How is Belkar so powerful in combat?

[Crossfiyah]

I mean, he's a small character that uses daggers, as a Ranger, with a low WIS score and an already sub-optimal class.

How is he so efficient in combat, possibly the 2nd best overall?

[SadisticFishing]

SOD How did Xykon beat Eugene's master to death with a piece of metal?

Things are squishy, and when you push jagged metal bits into them, it hurts.

[chiasaur11]

I mean, he's a small character that uses daggers, as a Ranger, with a low WIS score and an already sub-optimal class.

How is he so efficient in combat, possibly the 2nd best overall?

He cheats.

Obvious, really.

[T-O-E]

I remember making the Oots party in Baldur's Gate.
Belkar was a halfling barbarian (only humans, elves and half-elves can be rangers). I didn't even give him all the stats from the die rolls, but he was still the most powerful melee warrior in the party.

[JonahFalcon]

Simple: Belkar is powerful due to the Rule of Cool (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool).

[Crossfiyah]

That's because, well, you made him a Barbarian >.>

The comment about him cheating however, makes perfect sense I suppose.

[Snake-Aes]

That's the thing, he still has 18-ish strength and full BAB. If he can do the odd 4 or 5 attacks in one round, even if with two small +2 daggers, you're talking about 30 or so damage per round.

[Jair Barik]

This reminds me of the mail call strip with the barbarians d12. The thing is when you get major buffs the size of a single dice doesn't matter that much

[Larkspur]

Do we actually know what level he is? He kills so many random things in non-combat situations that he must get more XP per unit time than the rest of the party., since they split all their dungeon crawl XP evenly.

He could easily be a level or two higher than the others.

[Murdim]

The main problem for Belkar is that he can't use the Power Attack feat with his two light weapons, losing the main source of damage output for most melee characters. The 1D3 base damage of his Small-sized daggers is more of a detail - they do only 2,5 less damage than a Medium-sized longsword on average.

[Rurouni Bill]

if I had to guess, I would say he is most powerful fighting humans. he has probably ramped his 'favored enemies - human' from ranger up to maximum levels. so he may be doing a bunch of extra damage per hit.

[marquiz]

Well, Belkar is powerful, but against certain species. I seem to have noticed when it comes to Humans and goblin-kind, he usually gets one hit kill. (Check the Pete's House Massacre for example)

Admittedly most of them were low level folks, but, still against non pure humans, a second hit was required according to visual data. That leads me to believe he has chosen Humans and Goblins as his favored enemies. I do not have enough data to figure out if he has a third species as a favored enemy.

(as in 11 levels of ranger for as much free combat style as possible, rest barbarian)

[FlawedParadigm]

He also has that whole "sexy, shoeless God of war" thing going for him.

Plus - he may do this off panel - he may have made that jump attack he used against the Hex Hag part of his standard outdoors bag o' tactics. It's not a use I would have come up with for a ring of jumping +20 (but then I'd also not consider that a serious magic item in most cases), but I'd probably allow a player who did some extra damage. Something like you can make charge attacks vertically, or even allow the assignation of the falling damage Belkar *should* take to the victim, instead.

If we're assuming he actually exceeds his 20 ft. of movement with his jumps on a regular basis, then he's probably falling about 30 ft, or 3d6 falling damage +1d3 + 3 (assumed magical dagger) + 1/2 str (probably 18ish, so +4 becomes +2). 9-26 isn't awful right there - and he's shown using both daggers, at least that time. I'd say it wouldn't be unreasonable to allow one attack from each dagger - so if we're applying the "gravity damage" to both daggers, he's up to 18-52. For a Medium-sized Ranger, that probably wouldn't be worth giving up two rounds of full attack for at 11th+ level, but for Belkar, that's not half bad at all, especially if we allow him the +to hit bonus from the Charge action (and he spends the round with the AC penalty in mid-air, effectively negating the drawback except against archers).

Of course, on a missed attack roll, I'd make him roll a Tumble check to avoid taking his own falling damage, or if I'm really generous, only misses that aren't because of natural AC, but that would probably be making the tactic a little too powerful.

Wow, I just nerded way too hard trying to do the mechanics of that, didn't I?

[Faleldir]

How is he so efficient in combat, possibly the 2nd best overall?
He may be the 2nd best in his party, but none of them are really that powerful. Roy thinks Weapon Specialization is a good feat, Haley doesn't have Greater Manyshot, Vaarsuvius specializes in Evocation, and Durkon uses healing spells in combat. Strangely, the most optimized member is Elan.
Also, we're told that Miko was the most powerful member of the Sapphire Guard, but she's MAD, loses most of her Monk abilities by wearing armor, and wasted a feat for bastard sword proficiency when she could use her foot as an off-hand weapon. It's a low-powered game.

[Trizap]

I mean, he's a small character that uses daggers, as a Ranger, with a low WIS score and an already sub-optimal class.

How is he so efficient in combat, possibly the 2nd best overall?

the plot says so.

[David Argall]

Some of the Belkar builds have had him with about 6 attacks and around 20 a hit. And that may well be low. A 13th level melee monster should deem 130 points of damage a poor round.

[Beorn080]

Well if he has 18 str and two +4 daggers, thats +8 for 5 attacks and +6 for the offhand. That's a 52 damage minimum a round, not counting any other pluses from favored enemy, barbarian rage, or any other sources. He gets + 4 to hit IIRC from being small against most mobs, and a high BAB from his two classes.

He might not be an optimum build, but he does make a good case for being a sexy shoeless god of war.

[Miklus]

We know that Belkars wisdom is very low, and his CHR also sucks. He is not as dumb as some people like to think, but he is no wizard either. I'm guessing that he has STR, DEX and CON maxed out.

A 30Lbs halfling with a 16 STR is just too funny to not have in the comic.

So with this high STR Belkar hits often and he hits hard. He may only use daggers, but there are two of them. And his favored enemy is humans! :smallbiggrin:

[Decoy Lockbox]

That's the thing, he still has 18-ish strength and full BAB. If he can do the odd 4 or 5 attacks in one round, even if with two small +2 daggers, you're talking about 30 or so damage per round.

30 damage a round at level 13 or so is really really bad though. Most fighters will be doing 30 damage per attack at that level, and getting 3-4 attacks.

I concur with the "rule of cool" logic.

[Roupe]

Actually I don't think his CON-score is all that great. Its probably average.

He should have a decent CHA score & INT score. He is winning in conversations & has use out of the box solutions when dealing with obstacles. He also got lucky with girls.

[EmeraldPhoenix]

Simple: Belkar is powerful due to the Rule of Cool (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool).

I summon the devil of linking TV tropes!:smallannoyed:

Sic him, devil! :smalltongue:

[Raging Gene Ray]

...because most of the things he kills are level 1-4 mooks.

[EmperorSarda]

Does this mean we are going to have create a Belkar character with NWN2? That uses 3.5 rules and all, so it might help...

[Callista]

Belkar seems to like focusing on mooks--if he can kill them with one stab apiece, he increases his kill-per-time ratio exponentially. Belkar's in it for the carnage, and given a choice between killing one big thing or fifty hobgoblins, he'll take the heap of corpses every time...

[Chameon]

Belkar seems to like focusing on mooks--if he can kill them with one stab apiece, he increases his kill-per-time ratio exponentially. Belkar's in it for the carnage, and given a choice between killing one big thing or fifty hobgoblins, he'll take the heap of corpses every time...

I concur with this, of course it does vary depending on the big things experience value at the time (ex. if it might mean a level up he might charge at the big thing)..Then again, we COULD look back to where Durkon and Haley are HONESTLY scared to tell him he won't get XP for slaughtering hobgoblins.

[The MunchKING]

Well, Belkar is powerful, but against certain species. I seem to have noticed when it comes to Humans and goblin-kind, he usually gets one hit kill. (Check the Pete's House Massacre for example)

Admittedly most of them were low level folks, but, still against non pure humans, a second hit was required according to visual data.

I dunno, he was apparently getting three hydra-heads to the shot...

[Forbiddenwar]

According to Rich, Belker is a sexy shoeless god of war, because it is funny. I have to agree with that.

[JonestheSpy]

Despite the fact that story beats rules is what's really important, I rather like the Favored Enemy: Everyone Not Belkar theory...

[Jalor]

Belkar has probably taken Favored Enemy: Humans, Goblinoids, and Reptilian Humanoids. Add in his +3 daggers, his Power Attack feat, and his obviously maxed-out Str, and we have some serious kill-potential.

[Frogwarrior]

He may be the 2nd best in his party, but none of them are really that powerful. Roy thinks Weapon Specialization is a good feat, Haley doesn't have Greater Manyshot, Vaarsuvius specializes in Evocation, and Durkon uses healing spells in combat. Strangely, the most optimized member is Elan.
Also, we're told that Miko was the most powerful member of the Sapphire Guard, but she's MAD, loses most of her Monk abilities by wearing armor, and wasted a feat for bastard sword proficiency when she could use her foot as an off-hand weapon. It's a low-powered game.

Out of curiosity, what's wrong with Weapon Specialization? :-P
I mean, really, I never can figure out which of the five dozen feats are useful.

[Faleldir]

Generally, you should avoid feats that only give fixed bonuses because they will be insignificant at high levels.

[Origomar]

I honestly think things like acrobatic or nimble hands are completely useless also :-/

[ArcadiaGM]

Generally, you should avoid feats that only give fixed bonuses because they will be insignificant at high levels.

Its this kind of thing that makes D&D (even *before* 4.0) seem to MMOish to me.

[Tar Palantir]

I played a halfling ranger/brab all the way through NWN's main campaign and HotU, and he tore that game apart. The only thing he ever died to was a giant spider, and that's because knockdown was broken in NWN, especially combined with web.

[SadisticFishing]

What?

... You realize MMOs are BASED ON D&D, right?

[Axl_Rose]

He may be the 2nd best in his party, but none of them are really that powerful. Roy thinks Weapon Specialization is a good feat, Haley doesn't have Greater Manyshot, Vaarsuvius specializes in Evocation, and Durkon uses healing spells in combat. Strangely, the most optimized member is Elan.


I actually laughed out loud at that

[ArcadiaGM]

What?

... You realize MMOs are BASED ON D&D, right?

Sure, for a given value of "based on" -- I think I'd probably say "inspired by", myself. I've been playing role-playing games, including D&D (which I no longer play), for about 30 years, and I've played MMOs since EQ1. I'm pretty familiar with the origins and history of both kinds of gaming.

IMO, tabletop RPGs should be much more than a detailed analysis of the best gear, best traits, and a calculation of your DPS to the hundredths place. There are tabletop RPGs that are, IMO, much better than D&D for creating a unique character - not just a min-maxed combat monster.

When I sit down to play a role-playing game, I definately don't want the same vibe that I get from playing EQ, CoH, WoW, LotR, or whatever. I like those MMOs, sure, but when the pencils, paper, and dice come out, I'm looking for a very different experience.

[averagejoe]

Belkar has probably taken Favored Enemy: Humans, Goblinoids, and Reptilian Humanoids. Add in his +3 daggers, his Power Attack feat, and his obviously maxed-out Str, and we have some serious kill-potential.

Does he have that feat? Power attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#powerAttack) doesn't work with light weapons.

[SadisticFishing]

Basically, you need rules to have fun roleplaying?

[Murdim]

Does he have that feat? Power attack (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#powerAttack) doesn't work with light weapons.There is only one possible explanation : at the very start of the comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0665.html), when the campaign converted to D&D 3,5 and that the Belkster's daggers shrinked to Small-sized, the allmighty Overgod of the OotS-verse used his infinite power to let the Sexy Shoeless God of War use Power Attack with his weapons despite them becoming normally too light for him to do so.

In another words, a justifiable and necessary intervention of Rule 0 in favor of Belkar.

[LurkerInPlayground]

I mean, he's a small character that uses daggers, as a Ranger, with a low WIS score and an already sub-optimal class.

How is he so efficient in combat, possibly the 2nd best overall?
He's high-leveled. He kills a bunch of low-leveled characters and so he doesn't actually have to be optimal. Miko was closer to his level and was actually a threat to him.

End of discussion.

[ArcadiaGM]

Basically, you need rules to have fun roleplaying?

The rules of a role-playing game affect the experience of playing it. That's pretty obvious.

[Kaytara]

Yep. Belkar's killing sprees look awesome, but we need to keep the substance in mind. He wasn't able to do a thing against the junior black dragon or Xykon's zombie dragon and was also defeated by Miko. (Admittedly, she was likely of a higher level, but so was Bozzok and Haley still pwn'ed him as soon as she got her hands on a decent bow.)
His success against Crystal and Bozzok was due to exactly what he said it was: he was a high-level combat type, they were glorified pickpockets and not really suited for a straight-up fight.

[rxmd]

... You realize MMOs are BASED ON D&D, right?

That is arguably true, but it's a somewhat distant relationship through intermediaries (in the sense that D&D in turn is "based on" Kriegsspiel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsspiel_%28wargame%29), on chess, and the like.)

[Beorn080]

He's high-leveled. He kills a bunch of low-leveled characters and so he doesn't actually have to be optimal. Miko was closer to his level and was actually a threat to him.

End of discussion.

Note that Belkar is actually intending on letting Miko kill him. He outright says it when V saves his ass at the end. He wanted to die, and to have Miko kill him in anger, just so she lost her paladinship. So really, Belkar lost that fight because of V, not Miko.

[DarthCyberWolf]

We could always say that Belkar has an obscure feat that lets him use Power Attack after a jump, even with light weapons. If there is such a thing, it seems to me something that he would take.

[King of Nowhere]

Maybe the DM gave him a level adjustment of -1 to keep things fair with his unoptimized build? It is something I would do.

[wootage]

Basically, you need rules to have fun roleplaying?

You need rules to have roles, really.

[DoomITP]

Honestly, I think the best answer is that Rich wrote him that way, so he is.:smalltongue:

[Raenir Salazar]

Honestly, I think the best answer is that Rich wrote him that way, so he is.:smalltongue:

Would be true if it wasnt for the fact that theres plenty of reasonable explanations to why in game hes a sexy shoeless god of war.

[Captain Alien]

A good BAB is enough to kick some NPC asses. Especially if those NPCs are as optimized as you are. And only a few characters in Oots are optimized.

He has many attacks per round, and barbarian's rage. He only needs that in order to kill some monsters. He is not that powerful, he is just enough powerful.

[Freelance Henchman]

Does anyone else see a weird quasi-parallel between Belkar and Drizzt? I mean, both are totally awesome in battle, but it's really hard or impossible to actually build them with D&D rules so that they actually turn out awesome.

Drizzt's scimitars are medium weapons, so he can not Weapon Finesse them, so especially if he is dual-wielding his AB would suck and his damage would be tiny. He can't be a strength build since he is always described as dexterous but not overly strong. As far as I can see it, Drizzt as written would be terrible when played as a PC in a D&D game against appropriate leveled encounters. For the Belkar connection, various Drizzt builds include a Barbarian level to signify his "I become the Hunter" mode.

So, Belkar is similar in that way because he is a dual-wielder ranger/barb written as awesome, but I don't really see how he could do what he does using the D&D game mechanics. "Rule of Cool", I guess.

[Volkov]

Because his daggers are actually major artifacts with a +30 bonus and the everything bane ability.

[Fencing Fool]

I don't play DnD so I wouldn't know but is there bonus damage for stabbing a vital organ? Belkar may just be very good at hitting vital organs.

(But he's most likely cheating on his rolls:smallbiggrin:)

[Freelance Henchman]

I don't play DnD so I wouldn't know but is there bonus damage for stabbing a vital organ? Belkar may just be very good at hitting vital organs.

(But he's most likely cheating on his rolls:smallbiggrin:)

Rogues can do something like that with their sneak attack, but Belkar doesn't have that. All he can do is get a possible critical hit on a roll of 19-20 which doubles damage from the dagger. Vital organs and such can not be targeted in D&D AFAIK.

[rxmd]

Rogues can do something like that with their sneak attack, but Belkar doesn't have that. All he can do is get a possible critical hit on a roll of 19-20 which doubles damage from the dagger.
I guess if he is somewhat specialized in daggers, it would make sense to augment that to 17-20 with Improved Critical, which isn't soo bad.

[Captain Alien]

Rogues can do something like that with their sneak attack, but Belkar doesn't have that. All he can do is get a possible critical hit on a roll of 19-20 which doubles damage from the dagger. Vital organs and such can not be targeted in D&D AFAIK.

I have a homebrew rule for that.

If you attack to arms or legs, you can accept a -6 penalty to your attack roll (Because it is a smaller part of the body than the whole body). If you succed, you apply a penalty on some rolls (skill checks, attack rolls, etc). If you make a critical strike, you spoil that part of the body (You break a bone if it is bludgeoning, or just cut it if it is slashing). And you can only cure those critical wounds by resting (if it was not slashing, of course, because then you actually lose that bodypart) or by a Regenerate spell.

There are, in fact, SRD rules for body damage. But there are no possibility of damaging body parts if you don't use my rule. For example, there are rules for blinding people. And it is not hard to figure out how to play a character with only one hand. I mean, there are characters with FOUR hands.

[L'intrigant]

In the vein of "kicking unoptimized NPC asses"...

Belkar, so far, has kicked the butt of NPC rogues (mostly low-level henchmen), hobgoblins (low-level henchmen), Elan, goblins, a wounded chimera...almost everything he's fought has been weak by anyone's standards.

The exceptions to this are Miko and Crystal. To beat Miko he used his brains (crowning moment of awesome to me :smallbiggrin:) and Crystal is a rogue attacking him from the front with a dagger. Not exactly favorable conditions for her. I love Belkar dearly and frequently pray to His Sexy Shoelessness, but he's probably the most notorious ganker in the OOTS world.

[Volkov]

Also he has "Everything and anything" as his favored enemy. For a level 13 ranger what would the bonus be?

[Freelance Henchman]

In the vein of "kicking unoptimized NPC asses"...

Belkar, so far, has kicked the butt of NPC rogues (mostly low-level henchmen), hobgoblins (low-level henchmen), Elan, goblins, a wounded chimera...almost everything he's fought has been weak by anyone's standards.

He also killed that one green hag in whatever comic that was, when they were on a hex field.

[Callista]

I think Belkar may be underpowered for another reason--so that the rest of the Order can take him down if they need to.

[L'intrigant]

He also killed that one green hag in whatever comic that was, when they were on a hex field.

That was due to a Dues Ex Comedia. He had to test the "flying halfling death" attack. :smalltongue:

[Aron Times]

Roleplaying is more than just optimization. Roleplaying is more than just method acting. Roleplaying is both of these and more combined.

Just because your group doesn't enjoy optimization doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't. Roleplaying and optimization are not mutually exclusive. ArcadiaGM, you're basically telling my group, which is pro-optimization, to "Stop having fun, guys!"

[ArcadiaGM]

Roleplaying is more than just optimization. Roleplaying is more than just method acting. Roleplaying is both of these and more combined.

Role-playing doesn't require optimization, but I agree that the characters should have sufficient power to overcome the obstacles that the GM provides. Optimization is a way to have power, so I'm not opposed to it. I do not accept that it is necessary, though. I generally design characters based on "what do I think this character in this context would know and be able to do" not "what do I think would make this character the most potent".

I'm not opposed to optimization, but in my opinion, characterization should always precede it.


Just because your group doesn't enjoy optimization doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't. Roleplaying and optimization are not mutually exclusive. ArcadiaGM, you're basically telling my group, which is pro-optimization, to "Stop having fun, guys!"

I said nothing of the sort. I expressed my own preferences without disparaging anything that others might like. My expressing my own opinion says nothing about what I think others should be doing.

When I say "I prefer vanilla -- it is ice cream at its best!" do you think I'm telling chocolate fans to put down their spoons? Don't be silly.

[Morty]

I never understood this kind of threads. I mean, everyone knows Giant bends the rules when it fits the story. And in this case, the rules are bent so that Belkar can be effective despite his combat style - using dual daggers without being a Rogue - being subpar by the way the rules work. Simple.

[L'intrigant]

Exactly. The Giant decides he wants a character who does X and he writes the character so they do X. The universe itself bends to make sure that character can do exactly what The Giant wants it to do. If he wants Belkar to pwn everything around with dual daggers, Belkar will pwn everything around with dual daggers, "official rules" be damned.

[Flickerdart]

His Favoured Enemy bonus can be as high as +6 to Humans and +2 to Goblinoids and Reptilians, or +4 to 2 of those. But that's only damage, and even with his 6 attacks per round it doesn't add up much. Now, we can assume he has Pounce from his Barbarian level, and combining that with Rage, the damage bonus, Leap Attack, Power Attack (even though it's cheating) and charging, he can lay down some hurt. If we assume he has Cleave, too, and seeing as how he mostly goes after mooks, it's not too far-fetched.
Without Crystal's sneak attack, Belkar would obviously overpower her easily. His AC would also be very high, so he could take some pounding from Bozzok and Crystal. Had Bozzok not run off, Belkar wouldn't have very lasted long, likely, by standing in that one spot, though his great HP and AC would likely have pulled him through a bit.

[Captain Alien]

I never understood this kind of threads. I mean, everyone knows Giant bends the rules when it fits the story. And in this case, the rules are bent so that Belkar can be effective despite his combat style - using dual daggers without being a Rogue - being subpar by the way the rules work. Simple.

You don't realize how funny it is, do you?

I remember a KoDT strip, in which Sarah, the group's girl, suggested her friends that they make a Book club. She chose a RPG-based fantasy novel, and in their second reunion, the guys started to talk about how action scenes were not possible if you followed RPG rules. They had been making calculations about every single character and fight, and how some facts contradict each other in some parts of the book. Sarah and the DM were astonished.

I hope it helps you to understand why so many people like this kind of thread. Including me.

[Foegrim]

Question!

I'm not sure if this has ever come up before, but under the 3rd edition rules Belkar should have started taking 20% off of all his XP gain after he multi-classed Barbarian. Being that he is so overly concerned with XP gain as a character, does anyone else besides me find this a bit upsetting (even in a minor degree) that this has not come up at all in the plot?

[Morty]

You don't realize how funny it is, do you?

I remember a KoDT strip, in which Sarah, the group's girl, suggested her friends that they make a Book club. She chose a RPG-based fantasy novel, and in their second reunion, the guys started to talk about how action scenes were not possible if you followed RPG rules. They had been making calculations about every single character and fight, and how some facts contradict each other in some parts of the book. Sarah and the DM were astonished.

I hope it helps you to understand why so many people like this kind of thread. Including me.

Your point being..? In both cases, we have something that's happening in a RPG-based story but wouldn't happen in a real RPG. Only here, after we say "there's no way Belkar would be as deadly as he is per the rules" there's nothing more to analyze.

[Captain Alien]

Your point being..? In both cases, we have something that's happening in a RPG-based story but wouldn't happen in a real RPG. Only here, after we say "there's no way Belkar would be as deadly as he is per the rules" there's nothing more to analyze.

Of course there is. A lot of things to analyze. And of course everyone has reached the conclusion you point out. That is the paradox: Everybody knows there is no point in it, but keeps analyzing it.

Analyzing is inherently enjoyable. That is why people keeps doing it.

[Starscream]

I forget which, but in one of the books The Giant basically says:


Jokes > Story > Rules

So the rules only really matter when they are funny or don't keep him from telling a good story.

Bottom line: a sociopathic halfling who slaughters his way through a mountain of hobgoblins is both funnier and cooler than a sociopathic halfling who kicks a hobgoblin in the ankle and then runs away crying because he stubbed his toe.

[monsterinshadow]

I'm thinking that in game terms, he is getting a luck bonus to all rolls, probably a +5 or so, due to his finally being honest with himself about his alignment.

[Random832]

I'm thinking that in game terms, he is getting a luck bonus to all rolls, probably a +5 or so, due to his finally being honest with himself about his alignment.

He's never been dishonest with himself about his alignment - way back when they first met Miko, he said "there's a good chance that she'll lose her paladin powers for associating with me" - and stated outright that he was chaotic in response to the restraining order on the horse. All he's done is try (not very hard, or very successfully) to maintain plausible deniability with others - which he's actually stepping up now to try and make it actually believable that he's not CE.

[GreatWyrmGold]

He may be the 2nd best in his party, but none of them are really that powerful. Roy thinks Weapon Specialization is a good feat, Haley doesn't have Greater Manyshot, Vaarsuvius specializes in Evocation, and Durkon uses healing spells in combat. Strangely, the most optimized member is Elan.
Also, we're told that Miko was the most powerful member of the Sapphire Guard, but she's MAD, loses most of her Monk abilities by wearing armor, and wasted a feat for bastard sword proficiency when she could use her foot as an off-hand weapon. It's a low-powered game.
Yep.
About Miko: Even in heavy armor, Miko could still use Evasion (as shown by her LEAPING out of the way of fireballs and at least one lightning bolt spell).


the plot says so.
Yep.

Also, barbarian levels help.

[Faleldir]

Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher if a monk makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a monk is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless monk does not gain the benefit of evasion.
I know you love Monks, but please don't derail threads to defend them.

[SadisticFishing]

Was Miko wearing heavy armor? I always assumed she wasn't.

[MReav]

Was Miko wearing heavy armor? I always assumed she wasn't.

My assumption was Mithral Breastplate (light armour).

[SadisticFishing]

I'd assume no armor, possibly Bracers of it. Yay Wisdom to AC.

[MReav]

I'd assume no armor, possibly Bracers of it. Yay Wisdom to AC.

No, she's obviously wearing some kind of armour, she's got the shoulder pads that many armour wearing characters have. Plus Miko never struck me as being particularly wise (given her delusions).

[Kish]

Given that she manifestly did have (and was able to use) Evasion and Vaarsuvius referred to her wearing armor at least once, I'm pretty sure she wore some kind of light armor.

[holywhippet]

Does anyone else see a weird quasi-parallel between Belkar and Drizzt? I mean, both are totally awesome in battle, but it's really hard or impossible to actually build them with D&D rules so that they actually turn out awesome.

Drizzt's scimitars are medium weapons, so he can not Weapon Finesse them, so especially if he is dual-wielding his AB would suck and his damage would be tiny. He can't be a strength build since he is always described as dexterous but not overly strong. As far as I can see it, Drizzt as written would be terrible when played as a PC in a D&D game against appropriate leveled encounters. For the Belkar connection, various Drizzt builds include a Barbarian level to signify his "I become the Hunter" mode.

So, Belkar is similar in that way because he is a dual-wielder ranger/barb written as awesome, but I don't really see how he could do what he does using the D&D game mechanics. "Rule of Cool", I guess.

There is a simple problem when you start applying game rules like that to Drizzt - he was made during the time of 2nd edition, not 3rd.

Admittedly even for a 2nd edition ranger he doesn't make sense. Drizzt has never shown the ability to cast ranger type spells even though he should well and truly be levelled high enough to do so. I suppose he could be using a ranger kit which excludes spellcasting though - I don't recall any that do so offhand.

[Craig1f]

Weapon Specialization is worth it as a pre-requisite for Melee Weapon Mastery.

For three feats, you get +3 to hit and +4 to damage. For a fighter, that's not a bad boost of power. That's as good as a Rage.

Then, you get Weapon Supremacy (I think that's the name) at level 16 or 17, which gives you a crap-ton of great abilities. Add +5 to any melee attack on a full attack? Yes please. Take 10 on one attack roll per round? Jesus Christ yes!

[RecklessFable]

I'm building a Swift Hunter that could probably be used to create a good analogue of Belkar. I've been realizing that TWF isn't about big weapons, but about opportunities to hit frequently with bonus damage.

3-5 Levels of scout + X of Ranger + Swift Hunter Feat (Ranger and Scout levels stack for Skirmish Damage and Favored Enemy) + Improved Skirmish + one level of Barbarian (Lion Totem) and you end up doing a LOT of damage.

I know it isn't technically part of the story, but hell, Rich isn't even using a rules set anymore (see his post about not converting to 4th edition).

So if you wanted to play Master Belkar, this would be a good way to do it.

[hamishspence]

3rd ed Drizzt is in FRCS.

Mostly fighter with a bit of ranger and one level barbarian.

He's...not that good.

[Ytaker]

Bottom line: a sociopathic halfling who slaughters his way through a mountain of hobgoblins is both funnier and cooler than a sociopathic halfling who kicks a hobgoblin in the ankle and then runs away crying because he stubbed his toe.

They're one hd monsters, aren't they? http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0417.html

And in the fight panel.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0439.html

He takes his first hit after eight foes,

I can see thirteen wounds on him. So, he'd have killed around 104 foes. He may have taken, I dunno what, longsword so 1d8 damage per hit. It looks like there are eight levels. so, 64+...= 155. Too many If we assume he killed 8 hobgoblins for each of his hitdice, then he'd have killed 11 for each of his rogue levels, and two for his barbarian levels, then we have 104 hobgoblins. Assuming he had a few lucky rolls, that he didn't pack the hobgoblins perfectly, that he managed to fight better later on, it's not too unreasonable