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4e-like game (title TBD)
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<blockquote data-quote="Composer99" data-source="post: 9230857" data-attributes="member: 7030042"><p><strong>The Berserker</strong></p><p>The 4e barbarian is a primal-theme class. (Indeed, that's their power source in 4e.)</p><p></p><p>I think I'd like this game's equivalent to be more of a martial-themed class.</p><p></p><p><strong>Core Ideas</strong></p><p>I had worked up a prototype/pre-generate berserker, but I think I'll be rejigging it to better fit the core ideas of the class. These are:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rage</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Living on the Edge</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mobile Heavy Hitter</li> </ul><p></p><p><em>Rage</em></p><p>You can't have a berserker without rage, at least to my mind. The berserker's combat shtick revolves around accumulating rage and then burning through it to achieve their cool powers. This allows berserkers to sustain the use of their cool combat abilities over the course of a combat, although they won't always have access to them every turn.</p><p></p><p>Right now I'm thinking that this will be Rage Dice, which you should get by doing things that fit the class fantasy of the berserker, and that you spend by doing other things that fit the class fantasy of the berserker.</p><p></p><p>For instance, charging and scoring critical hits should give you Rage Dice. So will becoming bloodied or being hit by a critical hit.</p><p></p><p>You can actually see an older iteration of this idea in homebrew I put up at <a href="https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?621911-Barbarian-Rage-Damage-Variant" target="_blank">Giant in the Playground</a>. This berserker won't necessarily look like that, but there are similarities in concept.</p><p></p><p>A way the berserker will perform <em>some</em> resource conservation is that they are <strong>raging</strong> as long as they have at least 1 Rage Die, which gives certain benefits, such as boosting the effects of their at-will powers or access to certain utility powers. So there are times when you'll be thinking about the trade-off of delivering a big hit versus giving up your raging benefits for a time.</p><p></p><p>One point of customisation for barbarians is that they can gain some thematic benefit when they begin raging. These benefits can be reminiscent of the ones you get with a 4e rage daily power - a buff to Speed, for instance, or say, once per round knocking a creature prone with a melee weapon attack.</p><p></p><p><em>Living on the Edge</em></p><p>The berserker likes to live on the edge. This is supported by the ways they can build up Rage Dice, but I also want to give them passive buffs that are in effect while they're bloodied. The idea is to incentivise pushing your luck, more so than other classes will want to.</p><p></p><p>I actually think it would be cool if the buffs could escalate when a berserker is at 0 hit points, but I think that's pushing things too far. (More on that at the end of this post.)</p><p></p><p><em>Mobile Heavy Hitter</em></p><p>The barbarian likes to charge, more than any other melee-oriented character, because that's the most reliable way for them to generate Rage Dice. (Or, at least, it's the one that the player has the most control over!)</p><p></p><p>Although I say "heavy hitter", the barbarian doesn't have to be wielding a big two-handed weapon! The 4e barbarian at least supported a two-weapon-fighting variant, and while I'm not sure I'd want to support that version in the core rules, I'm certainly hoping to be able to support such a kit in future. "Heavy hitter" just means that the barbarian also wants to be dealing damage! They can act as a defender/tank secondary, but their main shtick is to deal damage.</p><p></p><p>I am getting too tired to go on, so gonna wrap things up. I thought I might have more to say, but I think the discussion on the core ideas of the berserker is enough to be getting on with.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Composer99, post: 9230857, member: 7030042"] [B]The Berserker[/B] The 4e barbarian is a primal-theme class. (Indeed, that's their power source in 4e.) I think I'd like this game's equivalent to be more of a martial-themed class. [B]Core Ideas[/B] I had worked up a prototype/pre-generate berserker, but I think I'll be rejigging it to better fit the core ideas of the class. These are: [LIST] [*]Rage [*]Living on the Edge [*]Mobile Heavy Hitter [/LIST] [I]Rage[/I] You can't have a berserker without rage, at least to my mind. The berserker's combat shtick revolves around accumulating rage and then burning through it to achieve their cool powers. This allows berserkers to sustain the use of their cool combat abilities over the course of a combat, although they won't always have access to them every turn. Right now I'm thinking that this will be Rage Dice, which you should get by doing things that fit the class fantasy of the berserker, and that you spend by doing other things that fit the class fantasy of the berserker. For instance, charging and scoring critical hits should give you Rage Dice. So will becoming bloodied or being hit by a critical hit. You can actually see an older iteration of this idea in homebrew I put up at [URL='https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?621911-Barbarian-Rage-Damage-Variant']Giant in the Playground[/URL]. This berserker won't necessarily look like that, but there are similarities in concept. A way the berserker will perform [I]some[/I] resource conservation is that they are [B]raging[/B] as long as they have at least 1 Rage Die, which gives certain benefits, such as boosting the effects of their at-will powers or access to certain utility powers. So there are times when you'll be thinking about the trade-off of delivering a big hit versus giving up your raging benefits for a time. One point of customisation for barbarians is that they can gain some thematic benefit when they begin raging. These benefits can be reminiscent of the ones you get with a 4e rage daily power - a buff to Speed, for instance, or say, once per round knocking a creature prone with a melee weapon attack. [I]Living on the Edge[/I] The berserker likes to live on the edge. This is supported by the ways they can build up Rage Dice, but I also want to give them passive buffs that are in effect while they're bloodied. The idea is to incentivise pushing your luck, more so than other classes will want to. I actually think it would be cool if the buffs could escalate when a berserker is at 0 hit points, but I think that's pushing things too far. (More on that at the end of this post.) [I]Mobile Heavy Hitter[/I] The barbarian likes to charge, more than any other melee-oriented character, because that's the most reliable way for them to generate Rage Dice. (Or, at least, it's the one that the player has the most control over!) Although I say "heavy hitter", the barbarian doesn't have to be wielding a big two-handed weapon! The 4e barbarian at least supported a two-weapon-fighting variant, and while I'm not sure I'd want to support that version in the core rules, I'm certainly hoping to be able to support such a kit in future. "Heavy hitter" just means that the barbarian also wants to be dealing damage! They can act as a defender/tank secondary, but their main shtick is to deal damage. I am getting too tired to go on, so gonna wrap things up. I thought I might have more to say, but I think the discussion on the core ideas of the berserker is enough to be getting on with. [/QUOTE]
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