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Tell me about your interesting fighter
- Thread starter RFisher
- Start date
Eh, maybe not.
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Lanefan
Victoria Rules
Ah, a topic dear to my heart. 
Lanefan, my namesake here and first rolled up in early 1984, was on paper a simple Fighter...strong, tough, halfway smart, and not overly wise; specialized in longsword.
In play he turned into one of the more memorable characters we've had. His chaotic grasp of tactics consisted of yelling at the other fighter "go left!" as they charged into a room full of enemies. He never met a magic longsword he didn't like and he didn't care if it was owned by someone else; if he could find a way to half-safely walk off with it, he would...and did, on more than one occasion. In a system that doesn't have the nonsense of AoO's he developed the run-and-slash combat tactic for open-field encounters - disengage, then run in, strike, and keep going before the opponent (busy fighting someone else) can react. He went through money like it was water...easy come, easy go...and has sacrificed tens of thousands of g.p. worth of goods and coin to various gods to get his butt out of trouble. He became something of an expert on field-testing magic items, to the point where he literally wrote the book on the topic! He drank like a fish, swore like a sailor, and learned over time that magic-users are the lowest form of life in the universe...particularly those in the same party as he is...so imagine his glee when later in his career he acquired a Wizardslayer longsword! And I as player never tire of rolling dice to clobber things and make them hurt.
And he is...still...going! He's currently retired in an active game, waiting for the played party to catch up to him both in game-world time and in level.
Whenever I hear people complain that Fighters are boring to play, I just think of Lanefan and a few dozen others I've seen and-or run with, and wonder what those people are talking about.
Lanefan
Lanefan, my namesake here and first rolled up in early 1984, was on paper a simple Fighter...strong, tough, halfway smart, and not overly wise; specialized in longsword.
In play he turned into one of the more memorable characters we've had. His chaotic grasp of tactics consisted of yelling at the other fighter "go left!" as they charged into a room full of enemies. He never met a magic longsword he didn't like and he didn't care if it was owned by someone else; if he could find a way to half-safely walk off with it, he would...and did, on more than one occasion. In a system that doesn't have the nonsense of AoO's he developed the run-and-slash combat tactic for open-field encounters - disengage, then run in, strike, and keep going before the opponent (busy fighting someone else) can react. He went through money like it was water...easy come, easy go...and has sacrificed tens of thousands of g.p. worth of goods and coin to various gods to get his butt out of trouble. He became something of an expert on field-testing magic items, to the point where he literally wrote the book on the topic! He drank like a fish, swore like a sailor, and learned over time that magic-users are the lowest form of life in the universe...particularly those in the same party as he is...so imagine his glee when later in his career he acquired a Wizardslayer longsword!
And I as player never tire of rolling dice to clobber things and make them hurt.And he is...still...going! He's currently retired in an active game, waiting for the played party to catch up to him both in game-world time and in level.
Whenever I hear people complain that Fighters are boring to play, I just think of Lanefan and a few dozen others I've seen and-or run with, and wonder what those people are talking about.
Lanefan
Jack Colby
First Post
Entertaining replies? Interesting discussion? Enlightenment for those who otherwise would have ignorantly false ideas about earlier editions and spread them around like a disease? Just a few guesses.
Ah, a topic dear to my heart.
Lanefan, my namesake here and first rolled up in early 1984, was on paper a simple Fighter...strong, tough, halfway smart, and not overly wise; specialized in longsword.
In play he turned into one of the more memorable characters we've had. His chaotic grasp of tactics consisted of yelling at the other fighter "go left!" as they charged into a room full of enemies. He never met a magic longsword he didn't like and he didn't care if it was owned by someone else; if he could find a way to half-safely walk off with it, he would...and did, on more than one occasion. In a system that doesn't have the nonsense of AoO's he developed the run-and-slash combat tactic for open-field encounters - disengage, then run in, strike, and keep going before the opponent (busy fighting someone else) can react. He went through money like it was water...easy come, easy go...and has sacrificed tens of thousands of g.p. worth of goods and coin to various gods to get his butt out of trouble. He became something of an expert on field-testing magic items, to the point where he literally wrote the book on the topic! He drank like a fish, swore like a sailor, and learned over time that magic-users are the lowest form of life in the universe...particularly those in the same party as he is...so imagine his glee when later in his career he acquired a Wizardslayer longsword!
And he is...still...going! He's currently retired in an active game, waiting for the played party to catch up to him both in game-world time and in level.
Whenever I hear people complain that Fighters are boring to play, I just think of Lanefan and a few dozen others I've seen and-or run with, and wonder what those people are talking about.
Lanefan
Double plus awesome.
tankschmidt
Explorer
I played Stendarr for several years, and took him from level 1 to level 10 or so before he was killed by a confused party member (Sam Teppic, a swashbuckler and a fighter of the same level, although the two characters could not have been more different.). Stendarr fancied himself a vigilante and sought out criminals of any mark throughout his career. He wore only studded leather armor, so he could sneak through the allies as he tracked them down. He frequently tried to pull a "Batman disappear" whenever a prominent NPC turned their back on him. It was resolved as a surprise check with failure resulting in the NPC hearing a thud or a cough from around the corner. We had a lot of laughs about those. He was grumbly, inconsiderate, and preferred to solve problems in the most direct manner (i.e. kicking down the door to a noble's home to investigate instead of merely chatting them up.) A charisma of 6 will do that. He definitely had a nervous tick.
In combat, Stendarr wielded two sword-axes and was prone to throwing them. His defining possession was a +3 sword-axe of high intelligence and nearly maximum ego named Verdeguild. It spoke in a voice only he could hear, although his curt and feverish responses were audible to all within earshot, only serving to fuel rumors that he was off his nut. He hated that weapon so much that he tried to get rid of it at every opportunity, although it always found its way back into his hands when he needed it most.
Come to think of it, that adventuring party had several fighters or fighting-types. Zandril was a half-orc paladin (generous DM), Sam Teppic a human fighter, Stendarr a human fighter, Ookla an ogre fighter (see above), Calzar a human fighter, and Kylie an elven fighter/magic-user. Not all of them adventured together at the same time, but each of them was completely distinct and filled a different role in the party (both in and out of combat). In fact, no party I have adventured with since has had such a distinct cast of characters.
By the way, this campaign was played with 2nd edition AD&D.
In combat, Stendarr wielded two sword-axes and was prone to throwing them. His defining possession was a +3 sword-axe of high intelligence and nearly maximum ego named Verdeguild. It spoke in a voice only he could hear, although his curt and feverish responses were audible to all within earshot, only serving to fuel rumors that he was off his nut. He hated that weapon so much that he tried to get rid of it at every opportunity, although it always found its way back into his hands when he needed it most.
Come to think of it, that adventuring party had several fighters or fighting-types. Zandril was a half-orc paladin (generous DM), Sam Teppic a human fighter, Stendarr a human fighter, Ookla an ogre fighter (see above), Calzar a human fighter, and Kylie an elven fighter/magic-user. Not all of them adventured together at the same time, but each of them was completely distinct and filled a different role in the party (both in and out of combat). In fact, no party I have adventured with since has had such a distinct cast of characters.
By the way, this campaign was played with 2nd edition AD&D.
Charwoman Gene
Adventurer
I think threads like this are a great idea. Some people like a game where the base rules and nothing to the potential coolness of a character and it's all done in gameplay and story. Other like a heavy dose of cool crunchy bits in the rules to enhance the flavor or spur on the gameplay and story. I'm very glad D&D through all editions has adopted to all these different modes of expression. D&D is a ton of things to different people, and that is part and parcel of its awesomeness.
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