The gosh darn Dervish delimma

[Felon]

Again, the bottom line is that the dervish is a hardcore combat class. It's supposed to kick booty. Unfortunately, folks get this impression that it's some kind of rogue or bard career path, and suddenly it's blown up to be hugely overpowered.

 

[DaveStebbins]

Okay… I know that 12th level makes for a pretty powerful group. This one in particular has only 4 characters. A sorcerer, a cleric, a rogue, and a fighter… a Dervish.

I know that the Dervish has been subject of some debate. In this party, the Dervish and the Rogue are the melee people. <snip> Being only the four characters, I was thinking that a Dervish counter-balances the danger to the small size of the party with only one melee person.

The 12th-level cleric can't melee? Even if the cleric isn't using his spells to buff himself up, he should be able to adequately help out in combat.

 

[Remathilis]

The 12th-level cleric can't melee? Even if the cleric isn't using his spells to buff himself up, he should be able to adequately help out in combat.

Depends. A cloistered cleric, contemplative, divine oracle, or merely a low-str/non-heavy armor cleric make poor combatants. Depends on the clerics focus and player style.

 

[DaveStebbins]

Depends. A cloistered cleric, contemplative, divine oracle, or merely a low-str/non-heavy armor cleric make poor combatants. Depends on the clerics focus and player style.

All true. But if the cleric is focused away from fighting, there really isn't much room for complaint that the Dervish is a combat scene-stealer. If the dervish is the only character built around combat, he shouldn't feel guilty, or be made to feel guilty, for being good at it.