Can you check in every day or so? One attraction of this game is that if you must take a leave of absence for a while the game can carry on without you. As to “never played before”, sure. Just picture yourself as being a character in an adventure story and do what you would have him do.
For example, if you check the story fragment upthread you may like to think what Bjarni might do next. Flee the country, in anticipation of the Jarl’s wrath? Journey to the Jarl’s stronghold and make his apologies? Stand his ground on his own settlement and hope the Jarl is too busy to punish him straight away? Challenge the Jarl himself to settle it man to man?
As mentioned, a fighter - even Bjarni himself - is easy to play. When the rough stuff starts your options are usually “Hit opponent X with weapon Y” and you don’t need to get into complicated decisions about which of your special abilities to use. But there can be nuances which you will pick up as you go along (should you decide to join in).
You said “When convenient”. And I’m not old enough (or too old, as the case may be) to sit up until four in the morning, but I’ve been having some thoughts as to berserkers with enormous axes while I’ve been walking the dog, never fear.
I’m on the Eastern Time zone, and tend to be online usually around 11pm-1am. But I can check in during afternoons some days.
And any suggestions for what weapon a wizard should wield? I just am not sure right now, as the idea of a Wizard with a Bow or spear just seems off to me.
As least my dude has a name.
~Roosh
The normal D&D weapons for a Wizard are quarterstaff and dagger. However, I suspect that these will not be what Malacandra wants.
Given the cultural expectations, learn the use of the battleaxe. If you’re going to have to learn a weapon, make it a good one. Yes it’s abnormal for a wizard, but it’s not abnormal for a viking.
Yeah, I’m learning towards the Longsword, Bow, or Spear myself if I must be a Viking Wizard. Any suggestions or Pro’s/Con’s of each? Especially if they tend to carry the weight of having a particular deity behind them. My wizard will probably be a follower of Odin (Wisdom and all that), but I don’t want to step on toes, and since we’ve already got a Spear-Chucker, maybe I should do something else. Suggestions?
Depends on what you want your character to be in game, and what you think he’s done in the past.
If he’s a faithful follower of Odin, learn teh spear, since that’s a the favoured weapon of the deity. From the point of view of gameplay, a spear makes an interesting choice because it discourages people from running screaming at you if they think that they’re likely to find themselves jumping onto a spearpoint. The appearance of being able to hurt someone close up can be useful in deterring assaults. But not always.
If you ant to make him a bit of a lone wolf hunter type, then the bow or spear are the best choices. The bow will enable you to contribute at low levels even when you run out of spells. But shooting arrows at people is a bad idea if they’re right next to you and waving a sword in your face.
Learn the sword if you fancy being a berserker mage who uses his spells to make himself stronger then runs in and bashes heads. I wouldn’t recommend this (not in 1st or 2nd Ed rulesets). Magi should stay out of melee combat as much as possible, as disrupting spells is very easy.
After thinking through all that, I’d be inclined to take the spear. Close-in defence if you need it. You have spells to take things out at range; 5th level is about the time you get access to the first really devastating ones.
Hmm… the pointy stick for keeping people away, eh? I’m liking that idea more than the idea of blindly running at the enemy swinging the sword. Gracias for the advice, mhaye.
Malacandra may even be willing to allow you more than one weapon- he’s allowing me both javelins and a spear. He’s even going to work with my crackpot idea about carrying an Atlatl.
Personally, I’m the type of person more concerned with the effort/effect ratio than maximum effectiveness. It makes me a born Summoner or archer in many games, as I try desperately to avoid losing a single hit point. So I’m a spellcaster with ranged weapons in this game.
On the other hand, we could always stand another melee fighter.
Don’t worry about ‘stepping on toes’ with a weapon choice. Your main problem will be to avoid being trampled in the rush of the Beserkers and Fighters rushing forward. :eek:
As has been said, you only need a weapon because you’re a Viking.
The party will want you to cast your spells cleverly and defend yourself if you have to.
Remember the Norse saying: ‘If the Wizard goes in to fight, the party are in trouble!’
I say! Can this be the charming chap playing Deor the MU in another game, who takes amazing risks?!
Deor has offered to go in and fight orcs and is currently reading a probably trapped spellbook (85% chance of taking about 21 hit points - with no save :eek: )
Plus the main party healer is out of curing spells…
No! No! Wizards are not melee fighters, not even Viking ones. Fighters have more health, better armour, hit more often, do more damage and have a better choice of weapons.
Wizards should be protected so they can safely cast their spells.
One thing the wizard can do, though, is use a nice long spear to poke something out of arm’s reach while a friendly fighter keeps it away from him. It’s perfectly true that he’s much less effective, even with the campaign special rules, than a for-real fighter, but at least he’s a little less of a bumbling incompetent than he would normally be.
That doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. Isn’t his role of particular importance? Shouldn’t someone with a clue play that role?
I’m not against playing it. I just question the wisdom of my playing it.
Internet roleplaying is faster and much shallower than the face-to-face version. Your Dungeon Master will brief you clearly beforehand, then you just play in your own style.
I’ve only seen a two-handed Axe at a distance and I’ve never foamed at the mouth, nor done any pillaging. (Most of my time is spent playing chess and computer games.)
However I expect to be a cracking Beserker, terrifying the opposition and amazing my comrades with my fearlessness. :eek:
And I pledge to follow Bjarni, wherever he may lead…
And I’m not old enough (or too old, as the case may be) to sit up until four in the morning, but I’ve been having some thoughts as to berserkers with enormous axes while I’ve been walking the dog, never fear.
