zHellas said:
While I haven't yet played D&D, the 2 classes I'm interested in playing (One I have backstory for, the other is just there to be awesome):
One with backstory - Barbarian
One to be awesome - Ranger (Original thought was Beastmaster with Bear ally, riding said ally while holding a spear & a warhammer to pick up enemies and hit them with the hammer. Then I found out that you couldn't ride a medium sized Bear, so I'm going to see if the DM I have in mind for the group will allow me a large sized bear in exchange for flaws in my character. Like blind in one eye, or something).
Play a small phenotype race, Halfling or Gnome, and you can ride a medium size bear.
simmeh said:
My favourite was a min/maxed Elf Barbarian/Sorcerer/Fighter/Arcane Archer (or whatever it was called). I had it set up so that when I used the Barbarian's enrage, I had just enough strength to use a completely tricked out great bow with no penalty.
Also in that campaign, I played min/maxed Barbarian. He would have been awesome, but my DM hated him so much that I never really got a chance to do anything with him. My DM eventually killed him by having me grapple a Kraken (my Strength was so high that he needed a Kraken or I would just break out) underwater until I drowned.
For reference, i've highlighted the reasons your DM secretly dislikes you and wishes your death.
The hardest class to DM for, and the hardest class to play, is without a doubt the Paladin. Real paladins, not this 4.0 I can be any alignment bullshit. once upon a time Paladins were allowed THREE magic items. THREE. IN THEIR ENTIRE INVENTORY. Suck on that egg script kiddies.
Poor BAB, no way to improve it
Poor AC, even Wizards can get more protection than Monks for less investment
Poor HD, between this, the BAB, and the AC they can't effectively be on the front lines
MAD, they need Str, Wis, Con, Dex(Clerics can use 4 attributes but can get by as SAD as a Wiz)
Poor skill points(only 2 more than the Cleric) meaning they can't skillmonkey
Lots of abilities focused on movement(speed boosts, tumble, dim door) and a primary attack focused on standing still
No worthwhile weapon proficiencies(at low levels their base weapon damage is nil and at high levels it doesn't matter
A lot of abilities that duplicate low-level spells that they get at very high levels
Abilities focused on surviving alone, which is useless in a party
BAB can be buffed by any number of stat boosters or special magical gloves, and as a trade off monks get an extra atk per round via flurry of blows
AC can be buffed by any number of magical spells/stat modifieers
Poor HD: Yes, 1d8 is kind of low, necessitating a good con score
They need highs in all stats but int and cha, yes.
Low skills, yes
but all this pays off for BATSHIT INSANE CLASS ABILITIES.
Unless 4.0 nuked the shit out of them. I'm not sure where you can possibly get the idea that monks are UP, once they hit a certain level they're basically god machines especially with good support.