Forgotten Realms

Been playing good old-fashioned tabletop pen-and-paper RPG for the past two Sundays with my old friends. A very enjoyable alternative, given the disconcerting environment the local community has been experiencing for some time now. Such rants belong to another topic on their own, one which I am too exhausted to pay attention to.

I play a cleric, with domains on Luck and Protection. Experienced d20 RPGers would know the combo with such a build. I took onb the role of support -- casting buffs and healing on my comrades while hiding behind a Sanctuary spell. All my skills and feats attribute to the role I was filling in - Endurance, Heal, Great Fortitude, Eschew Materials.

But all of that matters little. Tiny plays on high-end heroism. The rules are there but for his campaign, are a little more than guidelines. Nothing wrong with that. But to me, it is a bit lacking. Having been exposed to numbercrunching at tabletop wargames like Warhammer, Confrontation and Warmachine, where each skill and ability score point matters, I am not used to disregarding many of the technicalities.

I should have created a fighter or paladin instead, racked up on HP and Strength and started wading in on hordes upon hordes of barbarians. A cleric, sad to say, is not cut out for frontline bashing like the rest of the fighters. He can cast Prayer now, but the bonuses from the spell matters little compared to the magical enhancements the others already have from their items.

And here I was planning my character to take on the path towards divinity. Well, it won't happen being overshadowed by the carnage any of the other characters can easily deal out. And yes, the group is about heroic combat. Very little in the nitpicking as I would envision a cleric seeking such a path.

I can always charge stupidly into combat, kill off my cleric and make another one. I tried that, charging first up to meet a supposed boss. I did piddly damage. When he retaliated, I was reduced to less than a tenth of my HP. Instinctively, I casted Sanctuary. Then suddenly the boss dispelled my Sanctuary, which I observed Tiny felt a bit broken so he had to do something about. It's irritating to look at my model in the midst of combat, and not being able to be hit. DM's call I guess.

The challenge rating that I faced against, that boss, was way beyond my normal measure. It was only by sheer luck that my character still stood after that barrage.

It's starting to look like a rant. And maybe it is. I've read the 3rd edition books, and I have a grasp on how to DM a campaign. Tiny runs his differently, far from what I do. I should not compare both. I guess after reading through this entry, I should have my cleric stick to what he should be doing -- staying in the back and playing support character. This campaign's for the heroic fighters. Spiritual guides have no place in the front ranks.

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