I've noticed that the combat oriented characters in my current adventuring party run the gamut in combat styles. It's interesting to watch, because in different situations, each style seems to get its chance to shine.
We have the "tank". A dwarf who likes nothing more than to wade into the thick of the fight with his bastard sword and slice and hack things.
We have the range specialist. Arrows, arrows, arrows, then take up the blade when things get too close.
We have the "man in motion". Or rather had. He died through no fault of his own. :-) but his style was that of the lightly armoured, tumble and dart abou, looking for the best position to get in one good hit, then dart about again.
Which of these fo you all prefer, and am I missing any?
Being that I usually DM, when the PCs get out of line, I am a "fortitude saves!" and "a rock falls on your head and you die" type of guy :p
Oddly enough, that was the exact cause of the last TPK in our party.
that's AWESOME! :)
I prefer the "man in motion" style myself as Rogue's are typically my favorite characters.
I try to avoid characters better suited for ranged combat as I like to be in the middle of a fight, not taking potshots from the sidelines.
Most of the players in My games tend for one "Tank" or "Mobility" fighter. Then the rest pile up on either arcane or divine smackdown in the form of spells.
My personal favorite is the Ranged Fighter. I have one currently that has gone into Order of the Bow Initiate, so even at close range, the bow is his only choice. Manyshot from 5 feet away, anyone?
I find that nearly every group I'm with has at least one arcane sneak, that is, a spellcaster that likes to the dart in an out thing like a rogue, but hit with spells instead of sneak attack. Since I'm being charitable, we'll call them "Opportunists."
Hmmm... how about "mobile tanks"? My players are in a gestalt campaign (details in Unearthed Arcana; basically take two class levels every level). The favored melee combat form is the mobile tank. A paladin/favored soul, paladin/marshal, monk/rogue, and a fighter/dragon samurai make up the brawling portion of the 6-man group. Several have valorous weapons (deal x2 damage on charges), so hard charging melee is the name of the game. The monk/rogue tends to mix in some Tumbling, just to position for his next charge!
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I prefer a highly mobile fighter regardless of the style, though I've been known to tank often.
My favorite melee character was one built using the parrying rules in issue 301 of Dragon magazine. It was virtually impossible to hit him. Anytime you tried to hit him (after he reached a decent level) and he could block the attack. Since they used up attacks of opportunity, he could then do a full attack right back. If his parry failed, however, there was no chance of him avoiding the blows. His AC was actually pretty terrible. PS - He used two-weapon fighting. Elven Thin-blades...
I also recently played an archer. I'm always surprised at how many parties insist on fighting every melee monster toe-to-toe. If you're 500' away from the Tarrasque, he really isn't that frightening. Both these characters had an amazing ability to survive what otherwise would have been a TPK.
Hmmm, how about a light stealth tank? Idea I have for a ranger using the alternative combat styles in dragon. Wood Elf Ranger with the Strong Arm style, and give him a greataxe or a greatclub. Sneak up behind some poor sinner, power attack to drop him, hide the body, repeat first action in the sequence, add nauseum.