"Building a weapon user." - The Destroyer

[Muir]

Not to nit-pick here, but I wanted to get some discussion going surrounding this suggested build. It is very much not something that I would recommend to a starting player, and was hoping others could provide their own perspectives.

The issues I see with it are pretty plain. Firstly, it is a fighting system that requires a player to carry two two-handed weapon systems. Given that we can't string bows, this is a complex problem for a brand new player to try and negotiate. Further, this means that a simple stun or wither limb takes the character completely out of game skills, as they do not have any ability to use a one handed weapon, nor any skills such as first aid beyond blacksmithing to apply while they cannot fight. In a group of fellow newbies, they had best be very good at outrunning NPCs, as otherwise they will be spending a lot of time walking to the circle.

Recalling my first even in Kzoo back in 04, this was pretty much how my first weekend went. Come in as a two handed sword fighter, lose an arm to a ghoul, and end up being significantly less useful for most of Saturday until I found a healer with a couple spare spells.

Even with support from more experienced PCs, restore limbs spells are a limited resource, and unlikely to be prioritized for the guy swinging 3's.


Improving the build :

Really, we have two separate ways to make the build work better, depending on what the intention was. If the goal is to make a fighter with the versatility to be able to fight in melee and at range, go with this :

Fighter (15 Build) :
Archery (6)
Small Weapon (2)
Blacksmith (3)
Florentine (4)

Starting Gear : Dagger, Longbow, 20 Arrows, 12 copper, Armor

Next pickups would be First Aid, then Profs/Parries/Etc, as well as Weapon Master and Florentine or Style Master to enable flexibility in choosing their weapons loadout. Longbow/short 1-hander or shortbow/long 1-hander are both effective styles.


For a more well rounded starting two-handed weapon fighter :

Fighter (15 Build)
Two Handed Sword -or- Polearm (8)
Blacksmith (3)
Small Weapon (2)
First Aid (2)

Starting Gear : Dagger, Two Handed Sword -or- Polearm, 12 Copper, Armor

Next pickups would be Profs/Parries/Etc, as well as Two Handed Master to enable flexibility if a weapon gets shattered

If blunt is more their speed, say if they happen to be a Dryad, swap to Two Handed Blunt (6), and take One Handed Blunt (3) instead of Small Weapon.

Starting Gear : Two Handed Blunt, Mace, 12 Copper, Armor

Next pickups for this build would be Thrown Weapon (2) for a ranged option, and the usual Profs/Parries/Etc.


So, thoughts?

 

[Inaryn]

My general thoughts on any sort of build help that could be put out there for new players right now is that it's probably more likely to confuse them when the 2.0 rules come out. I mean, it's no secret they're in playtesting right now.

I only ever give the general advice of "play a 'pure' to start with." Because you can just slide hybrid later and you'll get more bang for your buck as a pure.

 

[Muir]

My general thoughts on any sort of build help that could be put out there for new players right now is that it's probably more likely to confuse them when the 2.0 rules come out. I mean, it's no secret they're in playtesting right now.

You know the pace rules changes take around here. 2.0 could come out in six months, or six years, and updating the intro build posts on the board takes ten minutes.

 

[Draven]

Howdy, folks.

I would politely request that any feedback regarding these templates be sent to me via private message.

I put a pretty large chunk of my time and effort into developing them to be relatively simple to understand and use, with the expectation that it would take a decent period of time for players to get deep into the build patterns (and thus, veer away from these paths if they found something more effective for themselves).

I'm not particularly interested in having those templates publicly picked apart, and I'm unlikely to respond to public discussion on them in the future.

These templates were built with the understanding that they would need to be reworked for a new ruleset. However, they were also finished with the idea they can still do some good until those rules are actually released.

They've been viewed by people utterly new to the game as well as veterans, and have been viewed rather favorably. Again, the aim was primarily simplicity with a focus towards individual role in a group setting.

Thank you for your understanding.