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Old 01-05-2019, 10:27 AM   #11
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
Default Re: Flail or staff?

Flail and shield give a fantastic boost to your frontline abilities.

Difficult DFRPG foes tend to have high defenses, and the flail is equivalent to +8 skill turned into deceptive attack against parries and +4 against blocks, that’s a huge deal against, say, a Draug. Of course dwarven is mandatory.

Meanwhile, shields are heavy, limiting what can be used to parry them, and shield rush used at the right time is a wonderful move.

Going for a Heroic Grace build will give you the ability to reliably dual-weapon attack. Combined with the cleric’s Per of 14, this makes you one of the most versatile characters in DFRPG.
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Old 01-05-2019, 08:40 PM   #12
Dalin
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Default Re: Flail or staff?

This has all been very helpful. I'm going with the one-handed flail and shield. I'll post the character at some point soon.

Thank, everyone, for your input!
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Old 01-06-2019, 07:42 PM   #13
lachimba
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Sydney
Default Re: Flail or staff?

Short staff (baton) and shield
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Old 01-07-2019, 11:51 AM   #14
Black Leviathan
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Default Re: Flail or staff?

Personally I would lean towards flail & Shield. Priests are a bit squishy, and while staff's offer good defense shields are more roundly useful to protect you. Also shield gives you more real-estate to put your holy symbol or other dogma on and you could probably talk your GM into letting you have your flail serve as an incense censor for a few extra silver.
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Old 01-07-2019, 05:20 PM   #15
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Default Re: Flail or staff?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Leviathan View Post
Also shield gives you more real-estate to put your holy symbol or other dogma on and you could probably talk your GM into letting you have your flail serve as an incense censor for a few extra silver.
Nothing like having to point your Holy Symbol at a foe and its your shield :)
And somewhere (probably a DF book) there was a holy water sprinkler.
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Old 01-07-2019, 05:36 PM   #16
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Default Re: Flail or staff?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Black Leviathan View Post
Personally I would lean towards flail & Shield. Priests are a bit squishy, and while staff's offer good defense shields are more roundly useful to protect you. Also shield gives you more real-estate to put your holy symbol or other dogma on and you could probably talk your GM into letting you have your flail serve as an incense censor for a few extra silver.
Hilarious, and a good opportunity for a theatrical coup de grace.
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Old 01-20-2019, 08:05 AM   #17
Dalin
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Default Re: Flail or staff?

Here's a draft of my flail-wielding cleric, set to be introduced in a new game later this week. Comments and suggestions are welcome.



Zafir Abrashi
249-point Human Cleric

To the most generous of the steppe nomads that comprised Zafir’s extended family, he was touched. Whether it was animals (or people) behaving in odd ways, unexplained sounds and visions, bizarre coincidences, or the way Zafir’s hair and clothing often seemed to blow against the wind, he was an unsettling child. Moreover, Zafir regularly responded to what he called “spirit voices” that others could not hear, and he would occasionally manifest mystical abilities that he had no right to possess. Many, including his father, believed that he was cursed or possessed. Others, including his mother, noted that these oddities did not seem malevolent and Zafir had remarkable intuition about coming events, finding prophetic omens in the most mundane details of the world around him.

Zafir apprenticed for a time with the community healer, who appreciated his curiosity and keen wit. Alas, when Zafir was a young teenager, his elderly mentor died suddenly during a public ritual. The villagers blamed Zafir for the tragedy, and he fled in the night, joining a passing caravan as a cut-rate healer and guard. There, he encountered a group of Whispering Pilgrims, a religious sect that draws their inspiration from local spirits rather than distant gods. One of the clerics recognized Zafir’s affinity for the non-material world and introduced him to the tenets of their faith. By the time they reached their destination, Zafir felt that he had finally found his spiritual family and asked to join the group as an acolyte.

Over the ensuing years, Zafir was trained in theological, martial, and mystical skills, earning full clerical investment. Like many of his brethren, he has chosen to travel, maintaining small shrines, visiting benevolent spirits, and monitoring spiritual hotspots for malevolent incursions.

ST 12 [20]; DX 12 [40]; IQ 14 [80]; HT 12 [20]
Dmg 1d-1/1d+2; BL 29 lb; HP 12 [0]; Will 14 [0]; Per 14 [0]; FP 12 [0]
Basic Speed 6 [0]; Basic Move 6 [0]; Move 3 (medium encumbrance); SM +0
Dodge 9; Parry 12; Block 12 (all include DB 2 from shield)

Advantages [80]
Contingency Casting 1 [14]
Clerical Investment [5]
Divine Omens [14]
Energy Reserve (Holy) 2 [6]
Power Investiture 3 [30]
Spirit Empathy [10]
Signature Gear (Morningstar) [1]
Weapon Bond ("Matarab") [1]


Disadvantages [-50]
Curious [-5]
Disciplines of Faith (Spiritualism) [-5]
Gluttony [-5]
Phantom Voices [-5]
Sense of Duty [-5]
Sense of Duty [-10]
Weirdness Magnet [-15]
Quirks [-5]

Quirks [-5]
Broad-Minded (not perturbed by unusual lifestyles and demeanors). [-1]
Chats with the spirits at inopportune moments. [-1]
Justifies his gluttony as "feeding the spirits." [-1]
Sleeptalking (and generally spooky sleepweirdness). [-1]
Unnatural Features (Spirit wind blows hair and clothing in unnatural ways.) [-1]

Skills [44]
Current Affairs IQ+0 [1]-14
Diagnosis IQ-2 [1]-12
Diplomacy IQ-2 [1]-12
Esoteric Medicine (Holy) Per+0 [4]-14
Exorcism Will+0 [4]-14
First Aid IQ+0 [1]-14
Flail DX+1 [8]-13
Hidden Lore (Spirits) IQ-1 [1]-13
Hiking HT-1 [1]-11
Innate Attack (Projectile) DX+2 [4]-14
Meditation Will-2 [1]-12
Merchant IQ-1 [1]-13
Occultism IQ-1 [1]-13
Poetry IQ-1 [1]-13
Public Speaking IQ-1 [1]-13
Religious Ritual IQ-2 [1]-12
Research IQ-1 [1]-13
Scrounging Per+0 [1]-14
Shield (Shield) DX+2 [4]-14
Singing HT+0 [1]-12
Stealth DX-1 [1]-9
Surgery IQ-3 [1]-11
Teaching IQ-1 [1]-13
Theology IQ-2 [1]-12

Spells [20]
Affect Spirits [1]-15
Armor [1]-15
Awaken [1]-15
Bravery [1]-15
Continual Light [1]-15
Create Food [1]-15
Create Water [1]-15
Cure Disease [1]-15
Flaming Weapon [1]-15
Major Healing [1]-14
Minor healing [1]-15
Neutralize Poison [1]-15
Recover Energy [1]-15
Sense Spirit [1]-15
Shield [1]-15
Silence [1]-15
Strengthen Will [1]-15
Sunbolt [1]-15
Turn Spirit [1]-15
Umbrella [1]-15

Equipment $1500 60.07 lbs (medium encumbrance)
1 Backpack, Small [$60; 3 lb]
6 Elven Rations [$15; 0.5 lb]
1 Personal Basics [$5; 1 lb]
1 Rope, 3/8", 10 yd [$5; 1.5 lb]
1 Wineskin [$10; 0.25 lb]
1 Water (1 Quart) [$0; 2 lb]
1 Wineskin [$10; 0.25 lb]
1 Wine (1 Quart) [$2; 2 lb]
1 Clothing [$0; 2 lb]
1 Light Leather Armor, Suit [$150; 18 lb]
1 Medium Shield with Spike. DB 2; 1d cr (bash). [$80; 20 lb]
1 Morningstar "Matarab", Balanced, Dwarven, Fine, +$25 etchings. 1d+5 cr (reach 1). [$905; 6 lb]
1 Purse, Small [$10; 0.2 lb]
1 Paut [$135; 0.5 lb]
3 Copper Coins [$1; 0.02 lb]
1 Silver Coin [$20; 0.02 lb]
1 Small Belt Knife [$15; 0.25 lb]

Design Notes: Replaced Writing with Poetry to reflect the oral traditions of his home culture. Has a few other minor off-template features like pulling "Phantom Voices" in from the GURPS Basic Set. One quirk point exchanged for $500 to help pay for Matarab (his fancy morningstar), which is also his 8-FP power item. Remaining quirk points spent on Diplomacy, Hiking, Merchant, and Singing.

Last edited by Dalin; 01-21-2019 at 07:20 PM. Reason: Added Weapon Bond; removed climbing
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Old 01-20-2019, 09:42 AM   #18
ArchonShiva
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
Default Re: Flail or staff?

Get a shield lectern. You can stick an emergency scroll on there to cast in (usually) two actions. 8 Hit Points on self with no roll required (self-healing is notoriously difficult) is just one possibility.
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Old 01-20-2019, 12:50 PM   #19
evileeyore
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
Default Re: Flail or staff?

My only suggestion is to try to free up 1 of your Quirk points for Weapon Bond. That Flail is so sweet it isn't likely to get traded out* any time soon.



* In fact, if your GM is amenable, I'd just keep blingin Matarab out. Add some fancy Silver Inlays to the ball and handle, some more value in gemstones or inlaid precious metals, get her enchanted, a nice carrying case, some essential oils, spring for a massage for her when you're in town...
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Old 01-20-2019, 04:06 PM   #20
Dalin
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Default Re: Flail or staff?

Quote:
Originally Posted by ArchonShiva View Post
Get a shield lectern. You can stick an emergency scroll on there to cast in (usually) two actions. 8 Hit Points on self with no roll required (self-healing is notoriously difficult) is just one possibility.
Great idea. I'll add the lectern to my equipment upgrade wish list.

What makes self-healing so difficult?

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
My only suggestion is to try to free up 1 of your Quirk points for Weapon Bond. That Flail is so sweet it isn't likely to get traded out* any time soon.
Brilliant. I'll find a way to do that.

Quote:
* In fact, if your GM is amenable, I'd just keep blingin Matarab out. Add some fancy Silver Inlays to the ball and handle, some more value in gemstones or inlaid precious metals, get her enchanted, a nice carrying case, some essential oils, spring for a massage for her when you're in town...
This is both my plan and the style I've adopted. Zafir believes that everything, even mundane objects, is inhabited by spirits. He thinks of Matarab as an ally rather than a possession. And, although Zafir himself isn't especially interested in bling (though he'll spend $$$ on a great meal), he believes Matarab is quite vain in that way. It's funny, though, that I don't have a backstory for Matarab yet. One of the other PCs is a dwarf and I've been meaning to chat with the player to see if there could be a connection there.
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