The alternate version of Otto I was considering for "DF Suicide Squad" was a little more straightforward of a combatant:
As Otto the Terrible, but:
- remove Dastardly Deeds
- remove Terror
- raise ST to 15
- raise Trading Character Points for Money to 2 ($1,000)
- add Combat Reflexes
- add Striking ST 2
. . . giving him a solid ST 17 with his sword for 3d cutting and 1d+4 impaling. Or, had I gone for a dueling halberd, 3d+3 cutting, 3d+2 swing/impaling, and 1d+5 impaling.
The reasons I didn't go this route:
- too vanilla. I was running an Unholy Warrior and I was just going to be a straight combatant if I did so, giving up all of the potential special abilities of an unholy warrior.
- too underpowered. ST 17 and a solid weapon skill? If you don't have Weapon Master, you're in the combat have-nots. You can and will be sidelined by the ones who do.
- likely to be duplicated by any knights, barbarians, and swashbucklers. In the event, he'd have been a weaker version of Krag Ironbelly (alter-ego: Craig Ironbaum, mild-mannered half-ogre reporter who wears glasses.)
So I decided . . . go for the special powers.
Tomorrow I'll post the half-orc assassin I was thinking of running . . . who might have morphed into an orc assassin if I played around with the template a bit more. That might have been fun!
Sooner or later if you want to call yourself a melee slugger you do definitely want to pick up Weapon Master, though exactly when is up to debate
ReplyDeleteIn our group, the answer to that "sooner or later" question is, "sooner." Right away, if at all possible. Extra Attack can cover for it a bit, but shines in combination. And the benefits of WM - improved rate of attack, improved damage, improved multiple defenses - make you better across the board. It's why I say it divides people into "have" and "have not." The have nots always lag. There isn't enough ST in the world you can afford that will make up for missing out on better Rapid Strike plus per-die damage bonuses, which both multiply the effect of existing ST.
DeleteI've sonetimes seen people emphasize getting all the ST first and Weapon Master later, Weapon Master is fabulous for hitting people, but ST helps hit people but also helps take a hit to
DeleteAnd if you go for ST first when you finally buy WM hey +8 it +10 damage all at once cool!
Oh sure, ST does more than just damage. But 20 points in ST is rarely as good as 20 points getting WM, and because WM multiplies the effects of ST, it's a better base to have. Given 50 points to spend on ST and WM, ST 13 and WM gives more damage bonus and better combat effects than ST 15. Given 100, ST 18 and WM beats ST 20 despite the jump up in Thrust damage in damage output per strike, and makes it much easier to have more strikes.
DeleteI have more to say on WM - maybe a post's worth.
For me, the one time I had to make that choice it was thematic, ST 30 was more important than ST 27* and WM or TBaM.
DeleteHowever, had Wrestler been on the table, that would have been a different story.
* Taking SM into account.