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

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4431855" data-attributes="member: 710">I speak from my point of view. The Barbarian is a fun class, it's easy to get into, and part of its appeal there is not much to worry about. Sometimes, I like playing that kind of character, and when I do, I pick Barbarian, not Wizard, for a good reason. But Rage Points change this to some extent. Suddenly, there are decisions I have to make that I just didn't have to make before. Suddenly, I have to count Rage Points per Day instead of just Rages per day. I have to look which powers I might want to pick up. Especially since I am not really the gamer that only likes the "simple" type of character, or wouldn't care about my characters performance. The problem is it changes how the Barbarian is played. He used to be the straight-forward guy that runs into combat, rages and kills his enemies. And the way I played it was exactly like that, because the rules supported it. But if you add a mechanical subsystem that adds additional choices that can also affect my effectiveness, this changes - I am playing a raging, angry Barbarian, but I have to think about wether I spent a rage points to get some abilities. It's the same thematic problem of Power Attack - making a careless attack means deliberating which power attack penalty I have to take. I can ignore the intracities, but from a system mastery point of view, that's a bad decision. The theme and the way the theme is resolved just don't match.It is not like this is not often a problem in RPGs - but why make it worse? Yes, it is mostly a psychological thing - but that's a lot what gaming is all about. I want to "feel" like I am playing a Barbarian - if I have to make decisions whether I might want some extra energy damage, but a possibly shorter rage duration, this takes me out of feeling like the Barbarian. Especially people that say that they are so much into the simulationist mindset and that don't like the split between "in-character" and "out-of-character" thoughts when running their character should feel this problem. If the Barbarian class needs improvements because the Fighter has become way more effective, then pick something that fits the playstyle for the Barbarian more. More stuff that emphases recklessness, brutality, speed. Maybe give him a higher damage and attack bonus during rage at half hit points. Increase his speed during Rage. Grant him extra attacks when not making full attacks. Grant him a fear effect when charging an enemy. Do something that emphasizes the "charge your enemy and smash him to a bloody pulp while being turned into one yourself"-attitude of the Barbarian. Don't add a mini-game that takes me out of feeling a Barbarian!</blockquote>

Verification