Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post - My party...I am looking for opinions from you guys/gals

Magness · 09-15-2002, 02:28 AM

Be certain to take both ambidexterity and 2 weapon fighting for the 2 weapon fighting characters.

I guess that I'll have to flibulzbuth on CON. From everything that I've read CON is more important in the 3rd ed rules and sometimes even more important than an ultra high DEX for melee fighters. Fortitude rolls are derived from CON, Reflex rolls from DEX, and Will rolls from WIS. Also note that armor works differently in the 3rd ed rules. Heavy armor will limit the amount of your high DEX bonus that can be applied to your AC. A character wearing plate will at best only be able to get a +1 DEX bonus to his AC. A DEX of 18 has a dex bonus of +4.

A character wearing plate and with a moderate DEX can end up with the same AC as a character wearing studded leather with a high DEX.

If your barbarian is gonna be a plate wearing, melee master, you may be better off maxing out STR and CON with a decent DEX. The only other advantage for the high DEX is that BAB for melee is based on STR, but for missile combat is based on DEX. Hence, rogues with high DEXs end up making excellent snipers.

BTW, these are lessons that I've learned playing thru IWD2 (currently in chapter 6) and reading various posts.

ALSO

There is no more dual classing. And multiclassing does not exist in the 2nd ed form. I suggest a quick read of the rules. It's surprisingly simple. The tough part is understanding how to get the most benefit from it.

If you try to run a 50/50 fighter/mage, it can easily be done. I just don't know how effective a character you'll end up with. Be VERY careful when selecting your skills and feats. Some feats that are luxuries for a pure class fighter may end up being something that you cannot afford as a F/M. It will be necessary to determine which fighter-type feats and which mage type feats that you critically need to produce the balance of F/M you seek.

Good luck.

09-15-2002, 02:28 AM	#3
Magness Quintesson Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Manchester, NH, USA Posts: 1,025	Be certain to take both ambidexterity and 2 weapon fighting for the 2 weapon fighting characters. I guess that I'll have to flibulzbuth on CON. From everything that I've read CON is more important in the 3rd ed rules and sometimes even more important than an ultra high DEX for melee fighters. Fortitude rolls are derived from CON, Reflex rolls from DEX, and Will rolls from WIS. Also note that armor works differently in the 3rd ed rules. Heavy armor will limit the amount of your high DEX bonus that can be applied to your AC. A character wearing plate will at best only be able to get a +1 DEX bonus to his AC. A DEX of 18 has a dex bonus of +4. A character wearing plate and with a moderate DEX can end up with the same AC as a character wearing studded leather with a high DEX. If your barbarian is gonna be a plate wearing, melee master, you may be better off maxing out STR and CON with a decent DEX. The only other advantage for the high DEX is that BAB for melee is based on STR, but for missile combat is based on DEX. Hence, rogues with high DEXs end up making excellent snipers. BTW, these are lessons that I've learned playing thru IWD2 (currently in chapter 6) and reading various posts. ALSO There is no more dual classing. And multiclassing does not exist in the 2nd ed form. I suggest a quick read of the rules. It's surprisingly simple. The tough part is understanding how to get the most benefit from it. If you try to run a 50/50 fighter/mage, it can easily be done. I just don't know how effective a character you'll end up with. Be VERY careful when selecting your skills and feats. Some feats that are luxuries for a pure class fighter may end up being something that you cannot afford as a F/M. It will be necessary to determine which fighter-type feats and which mage type feats that you critically need to produce the balance of F/M you seek. Good luck.