Gareth:
Is it really worth it?
That's what I'll be struggling with with Stenet as soon as his armor gets out of the shop. At DR 7 and 60 pounds of Plate he'll be my second highest DR, but most
heavily armored character. His Dodge drops to a 7... but he (like Jednesa) really doesn't use Dodge (it's already an 8), he relies on Block and Parry and his current 4/3 DR. And I'll probably put 3 exp into Dwarven Tough Skin Dr and push him up to DR 8. From there it's going to require more money...
Of course, of my 6 characters no one else exceeds DR 4. Jareth and Ülo have
very expensive Hvy Leather (DR 4 and 3 respectively), Benny and Dilandua have light leather (DR 1)... But sadly of all them only Dilandua uses Dodge, and Dilandua's parry is so great, Dodge is a fallback (but 11 is a really nice number to fallback to).
Benny just relies on prayer... and hopefully never really getting into fights. But he's an ex-merchant turned Saint, so (like Jareth, and Ülo) he just really needs to avoid combat.
Jareth just needs to stop rushing head-on into situations he is completely incapable of being useful in. But then the word "cautious" isn't listed anywhere on his character sheet...
quote:
Jednessa just goes for bulletproof nudity!
Actually... I eschewed Bulletproof Nudity for a couple of reasons... 1 - I find it slightly too cheesy for my taste
*, 2 it would have been more expensive than just buying up more DR or Dodge. Remember that optional rule buy in requires Attractive Appearance or better and Jednesa is Hideous
.
No Jednesa relies on very impressive 'naked' DR (10/12 Tough Skin Everything/Crushing) and being a mountain of meat (HP 30). She fears eye-shots and Wights. Yes, even dumb as rocks ogresses can learn to fear something that ignores all their defenses and drops them in three hits!
So back to your question... Jednesa tends to fight like a berserker, because she can (and she occasionally goes berserk); Stenet is cautious, often going for regular Attack Manuevers or Committed or Defensive attacks to keep his defenses available (or bonused) while still getting attacks; Dilandua will only All-Out-Attack as a fight ender, otherwise they will keep those Parries and Dodges handy (low, low DR and almost no HP); and the other three should be fighting defensively, or (preferably) from a distance (Ülo has ranged spells, Benny and Jareth have only have situational usefulness in combat).
Stenets biggest weakness (IMO) is his very, very low Move. It starts at 5, but drops to 3 with his heavy armor. That means he's not (my preferred combat style) a skirmisher, he's a line anchor. Inversely both Jednesa and Dilandua are designed to skirmish (move 8 and 11 respectively) and are meant to move in response and deal with break-out threats, or charge past the line and engage leaders/casters/etc in the enemy's rear (or flank and force the enemy to deal with multiple engagements). Granted, high Move (especially 11+) isn't really often useful in PbP games, not only due to diminished tactical mapping, but due to facing mostly skirmishing foes. It's rare we face foes that try to move as a line or engage as a block (the battle outside the Abbey gates might the first I've seen here, where a superior numbered force was arrayed in battle lines... and due to our group make-up we laughed all over those lines and decimated them).
* Though admittedly in a regular "Orc and Pie"/"Back To The Dungeon" style DF game, I'd think it was just fine. The cost is born in requiring an Advantage that is usually useless, Attractive Appearance. So for most Barbarians (and other non-Social types), it's perfectly fine. For Bards or Swashbucklers I'd feel it was too cheesy. Now I'm contemplating an Elven Barbarian who survives on Dodge, Beefcake Protection (Bulletproof Nudity for DFD:Barbarians), and Flesh Wounds... Fozzio Lanboni, and unlike the namesake (Fabio) give him no actual social skills... okay, maybe Public Speaking (Puns)...
And as a rarity, most of my Characters here are monsters... 4 out of 6! Jednesa and Ülo in the traditional sense (though Jednesa is good-natured and Ülo knows better than to start shit she can't finish... generally, though put her in a room with Christine and there will be some hair pulling (at the minimum)); where Dilandua is a highly ethical sociopath (Callous + Bloodlust + Code of Bushido) and Jareth is now a Cultist of the Elder Things (while he's not really a 'bad guy' and has no compulsion or disad requirements to use his new powers, he really doesn't know what the drawbacks are yet, so he has no reason not to use Cultist 'spells').