Why Shouldn't Martial Characters have powers?

[Nifft]

IMO.

You could be right. I don't play in Eberron, and haven't looked at that class in quite a while, but I do recall he had a really good Wealth -> Damage potential.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Sundragon2012]

So Inuyasha shouldn't be an option? And where do I join the committee that decides who D&D warriors are? Sundragon's apparently on it. Posts like this indicate not reading the many parts of this thread that point out the NON-magical nature of most of the Book of Nine Swords' maneuvers. There are two of nine disciplines that are largely supernatural (three if you include Devoted Spirit, which are paladinish/priestish in flavor), and the entire "Book of 9 Swords is a 4th edition preview" gets judged on those two (or three) disciplines. I don't think anyone's saying that *every* warrior has to be an oriental mystic....but if that's one option among several, how is that a bad thing?

I am on it if you must know....the secret cabal whose sole duty it is to keep Inuyasha, his furry little kitten-demon ears and his little Japanese schoolgirl love interest out of D&D...We are called Animassacre and take our jobs very seriously.

Seriously though, I am not saying that there is no place for mystical Asian warriors...I am just saying that they belong in an Asian themed sourcebook the same way African style animistic shamanism doesn't belong in D&D core pseudo-medieval fanstasy either. I personally love variants, actually a lot more than I enjoy pseudo-medieval vanilla fantasy. I just don't feel that D&D's core assumptions should be anything but a somewhat vanilla high fantasy/sword and sorcery fantasy.

I don't want superheroes, anime furry demonspawn, buster swords, elves with donkey ears or everyone being a spellcaster in core D&D....there are plenty of sourcebooks that can tackle variants. I loved Athas, but that doesn't mean I want psionicist, half-giant, gladiators in the PHB1 for 4e.



Sundragon

 

[FireLance]

Seriously though, I am not saying that there is no place for mystical Asian warriors...I am just saying that they belong in an Asian themed sourcebook the same way African style animistic shamanism doesn't belong in D&D core pseudo-medieval fanstasy either. I personally love variants, actually a lot more than I enjoy pseudo-medieval vanilla fantasy. I just don't feel that D&D's core assumptions should be anything but a somewhat vanilla high fantasy/sword and sorcery fantasy.

So, would any of the following be inappropriate for a high-level fighter in a somewhat vanilla high fantasy/sword and sorcery fantasy setting?

1. Make a single attack that deals +100 hp damage.
2. Make a single attack that deals 2d6 Constitution damage.
3. Make two rounds' worth of attacks in a single round.
4. Make an attack that kills an opponent if he fails a Fortitude save.

 

[pawsplay]

So, would any of the following be inappropriate for a high-level fighter in a somewhat vanilla high fantasy/sword and sorcery fantasy setting?

1. Make a single attack that deals +100 hp damage.

Definitely inappropriate. In addition to provoking a check for massive damage, it allows for cleaving of adamantine walls in a single stroke.

The rest sort of depend on how you conceptualize game design elements.

 

[Ahglock]

So, would any of the following be inappropriate for a high-level fighter in a somewhat vanilla high fantasy/sword and sorcery fantasy setting?

1. Make a single attack that deals +100 hp damage.
2. Make a single attack that deals 2d6 Constitution damage.
3. Make two rounds' worth of attacks in a single round.
4. Make an attack that kills an opponent if he fails a Fortitude save.

They would all work in a fantasy/sword and sorcery setting IMO.

1. Make a single attack that deals +100 hp damage.
Sure HP are abstract, it can be described as something like a move designed to cut things in half. It does crap loads of damage because it cuts things to there core.

2. Make a single attack that deals 2d6 Constitution damage.
Any vital organ strike works for this, lung piercer, intestine slash etc.

3. Make two rounds' worth of attacks in a single round.
Adrenaline rush pure and simple a variation on a barbarians rage.

4. Make an attack that kills an opponent if he fails a Fortitude save
A death blow of some kind. A decapitating attack, neck snapping fun for the whole family, the smash nose into brain thing.

Manifesting a flaming slash that does one of the above exmaple on the other hand I don't think is appropriate for a fighter, A sword mage a ninja sure flaming slash all you want. A fighter doesn't seem to fit.


If they were going with like only 3 classes and that was to cover all the options then yeah but the flaming slash under the warrior class. If you are going tohave a bunch of classes you can have more specific classes that avoid flaming doom.

 

[FireLance]

Definitely inappropriate. In addition to provoking a check for massive damage, it allows for cleaving of adamantine walls in a single stroke.

Well, technically, an adamantine wall 3 inches thick has hardness 20 and 120 hp (SRD on Epic Obstacles), so that ability in itself isn't going to get you through it in a single stroke. But yes, you can get through 2-inch thick adamantium doors (hardness 20, 80 hp) as a standard action.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Definitely inappropriate. In addition to provoking a check for massive damage, it allows for cleaving of adamantine walls in a single stroke.

The rest sort of depend on how you conceptualize game design elements.

So, is a Barbarian raging and wailing at the wall with Power Attack innapropriate? After all, the WotC Character Optimization boards have already figured out that a straight Barbarian can take down an adamantine wall faster than a Warblade using that +100 damage move.

I really don't see the difference, myself.

Anyways, what is with the Inuyasha hate? In the end, he is an immortal half-demon who has lived for over a hundred years, and uses a magic sword crafted from his demon father's fang, a weapon considered to be the strongest in the world. Most of his powers come from a demon heritage and a powerful artifact weapon. Why are people even comparing a guy like that to mundane warriors? He isn't even intended to be an example of a mundane warrior. Besides, he is a dog, not a cat.

 

[Nifft]

2-handed weapon + Power Attack + full attack = (base damage) + 40 per attack, times four attacks.

Subtract hardness 20, you get 20 * 4 attacks = 80 damage.

Everyone can do it already.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Raven Crowking]

Problem with this mindset is, that batman is just as "magical" as any other superhero just in a different way....technology. Batman has the coolest gadgets, he has a lot of technology that compensates for the fact that he is a mere mortal.

(1) Batman isn't magical; his gadgets might be though. Bat-anti-shark utility spray? Who'd have thought of that?

(2) George Reeve could fly as Superman. I never saw Adam West fly without a Batcopter.





What?

 

[Raven Crowking]

Er, comic book geek moment.

That's not true as Batman doesn't even rank in the top 5 and the only ones he has personally taught were the Robins and none of them ever get ranked in the top 10.

Bigger comic book geek moment here....When Batman recently fought the Karate Kid (supposedly best hand-to-hand fighter ever, from the Legion of Superheroes), Batman won. Of course, he cheated to do so, but the KK did decide that Batman was vastly underrated as a martial artist.

Also, it is now pretty normal for any "combat fighter" type to claim having trained with Batman.

RC