4E: Why are people so hung up over the Dumbass Melee Fighter
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 8:43 pm
So the biggest impetus for 4E was removing the sword-based class/caster imbalance. And we can see where that ended up.
So, I've heard several times on this board is that this is a better edition because the new fighter is better than the old fighter. Which hasn't been proven, but whatever. Let's go with it.
Why is this such a big deal? I mean, seriously, who gives a fuck about this character? It's frankly a low-level archetype, like a plucky squire on a regular horse. Even if you crank up the power to the max, it's inherently going to be boring. Series which involve supposedly high-level Dumbass Melee Fighters, such as Hercules and Bleach, tend to have their protagonists doing things people didn't want their Dumbass Melee Fighters to do.
Yes, really. Hercules ended up having ridiculous amounts of strength, like enough to alter the course of rivers and holding up the sky. He was also an extremely competent archer and negotiator. And at least Bleach, despite being Dragonball Z with swords, mixes it up with the characters being able to float in the air and teleport.
But fans of the Dumbass Melee Fighter don't want these two archetypes. They somehow envision characters like King Arthur being able to carry the day until level 20. This is actually feasible to do in the context of combat. Even if you alter the numbers correctly so they're competent in combat, like Frank and K's fighter class, they're inherently going to have fewer world-shaking abilities. It's just part of the package.
But people can't get over the fact that a 20th level fighter is still going to have to bum rides and pay the local wizard's guild to get to the elemental planes. So what's the solution? Make EVERYONE have to do it the way the 20th level DMF has to.
My question to you is... why?
So, I've heard several times on this board is that this is a better edition because the new fighter is better than the old fighter. Which hasn't been proven, but whatever. Let's go with it.
Why is this such a big deal? I mean, seriously, who gives a fuck about this character? It's frankly a low-level archetype, like a plucky squire on a regular horse. Even if you crank up the power to the max, it's inherently going to be boring. Series which involve supposedly high-level Dumbass Melee Fighters, such as Hercules and Bleach, tend to have their protagonists doing things people didn't want their Dumbass Melee Fighters to do.
Yes, really. Hercules ended up having ridiculous amounts of strength, like enough to alter the course of rivers and holding up the sky. He was also an extremely competent archer and negotiator. And at least Bleach, despite being Dragonball Z with swords, mixes it up with the characters being able to float in the air and teleport.
But fans of the Dumbass Melee Fighter don't want these two archetypes. They somehow envision characters like King Arthur being able to carry the day until level 20. This is actually feasible to do in the context of combat. Even if you alter the numbers correctly so they're competent in combat, like Frank and K's fighter class, they're inherently going to have fewer world-shaking abilities. It's just part of the package.
But people can't get over the fact that a 20th level fighter is still going to have to bum rides and pay the local wizard's guild to get to the elemental planes. So what's the solution? Make EVERYONE have to do it the way the 20th level DMF has to.
My question to you is... why?