Your Experiences with Non Core Characters

[blargney the second]

In my play group, we have a dragon shaman ran completely differently. He's definately alright, and uses the breath weapon fairly often. I like the use of auras - he chose completely different auras than the one I GMed for, and it's nice to see the same class ran in a completely different way.

Last game Wik asked me to put up the DR aura. The look on his face when I said I didn't have it was priceless.

On the breath weapon, did your player have a line or a cone? I specifically chose a line because they're sooooo much easier to get off than cones. Ease of use leads to increased likelihood of use.

 

[Hussar]

I've recently seen a Knight in action. Strictly low level currently (we're 3rd) so it doesn't come off a whole lot different than a fighter. Should be interesting later.

 

[Wik]

Last game Wik asked me to put up the DR aura. The look on his face when I said I didn't have it was priceless.

On the breath weapon, did your player have a line or a cone? I specifically chose a line because they're sooooo much easier to get off than cones. Ease of use leads to increased likelihood of use.

Yeah, it was kinda funny. I mean, in the group I GM for, the standard method of fighting was "go in with Damage Reduction, and turn on healing when someone looks like they might be knocked into negatives".

Your Dragon Shaman's MO is "Go in with senses on so we can act first and in the surprise round, and use energy shield to damage enemies during the fight. And then turn on healing when someone looks like they might be knocked into negatives".

Both work, but it was just *weird* to see a class I thought I knew fairly well used in a different way.

And, he was a Copper Dragon, so he had a line of acid. Pretty much for the same reasons as you, I think.

 

[Numion]

There are more important things than killing stuff?

Don't forget: taking their stuff. That's sometimes even more important.

 

[Bad Paper]

Am DMing a Fighter 10 / Holy Liberator 7. meh, he's OK, his aura of courage helps the party more than I'd like , and he never remembers that he has spells and smite evil, so he's not making full use of the class. He finally got his horsey companion, but hasn't made much use of it because, um, well, horses don't work well in a demons-in-caves adventure. seems like a good class. I think the player took it for flavor; he was getting bored with straight fighter.

Also DMing a Cleric 15 / Contemplative 2. That third domain, wow, damn you Fharlanghn! Celerity, Luck, and Travel domains make for a powerful synergy. The player seems to be having fun, and I welcome the cooling of the BAB. Though I do not understand why Intimidate is a class skill.

Have played in the party of a Warmage. owch. blasty, but useless for utility magic. The party has to rely heavily on the rogue's Use Magic Device to get anything done [that isn't blasting]. seems easier to play than wizards or sorcerers. fun.

Have played in the party of a Wu Jen. I thought these would be totally useless, but he seems on par with a wizard. And of course the taboos make for great flavor. I also trotted one out as an NPC in my campaign. Love that flavor.

 

[Chris_Nightwing]

I'd just like to take the opportunity to complain about the Warlock. As a DM, designing suitable encounters can be pretty tough. Having a Warlock in a small (4-person) party basically ruins everything. I've found that their EB and set of limited abilities are a one-trick pony. Worse still, said pony is either superb at defeating the enemy/not dying (always invisibling, flying, silencing, EBing with empower spell-like ability or a rod of lesser empower thanks to errata), or useless to the point of may-as-well-not-be-there (against golems or high SR creatures or those with sufficient dex). Worse still is when they run around in mithril full plate and heal themselves with scrolls/wands. God-damn I hate them. (Caveat: maybe it was just the one player who played two in a row and really pissed me off in the ways listed above )

 

[Agamon]

I'm playing a favored soul in STAP. It's working quite well as the utility spellcaster/healer/backup fighter. 8 Wisdom and 18 Charisma means no spells with a save, but that's not my role, anyway. I've got a cleric cohort now, though, and am going to multi into paladin for 3 levels before becoming a Knight of the Chalice to fight those nasty demons that are coming...(well, already have come, in fact).

There's also a warlock (with a couple levels of monk) in the party. Not too sure what to think of him. Different, but not overly weak or powerful. The most interesting character in the group is the halfling fighter that carries the large greatsword, medium fullblade, and an assortment of other weapons...

My players in the group I DM haven't tried a lot of the non-core classes. But there has been a scout (he's still getting the hang of the concept), warmage (too much flash, not enough dash), samurai (died too quickly to get a sense of the class) and ninja (multi-monk, decent character).

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Not a fan of Warlocks. The flavor locks them into an Angel kinda vibe--I use evil powers, but I'm not evil! They get too few tricks to be interesting to me. Saw one played and he seemed useful enough...but the same thing over and over again seemed boring.

I have always wondered why this charge is frequently leveled at warlocks. Its not like fighters, rogues or any other non-spellcasting classes have a lot of versatility either. Certainly a warlock can do a heck of a lot more than a fighter.

DS

 

[JiffyPopTart]

One would think that, but such things simply never happen in my games. It has much less to do with mechanics and more to do with the focus of the class. Warlocks focus on blasting things, and so every single Warlock PC that has entered my campaigns has done nothing but blast things. On the other hand, even other combat-oriented characters such as Fighters and Barbarians usually have some sort of personality, albeit maybe a cliche one. I've actually never had anyone abuse Diplomacy or the Druid class. And while it's true that other spellcasters (such as Wizards and Sorcerers) can focus just as much on blasting things as Warlocks do, it simply doesn't happen; well, I admit it's happened a few times, but it seems like they're more often to split up their spells between offensive, defense, and utility spells. Maybe it's more a problem with my players than with the class, but every single Warlock PC I've seen has the personality of a pubescent teenager with ADHD and hyped up on caffeine, and his Eldritch Blast effectively functions as his drug. I suspect War Mage would end up equally bad.

Three things.

1. Warlocks have the same numbers of skillpoints as fighters and clerics so any issues you have with their outside-of-combat-performance (you mention personality) really boils to do you not liking the PLAYER, not the class.

2. The Warlock in our group mainly served as a rogue. He could go invisible and fly around scouting ahead. He could detect magic at will (which all higher level traps are) and then dispel them over and over again until they were disabled. In combat he focused on dispelling the buffs of the enemies and/or prepared his turn to counterspell what was coming our way. Only in the rare circumstance did he spend his time eldritch blasting people.

3. How can you hate the warlock PC for spending his gold/feats focusing on blasting people and not complain about the fighter/barbarian for doing the same. I guarantee that the barbarian can out-damage the warlock any day of the week so its not like the warlock is overshadowing someone else.

DS

 

[Particle_Man]

Worse still is when they run around in mithril full plate and heal themselves with scrolls/wands. God-damn I hate them. (Caveat: maybe it was just the one player who played two in a row and really pissed me off in the ways listed above )

Mithril Full Plate? Warlocks can run around in light armor, not medium or heavy.

I loved my warlock, and my DM seemed ok with him. It is a great "no paperwork" class.

In fact, as a DM, you should try them as villains. You will be surprised at how much time they save you.