My Brawler Fighter and how fellow players complain

[Lo-Kag]

So in a new 4th ED game I started last night a made a Half-Orc Fighter brawler style. I really enjoyed playing him because of the sheer versatility of him.

In the middle of one particular encounter I was unable to reach an enemy to mark him. My fighter picked up a rcok, threw it, and hit the skeleton. The character sheet says that I would deal 1d4 + Dex mod damage on a hit. Another player said that I wouldn't deal my Dex mod damage because a rock doesn't have the "Light Thrown" property.

Later on I looked in my Rules Compendium to look up the specific rules for both ranged attacks and the use of improvised weapons.

I sent the entire party an email quoting the exact pages that are very specific on these rules. I was in the right that I would have dealt 1d4 + dex mod for the damage.

Then he sends me an email:


""As per the definition of "cheese" this is exactly case in point reinforcing what I said. Cheese happens when someone tries to "Brian-ize" the rules in such a way that they gain a huge benefit at the cost of the campaign which the DM has spent a great deal of time and preparation on. I think maybe we can coin that phrase "Adam-izing" it now too.

Being able to deal as much damage by throwing a rock as you would if you had hit them with a battleaxe flies in the face of the suspension of disbelief that Dungeons & Dragons is. Trying to get away with something silly because the book doesn't say you can't is offensive to me as a DM.""


Am I in the wrong here? The Brawler is made to be able to throw things and be fairly effective at doing some damage. A Ranger would be able to do even more damage, but it's the same principle.

They wrote a rulebook and I might as well follow it. So, to the other DMs who read this:

What do you think?

 

[Matt James]

Give me their emails.

I kid, I kid. Those were some pretty harsh words from your DM. I would hardly call that cheese. It sounds rather improvisational. You were thinking on your feet and adapted to a situation where your character couldn't use their chosen weapon. If I were your DM, I would have rewarded your ingenuity and ability to adapt. It's a tough place to be in. He's probably a friend of yours, and the group all likely knows each other. I'm not sure how else to handle it. Maybe show him this thread? I'm sure others will be along and will echo what I've said.

 

[Ryujin]

My take on the Brawler is that he's an improviser, using whatever comes to hand. If it's a rock that comes to hand, then it's a rock he uses. That's not cheese; it seems the very nature of the character.

Back in the day I used to carry a bag of silver coins because, if nothing else, I could whip them at weres for a point of damage plus strength bonus. It was better than not being able to hit them, at all, and silver weapons were expensive!

 

[RangerWickett]

Suspension of disbelief really ought to be able to go a bit farther than the DM is suggesting. D&D's a game where a 3-ft. tall guy can hold a 6-ft. tall guy immobile with a grab. Or a fighter can spin around and hit 8 people in 6 seconds after taunting them to come toward him.

Hell, in the real world, if you peg a guy in the head with a rock, you can kill him.

A rock has +0 proficiency modifier for your attack roll, since it's an improvised weapon. But if it hits, it's perfectly dangerous.

I do not in any way think what you did was cheesy or silly. It was rules-legal, and more importantly it was legitimate.

 

[Pentius]

Well, I get the feeling there's a significant part of the story we're missing here. That said, you're right by the rules, and the idea that there's this much fuss over whether or dex mod damage goes into a thrown rock is quite silly.

 

[Mengu]

That is rather harsh.

The idea of throwing a rock (and following RAW while doing it) being cheesy beats the pants off any previous cheese declaration I have ever heard!

The person in question would likely be appalled at hearing what I tell my players when they do improvised attacks. I tell them to roll their basic attack (or their average at-will attack if they don't have a good basic), roll their damage (as per their attack with their primary weapon/implement), and add a d8! Yes, thrown chairs, doors slammed on faces, and hay bails knocked over from a loft deal more damage than "I swing my longsword" because I like it that way!

(There also apparently aren't enough exclamation point keys on my keyboard!!!)

 

[IanB]

I feel like the core issue here is actually a social dynamic, not rules.

 

[Joshua Randall]

D&D is just group therapy with dice.

-- me

(Feel free to quote me.)

= = =

But seriously: everyone at that table needs to chill out. If the brawler fighter build is that annoying to the DM and the other players, maybe the OP can retrain into a different kind of fighter. And/or if the DM and the other players are so uptight about stuff like this that it's causing the OP not to enjoy the game, maybe he needs to seek a different group.

 

[Pentius]

I don't know if that would help, really. For one, if phrases like "offensive" and "flies in the face of suspension of disbelief" are getting tossed around, a couple points of damage is probably not the real issue. That, or there is such a stick in that butt that the DM is best described as a human popsicle. For two, being a Brawler isn't what gave him the damage. Having dex mod in your ranged basic attacks, even with rocks, is explicitly laid out in the RC(I checked).

 

[Prestidigitalis]

If I got that email from a fellow player, I would be tempted to go out in the middle of the night, find his or her car, and key the doors. And if I had any spraypaint, I might get carried away.

Expect an update tomorrow morning, when I have had time to consider whether the above paragraph is a joke or not.