Thought about tanking

[gooddragon1]

Isn't dealing damage to enemies and killing them if they get near the squishies still tanking? I know that until they reach negatives or 0 hp the enemy is still a threat, but once they're dead they aren't generally doing damage.

[Eldariel]

Isn't dealing damage to enemies and killing them if they get near the squishies still tanking? I know that until they reach negatives or 0 hp the enemy is still a threat, but once they're dead they aren't generally doing damage.

"Death is the best CC" indeed. If you can kill enemies when they threaten your allies, why exactly do you need to be tanking though? Just kill the enemies. If they ded [sic] they controlled.

[Andezzar]

Sort of, but in the CRPG sense tanking also involves forcing the enemies to deal with the tank instead of attacking the squishies. 3.5 has very few abilities to do that other than battle field control. If free to act there is little stopping the enemies from going around the tank and attacking the squishies.

[Doorhandle]

Not technically at it reaches closer to the role of damage-dealing, but it's still useful for keeping damage away from squishes.

Honestly I have mixed feelings of tanking as a concept. On one hand, the WoW-style tanking where you insult them into submission and they never really try to go past you doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

On the other hand, having someone as the front-line to prevent the enemies' passage is a time honored concept, as is throwing yourself in the way of other people's attack to protect the weak.

D&D fighters/melee in general seems to have a combined role of tank/damage dealer anyway.

[TheFurith]

Well, I mean, if you kill them there just isn't any reason to tank them.

Tanking just doesn't work in D&D, at least these editions, I have little knowledge of others. You either build a guy who is near unkillable and the DM either accepts that you want everything targeting them and does that. Or, more likely the DM just has everything ignore him because that's what people do when a man swings an axe at them. Check for armor, if armored, just ignore. Apparently.

So yeah. Just kill everything and try not to get hit to begin with. It's the realistic thing to do anyway. Or it would be if half the party didn't show up in their pajamas or wielding knives to fight dragons.

[Kelb_Panthera]

To answer your question; no, dealing damage is not tanking. That's the DPS/ Glass cannon role. Tanking is about -absorbing- damage, rather than dishing it out. A tank character is the pile of ablative HP and melee crowd control ability that stands between the boosters, cannons, and other characters of varying squishiness.

The most exemplary character class for the role in 3.5 is, unfortunately, the knight in PHB2. The problem there is he's not great at it. Crusaders from Tome of Battle is also capable of being a solid tank if you select the right feats and maneuvers. A paladin can do it passably but only just (more of an offense oriented class, really). There aren't many other classes that lend themselves to the role, though full-casting classes and skilled multiclassing can, as always, do it as well or better than the classes that lend themselves to the role directly.

[flappeercraft]

Try getting a fighter with the feats: Combat reflexes, Combat Expertise, Improved Trip, Knockdown, Exotic Weapon proficiency Spiked Chain, Canny Opportunist, Exploit Adjustment, Willing Deformity, Deformity (Tall), Aberration blood (Any), Inhuman Reach and Mage Slayer. If you do this and get the fighter to large size he effectively has a reach of 30ft and almost any action taken in that range including a 5ft step and casting (no concentration check available against this) is an attack of opportunity. With that nothing will get close if you have good bonuses to trip.

[Telonius]

There are relatively few mechanics that actually "draw aggro" in the same sense that "tanking" implies. There's the Knight class, and Divine Prankster, and Goad; and I think that's about it. That's what can literally force enemies to attack you. Everything beyond that is DM's call.

[Mordaedil]

There's the Crusader class from Tome of Battle is the only real class that does "tanking" in D&D.

Tome of Battle is also one of the most poorly written D&D supplements I've had the displeasure to read, because between three of us, we all disagreed on a rule and we couldn't even agree exactly what it wanted to say. Try reading the paragraphs about how the Crusader regain their maneuvers in battle and get a friend to read it and see how different you interpret the rule.

The class itself is pretty sweet though, if you want a fighter that can do more than just actions in battle.