seekingferret (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seekingferret) wrote2016-05-26 01:53 pm
seekingferret) wrote2016-05-26 01:53 pm
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I posted about creating a 3.5 ranger character about a year ago. Just completed my first dungeon crawl with him over a year's worth of quasi-bi-weekly sessions.
Some thoughts:
Its jack-of-all-tradesness is sometimes frustrating in a well-balanced party. I have stealth skills I rarely use because our rogue generally makes a better dungeon scout. I have healing skills I rarely use because our cleric is a better healer. On the other hand, as a jack of all trades fighter I do offer useful versatility. Though my character focus is on archery and ranged combat, though I am most deadly as a sniper, a role I performed in our boss fight, my character is also capable of wielding a longsword and being the party's frontline fighter in weeks when our actual frontline fighter is not there.
In terms of character, I'm stumbling a little more. The canonical ranger is early LotR Strider, right? Once he becomes Aragorn, though, his canonical ranger attributes fade into the background. Late LotR Aragorn is definitely multiclassed out of ranger, into some sort of warrior-king prestige class. I'm finding the same thing is happening to me as we dungeon crawl because the very act of being part of a party and adventuring together undermines the ranger's classic loner status. He has to work together, share the load, and he is gaining experience from doing that, even though trust is very hard for him. I'm not sure where he's heading, though.
My other current D&D character started as a base mercenary fighter and has evolved into a mercantilist prince whose most powerful weapons are his lawyers and accountants. I don't exactly plan for these things to happen, I just see where the adventure and my own curiosity and intellectual preoccupations take me and very often it ends up surprising me. A Level 3 Ranger is too early to see where the character is headed, but it is definitely not toward a Level 10 Ranger.
In life news, I am heading to Balticon this weekend and I am excited for that. As it is the 50th anniversary edition, they've invited back a whole bunch of past guests of honor, and that spectacle and the fact that GRRM is the 'official' guest of honor means it's going to be a much bigger event than usual, almost the size of a small Worldcon. I liked Balticon a lot last year, as there were lots of cool people and I felt that the extra day of convention gave me the breathing room to really enjoy myself. This year, where it's not on Shavuos and I'll only have Sabbath restrictions on one day, I should be able to take fuller advantage of the con's offerings. I'm also looking forward to seeingfreeradical42- since he finished his PhD and moved to Westchester, it's been harder to schedule time to hang out... it's almost exclusively been at cons over the past six months.
And after I get back from Balticon I will continue my frantic packing, as I am moving into a new apartment a couple towns over June 1st! It should be a better situation- access to more young Jewish community, closer commute to work, closer access to trains into the City, a number of other benefits. But packing always brings tsouris, so hopefully that won't be too much crazy. I am trying not to panic.
Some thoughts:
Its jack-of-all-tradesness is sometimes frustrating in a well-balanced party. I have stealth skills I rarely use because our rogue generally makes a better dungeon scout. I have healing skills I rarely use because our cleric is a better healer. On the other hand, as a jack of all trades fighter I do offer useful versatility. Though my character focus is on archery and ranged combat, though I am most deadly as a sniper, a role I performed in our boss fight, my character is also capable of wielding a longsword and being the party's frontline fighter in weeks when our actual frontline fighter is not there.
In terms of character, I'm stumbling a little more. The canonical ranger is early LotR Strider, right? Once he becomes Aragorn, though, his canonical ranger attributes fade into the background. Late LotR Aragorn is definitely multiclassed out of ranger, into some sort of warrior-king prestige class. I'm finding the same thing is happening to me as we dungeon crawl because the very act of being part of a party and adventuring together undermines the ranger's classic loner status. He has to work together, share the load, and he is gaining experience from doing that, even though trust is very hard for him. I'm not sure where he's heading, though.
My other current D&D character started as a base mercenary fighter and has evolved into a mercantilist prince whose most powerful weapons are his lawyers and accountants. I don't exactly plan for these things to happen, I just see where the adventure and my own curiosity and intellectual preoccupations take me and very often it ends up surprising me. A Level 3 Ranger is too early to see where the character is headed, but it is definitely not toward a Level 10 Ranger.
In life news, I am heading to Balticon this weekend and I am excited for that. As it is the 50th anniversary edition, they've invited back a whole bunch of past guests of honor, and that spectacle and the fact that GRRM is the 'official' guest of honor means it's going to be a much bigger event than usual, almost the size of a small Worldcon. I liked Balticon a lot last year, as there were lots of cool people and I felt that the extra day of convention gave me the breathing room to really enjoy myself. This year, where it's not on Shavuos and I'll only have Sabbath restrictions on one day, I should be able to take fuller advantage of the con's offerings. I'm also looking forward to seeing
freeradical42- since he finished his PhD and moved to Westchester, it's been harder to schedule time to hang out... it's almost exclusively been at cons over the past six months.And after I get back from Balticon I will continue my frantic packing, as I am moving into a new apartment a couple towns over June 1st! It should be a better situation- access to more young Jewish community, closer commute to work, closer access to trains into the City, a number of other benefits. But packing always brings tsouris, so hopefully that won't be too much crazy. I am trying not to panic.
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I hope the con is excellent.