group combat. Today, most of the rules are focused on the fair adjudication of combat.

This then begs the question. What's wrong with playing a combat oriented character in a combat game?

Doesn't every party need a combat character?

 

[mmu1]

Assuming that you're playing a "standard" campaign (and not one centered on stealth and intrigue, for example), and as long as the person playing the combat-oriented character doesn't mind being fairly ineffective outside of combat, and doesn't try to role-play the muscle-bound fighter as a brilliant guy full of sparkling wit, there's no problem.

The difficulty starts when you either have a player who wants to be proficient in situations requiring skills he doesn't have, and steps on the toes of other characters, or when you have a DM who takes it to the opposite extreme and makes someone's perfectly ordinary 11 INT, 12 WIS and 8 CHA the equivalent of a glowing neon "kick me, I'm dull and socially inept" sign, railroading him before a single die gets rolled.

 

[Arnwyn]

This then begs the question. What's wrong with playing a combat oriented character in a combat game?

Uh... nothing? However, that person, then should not complain that he/she isn't very good at social interaction.

And I have yet to hear of *anyone* saying that there should be no combat-oriented characters (not even in that DocM thread, regardless of what some posters are trying to misinterpret).

 

[Crothian]

It depends solely on the game and the other characters. I've got a character for our new game who is going to be really good at combat, but I still spent skill points on other abilities because I know that there will be times I'll need it. But if one does do this they should expect some social penalities if the DM decides that.

 

[Murrdox]

In D&D, characters HAVE to be combat characters - to a degree. Even bards need to kill things to level up (or at least participate and aid those doing the killing).

What I don't like as a DM is when players completely borg out their characters, but then say something like "the low CHA score is for roleplaying".

Case in point... my friend is doing a single player campaign... and told me how his character was able to charge and kill a large demon (I think one step below a Belor... don't remember what type) in one hit... it had 95 HP. He created a Mercurial Great Sword weilding death machine that you could never role play because he's so over the top.

 

[megamania]

Keep in mind, some just want to play mercenaries and leave the talking (not the role-playing) to the mages and clerics.

 

[The Lemon Merchant]

I see nothing wrong with playing a combat oriented character, and actually find that it can be quite entertaining even in low combat sessions. In one Ravenloft (2E) campaign I participated in I played a dwarven fighter. My job was to kill things and keep things from killing my party members. I was very good at the first, though I wasn't as successful at the second, and played the character as such. Naturally I wasn't much involved in negotiations and such. When it came to the social graces, I generally spent the time wenching, in fact I and a cleric buddy once spent an entire game year wenching our way across the core while the more scholarly of the party were busy researching. Of course, the party was less than pleased when at the end of the year they discovered our financial resources had been exhausted.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I love combat-oriented characters!

I think much of the problem lies in DM's perspective.

Many DM's out there like to run a game in which the PC's aren't the most powerful people for blocks, and where mortality is a pressing concern, and where the high-falutin' acrobatics are kept where the belong -- above level 20, and more or less out of the PC's reach. In addition, because of the 'realism' of the world, and the deadliness of combat, combat can't be an entirely common thing.

There's nothing wrong with this style of play at all. It's only that this requires something of a substantial deviation from a 'normal' D&D baseline of raid the dungeon, kill the evil dude, get the treasure, go home and spend it.

It seems to cause a problems when DM's (or players) who prefer this other style of play get sort of high-and-mighty on those who prefer the more typical D&D-as-an-action-movie feel. Thus, characters who can kill lots of stuff or do extraordinary things aren't just different -- they're durn near MUNCHKIN! This would *never* happen in their campaign, which is obviously a *better* campaign because it doesn't allow people to get away with *crazy* stuff like that! That's just *wrong*! I can't believe they killed a *DRAGON!* That's stuff for HEROES! My PC's are just trying to *survive!*

And it's VERY possibile to have a combat machine with social graces...Paladins are perfect, Samurai even more so if you have OA. It's just a matter of puttin' the skill points in the right places (even if it's cross-class).

Otherwise, just let the bard handle things.

 

[Jeremy]

Amen. I try so hard to remind myself sometimes that it's a fantasy game and that the pc's should be doing the impossible and having FUN! Instead of bogging them down with physics or limitations to keep them from ever becoming powerful enough to win an encounter handily. 96 points of damage in a hit! Good lord! That should never be allowed! Why not? The game scales up down and all around, a critical hit with a x4 weapon can easily do 96 points of damage. What's a big deal at low levels is commonplace at mid level and totally ineffective at high level... Ah well, whatever is the most fun for whomever.

 

[bwgwl]

I love combat-oriented characters!

I think much of the problem lies in DM's perspective.

(snip good stuff)

amen brother. i couldn't agree more.

the great thing about this game is that it can work for so many different kinds of campaigns.

as long as everyone is upfront and honest with what they want out of the game, most problems of style difference can be averted successfully.

i too tend to be a buttkicker, combat-oriented type of player. i've left campaigns because i felt the DM wasn't letting me kick enough booty. and i don't think that's powergamey or munchkin at all. i was honest about it, and we parted company in a friendly manner.