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Originally posted by Jorkens
Well, I like both alternatives. The Wemics are underused in the realms and the size of the creature would make the halberd almost like a form of great-axe in the creatures hands making for an interesting combat style. Bad memories of an early campaign involving a wemic fighter keeps me from picking this as a favorite

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Actually, I was thinking of a wemic-sized halberd (2d8 damage + super-high Str + barbarian rage = OWCH!), but with a 'back-up weapon' of a Medium-sized greataxe (meaning it's a one-handed battleaxe to the wemic) and a shield. Double-bitted broadaxe plus a shield bonus to AC? There is no bad here.

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The Rock gnome fighting machine idea also has potential, but I think the halberd may be the wrong weapon; it is long unwieldy and more useful for keeping foes at a distance. How about a maul or sledgehammer?

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The reason I'm so locked in on the halberd is because it's so versatile: you can thrust with the point in narrow tunnels, set it against charges (and let's face it, *lots* of things are going to try to rush-and-manhandle a gnome!), trip opponents, and it's one of the few martial weapons which offers a Small user 1d8 base damage. Not to mention the sheer eccentricity/intimidation factor inherent in a three-foot-three gnome wielding a five-foot polearm.
Hostile: "Ye gods! A gnome wielding a halberd? How bad-ass must *he* be?"

(Though he *does* carry a shield and warhammer for backup and/or use in really tight quarters - and I'm waiting for my back-ordered DMG to come through before I decide how many smokepowder pistols he carries to 'quick, Burgrinn, thin out their numbers!'. )

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Other exotic ideas of the top of my head:

- A Firbolg ranger or priest for the ultimate coverage for the rest of the party. maybe with a personality-quirk for balance. Maybe on a quest of his own and slightly at odds with the rest of the party?

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- An Armand explorer; fundamentally against violence, but with a strong wish to protect his new companions. fights desperately, but without joy. Maybe to much of an "alien" in the group, but then again it could have a value story-wise.

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'Armand'? I'm drawing a blank on that one, sorry.

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-The party takes another humanoid prisoner,I see a bugbear, but ogre, flind or gnoll might also work; a lone hunter that they don't dare to let go or that they think they have a use for. Taken out of his territory by the party he has greater chance of surviving by playing along than he has on his one. Dragged along he has little love for the party, but wants to survive and charges in to combat with reckless ferocity.

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Okay, this is where I tell you to quit reading my notes.

All responses welcomed and considered, folks, so feel free to keep talking! So far the wemic holds the lead, but every vote counts!

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Originally posted by scererar

go with the Gnome. I believe it is the most (core)underused character race available. an unusual gnome character, could add lots of flavor to the campaign. A wemic could be cool, however, how many places could he/she go, with out being harrassed, simply because of being a wemic. In the Shaar, this would not pose much of a problem, but in the north and other places, even going to the local inn could pose issues. Power to the little gnome

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Aren't the 'fish out of water' scenarios the entire point of using barbarian characters?

Y'know, after seeing the wemic's formerly unshakeable lead erode somewhat, and reading some pretty passionate arguments, I'm almost tempted to use them *both* - the wemic for shock-action, the breachgnome as their bulwark/rear-guard. Of course, that'd bulk the party up to eight in all, and I'm not sure I can do justice to the cast I've already chosen....
(I mean, the 'base' band already includes a paladin with a shady past and a Calishite merchant/sorcerer as just two examples, not to mention a couple of guides who have their own 'eccentricities' - and all of this stemming from a desire/attempt to confound the normal stereotypes.... )
I *do* have a decent way of using both of these tanks built into the story structure, though, albeit almost by accident... though I find I'm having to go even further into their back-story to avoid Joss Whedon's famous "cut to a year later, she's living with dwarves" problem.
Nonetheless, anyone who has strong feelings one way or the other is still more than welcome to make themselves heard!

@ sleyvas: believe it or not, it was buying and reading that precise issue of Dragon which prompted all the halberd-love in the first place. However, I think you may have missed something: the halberd doesn't *have* reach unless you use the Long Strike feat, so it's perfectly okay for close action (especially if you use Haft Strike as well, to cover all three forms of damage ).
Heh: throw in Power Attack and Cleave/Great Cleave as well, and it'll be "Goblins? [splat!] *What* goblins?"

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Originally posted by hammer of Moradin

(Please: no dwarves - the rest of the team is evenly split between humans and elves and I'd rather not trot out the tired old LotR-style Gimli-and-Legolas clichés. )



That's it. Equal rights for dwarves time!

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What are you - the Dwarven Anti-Defamation League?

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You answered your own question here. Do NOT trot out the cliches, but, at the same time, play into the cliches. HAVE a dwarf tank in the party. Do something different with it. Tolkien did. Jackson didn't.
Have a dwarf, armor him up, and make him your own. Ideas for this, which, of course, you don't want to use 'cuz they're mine.

Gold dwarf Paladin - This may be a cliche of its own, but have him really unlikable toward other races. A real bigot. Have him come from one of the powerful families of the rift, with holier-than-thou attitudes toward other races. You want healing, ya gotta earn it by proving yourself. Do something unlawful, and of questionable behavior, well be prepared to face some consequences.

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Shield dwarf Fighter - Common enough, right? Give him a cool weapon and he stands out in a crowd. Hey, why's that dwarf wielding a katana? Dunno, must be a samurai (PrC, not Class rules). Lookit that dwarf with the twin scimitars, that's mighty strange. Dwarven urgrosh, I didn't think that dwarves actually used those because of all the complicated rules.

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Y'know, after looking at the urgrosh in response to this post, I'm struck by how much it resembles the halberd in some respects, and in how flexible and potentially devastating a weapon it appears to be (for all that its description's length makes it a little intimidating). Nonetheless, you've nixed my stealing this particular idea, and I'll respect that.

Here's something odd, though, and others might want to consider this in creating their own characters for whatever reasons: given how popular a weapon it was in real life, it's truly remarkable how few fantasy characters I see (be they in D&D or otherwise, fiction or PC's) who actually use spears (of any grade). Swords and axes have the 'Conan'/'LotR' factor going for them, but spears are still pretty nasty in the right hands - and as simple weapons with a low, low price-tag and some decent inherent options, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing them regaining a bit of prominence.
But then again, that's just my two c.p. for the day.

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Smart dwarf - Goes against what you're looking for, kinda. Make him smart so he doesn't run headlong into trouble, but instead waits, watches, and listens. Sizes up the situation before taking it on. When the action starts, he's fully loaded, but usually already has the drop on his opponents as to make the armor and weapons redundant.

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You mean... you mean there might be a dwarf out there who doesn't subscribe to the "scream and leap" school of tactics!? How could his brother dwarves tolerate the shame of such a heretical beast's existence!?

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If you notice, the rules of D&D are geared towards lightly armored, or unarmored characters. Magic supplements the character to make survivability believable, somewhat. In truth, the better armored, the more likely one is to survive. Only two, sometimes three, of the core classes work with this (Fighter, Paladin, and sometimes Cleric), while the others (Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard) do not. It's a wonder that anyone survives long enough to make it to higher, more powerful, levels in the game. I guess they all had armor on until they could survive without it.

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Indeed, I've been paging through my PH a fair bit the last couple of days, and much the same thing occurred to me. Admittedly, the barbarian's abilities let him get away with it to a certain extent, but you're right on about the others.
(Hell, as much as this team is going to emphasis stealth and freedom of movement in their capers, even the resident sorcerer had invested in a couple of Rogue levels and a scimitar before he left Calimshan to seek his fortune - partly because he had a thing for shortbow-hunting, but mainly because he figured that wearing a set of battle-leathers a) made him less of a target, dismissed as "just another thug on a budget", so his magic was usually a very nasty shock to the other side, and b) helped him keep his insides where they belonged if-and-when bad guys got past his 'guards'. The skill-points and talent for being a sneaky SOB were simply a bonus. )

@ The Cardinal:
I'll be posting it at Fanfiction.net; as irksome and infuriating as that site is to me on several levels, it's still the single largest fanfic repository I know of. I'm not quite sure if outright fan-fic is permitted here, but if I get the nod from the resident PTBs I'll be putting it up as a scroll in the Adventuring shelves as well, for eventual archival in the main site's Campaign Journals section.

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Originally posted by Trace_Coburn

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Originally posted by hammer of Moradin

(Please: no dwarves - the rest of the team is evenly split between humans and elves and I'd rather not trot out the tired old LotR-style Gimli-and-Legolas clichés. )



That's it. Equal rights for dwarves time!

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What are you - the Dwarven Anti-Defamation League?

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Originally posted by Trace_Coburn

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Smart dwarf - Goes against what you're looking for, kinda. Make him smart so he doesn't run headlong into trouble, but instead waits, watches, and listens. Sizes up the situation before taking it on. When the action starts, he's fully loaded, but usually already has the drop on his opponents as to make the armor and weapons redundant.

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You mean... you mean there might be a dwarf out there who doesn't subscribe to the "scream and leap" school of tactics!? How could his brother dwarves tolerate the shame of such a heretical beast's existence!?

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Originally posted by Trace_Coburn

You mean... you mean there might be a dwarf out there who doesn't subscribe to the "scream and leap" school of tactics!? How could his brother dwarves tolerate the shame of such a heretical beast's existence!?

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