dragonlvr's page

She just hates the d20 system because of all the math and skill checks involved. World of Darkness she gets into just fine...

My wife is the same way, she loved playing her Vampire: The Requiem character, but has trouble with all that's involved with D&D, though I have to give her serious kudos for all the effort she's put into it.

My wife had never been interested in gaming until we got together and she enjoys it. We have yet had a problem when she games. We keep our daily lives separate from our gaming lives and she pokes more fun at my characters than the others at the table. She still has trouble with the rules, but that's to be expected to someone who is just picking up the game and everyone at the table helps her and encourages her for a good time. The best advice I can give is to make it a supporting environment and make sure she has as much fun as everyone else. If there ever arises a problem with her as a gamer talk to them and the other players separately and find out what they believe is the best solution to the problem and find a happy medium if at all possible.

PH-Listen, Search, and Spot: class skills for everyone. Because really who can't stand at a door listen to it or look down a hill and see if someone is hiding in the bushes?

PH-Toughness: Grants 3HP/level instead of just when you take the feat.

but in a game like d&d it just promotes imbalance.

I don't see how it promotes imbalance for a spellcaster of high enough levels to almost completely ignore the chance for an AoO by casting defensively. At 20th level a wizard has a whopping average of 40 HP + CON modifier, presumably at least a +3 or +4, so he would have about 120 HP. A 20th level Fighter has an average of 100 HP + CON modifier, again presumably at least a +3 or +4, so about 180. At 20th level fighters get 5 attacks, the highest unmodified of which is +20 (my fighter had a +37 after my STR, enhancement Bonus, feats, etc.), and from personal experience the first 3 usually hit. The wizard can cast ONE spell per round. Granted the wizard has access to spells such as Disintigrate, Wish, etc. But still even if the target fails its save on Disintigrate the average damage is 120, just barely above average of what my fighter was dishing out with 3 successful hits and the fighter can do that all day long whereas the wizard will only have a limited number of times in which to prepare/cast such powerful spells. That seems imbalanced to me. If you're going to gimp the spellcaster and make him have to roll even harder concentration checks then why not have the fighter roll a concentration check while attacking an enemy because he is focused on attacking and not defending himself from attacks unless he attacks defensively? To me the spell caster has always been a little unbalanced in the fact that after a Wizard casts all of his spells he has nothing to do but stand back and try to not get hit, which is one change I'm really looking forward to in 4th ed. Ok I've ranted enough here.

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What they said.

I just found where it talks about ranged touch attacks in the PHB. Page 141 at the top above the tables. No attacks of opprotunity are granted for delivering a ranged touch attack.

I've never thought that the Concentration checks for defensive casting were broken at all. I look at it like this: the higher in level and the more powerful a caster is, the better he should be at casting. This would come from a combination of spell mastery and combat experience. And unless someone has spent the time to actually learn how a spellcaster takes the time to be aware of his surroundings and cast (as with the Mage Slayer feat DmRrostarr mentioned earlier that denied defensive casting to the caster) then they shouldn't get any added bonuses to attack the caster.

Targets: One creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart

I'm going to try to explain this as best as I can. In our party the wizard tried to cast Haste expecting to catch everyone, but the DM ruled that one would be left out. The set up was like this:

Although this isn't a PrC if you take 3 combat form feats (PHB2), one of which is Combat Vigor then you gain fast healing 4 while in combat focus. Also the Warlock (again not a PrC) from the Complete Arcane has fast healing called fiendish resilience starting at 8th level.

Fiendish Resilience (Su): Beginning at 8th level, a warlock knows the trick of fiendish resilience. Once per day, as a free action, he can enter a state that lasts for 2 minutes. While in this state the warlock gains fast healing 1. At 13th level, a warlock's fiendish resilience improves. When in his fiendish resilience state, he gains fast healing 2 instead. At 18th level, a warlock's fiendish resilience immproves to fast healing 5.

This may or may not help but I hope it does.

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First your DM has to let this fly. My players tend to abuse this sort of thing so I generally stomp on the concept. Somewhere between slung light crossbow and every weapon the player has, including dire flails and polearms on ropes tied to a players belt there is a happy medium. I've yet to quite get to it.

Check with your DM.

Oh yeah, there's definitely a limit on what can be slung. I just can't justify having a greatsword slung on your belt and dropping it so that it can be retrieved. If a player insisted on this I'd pose a penalty on all attacks and defense because the of huge unwieldly piece of steel dangling off his belt and dragging on the ground. A dagger would be fine. I'd limit it to light weapons only, with a few exceptions (rapier maybe).

Dude, it's the DMG, pg. 204-205. There's another table a few pages before dealing with mounts in general and the leadership feat, and how a paladin's mount interacts with said rules. Then you turn the page and Bam! The list updated to 3.5. No leadership feat required. Just level minimums (and a note that Unicorns only accept female paladin riders).

GAH!!!!! I checked DMG2 but not the 3.5 DMG. I didn't even think about it being in there after the 3.5 update. Thanks Vigil.

I've searched through my books and couldn't find it in anything but Defenders of Faith, though I don't have the Complete Champion so it could be in there. But the exact table you were talking about, hippogriffs at 6th, griffons at 8th and aquatic mounts are on that table. Page 13 of Defenders of Faith. I need to get Complete Champion, and if I can get it soon I'll check and see if its in there for you.

Yeah I saw a post on the "Limiting Cleric Spell Lists" thread about making different spell lists, its a good idea that I hadn't thought of. But since my cleric died this past game session, I'm going to try playing a favored soul which uses the cleric spell list to spontaneously cast divine spells. So maybe that too will help cut down on time.

Yeah I would think that the leather strap would work in keeping the crossbow with you and if you wanted to switch back to it you could always just drop your sword since, unfortunately, Quick Draw doesn't work both ways. I would still say that its still considered "drawing" a weapon to use the crossbow again, and that it would benefit from the Quick Draw feat if you don't currently have it. Unless you plan on drawing while moving every single time which may, or may not, provoke an attack of opportunity.

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There was an entry under a Divine Sourcebook put out in 3.0, if I'm not mistaken. I believe the title was Defenders of Faith, but don't hold me to that. I remember at one point thinking "Wow, a high enough level paladin can get a lion for a mount." so I'm pretty sure it was this book.

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I'm a player in Tam's group. And while not the most experienced player, I'm definitely no novice. While I do have my moments where I'm not prepared, the big slowdowns of the current game are that 1.) Both players are playing 2 gestalt character for the Savage Tide Adventure Path and that 2.) We both decided to try to go for some new character types we've never played before. I've never really played a cleric until this game and the other had never really played a spell caster at all. So part of it is that we are currently referencing books (mostly the PHB and Spell Compendium) for the rules of the characters and spells. I cut down some of the time for my characters by typing out their abilities, feats, etc. and the spells that the Fighter/Warmage uses. But the big chunk of my time was taken up when trying to prepare the Cleric Spells for the day. There are just so many that its so hard to remember half of them and what they do.

Some of the spells that Tam is talking about are spells like daylight/darkness. One paragraph says they suppress each other, the other says they dispel each other. The description of Demon Dirge under the spells list says that it deals 3d6 damage, but under the actual spell description it says 2d6. We've come across more but those are the ons that currently come to mind.

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I agreed with my DM's decision. His first reaction was to change my alignment to CE, but after hearing my arguments and asking some other DMs for their advice, he decided against that. The two reasons my DM gave for the loss of the spells were that 1.) I had put myself in the situation by trying to dominate him to get the fair item prices. And 2.) I killed him when instead I could have easily left the situation since he couldn't see me. And 3.) Like any adventurer I searched the body afterwards and took what he had on him. The big reason for the loss of spells and not an alignment shift was that he was an evil wizard, and if given the chance would have slaughtered me, and probably quite easily. In the end I thought it a fair deal. If I had been a Cleric of say Wee Jas or Vecna instead of Olidamarra, the the issue would have been a moot point and there would not have been a problem. But since I was the cleric of a Neutral Deity who cast good spells then I could understand his reasoning.

well, I think you should let the guy play his character and not give him a hard time; go to the bathroom or something; his guy in game is spending a few hours praying or somesuch so he should have the time; it is not like it is spur of the moment.

as an option; you could just do away with him memorizing specific spells; the idea is fairly silly for clerics anyways, but opens a different can of worms; you could just play that the cleric prays for aid from a diety with a certain effect; you could have him pick the spell when needed or control it a little more and pick the spell yourself as the gm deciding what aid the diety would give; this is doable as a cleric should never get the idea that the diety works for him; it is the other way around and he should trust that the diety will give him the necessary aid for the task. There is no perfect solution to a slow player, but there are lots of options that should not punish the guy for playing a character that requires real time thought.

Something like this had recently just happened to my Cleric. He put himself in a no win situation and the first response given was "I cast slay living." The situation was that I was trying to Dominate an evil Wizard to give me fair prices on goods, it failed, and I cast slay living with him being unable to see me (as I was also invisibile). For those of you that read the Savage Tide posts, I am the PC from "PC assassinates Kedward Bone". The DM finally ruled that although my alignment wouldn't change from CN to CE, I would lose access to my [Good] descriptor spells until I recieved atonement, which I believed was a fair ruling. Unfortunately the character died in our session last night after recklessly trying to talk to Ahazu in the Abyss.

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As someone who has really just started playing a cleric, I understand the frustration of shuffling around prepared spells. When I do play a spellcaster it's normally a sorcerer, so when I started the Cleric it seemed a bit daunting. But as time went on I found that there were indeed spells that I really didn't cast, and never even looked at when I prepared my spells. But my DM sent me some spell lists that he'd found that were great. I can't pull up Ema's character sheets, but I'm sure they are something like that. I like the idea of preparing two separate sheets (at least), a "battle" sheet and an "everyday-who-knows-what's-coming-next sheet".

They have spontaneous divine spell casters called the Favored Soul from the Complete Divine. I believe (as I currently don't have the book in front of me) that they don't have access to Domains and can't spontaneously heal unless they take the spontaneous healer feat, but they have spells known and spells per day as a sorcerer. They lose the ability to rebuke undead but gain other abilities as they progress in level. I'd suggest that if this player wants to continue playing divine spell casters in the future then he might want to look at this. Or you could just rework the cleric spells per day to reflect this class's ability. Which might work since it seems you are in the middle of a campaign.

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I spent a year in Iraq (and am about to head back for another stint) and while it did get VERY hot (I want to say that at one point the thermometer read close to 160), it never got even close to freezing. There were cold spells, but of course after heat like that 70 felt cold. The coldest it got was in January when the rainy season came. It probably dropped to the 40s and 50s.

Basically when you think temperate you should think America. Temperate means that it rarely hits the high or low extremes. We have deserts yes, but nothing like the dererts of Africa or the Arabian Penninsula. A temperate forest is like most of the woodland areas in the US. Not too hot and humid, but doesn't get too cold either. Good mixture of deciduous and coniferous trees. Hope this helps.

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I'd have to agree that while every eye is indead blind, therefore taking a 50% miss chance, they could indeed fire their eyestalks as well as the antimagic field from the center eye.

We are using the "Gestalt" class features to make up for only having two players currently playing. We started out with:

Ragnor Flamingbeard: Male Dwarf Cleric/Monk of the Stone Fists, a sect of Dwarven monks who take care of the Shrine of Moradin in Sasserine.

Merka Cartel: Female Elf Swashbuckler/Fighter. Lesser noble from Sasserine. Owner of the Sea Wyvern before crew mutinied and Harliss got the ship from them.

Jormund Moorindal: Male Human Sorcer/Wizard/Silver Dragon Disciple. Upper middle class of Sasserine. Now has control of the Sea Wyvern.

Sadly Merka and Ragnor died horrible deaths against the Statue of Demogorgon on Farshore. There was also a brief stint of a Barbarian/Fighter that lasted one game before the player couldn't make it any more.

Merka and Ragnor were replaced by:

Aramiel Tr'Zor: Male Elf Beguiler/Cleric of Olidamarra/Mindbender. Followed the party to gain information on them after they took down the Lotus Dragons. Joined Jormund after friends died.

Doskias: Male Elf Rogue/Scout, imprisoned for breaking into the Meravanchi estate, released after promising to fight for Farshore after attack of Crimson Fleet.

And a Warlock/Fighter that got on the wrong side of Zatzalaha and was killed. He was replaced by:

Falcar: a Male Olman Fighter/Warmage. Diplomat between the Olmans and the PCs that has since become captured and brought before Cold Captain Wither, whom he beat in four or five rounds. Subsequently he was taken to Divided's Ire which prompted a quick rescue. That's where we're at right now.

The question I have is this:

Since the Ring of Force Shield can be turned on/off at will as per the description of the magic item, then could I turn it off at the beginning of my attack, attack, then turn it back on at the end and gain benefits from it? My mind turns to the buckler which allows you to use the small shield and wield a weapon at the same time with that hand. When you use that hand with the buckler you lose the defense bonus to it. HOWEVER, the buckler is different in the fact that it's constantly there as opposed to the Ring. I can see how the mechanics of actually having to manuever the Ring into position would be the only way to gain the benefit and I made sure to point this out to Tambryn when I asked (he is my DM in this campaign and it was my question that prompted this), but if a wizard can turn the ring off, cast fireball, then turn the ring back on, then why couldn't I remove one hand from holding my sword and defend with the buckler? There is no rule that says you can't HOLD a two handed weapon with one hand, I just couldn't make any attacks of opportunity with it for instance. And if while I'm attacking I were to provoke an attack of opportunity, I wouldn't gain the benefit from the ring.

My take on the damage is that Elemental damage (fire, ice, etc...) would not be affected by a Holy enhancement, but the damage because of strength and sneak attacks would since they are directly attributed to the weapon and not typed as separate damage.

I have to agree that a high level rogue cannot be sneak attacked by another rogue of equal or lower level as long as they have Uncanny Dodge and Improved Uncanny Dodge.

As for the number of sneak attacks I would think that as per the description in the PHB that it would only be the first (and maybe the only attack?) that deals the sneak attack damage:

Sneak Attack

If a rogue can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her ATTACK, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage.
The rogue’s ATTACK deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the rogue flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and it increases by 1d6 every two rogue levels thereafter. Should the rogue score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied.
Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.
With a sap (blackjack) or an unarmed strike, a rogue can make a sneak attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack, not even with the usual -4 penalty.
A rogue can sneak attack only living creatures with discernible anatomies—undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to sneak attacks. The rogue must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A rogue cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.

I may be taking the book too literal here in saying that since it says the rogue's ATTACK and not the rogue's ATTACKS deal the extra damage then it is only the first one. Again it could even be read that you only get to make one attack if you are sneak attacking.

I'd have to agree with Doug on the picking up two weapons: Two attacks to disarm, two move actions to pick up. Same thing for Quick Draw. Says you can draw a weapon as a free action, granted you can just draw the other as part of a move action, but the feat itself would not allow you to draw more than one weapon per round as a free action. So why would you be able to pick up more than one weapon as part of the same move action.

I'm trying to be objective here and think as a DM and not as a player in Tambryn's game. And if Doskias, the Rogue in our party, were to be doubly disarmed I'd be the first to point out that it takes two move actions to pick his weapons up and that he is now limited to only one sneak attack. There are many times during the game that I'm like "I hate to do this since it's in the DM's favor, but...".

I'm playing a beguiler right now in the Savage Tide adventure path and I took all 10 levels of Mindbender (currently 15th level). Now I did take a cut in beguiler spell power, but with the Practiced Spell caster feat and greater invisibility, my DCs are still the same as if I'd have gone straight beguiler. That's really what I'd suggest doing. Now I have my melee Thrall that protects me while I'm casting my spells whether invisible or not.

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I've searched and searched, but I can't find anything definitive on enhancing weapons. I have a player who wants his wizard to enhance his own weapons, and the weapons of the party as well as create wonderous items. He has the feats to do so, but what does it take to make a masterwork sword a +1 sword? I figure the spell is "magic weapon" but what is the cost to create? Is there any tables in any books that I've overlooked or failed to look in? Please help me out. Thanks.

My dm thinks that a character with darkvision can see a reflection in an area with no light. His ruling is fine but I am looking for some other opinions. The DMG or any other book that I have looked at does not expand on this topic. What do you guys think? Thanks.

Does anyone know of any feats that allow you to deliver touch spells as part of an unarmed attack? Or any rules that state whether this can work with a monk's flurry of blows attack. Thanks.

Wow it's been awhile since I've been on here. Had some financial troubles, but now I'm back and I have a problem I thought you could help me with. I have a player that wants to play a blind character. He has taken all the feats to get blindsense. How would I do search and spot checks for this character, since they can't technically see? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you feel that psionics are over powered then balance it out a little bit. Let's say, for example, that everytime they use their powers it hurts their brain. The stronger the power, the more damage it does. You could say that for every power point they spend does one point of subdual damage to the psionic character. Maybe this would keep them from blasting away so much and being a bit more concervative with their powers.

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Island of Lost Toys.

What are toys for gods, people - I see your island as a great opportunity for a custom race - one the gods though to powerful or prideful to walk the earth. Me I see a race of giant warlocks, with artifact level weapons (to big for the PCs to use effectively). But whatever floats your boat.

Also monsters pets - along the lines of cerberus, fenris, midgard's serpent, etc.

Could also add a few cities that the gods felt had to be wiped of the map - this is where they got wiped too, powerful civilizations that failed to give the proper resepect.

Could be a holding cell for prisoners of the gods - a sort of penal colony for celestials and divine miscreants - stripped of some of their divine power, access to their portfolios, and their worshippers. Old displaced gods might be relagated there as well.

Another aspect of the island could be that NOTHING leaves - hence its utility as a dumping ground.

Interesting idea. I would probably but it behind the wind or some mini plane of its own - to explain why it was so had to reach. What I would have the characters struggle to reach is a gate or portal to this island, while the location of the island itself remained an unsolvable mystery.

Hard to make the island work and make sense - so many pwerful folk/beasts/item in one place. You might want to divide it into very clear regions (cells) - separated by some type of barrier, mountian range, wall, desert, magic.

What is cool about your idea in part is that it gives you the opportunity to throw epic lelve PCs into an environment where they are wildly outclassed by even "peasants" on the island - and environment where they aren't thte biggest baddest things in town and need to be very careful, and spend a lot of time runnng for their lives.

I like the sound of all that. In all reality you could have anything and everything there and have a good enough explanation for it. I'd throw in some stuff from other religions, things from classic Greco-Roman mythology or perhaps Norse or Egyptian. Like Kyr wrote, perhaps old gods that have lost their worshippers are cast here, which is where these old gods could have gone.

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I agree that many new gamers use more video gaming styles than they do role playing. But that just comes from inexperience. They will learn to love the RPing side as they discover it. I have only been gaming a little over five years and I still love a good hack'n'slash, but I have also developed quite a taste for a good storyline. I always create detailed character backgrounds and get with my DM (if it's not me at the time) to find a good place, in whatever campaign world he wishes to set it in, to set my character up. As both a DM and a player I love a good story both for the game and for the characters.

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Though I myself don't play bards, as they have never appealed to me, I must admit their usefulness in a party. The first party I ever gamed with had a bard in it and I'm glad for it. It did make things so much easier in every aspect. Whether we were in a battle or just doing things around a city. I would suggest that if you have never played a bard, or if you are a DM who has never had a bard in your party, that one should be played just for the experience.

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In one sense, the cowering in fear does seem logical to cut off the rage. On the other since it was a magical side effect, then who is to say what the results would be? Whether or not the barbarian chooses to end his rage or whether it just expires still leaves him/her winded after the rage has ended. In the end I would say that it has to be up to you, as the DM to make this choice. Personally I would say that the fear spell would counter the rage and leave him shook up and, depending on how long the barbarian raged (if he had only just begun it I don't think I'd make him winded), whether or not he would be fatigued.

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Can't wait to make it to gencon this year, never been before. I was too young to make a road trip of it before, and for the past year I've been stuck in Iraq (me and Tam are both in the same company and will be makin a road trip up to gencon). Can't wait to get there and meet tons of gamers.

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some times in a giant sandwich with eggs and sausage, all piled high and deep, dripping with grease and a pint of syrup.

Oh I completely agree. And I do this with French Toast too...which its interesting to note is the first time its been mentioned on this thread. I loves me some French Toast, slathered in butter, oozing syrup like some gelatinous monster straight out of my last D&D session...dear God it sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.

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Ultradan

Farewell2Kings
Great Green Good
are the ones that are most recognizable for me!

Another one that pops into my mind is WaterdhavianFlapJack, cute lil bugger with all those books!

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Which is to say they descend en masse like biblical locusts on any unguarded fridge and rapidly consume everything at all edible before withdrawing in a pack to the basement or rec room.

Ahh those were the days. Though for me it was but a scant three years since I've been able to do that. Then again, when you've only been playing about seven years, three isn't that much time.

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I've had everything from healthy food, such as carrots and celery and the such, to pizza. We usually have many bags of chips available during gameplay and some cookies. Our beverages usually consist of sodas Mt. Dew and Dr. Pepper mostly. Personally I like a mixture of both. Eat the pizza for dinner, but snack on the healthy stuff. And I have fired up the grill and had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner at a game before. Went over great. Hope this helps.

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Sounds interesting. I like the idea of adding the opposing template to an aasimar or a tiefling. Let everyone know how this works out.

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Basically you don't really need another reason beyond you are the DM and it is your choice. I understand that he is your friend, but all that should do is make him know that you aren't doing it out of cruelness. As was pointed out already, any and all rules are optional and up to the DM for interpretation. Do what you must to run the game how you see fit.

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As a DM I've had to run NPC's before. I usually let them hang out at the back of the party, and only piping in with his opinion when absolutely necessary. One of the NPC's was a young Half Orc Rogue named Whollup. He was rescued from an Orc encampment where he was to be killed. He helped the party get out of the camp by telling them the safest routes that he'd been able to scout out before getting caught. The PCs mostly made the right choices for the routes, but he had them change course a couple of times.
I try to let the players make the decisions, and, in the few cases, when there aren't enough players for a good game, I'll use an NPC the entire adventure. Sort of a Merc that the PCs picked up along the way. He is under command of the party leader and placed wherever he decides to send him. He rarely has any advice for the party unless directly asked and is basically just a killing machine at the party's disposal.
I would suggest that you talk to your DM if you are not liking the game play. D&D is supposed to be fun for everyone involved, and if you aren't having fun you need to talk to your DM.

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My friend just bought two sets of these for our games when we get back to the states (currently beginning the return home from Iraq). I'm eager to see how they'll work. They look great and easy to use.

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I will occasionally add scars to my characters, but we mostly use magical healing which IMC erases the effects the damage caused.

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I have used the vorpal weapon as a player and had it used against me as a DM. I feel that it is a powerful weapon, but not overbalanced. And I agree with Kyr's proposal to have thieves and other characters come after your players with the vorpal weapons.

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My group is still toying with the idea of running a 3.5 campaign in Greyhawk around 596 cy. We were discussing the system of multiclassing & prestige classes. Can anyone explain how a character with one or two classes could later take up the barbarian class? It isnt really a profession as much as a way of life one is born into. It doesnt make any sense that a mage or cleric could suddenly become "barbaric". Did I miss something in the fine print that prohibits taking the barbarain class as a 2nd or 3rd class? I dont even understand how it can be class?

Barbarian is just a name they put on the class, like with the druid. The way you describe it, you could say the same thing about druids as you do with barbarians. The way you could justify multiclassing with a barbarian, is to have your party come into contact with a group of barbarians and have them train you. But you are right, most people would think that character would start off as barbabrians, but they don't have too. The best example I can think of is with Drizzt Do'Urden (is that spelled right?). For those who don't know, he is a dark elf who left his home because he is inherently good and drow are inherently evil. During the time he spent in the wilds of the Underdark, after he left, he became almost feral and picked up the barbarian class.

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This is going to be a shocker to everyone, but I think I'd want to come back as a Silver Dragon. But as a second choice I'd probably pick a halfling rogue. I love those little munchkins too! I can envision myself pick pocketing nobles at banquets and stealing the court mages spell book...ahh one could only wish...

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I think that a good starting class if you're going to multiclass would either be the rogue or the fighter for the afore mentioned reasons. Since I haven't had the luxury of seeing the Warlock yet, I have no comment on it yet. I started as a fighter and found it easy to play, though picking the feats was confusing at first, so a barbarian probably would be better.

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I'd say the most brutal death was when I was playing a dwarven fighter, forget the name. He was captured from the party and put in a gladiator match. His first match was with a Grey Render. Just a few short rounds later his shield arm was ripped off and half of his side had been bitten into. Two rounds after that the dwarf was being digested. I've had other deaths and kills, but that was the worst. Though I did run one where a friend was melted by a black dragon's acid breath. That's pretty gruesome too.

A bit from my Hoarde

I haven't been gaming long, but most of that time has been as DM. My group has always consisted of my friends, though I have branched out to others while I was away for military training. There are always going to be disputes with what players think and what a DM thinks is happening. The best rule to remember is that the YOU AS THE DM ARE IN CHARGE. The best advice I can offer is that you need to enforce your rules more. I'm not saying that you need to be super strict and clamp down so hard the players feel they are in prison, but keep the game going by keeping everyone in check. When I start a new group away from my friends, we always establish ground rules. Such as the way crits are rolled, how everyone levels up, and character movement. I've always tried to have fun, though there have been a few times when the game's gotten out of hand. I've had players get mad at each other and take it out in the game. I ended the session right there. Once we had our thief get mad at our fighter and he pulled out a bag of holding and ruptured it to kill him. Another was with two brothers (both in the game and actually brothers) who were mad because one kept shooting into melee combat the other was in. So the fighter pulled the masterwork arrows from the dead bugbear and began breaking them one by one in front of his brother's face. This caused a big argument and the DM (wasn't me this time) stopped it. One wound up leaving and we continued the game after that. Anyway, all I'm saying is that you have to be strict and fair, but also realized that its supposed to be fun. I know you weren't having fun when this happened, and the players were wrong for taking advantage of you. I hope that you can work things out after the holidays and keep everything rolling and having fun.

A bit from my Hoarde