Fun ways to play classes?

[Clopin Silk]

I've seen a lot of threads asking for the best way to play various classes, the strongest builds, the hardest to counter, but I was wondering, does anybody feel like sharing their ideas for really fun ways to play various classes? What builds guarantee entertainment value? How do you ensure that things will be exciting? Just from what I saw looking at their spells, it seems to me that you could have fun playing a druid as a really sneaky, creative did-I-say-you-could-move type that just controls the battlefield and relentlessly screws with the enemy. Please share your ideas.

[Mordaedil]

The fumbling wizard who intentionally firebombs his entire party every time was a fun one, but we took it with a bit of humor as he roleplayed as if he panicked every encounter and then one time stole some halflings cow and put fire to it, causing it to run through town on fire, spreading it everywhere.

[Darrin]

The Thogaturge (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?195049-Help-Me-Be-Annoying-with-a-Barbarian-Wizard) stands out for me. I played it a bit, and it's a blast.

For my next character, I was strongly considering a Reverse Thogaturge... a half-orc sorcerer who desperately wants to convince his tribe he is a "real" barbarian.

"ICanHazLazrz": Blaster Tibbit (Warlock or Psion) who pays a hireling to pretend to be a "Duelist" wizard with an "ordinary cat" familiar.

[The Insanity]

Playing strong builds is pretty fun.

[Lvl45DM!]

I don't know how silly you want to be.

But Psychic Warrior with Expansion, Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip.

Its hilarious knocking down like 7 people at once...when its not your go.

[Jormengand]

Paladin with Mystic Fire Knight, Sword of the Arcane Order, Battle Blessing and the like can fire off quickened wizard spells out of his paladin slots, which he gets more of than usual. That's quite a fun way to play a paladin.

[Lvl45DM!]

Hulking Hurler and Beastmaster
Throw crocodiles at people

[gorfnab]

The Dungeon Lord prestige class can make for a very interesting pirate captain if you declare the ship to be a dungeon.

[D&DPrinceTandem]

well I've always wanted to play this for fun
Anthropomorphic cat monster o' legend with
these items:

boots of speed
hat of disguise
Gloves of dexterity
Ring of nine lives
Monks belt



wings (cape) of flying
wields a Rouge blade (the one from savage species)

these classes:



Ninja 12
theft acrobat 5
Uncanny trickster 3

and these feats (not necessarily in order):

Expanded Ki Pool
Enduring Ki
Daredevil Athlete
Deadly Defense
Sly Fortune
Make Your Own Luck
Dumb Luck


Thats one lucky Puss in boots

If all else fails I like Intensified awakened Cat(36 in Int, +6 in Cha) with Eduite (StP) 10/Thrallherd10 levels.
I will have a female Wilder7/anarch initiate 10 Catfolk thrall and a Male tibbit Wilder7/Psychokineticist10 Thrall
75 tibbit Wilders lvl1, 50 Catfolk Wilder lvl1
6 tibbit Wilders lvl2, 7 Catfolk Wilders lvl1
7 Catfolk Wilders lvl5
2 Catfolk Wilders lvl5, 2 Tibbit Wilders lvl4
1 Catfolk wilder lvl5, 1 Tibbit Wilder lvl 5
2 Awakened Telepath5/Thrallherd1
{{}}each of your lvl 6 believers will have these as there Cohorts(of the opposite race)/Believers(there own race)
5 lvl 1 Wilders Catfolk or Tibbit
1 lvl 5 Wilder Tibbit or Catfolk

Cat-o' paw' co' licks' as I would say!


*what you thought you built*
(http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs36/f/2008/283/c/a/Cats_of_the_Apocalypse_by_LeoJr.jpg)
*what you Built* (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CtM-a4AAlLs/T1MLbNUG-QI/AAAAAAAAC-g/uUX1nmyd4r4/s1600/funny+cat+photos+(68).jpg)

*what your dm Sees* (http://img.pandawhale.com/40767-Grumpy-Cat-Apocalypse-Soon-zSYG.jpeg)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPrGnCbDnbU

[Nifft]

I've seen a lot of threads asking for the best way to play various classes, the strongest builds, the hardest to counter, but I was wondering, does anybody feel like sharing their ideas for really fun ways to play various classes? Naked.


How do you ensure that things will be exciting? Play with people you genuinely want to spend time inside.

I mean spend time with. Yeah.

[lylsyly]

I had a blast playing a 1/2 Pixie 1/2 Faerie Dragon Rogue/Scout Gestalt as a real ditz.

"I saw a pretty tree and talked to a family of squirrels and ...... and oh yeah, there is about 20 ogres coming this way, they should be here any, uh how about now!" right as the aforementioned ogres appeared on the ridge.

[Stryyke]

One, in particular, springs to mind. For whatever reason, sexuality is not a big part of D&D. I imagine playing a character that uses sex to gain political influence, making way for epic questlines, could be quite entertaining. The commander of armies as a nymphomaniac. Using sex to get close enough for assassinations. A voluptuous enchanter. Of course it would really only be effective in a human-centric campaign.

[Echch]

Play a Sorcerer that casts nothing but Silent Image and try solving your problems with nothing but.

[Stryyke]

Play a Sorcerer that casts nothing but Silent Image and try solving your problems with nothing but.

Actually any such restriction could be both fun and an incredible challenge. Reminds of of that Skyrim run that was popular on YouTube a few years back. The guy went through Skyrim without a single kill. Your suggestion is almost exactly that. Complete pacifist character. As long as your group is ok with it, it could be really fun.

[Jormengand]

Actually any such restriction could be both fun and an incredible challenge. Reminds of of that Skyrim run that was popular on YouTube a few years back. The guy went through Skyrim without a single kill. Your suggestion is almost exactly that. Complete pacifist character. As long as your group is ok with it, it could be really fun.

Vow of Nonviolence and Vow of Peace are some reatively powerful feats with that drawback.

[Jay R]

Play the character, not the class. How is your PC different from another one with the same build? This requires a character that fits his build, so build the PC’s character along with the mechanics, so that by the time you’re ready to play, you know how to enjoy playing his reactions just as much as you know how to use him in combat.

Have some character notes that have nothing to do with fighting or any skills. I’ve started playing a gnome who is taking names very seriously. He doesn’t refer to Finnegan, but to “the one called Finnegan”, and doesn’t assume that he knows somebody’s name until he gives them a name himself.

Three minutes after he met the party, he named one of them “Talker”.

My Ranger is traveling with a group of people from the city, and responds to any unusual occurrence with, “I will never understand you city folk,” especially when the unusual situation has nothing to do with their origin.

[Crake]

I've seen a lot of threads asking for the best way to play various classes, the strongest builds, the hardest to counter, but I was wondering, does anybody feel like sharing their ideas for really fun ways to play various classes? What builds guarantee entertainment value? How do you ensure that things will be exciting? Just from what I saw looking at their spells, it seems to me that you could have fun playing a druid as a really sneaky, creative did-I-say-you-could-move type that just controls the battlefield and relentlessly screws with the enemy. Please share your ideas.

What you've said just now is reminiscent of the stormwind fallacy, the idea that one cannot optimize and roleplay at the same time.

What you've asked implies that a strong build is exclusive from a fun playstyle.

You can build a strong character and play them in a fun way. As Jay R said, play the character, not the class. If you want to see how people play fun characters (not classes) read the threads about events, rather than character builds. The reason you don't see threads about "fun ways to play classes" is because that is a highly subjective topic, everyone finds different things fun, wheras a strong build is much more objective. On the other hand, stories are much more objectively entertaining (though still ultimately subjective, but much less so).

And generally the reason people gravitate to strong builds is usually because they enable players more options in how they can play their character, ultimately allowing them the freedom to choose to play however they want, letting their playstyle evolve and adapt to whatever circumstance they are in, wheras building a highly specific build to do one "fun" little quirk quickly gets old and is generally going to be useless in at least a decent number of circumstances due to it's specific nature.

[Inevitability]

Vow of Nonviolence and Vow of Peace are some reatively powerful feats with that drawback.

With the minor difference that self-imposed pacifism doesn't screw over your allies if they hurt someone.

[Jormengand]

With the minor difference that self-imposed pacifism doesn't screw over your allies if they hurt someone.

Well, I would assume that Holding someone's Person so that your fighter can lop their head off with a greatsword is kinda cheating on the "Pacifism" front anyways.

[Hiro Quester]

A guy I played with, who played our party wizard, played him as totally freakin insane.

He rolled a d20 to see which personality/ and intensity of reaction his PC would have in a given situation.

So when we really needed him to throw up BFC against an easy foe, he'd roll a 1 on his reaction and flee in panic instead. For 1d4 rounds. Or when confronted by an ancient red dragon he'd roll a 20 so try his best to intimidate it.

It was fun for him, and often added some interesting challenges for the rest of the group.

Spell Thematics can also add some fun to a caster. This same player fluffed many of his spells as kids' toys.

E.g. a "halt" spell was a little spiral shaped noise maker that spiraled out as he blew it and turned in to a picture of a police officer with a big sign that said "STOP" that impeded the other character's movement.

[A.A.King]

I am currently playing a Bard as a Blaster, it's probably the weakest kind of blaster you can have as well as being the weakest way to play a bard, but I like the image. The whole Sonic Spells + Music = Damage is basically how I've always experienced Opera music so I play her as Wager Valkyrie (instead of a more traditional Valkyrie).

[Flickerdart]

I've seen a lot of threads asking for the best way to play various classes, the strongest builds, the hardest to counter, but I was wondering, does anybody feel like sharing their ideas for really fun ways to play various classes? What builds guarantee entertainment value? How do you ensure that things will be exciting? Just from what I saw looking at their spells, it seems to me that you could have fun playing a druid as a really sneaky, creative did-I-say-you-could-move type that just controls the battlefield and relentlessly screws with the enemy. Please share your ideas.

Axiom: Playing D&D is fun. Therefore, the more you play, the more fun you have.
Corollary: Not playing D&D is not fun. Therefore, the less you play, the less fun you have.

If your character is not able to contribute to the current scene, you are twiddling your thumbs instead of playing D&D, and therefore having less fun than you could be.
If your character is not cooperating with the party (too strong, too weak, too Evil, too Good), you are arguing with your friends instead of playing D&D, and therefore having less fun than you could be.

Therefore, the most fun builds are the ones that always have something to do (with the extra bonus of leaving room for the other players to also do something). Such a build will have either a toolbox, or a cure-all stick. Prepared casters are a great example of the former (My butt is itchy but I'm in a meeting with the king, good thing I prepared still silent Bigby's butt-scratching hand this morning!). Spontaneous casters are a great example of the latter (Polymorph is the only spell known you ever need!). So pick your poison.

Hitting things with a stick, or hitting things with a stick a second time, or hitting things with a stick for +2 damage are not universally applicable, or really all that useful. If your turn consists of saying "I full attack" then you may not be playing a fun build.

[Psyren]

One that I've always wanted to play is a male White-Haired Witch Eldritch Knight, for beard-fu. Or do a female one with Ear-Piercing Scream and be Sindel.


I am currently playing a Bard as a Blaster, it's probably the weakest kind of blaster you can have as well as being the weakest way to play a bard, but I like the image. The whole Sonic Spells + Music = Damage is basically how I've always experienced Opera music so I play her as Wager Valkyrie (instead of a more traditional Valkyrie).

Are you playing Pathfinder? The Sound Striker would be perfect for this.

[Calthropstu]

I am still looking for a PFS partner to go Beavis and Butthead, the sorcerer/bard combo.

[A.A.King]

Are you playing Pathfinder? The Sound Striker would be perfect for this.

No, I am playing 3.5 so I took enough levels of Lyric Thaumaturge to get the Sonic Might ability and after that I'm just going generally bard to keep improved on the Inspire Courage ability. The blasting may not be too powerful compared to an optimized blaster, but atleast the Inspire Courage ability is always useful and allows me to contribute.