Re: DM: Hallelujah! Good roll-ups for a change!

From: itlm013@dale.ucdavis.edu (Donnie Trump)

Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 18:46:23 +0000

In article <1993Apr25.175309.14277@rdii.com> jas@rdii.com (Jim Smith) writes:
>Finally, the roll-up gods have heard my prayers and petitions.  The trumpet
>has sounded, the gates have opened and the following roll-up has poured forth:
>
>3-3-12-14-15-10-13
>
>It ain't perfect, but it's the best I've ever gotten.  So now that I have it,
>what do I do with it and how do I keep it alive?

The easiest way to keep a character alive is to win every fight.  That's
sure fire.  And the best way to win every fight is to optimize the roll-up,
and the strategy you use.  With this roll-up I'd go...

TP
ST  3 + 2 =  5
CN  3 + 0 =  3
SZ 12 + 0 = 12
WT 14 + 3 = 17
WL 15 + 2 = 17
SP 10 + 3 = 13
DF 13 + 4 = 17

This roll-up could just as easily have been a piker, plunger, ripper,or
aimed blow, but I chose total parry because it gives the best chance of
winning the first five fights (and thus staying alive), the lowest
endurance cost this side of the aimed blow, and the best use of the incred-
ible defenses that the 17/17/13/17 combo is going to give you.

5 strength allows use of the most popular total parry weapons: shortsword
	and dagger, and shortsword and small shield (at least, most popular
	for my parriers).  Of course, the Broadsword/Shortsword combo
	is better, but for that you'd have to be a SZ 6, which you aren't.
	I firmly believe that a 5 ST is enough for this roll-up.
3 con is beautiful, just beautiful.  In conjunction with the 12 SZ, it
	should give "cannot take a lot" (I think, I haven't checked it
	against my tables) and the ability to take a blow without dying.
	The 17 WL is a concern (he's more likely to hold out until the
	deathblow falls), but with this roll-up, it's much better to
	leave the points in other areas.
12 size is pretty good for the offensive tp -- no penalties for large size,
	and the bonuses for being able to take some damage. My best tp
	was a SZ 14, so your size 12 is fine.
17 wit is pretty much standard operating procedure.  I might be tempted
	to try for the 21 wit, but you can't, so I stayed at 17.
17 will is a sticking point.  21 will/13 deftness may seem to be a better
	choice, but I chose 17/17 in the event that you get to AD.  In
	that case, you could then train WT/WL/DF to 25 fairly easily and
	quickly, whereas the 13 DF would be difficult to train.  Also, a
	21 WL/3 CN character is *much less* likely to survive.  Mostly,
	though, the 17 was just my personal preference without a lot of
	reasons to back it up. :)
13 speed enhances your defense, as well as your ability to riposte (a nec-
	essary skill for this character).  This fighter is going to wear
	his opponents down by letting them wear themselves out on his
	shield, while occasionally nipping at them with ripostes.  His
	fights will last 5-6 minutes, but without the good riposte, they'll
	last longer and he'll inevitably lose.
17 deftness is just too nice to pass up.  It gives attack and parry, the two
	best skills in the game, as well as defense and riposte, which are
	nice to have.  I like it enough to pass up the 21 will for it.

I'd run this character in APL/H with SH/SM vs. all armor types.  I'd run
him 2-4-2-Parry for the first 2 minutes, 3-5-3-None for the 3rd and
4th, 4-5-4-None in the 5th, 3-1-3-None in 6thon, and 3-7-3-Riposte in
desperation.  Train skills, and challenge the finesse styles (but avoid
aimed blows).  Plungers, pikers, and rippers should never be a worry, and
eventually lungers and bashers will make convenient targets.  Early on,
challenge guys who are quite unlikely to kill you.  Specifically, look
for other guys whose fights last 5-7 minutes, on average (but no one in
the 10+ minute category).

>Along with it, I got the following two other roll-ups which ain't too bad
>either:
>
>9-5-9-10-8-13-16

BA
ST  9 + 4 = 13
CN  5 + 0 =  5
SZ  9 + 0 =  9
WT 10 + 3 = 13
WL  8 + 2 = 10
SP 13 + 0 = 13
DF 16 + 5 = 21

13 strength is good for bashers, as it gives most of the weapons but most
	importantly the war hammer.  In conjunction with the 9 size, it
	should give good to great damage.
5 con is something I wish I saw more of.
9 size is perfect for any offensive.  This character could be anything but
	lunger (not enough WL). I chose basher because I believe they take
	the best advantage of medium ST/high DF combos.
13 wit is a good compromise.  I could knock the DF down to 17 and pump
	WT to 15 and ST to 15, but I believe that the 21 DF is important
	enough (especially as an element of surprise) to merit losing a
	little bit of WT. Personally, I don't see much difference between
	the 13 and 15 WT's, not enough to make up for the skills bonus of
	the 21 DF.  In AD, bashers generally suck anyway, so try to make
	this guy as good in the regular game as you can.
10 will is plenty, especially with the extra point.  I've had 7-11 WL
	bashers do much better than my 17-21 WL bashers, so I prefer the
	lower WL.
13 speed is nice when you can get it, which you can here.  It gives a little
	extra decis and init, which comes in handy when you're attacking
	rippers (the bane of this type of setup).  Plus, it gives the
	occasional dodge.
21 deftness is really the key to the success of this roll-up.  It gives not
	only additional attack skills, but also increased attack success,
	and better precision in attacks.  This can allow you to attack, and
	hit, the arms and legs of defensives, as well as the chest and head
	of offensives.  No one will expect this out of a basher, which is
	worth an extra win or two per ten fights.

I'd run this guy in ALE/L with a single war hammer versus all opponents
(no backups until Adepts).  Run him 10-5-6-None in the first minute, 10-6-8-
Bash in the 2nd, and 8-5-8-None in the 3rdon, with 10-6-6-Decis in
desperation.  Challenge parry styles as much as possible, as well as
aimed blows.  Shy away from scum until you get a few skills past
advanced expert attack, then challenge at will.  This character should always
do well versus parry styles.  He should do well against other offensives
as well, but it's a better idea to avoid them as much as possible, since
a couple lucky shots will send you to the infirmary.

>12-9-14-13-5-9-8
>
>Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

SL
ST 12 + 1 = 13
CN  9 + 0 =  9
SZ 14 + 0 = 14
WT 13 + 4 = 17
WL  5 + 4 =  9
SP  9 + 0 =  9
DF  8 + 5 = 13

13 strength allows all the necessary slashing weapons -- leaving out only
	the battle axe, which can be used anyway versus the heaviest armor
	types.  In conjunction with the 14 SZ, I think you can reasonably
	expect to get great damage with this roll-up. That is the key to
	winning with slashers, I've found.
9 con is borderline high, but may give the abiity to take a stray shot,
	and also a little more endurance, which slashers can always use.
14 size is something we can't do anything about.  I don't usually like
	middle sizes (anything from 13-16) because they give penalties
	to defense without any real bonuses to offense.
17 wit is good for any roll-up.  This rollup needs a strength, but doesn't
	really have one.  21 wit would have been nice, but as it is you're
	going to have to rely on doing great damage.  Hope that you get
	it.
9 will is perfect for slashers.
9 speed is pretty good for any rollup. With the 13 deftness, this should
	be enough.  Personally, I prefer a 17 SP 13 DF slasher, but then
	again that would be a strength, which this rollup doesn't have.
13 deftness gives good attack and riposte bonuses, which this rollup
	needs.

I would run this guy in ALE/L with a scimitar vs. light (0,14) and a
longsword for all others (15,+).  Run him 10-6-6-None in the first 3 minutes,
and 8-2-8-None for 4thon, going 10-4-8-None in desperation.  Avoid rippers,
because this design is practically designed to lose to them.  Your
main advantage is going to be over lungers, who have a hard time avoiding
your slash, and plungers who will have an even harder time.  Scum may
have a hard time, but then again if you don't get a good initial attack
rating they'll be able to defend against enough of your strokes to tire
you out.  Even pikers will do well against this guy.  He's probably a
15-15 AD fighter, unless he gets lucky on his initial skill ratings.

Trump
dfcleary@ucdavis.edu

References

DM: Hallelujah! Good roll-ups for a change!
jas@rdii.com (Jim Smith)
Sun, 25 Apr 1993 17:53:09 +0000

Referenced By

DM: Hallelujah! Good roll-ups for a change!
jas@rdii.com (Jim Smith)
Sun, 25 Apr 1993 17:53:09 +0000