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Help me build him for combat. Ideas are welcome, but no multiclassing/prestige classing. This guy has to be dangerous, because he's the ONLY frontliner for this new party. I'm already going the Power Attack, Combat Focus feat chain, and Weapon Supremacy feat chain, unless you fine people come up with something better. Any splatbooks are welcome!
-Deathedge
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Huh. Your approach seems to be the exact opposite of mine. Spiked chains have reach and benefit from Weapon finesse. Thus, the chain wielder should have high Dex, Weapon finesse, Improved trip, Improved disarm and, most importantly, Combat reflexes. This way, he'll trip up anyone entering his threatened zone and then lash them when they try to get up. If he has a couple of mobility-type feats or a class build/magical item that increases his speed, he'll be even harder to deal with.
For extra wackiness, give him Monkey grip and a bigger chain. 15' reach!
I was thinking about that Monkey Grip thing. I think I will do that, especially since this guy is focused on damage. As for the trip build, I thought you could not make a trip attack as an attack of opportunity? I may be mistaken (I don't have my books on me at the moment) but I thought an AoA had to be a standard melee attack.
I was thinking about that Monkey Grip thing. I think I will do that, especially since this guy is focused on damage. As for the trip build, I thought you could not make a trip attack as an attack of opportunity? I may be mistaken (I don't have my books on me at the moment) but I thought an AoA had to be a standard melee attack.
No, it can be a trip or other special attack.
How about the two-weapon fighting feat chain, and have him use two Small spiked chains?
That makes me happy. In that case I'm DEFINITELY taking Combat Reflexes, Improved Trip, and Monkey Grip. Once I have them on the ground (with a +4 to hit from them being prone), I'll simply subtract 4 from my base attack bonus, and add +8 to my damage (spiked chain being a two-handed weapon and all) with Power Attack! Beautiful!
Any way to avoid a counter-trip if I have a failed attempt? I mean OTHER than dropping the chain?
My players went through a long phase using this type of build and I have myself used the build against them at several points.
If your DM allows it then the Half-Giant is an extraordinary good race with this build. Any race with the enhanced build trait is great really. If your allowed to have Psionic Warriors then a couple of levels of Psionic Warrior are very good. You lose slightly in BAB and hps but you gain an extra feat (which is great with this build) and, maybe more importantly, you gain a handful of PSPs and a couple of powers. One of those powers should be expansion. Its basically enlarge person.
What your doing here is heading for a obscenely big spiked chain. So you get a medium spiked chain (2d4 damage), enhanced build makes it large (2d6 damage), Monkey Grip makes it huge (3d6 damage) and enlarging yourself either by expansion, a spell from a friendly spell caster or the use of (cheap) magic potions makes the spiked chain gargantuan (4d6 base damage).
Notice here that while Monkey Grip and Power Attack are mathematically about the same in power at lower weapon sizes, monkey grip clearly wins out as one starts getting whole extra dice worth of damage.
If you can't go for a race with enhanced build, maybe because your DM does not allow level adjustments, or psionics, then I would go with human for the extra feat.
There are three design paths you can take with this build that I am aware of.
1) The Whirl Attacker
2) The Tripper
3) The Damage Dealer
In theory you could combo two or more of these but in practise I'd say it makes for a pretty sub-par build, I'll go into why after I've outlined the builds. OK so which one is right for you? Well the answer to that question depends on how you answer two other questions. What level are you building this character for - i.e. are you starting at 1st or 5th? What level will you stop playing this character at? Essentially the different builds reach peak effectiveness at different levels and this will influence your decision on which build is right for you.
The Whirlwind Attacker is the most corner case of the builds. Essentially your going to go almost straight up the Whirlwind feat chain after picking up your Spiked Chain exotic weapon. Whirlwind is an awesome feat with a spiked chain wielder, especially one that is enlarged through some means. From 4th-10th level, or so, this build will be phenomenal. You'll whack every enemy in range for lots of damage - it'll be great. The build comes with a couple of significant issues however. The first is that its not really a great build until you get to Whirlwind. The feats you pick up on your way to Whirlwind, while generally pretty good, don't really enhance your main shtick of hitting people with your spiked chain. So it takes patience to get to Whirlwind and then, when you finally do, your already starting to get weaker with each level gained. After roughly 6th level your picking up multiple attacks, initially their not that great 'cause you'll not usually hit with them anyway but later on they could be good if you pump enough to hit bonuses into your spiked chain. Whirlwind is a great form of attack against large numbers of weaker creatures, possibly ones supporting some kind of a BBEG. However, as you get past 10th or so level you will generally find it less and less useful. The number of enemies will, on average, begin to drop off. You'll face many more singular very powerful enemies, like Demons and Dragons, and even when enemies are in groups they'll be very well spread out (that is actually to protect them from your parties mage but it will nerf your whirlwind along the way). Even when you can pull off a Whirlwind, at this stage, the ability to do some damage to lots of enemies will not be nearly as potent at this point. You'll find yourself not using the feat because its simply better to do multiple attacks against one enemy in order to make it dead faster instead of merely doing some damage against lots of enemies - by this point even your heavy hitting will just shave off, say, a quarter of a mooks hps - while back at 6th level you where doing 50%-80% of the mooks and the rest of the party was making them all dead after you drained them of hps, or, alternatively you made them dead on your second attack.
So this is a great class - especially if you can make the build at 4th or 6th level (skipping the boring part of actually earning the feats needed to get to Whirlwind) instead of 1st and if you plan to stop around 10th level.
The Tripper is the second most restrictive build. Its a good build to start with, especially with a race that has enhanced build, because the its effective at tripping right from 1st level and will grow more effective at tripping as you add feats and special abilities to your chain at about the same rate as the monsters get better at avoiding being tripped - up to a point. Essentially your going to be able to trip low level goblinoids with ease even at first level, With some magical help and improved Trip you'll be able to take down Bugbears and generally Minitours and such right through until you get to around 10th level (again). Good feats for this build are Improved Trip, Combat Expertise and Deft Opportunist, a high dex along with good strength is important in order to get many opportunity attacks. After 10th however you'll find that the trip move is being used less and less, until its nearly a corner case situation. Enemies will essentially all be immune - they'll either have feats like Combat Acrobat, that allows them to avoid a trip, magic or abilities that allow them to recover from a trip with few penalties (like boots of agile leaping), magic that makes it hard for you to get at them to trip or they'll be so big and/or so strong that if you try and trip them they take away your chain. Hence this build is good if you plan to start at first and end around 10th but after that its increasingly nerfed.
The Damage Dealer This really is not exactly a Spiked Chain Build at all - you could do this with many weapons really - but it certainly will work with a Spiked Chain. This build is not really sexy but it is effective - essentially your constantly pouring feats into the spiked chain that improve its ability to hit or do damage. Your heading for The Weapon Mastery feats at high levels. Your spiked chain constantly gets better with every level but you never reach the highs of The Whirlwind Attacker or The Tripper. Your always good but never phenomenal. Essentially here you have traded power at low levels for power at high levels. Dealing damage and being able to hit never goes out of style in D&D and with enough feats pumped into them your extra attacks will hit even at high levels - you may make a trade off in terms of bonus damage with penalties to hit (Monkey Grip might well still be worth it for example) but your picking up a lot of feats that give you +1 or +2 to hit. By their lonesome these feats are not phenomenal but when their stacked up to +4 or +7 to hit along with your magic bonuses, strength bonuses and BAB you'll be able to hit even the most difficult ACs and, probably more potently, your extra attacks will generally work against anything that does not have an obscene AC. This is the best build if your starting at 10th level or later and going into the higher levels. Its also a good build if your starting at 1st and expect to go into the higher levels though in this case it does not have the same kind of power you could see at the lower levels as The Tripper or The Whirlwind Attacker.
OK finally onto mixing and matching. The Whirlwind Attacker and The Tripper just don't really mix. In both cases you need to race up a feat chain to make your build function and that means you can't even start on what is needed for the other build until your around 6th level. By the time you've completed your second build (at around 12th level) and can effectively be both The Tripper and The Whirlwind Attacker the kinds of enemies you face and their tactics will have made both builds essentially obsolete. You'll have both tactics in your arsenal but neither will generally be effective any more.
You can't effectively do The Damage Dealer and then either The Tripper or The Whirlwind Attacker, you'll never get to either Tripper or Whirlwind Attacker before their nerfed and, in any case the best damage dealer feats are higher level.
Its possible to segue from either The Whirlwind Attacker or The Tripper to The Damage Dealer but its painful. In both cases you've spent so many feats on the initial build that your only just starting on basic stuff like Weapon Focus at a much later level. Weapon Focus is not a sexy feat - even at low levels. Its benefits is that its a prereq to better feats later and that it stacks and when its stacked up to become a big + to hit then it rocks. Picking it up at 10th and following along with Weapon Specialization at 12th (or whatever level you are when you finally start on The Damage Dealer feat path) means pumping lots of feats into bonuses that are not really that significant for this level - that +2 to damage was pretty good at 2nd level but at 10th its lousy. If you do plan to segue from one build type to the next The Tripper is preferable because you'll have spent less feats getting The Tripper but its better if you had not burned up these feat slots in the first place and instead concentrated on getting Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization early so that you always feel as if your feat is helping you out at the level you take it and you don't eventually feel as if you wasted feats.
Fighter 1; Str 15+, Dex 13+, Int 13+, Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon (Spiked Chain). Either make him human or take a flaw (Unearthed Arcana/SRD, Inattentive and Shaky are probably the best choices) and take Improved Trip as well. Dwarf is a good choice for a tripper build because of Stability. Goliath (Races of Stone) is a good +1 LA race because of Powerful Build (can use large weapons and treated as large size for trip attempts).
Fighter 2; Weapon Focus (Spiked Chain)
Fighter 3; Power Attack
Fighter 4; Weapon Specialization (Spiked Chain)
Fighter 6; Dodge, Mobility
Fighter 8; Spring Attack
Fighter 9; Whirlwind Attack
At this point, you can start looking into other feats to increase your damage (Monkey Grip, etc.) or number of attacks (Cleave, etc.). You should also consider taking Improved Disarm as well.
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There is a chain master, or something to that extent in Sword and Fist. Oh, Master of Chains I think. Anyways, that's a PrC that focuses on using the spiked chain. You need Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Spiked Chain), expertise, improved trip, improved disarm, weapon focus (spiked chain), and weapon specialization (spiked chain) as feats before taking it. Any non-good, 6 ranks in escape artist, 4 ranks in open lock, and 4 ranks in intimidate.
They can scare foes as the fear spell by rattling their chains,
fight while climbing a rope or chain with no penalty (in fact, if you have enough room to swing up to five feet you get a +2 dodge bonus to armor class.),
get superior weapon focus (extra +1 to spiked chain attacks),
can bind someone with the quick application of a lock to your chain,
use chains as armor (+5 armor bonus, -2 armor check penalty, 30% spell failure; no speed decrease),
use chains as a double weapon or a reach weapon (can switch round to round),
slash an enemy with the extra slack from their chains (+1d6 damage to attacks, requires full round action),
deflect attacks by swinging chain (move action) in 180 degree arc, providing a +4 deflection bonus to attacks coming from that direction,
superior weapon specialization (extra +2 damage with spiked chain)
swinging attack (wrap chain around overhead object and swing at any target within 10 feet. They are treated as flat-footed and you gain +2 attack, +3d6 damage)
and finally, chain mastery. You can animate a chain (as the animate rope spell, but with a chain) up to 50 feet in length for 10 rounds. This is a supernatural ability, can be used as many times per day as 3+Cha bonus
EDIT: Each ability is one level each, in order
I was thinking about Master of Chains after I got Weapon Supremacy.
I'm going for damage dealer here, no question. I'm dead-set on Power Attack.
So does anybody know offhand what the penalty to hit would be for using a large spiked chain with the Monkey Grip feat?
I appreciate all the help and suggestions, guys! Thanks again!
Fighter 1; Str 15+, Dex 13+, Int 13+, Combat Expertise, Exotic Weapon (Spiked Chain). Either make him human or take a flaw (Unearthed Arcana/SRD, Inattentive and Shaky are probably the best choices) and take Improved Trip as well. Dwarf is a good choice for a tripper build because of Stability. Goliath (Races of Stone) is a good +1 LA race because of Powerful Build (can use large weapons and treated as large size for trip attempts).
Fighter 2; Weapon Focus (Spiked Chain)
Fighter 3; Power Attack
Fighter 4; Weapon Specialization (Spiked Chain)
Fighter 6; Dodge, Mobility
Fighter 8; Spring Attack
Fighter 9; Whirlwind AttackAt this point, you can start looking into other feats to increase your damage (Monkey Grip, etc.) or number of attacks (Cleave, etc.). You should also consider taking Improved Disarm as well.
I'd move the feats around to pick up Whirlwind at 6th level with this build. Whirlwind is fantastic at 6th since your much more likely to face mobs of relatively mundane enemies in clumped together. After 9th your going to have much more difficulty finding encounters where you can sweep and hit multiple enemies as the enemies tend to come in smaller numbers (because the complexity of the enemies tends to be higher) and tend to be more spread out (to avoid the parties mage taking them all down with a single spell).
Also I'm not really sure the Dwarfs Stability is really worth it compared to say an extra feat for a human. If you trip with a Chain and it goes bad - just drop the chain and take out the back up. If its gone bad then, unless the rolls were extreme and I rolled a 1 or something on what was nearly a sure thing, I'd rarely want to risk getting tripped by holding onto the weapon - just drop it and pull out a back up chain next round.
...Unless of course your DM shows a penchant for having the monsters abscond with your magic chain on their turn - in that case I'd wear locked gauntlets and be a dwarf. However I have to say that I've never yet had a situation where the monster grabbed a players dropped weapon and ran away with it.
I'd move the feats around to pick up Whirlwind at 6th level with this build. Whirlwind is fantastic at 6th since your much more likely to face mobs of relatively mundane enemies in clumped together. After 9th your going to have much more difficulty finding encounters where you can sweep and hit multiple enemies as the enemies tend to come in smaller numbers (because the complexity of the enemies tends to be higher) and tend to be more spread out (to avoid the parties mage taking them all down with a single spell).
That's definitely one option. A lot depends on when and how often your DM uses multiple foes.
Also I'm not really sure the Dwarfs Stability is really worth it compared to say an extra feat for a human. If you trip with a Chain and it goes bad - just drop the chain and take out the back up. If its gone bad then, unless the rolls were extreme and I rolled a 1 or something on what was nearly a sure thing, I'd rarely want to risk getting tripped by holding onto the weapon - just drop it and pull out a back up chain next round.
The +4 to resist trip attempts makes it more likey that you don't have to switch to a back-up weapon. More full attacks and less need to invest in multiple chains is a good thing.
For extra wackiness, give him Monkey grip and a bigger chain. 15' reach!Using a bigger reach weapon doesn't give you any extra reach. A medium creature with a reach weapon gets reach 10 regardless.
RAW, this is correct. However, it's not uncommon to house-rule reach weapons with fixed increases (+5 ft reach, +10 ft reach, etc.) instead of doubling.
EDIT: My 1000th post!
For extra wackiness, give him Monkey grip and a bigger chain. 15' reach!Using a bigger reach weapon doesn't give you any extra reach. A medium creature with a reach weapon gets reach 10 regardless.
Actually, you are incorrect.
Savage Species pg. 42... "Size and Reach: For each size increase of a reach weapon, increase its reach by 5 feet. A huge guisarme has a reach of 15 feet (instead of 10 feet for the large version)..."
Now, check Player's Handbook pg. 115 and 117. Both the weapon's description and the table quite clearly state the spiked chain has reach.
A huge spiked chain, via the Monkey Grip feat, would have a reach of 15 feet.
-Kurocyn
RAW, this is correct. However, it's not uncommon to house-rule reach weapons with fixed increases (+5 ft reach, +10 ft reach, etc.) instead of doubling.For extra wackiness, give him Monkey grip and a bigger chain. 15' reach!Using a bigger reach weapon doesn't give you any extra reach. A medium creature with a reach weapon gets reach 10 regardless.
I strongly recommend against allowing any increased reach simply due to the size of the weapon. Increasing the size of a weapon is already borderline unbalancing depending on the weapon and what size you can get it to. Nothing good will come from making are really powerful way of using a weapon even better. This is the kind of house rule that the DM usually regrets making once the implications become apparent.
For extra wackiness, give him Monkey grip and a bigger chain. 15' reach!Using a bigger reach weapon doesn't give you any extra reach. A medium creature with a reach weapon gets reach 10 regardless.Actually, you are incorrect.
Savage Species pg. 42... "Size and Reach: For each size increase of a reach weapon, increase its reach by 5 feet. A huge guisarme has a reach of 15 feet (instead of 10 feet for the large version)..."
Now, check Player's Handbook pg. 115 and 117. Both the weapon's description and the table quite clearly state the spiked chain has reach.
A huge spiked chain, via the Monkey Grip feat, would have a reach of 15 feet.
-Kurocyn
Anyone got a copy of the Rules Compendium to see what it says?
Page 42 of Savage Species does in fact say that a weapons reach is determined by the weapons size while the SRD and the FAQ say that a weapons reach is determined by the wielders size.
Most interestingly we get different lengths depending on the rules being used. A Ogre with a Spiked Chain would have a reach of 20' (p.113 Players Handbook see also the SRD and the FAQ) unless one was following Savage Species in which case the reach would be 15'.
Edit...OK after doing a little research I'm going to go out on a limb and say Savage Species is simply wrong. Essentially it was released two months before 3.5 and developed while they were still in the middle of making 3.5. I see from posts regarding it that its in fact chalk full of rules that only make sense under a 3.0 context and has a reputation for being full of errors. Hence if your playing a 3.0 game I'd say use the Savage Species rules but for 3.5 Savage Species is simply in error its a 3.0 book that they tried to make 3.5 compliant but did not always succeed (A number of posters on the Wizards boards like to call it the 3.25 book).
With this is mind Russ is right - if your carrying a Gargantuan Spiked Chain but your medium you have a 10' reach.
Meh, I'm not gonna use Monkey Grip anyway. To me, it's not worth the -2 to hit penalty, even if it IS fifteen feet long. If I'm gonna take a -2 penalty to hit for any reason, it's because I'm gonna get +4 to damage due to Power Attack!
Damage Dealer it is.
Hmmmmm.....still feels like he's missing something.....
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Actually, you are incorrect.
Savage Species pg. 42... "Size and Reach: For each size increase of a reach weapon, increase its reach by 5 feet. A huge guisarme has a reach of 15 feet (instead of 10 feet for the large version)..."
Now, check Player's Handbook pg. 115 and 117. Both the weapon's description and the table quite clearly state the spiked chain has reach.
A huge spiked chain, via the Monkey Grip feat, would have a reach of 15 feet.
-Kurocyn
Actually, I knew the answer from the FAQ before posting, and it addresses exactly this question. Didn't know Savage Species contradicted it, but the FAQ information is newer, and Savage Species is one of those "partially 3.0" books that has issues. The SS rules don't work at all with races like centaurs that are "large, long" instead of "large, tall", and have a printed reach diagram in the back of the MM.
It's also the more sensible answer - otherwise you get into issues with a large longspear giving 15 foot reach, while a large spear gives none at all, which doesn't scan. Or the case of centaur having less reach with a longspear than a human with monkey grip using the exact same spear.
Here is the relevant FAQ text:
How do reach weapons work if they are of a different size than the creature wielding them? Say, an ogre wielding a Small or Medium glaive, or a human with the Monkey Grip feat wielding a Large ranseur? What is the reach for each situation?
A reach weapon doubles its wielder's natural reach, but only if the weapon is at least of an appropriate size for the wielder. Wielding a "too-small" reach weapon grants no reach. An ogre (Large) wielding a Medium or smaller reach weapon gains no reach from the weapon, and could thus attack foes either 5 feet or 10 feet distant (as normal for a Large creature wielding a non-reach weapon).
A human (Medium) wielding a Large or larger reach weapon could attack a creature 10 feet away (but no further), and could not use the weapon to attack a creature 5 feet away (as normal for a Medium creature wielding a reach weapon). A human wielding a Small reach weapon would gain no reach from the weapon.
The Player's Handbook isn't as clear on this as it could be, although an example of reach in action on page 113 in the Player’s Handbook provides pretty strong support: "A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away . . .". While this reference doesn’t mention the ability to wield a reach weapon larger than the appropriate size, allowing such a weapon to grant reach to its wielder is a reasonable extension of the spirit and intent of the rule.
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Meh, I'm not gonna use Monkey Grip anyway. To me, it's not worth the -2 to hit penalty, even if it IS fifteen feet long. If I'm gonna take a -2 penalty to hit for any reason, it's because I'm gonna get +4 to damage due to Power Attack!
Damage Dealer it is.
Hmmmmm.....still feels like he's missing something.....
A cool name with a matching personality quirk!
Russ's last post spoilerfied to save room:
It's also the more sensible answer - otherwise you get into issues with a large longspear giving 15 foot reach, while a large spear gives none at all, which doesn't scan. Or the case of centaur having less reach with a longspear than a human with monkey grip using the exact same spear.
Here is the relevant FAQ text:
How do reach weapons work if they are of a different size than the creature wielding them? Say, an ogre wielding a Small or Medium glaive, or a human with the Monkey Grip feat wielding a Large ranseur? What is the reach for each situation?
A reach weapon doubles its wielder's natural reach, but only if the weapon is at least of an appropriate size for the wielder. Wielding a "too-small" reach weapon grants no reach. An ogre (Large) wielding a Medium or smaller reach weapon gains no reach from the weapon, and could thus attack foes either 5 feet or 10 feet distant (as normal for a Large creature wielding a non-reach weapon).
A human (Medium) wielding a Large or larger reach weapon could attack a creature 10 feet away (but no further), and could not use the weapon to attack a creature 5 feet away...
So, this brings up an interesting question, what size weapon should a large(long) creature, such as a Centaur carry to be considered appropriate for its size? I guess another way to state it, is would a longsword for a medium creature such as a Human still be considered a longsword for a large(long) creature such as a Centaur?
Meh, I'm not gonna use Monkey Grip anyway. To me, it's not worth the -2 to hit penalty, even if it IS fifteen feet long. If I'm gonna take a -2 penalty to hit for any reason, it's because I'm gonna get +4 to damage due to Power Attack!
Damage Dealer it is.
Hmmmmm.....still feels like he's missing something.....
mobility lets you avoid ao (avoid by better AC that is) so you can let the the critters get close to you (provoking ao) then step away and go for it again. Also not sure what magic you have available but a simple one is boots of spider climb, you can safely stay out of reach and still cause havoc. I would also go straight plusses on the weapon when you get that far. A plus three weapon is to hit and damage, a frost is only to d6 if you hit. That +3 works well to offset a power attack as well. I think there is a crystal form the MIC you can add which will increase the reach also.
Have to admit that I made an effective bard by using the spiked chain-could still sing, offer flanking, and keep out of the majority of damage. Of course I thought it was a double weapon and did not discover the error until just recently.
Actually, I knew the answer from the FAQ before posting, and it addresses exactly this question. Didn't know Savage Species contradicted it, but the FAQ information is newer...
One of the reasons this keeps coming up is because the Players Handbook tells us how to rule this in a very obtuse manner. I mean the rules are there but their not exactly highlighted - buried six feet under is closer to accurate.
Meanwhile Savage Species is absolutely clear on this topic and, so far as I can tell, there is no friggen errata for Savage Species so figuring out that the ruling is wrong requires hiring a bloody private investigator or time with a Ouji Board to figure out.
Meh, I'm not gonna use Monkey Grip anyway. To me, it's not worth the -2 to hit penalty, even if it IS fifteen feet long. If I'm gonna take a -2 penalty to hit for any reason, it's because I'm gonna get +4 to damage due to Power Attack!
If you can get it to the point where your actually adding dice its probably worth it but your right that its not otherwise.
So, this brings up an interesting question, what size weapon should a large(long) creature, such as a Centaur carry to be considered appropriate for its size? I guess another way to state it, is would a longsword for a medium creature such as a Human still be considered a longsword for a large(long) creature such as a Centaur?
Ohh...good question!
Thinking about it I think Centaurs just get gipped. Their large so I think they need to use large weapons or face the penalties for using a weapon not of the appropreate size. That said their reach is 5' - meaning that their reach with a spiked chain would be 10'. An Ogre on the other hand would get 20' - even if he used the exact same spiked chain (say they where taking turns hitting a practise dummy or something).
The whole Large (long) vs. Large (tall) is, IMO, lousy game design. It adds complication to the game without actually compensating by giving us more of either verisimilitude or fun. In fact whenever this distinction comes up there is a pretty good chance its becuase the players or the GM are exclaiming in disbelief about some aspect of this distinction and noting that it just does not make any friggen sense.
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So, this brings up an interesting question, what size weapon should a large(long) creature, such as a Centaur carry to be considered appropriate for its size? I guess another way to state it, is would a longsword for a medium creature such as a Human still be considered a longsword for a large(long) creature such as a Centaur?Ohh...good question!
Thinking about it I think Centaurs just get gipped. Their large so I think they need to use large weapons or face the penalties for using a weapon not of the appropreate size. That said their reach is 5' - meaning that their reach with a spiked chain would be 10'. An Ogre on the other hand would get 20' - even if he used the exact same spiked chain (say they where taking turns hitting a practise dummy or something).
The whole Large (long) vs. Large (tall) is, IMO, lousy game design. It adds complication to the game without actually compensating by giving us more of either verisimilitude or fun. In fact whenever this distinction comes up there is a pretty good chance its becuase the players or the GM are exclaiming in disbelief about some aspect of this distinction and noting that it just does not make any friggen sense.
To me, it seems there should be some sub-rule that the bigger creatures which are the long variant should use weapons one size class smaller(those that use weapons, anyway). Large creatures, like Centaurs, would then use weapons for Medium-sized creatures, Huge creatures(if there are any Huge-long that actually use weapons) would use Large-sized weapons, and so forth.
I was thinking along the lines of cool name and personality quirk! I don't know why, but the name Remmech sticks in my head.
Any quirk ideas? He's a mean mercenary type.
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Maybe he carves little wooden statuettes of particularly hard foes that he has defeated?
Maybe he has some wierd form of OCD
or has a foriegn accent even though he's never been to the area that accent is from?
Laughs at the worst times
Spits in peoples' faces to say hello
Likes to whistle an ancient battle tune his father taught him while he fights
barks in his sleep
Makes really innapropriate jokes at the wrong time(goes with the laughs at the wrong time)
Oh, he definitely laughs at the wrong times. He's gonna be one sarcastic, cynical S.O.B.! I also like the idea of a big horizontal scar across the bridge of his nose and both cheeks. I'm thinking at one time he was Lawful Good, but something BAD happened to make him Chaotic Neutral...
Anybody ever play a drunk before? Any gameplay ideas?
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First of all, I would suggest a very fun one. It could even be used as a Flaw, if your DM allows it: Can Not Speak Common.
Nobody knows how this came about, hell, he doesn't even know why he doesn't speak it. Perhaps its due to some traumatic experience in life.
Alternatively, you can take a page from my book and make the character a mime, but that might get him killed quickly. :)
You could make him be overly attached to inanimate objects, such as his spiked chain, treating it as a beloved pet or even a child. Speaking to it, taking it for walks, cleaning it with the utmost care, and so on. If anyone touches it he takes great offense. If enemies attempt to sunder it, he goes berserk.
Have him carry the skulls of his defeated, polish them, dress them up, and then use them as puppets; talking to them in a most Shakespearian fashion. Perhaps even holding puppetshows for spare coin.
Name him something like Gus, then have it be short for William Frederick Guster III, and be nothing short of a scientist and/or philosopher, who just happens to like personal combat. He speaks very properly, and often muses over the meaning of life as he ends others'.
Make him out to be a war hero who isn't really a hero. He happened to drop a torch which set fire to a key component in the evil warlord's arsenal which destroyed his castle. In actually, he was a member of the warlord's army, that the good guys thought was their spy contact within the warlord's ranks. He survived simply due to their willingness to believe that was him. After all, his timely "distraction" did help them escape and destroyed the castle.
If you do want to play him as a drunk, its best to make booze his obsession. Have him keep his own personal mug. Nobody, nobody touches his mug. Have personal dilemas where he has to choose between saving party members, and saving the booze.
And now I can't think of any more... for the time being.