Gaming Ballistic - Posts other than GURPS (PotG)

[Kalzazz]

Interestingly, the 'spend 1 HP to avoid 1d+4' is one of the core mechanics of Earthdawn. In Earthdawn all active defenses (like GURPS, and are essentially skill based) require spending HP to allow you to roll them.

Your rolling against the attack roll to equal or better it.

And your armor absorbs damage, so if the enemy hasn't rolled so well as to get past your armor, the oncoming attack might well bounce.

And can be bad consequences for a sufficiently failed Active Defense.

So can be some intense thinking and turn players into quasi probability calculating machines as they ponder 'should I try to dodge or not'

So in GURPS terms

'The enemy made his attack by 3, I need to make my parry by 3 to have a shot. He seems to be a normalish human looking guy swinging a broadsword, and I don't think hes a weapon master or he would be throwing multiple shots or have a higher margin on his attack . . . . I am wearing light plate with fortify 1 . . . do I take the hit, or do I burn an HP to try and parry?'

Earthdawn also has a DX (and partially class level) based Passive Defense score. Which enemies need to roll to even try to hit you. Your Passive Defense assumes you are actually trying to defend, but active defense rolls are 'going above and beyond where your actually burning your HP and putting skills/powers in play'

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

So in GURPS terms

'The enemy made his attack by 3, I need to make my parry by 3 to have a shot. He seems to be a normalish human looking guy swinging a broadsword, and I don't think hes a weapon master or he would be throwing multiple shots or have a higher margin on his attack . . . . I am wearing light plate with fortify 1 . . . do I take the hit, or do I burn an HP to try and parry?'

Hrm . . . idea.

[DouglasCole]

The 5e Battle Master is a fascinating fighter variant. I love the combat maneuvers option, and they seem potentially quite powerful. With the right build, there's a truly mighty smackdown available that can lay waste to an unlucky foe.

A further exploration of 6th level characters in D&D5.

[DouglasCole]

In one of the best sessions yet, we actually confront two dragons. We fight one, and the paladin and elf together redeem another.

Plus: our paladin is well on the way to developing a natural, healthy fear of fire. And we get really stinking rich.

[DouglasCole]

The final entry in the Fighter class, the Eldritch Knight has all the usual desires of a fighter (High STR and CON, some DEX for saves and initiative), but with the addition of a INT requirement for spellcasting. This required a different build.

The Eldritch Knight feels like an above average to solid combatant, but with a hefty dose of "I can pick damaging or protective spells that are optimized for foes that take extra damage from particular attacks." Chromatic orb is particularly useful this way . . .

[DouglasCole]

I organized all of my D&D5e posts into a collected page on Gaming Ballistic, for easier navigation.

[DouglasCole]

"I know Kung Fu. Or Orc Fu. Or Flung Pu."

When one thinks of the monk, one thinks martial artist. Ergo, butt-kicker, yes?

Not quite. While effective in their own right, the role held and effectively carried out by the monk - at least at 6th level - doesn't put them shoulder-to-shoulder with the Champions and Battle Masters of the line.

A very fun character to play, though! Just harder, I think, to aim strictly at combat.

[DouglasCole]

When I'm trapped in the office because the 1yo is napping and the 5yo is watching Justice League Unlimited for the 9,537th time . . . I bust out Excel and wonder how the Standard Array was generated.

I found out, too.

[DouglasCole]

It was inevitable but here we come to Paladin in the "how deadly can we make each class at 6th level" exploration. Combat isn't the end-all/be-all, but so long as you know how good you can get, you can make informed choices.

In any case, it would appear that the Oath of Vengeance is the place to start, and there are at least two or three pathways providing a fun pathway to being a very potent line fighter. In fact, the auras that come from the basic paladin class make the paladin the line anchor.

[DouglasCole]

It's a two-post day!

Just a quick note on why my character study is so obsessed with combat. It's not strictly an exercise in munchkinism. It's to set a baseline for what's the upper limit on smackdown. And you, my helpful gamers, have corrected me where I go astray and provided other inspiration to hone the comparison as well.

Anyway, that's the why of it.