I have played Rifts for years, as well as some HU and Nightbane, but this would be my first time playing any type of fantasy setting (I've never played D&D or Pathfinder).
I'm looking for advice on a well rounded/your favourite character along with which stats I should concentrate on. It's a PbP game and here is the list of Races & O.C.C.s that we are allowed to choose from:
Character Races Humans. Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Changelings, Orcs, Ogres, Wolfen
O.C.C.'s Clergy: Druid, Monk, Priest of Light, Priest of Darkness, Men of Arms: Assassin, Knight, Long Bowman, Mercenary Warrior, Paladin, Ranger, Soldier, Thief Practitioners of Magic: Diabolist, Summoner, Warlock, Witch, Wizard Psychics: Psi-Healer, Psi-Mystic, Psychic Sensitive Optional: Merchant, Noble, Scholar, Squire, Vagabond
Any and all help is appreciated, thanks in advance.
Bill wrote:Since it's a pbp game, you'd have plenty of time to think through your rune phrases, which would potentially make a diabolist a lot of fun.
It's funny, I was thinking of trying out a magic user for that very reason. There wouldn't be any pressure because I wouldn't have to think of spells on the fly, like I would have to do in a table top game, I could take my time and come up with a well thought out plan.
It seems like everyone wants to be a magic user. Which is fine. I've always wanted to see a Diabolist in action. Never actually ran one, or played in a game with a PC who did it.
I actually not overly fond of magic, I just figured now might be a good time to try it because of the slower pace.
I am reading 2nd edition right now and I have now ruled out wanting to be the wizard. The Diabolist looks like it might be neat to try, but I don't like that you can't carve runes (they are made up of different materials), they are a one shot deal and mostly defensive in nature.
So far the Ranger and Assassin has caught my eye. I like that the Ranger can take WP Longbow and the Assassin would be cool to play all stealthy. Maybe disguise myself as a vegabond or bard so people underestimate me. Maybe play a changeling Assassin?
What's the story with the rest of your party? Some OCC and racial combinations work better than others.
The stats behind some of the classes make some classes more advantageous to the party than others. For example:
-Paladins are knights, but better in every measurable way. They also get a special attack vs evil supernatural opponents. -Squires are like knights, but inferior in every measurable way. -Assassins are thieves who are much better at killing people. -Mercenaries are like Soldiers, but better at fighting and they get more skills. -Warrior monks are among the best fighters, but don't wear heavy armor. -With a single skill selection, rangers are almost as good at a distance as long bowmen, plus they get a few more skills. -Druids in 2nd Edition are a good multi-role class: good wilderness skills, decent magic power, and ok fighting ability. -If you're playing 1st Edition, Diabolists can learn and do circle magic. -Anyone with major psionics can do pretty much anything the psychic healer can do, and many magic heals are better. Stat-wise, it's a lousy class. -Psychic sensitives are like psi-stalkers, but not as good. -Air warlocks generally get the most-usefull spells, especially against crowds.
I believe we are playing second edition, but I could be wrong, and I'm not sure what other people are playing yet. I think one person mentioned a mage but nothing is confirmed.
Don't be afraid to try alternate approaches to the supernatural. Even the vanilla game, sans house rules, offers some nifty abilities and special attacks that require no magic, psionics, or racial abilities:
Extraordinarily strong characters can pick up and hurl very heavy objects at people. If your character has a PS of 25, a 500-lb object can go 8 feet and do 3D6*10 SDC damage. That's gonna leave a mark!
W.P. Net is a gem. Impossible to parry without specific weapons, a thrown net will seriously handicap any foe for 2-5 melee rounds of beat-down time. Great for taking down a single hard target, or for escaping from such a foe (cannot run when entangled).
Use Poison: The great equalizer! Unless your target is immune (uncommon), you can give your target blurred vision, convulsions, coughing, sneezing, dizziness, fever, itching, mental confusion, nausea, paralysis, unconsciousness, stomach cramps, weakness, and/or hallucinations. And that's just the list of natural, non-lethal(no alignment restriction) herbal potions that a non-magic user could make up with the Holistic Medicine skill. Combine this with any sharp weapon, arrow, dart, whatever.
Horse Attacks: If your horsemanship skill is high enough that you don't get thrown off, you get two attacks for the price of one!
Field Armorer allows a character to deactivate, repair, and reset traps. In my book, that allows them to make and set them as well, but even a strict interpretation allows them to use recovered, existing traps as a poor man's ward. Track and Trap Animals can also be used to set traps for people.
Breed Dogs: Teach Fufu to attack bad guys. Teach Sparky, too. Dogs are a great backup/early warning system (animals psionics are awesome). Also great for tracking your quarry. It's not a special attack, per se, but it's pretty useful.
Paired Weapons: virtually doubles your combat abilities if used properly. Simultaneous attack/parry is great for one-on-one, and dual attack is great if you're not being attacked yourself.
With the proper selections and applications of skills, you can overcome the vast majority of foes without any special powers.
Razzinold wrote:I believe we are playing second edition, but I could be wrong, and I'm not sure what other people are playing yet. I think one person mentioned a mage but nothing is confirmed.
In that case, I'd try to make a versatile character who can fight, heal, survive, and navigate without needing much outside assistance. A ranger is a good pick. Assassins are awesome fighters and infiltrators, but that's basically all they do; you only get 5 OCC related + 2 secondary skills to branch out (vs 8 OCC related and 4 secondaries for the Ranger). You also have to be anarchist or evil, unless you can convince your GM to grant you an exception to the rules.
Changelings can be fun to play, but be mindful of the alcohol/salt issues. Psionics can be very helpful here. The minor healing ability, "Psychic Purification" can treat these problems, or the minor physical powe, "Impervious to Poison/Toxin" can prevent them from hurting you. There are also a variety of magic powers and spells that could help protect you.
I wouldn't mind playing a bad alignment. I could still have honour with the one evil class. So it's a toss up between ranger and assassin. Now do I go human, elf or changeling, hmmmm..... I could always be a Gnome assassin, it is a book legal character believe it or not. Lol
Long bowmen should always take horsemanship as a skill. Horseback archery is fantastic in open terrain; you can hit them, but they can't hit you. The Use Poison skill goes great with the anti-poison psionic powers described above. As written, W.P. shield is not useful. You get as much of a bonus to parry from several other weapon proficiencies, and they do more damage. The battle axe is the strongest normal 1-handed weapon, in terms of damage, doing 3D6. Its weapon proficiency also confers an extra 1D6 at level 2.
If a ranger takes wp longbow can he shoot from a horse without penalty like the longbow man occ can? Poison would be good for long woman, ranger or assassin. Poison my arrows and daggers, or the axe you suggested. If I was lucky enough to have that psionic ability I would never have to worry about accidentally nicking myself when drawing a blade or arrow.
Still not sure which to pick though, they all seem like good options. If I knew it was going to be an all city game then I would pick the assassin for sure. I'm pretty sure it won't be limited to the city but even outside they still have their use.
