So, thanks to Snowmaggedon, I'm trapped at my In-Laws house, meaning that one of the few things of mine I have access to is my gaming books. So,if you're getting sick of these Game Thesis posts, well...to quote Delita Hyrial, "Blame yourself or blame God."
So, I'm an unabashed D&D player, and I'm totally one of those "4th Edition got more things right than it got wrong" players. And really most of my gaming problems I've had at the table the last few months have been incompatible play-styles and me trying to fit in with a group mid-adventure. Which sucks. Anyways, back to the topic, I like 4th Edition. But, one of the problems I'm having with 4th Edition is the lack of the lightly armored, agile swordsman.
I know what you're thinking even before you type in the comments section, "but Doctor, there's Ranger and Rogue and Swordmage, and..."
And you're absolutely right. But what if I want to play a lightly armored agile defender with a single sword between him and defeat? Someone who stands for his allies as a protector? And ISN'T arcanely powered? Someone who's as good as he is from talent and training and and not because he talks to spirits or can alter the fabric of reality. What class do I play then? Hmm? Anyone?
That's what I thought. And the fact is, this is a fantasy archtype that I can't believe isn't yet represented in 4th edition. I mean, look at the Lord of the Rings movies, which for this generation of gamers is some of the most inspiring images of fantasy.
What class is Aragorn? He doesn't rely heavily on his bow, nor does he have a pet or fight with two weapons. I guess Ranger is out. His armor (or lack thereof) limits he choices of what class he could be. And as for how he fights, he's probably a defender or leader. So, as far as I can tell from the movies and what classes are available...Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Ranger of the North and High King of the Reunited Kingdom of Men...is a Bard.
Oy. Or how about Richard Cipher from Legend of the Seeker? (*Author Note: I haven't read the Sword of Truth books, nor have I seen the second season of the show. I am basing my observations on the first season of the TV show. I'm aware that this might not paint the most accurate picture of Richard. And for that I apologize.)
So, in the show, despite Richard's magic sword, he's a skilled warrior and wears no armor (maybe Leather if the DM let's him call it that), using his sword for his defense. He also protects the other people he battles with and is clearly a defender.
So, what is this all building to, you ask? Well, I'm going to ask you, the loyal readers of this blog to help me on this one.
Should I begin to build a dedicated class to represent these mobile defenders, or perhaps build this as an alternate class feature for the supremely awesome Fighter class?
Let me know and we'll do this.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
When the snow melts, for more than a day or two, I think I need to impose myself out there in PA and let you re-educate me on D&D since I haven't done any tabletop since 2nd Ed.
ReplyDeleteAs for The Sword of Truth series, I *highly* recommend you reading it. I have it, if your library doesn't (and for the record, Richard Rahl is a war mage). I've purposely avoided the show... I've heard aweful things from folks watching it and would hate to tarnish my love of the series.
Raven: If all you have for context is second edition, a quick thought-cum-warning:
ReplyDeleteyou are likely going to have a hard time recognizing the bones of the game you know in 4th ed. The magnitude of that change might just poison you to the new edition, as it has so many fans who only have AD&D2 to go on. Give 4th ed. a chance though and you might be surprised.
Thanks for the warning, John. I kinda knew that already just from listening to all the changes from the 3.0 and 3.5 versions I heard Cid raving (and raging) about back when he would spend occassional time in Grafton.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it was always more about RPing with a good DM/storyteller than rules and dice.
Okay, maybe that was over optimistic... sometimes it's all about the dice, GOTTA have cool dice. Lots of them. ;p~
Most I see missing is just silly anyway... I happened to like THAC0. And even that doesn't really matter as most of my RPGing these days is in the form of soloing in free-to-play Engrish MMOs.