Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 5704681" data-attributes="member: 158">I guess I'm a voice of dissent -- "self-sufficient" to me implies "no reason to be a group." I might be self-sufficient in some respects -- I have a job, a car, a dwelling, can dress myself -- but I couldn't run a 100-person or even a 10-person company by myself; I need at the very least one qualified right-hand person to share or delegate with so that I don't lose my mind in day-to-day operations.Contrary to US Army advertisements, there is no such thing as "An Army of One" -- we all need somebody to watch our backs or offer backup, because we can't do it alone, whether it's disaster relief, police duties, military operations, or food bank drives.Relate this to adventuring -- one thing that bugged me in 3E more than anything was "prestige class dippers": Those people who successfully picked up three levels of this, four levels of that, to where they could fight, stealth-kill, heal and utility spell their way out of anything. I personally hate lone wolves in a PC group; more often than not they offer no reasons for interaction, no vulnerabilities to make life interesting, and no interest in anyone but themselves -- they might as well play the card game Solitaire as play in an RPG. I still remember one build I saw -- guy had levels of Fighter, Rogue, Bard, and of all things Termple raider of Olidammara- he could stand toe to toe, sneak attack, cast from a bunch of 1st and 2nd level wands, heal himself, pick any lock, bluff his way out of anything -- it passed ridiculous and into boring territory for me. I like the group that has the biggest combat badass around -- but who would get overwhelmed by numbers if not for the wizard or sorcerer and who couldn't talk his way out of a paper bag. I like the group who has the ultimate skill monkey -- but who would get creamed in a straight-up fight and waylaid by a failed save. And I like the group who has a master of magic or divine intervention, unassailable by spell -- but who needs his friends if there's a mystery afoot or a sharp attention to detail.It's how the game was set up since 1974, in part I think from its wargaming roots for the reason I mentioned above --wargames are made up of specialty units that work together, after all. Gimme a character who is a badass, BUT who still would think twice about adventuring on his own, because it's a dangerous world out there and he can't do it all. I want Justice League, not just Superman.</blockquote>

Verification