• RiSi
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  • Registered: 2017-08-29
  • Posts: 4

Topic: Dwarfs and Attacks?

Is this correct?

There are two dwarfs in a party. One is 1st level dwarf that has just left his home to started adventuring. The other  is a 10th Level dwarf  with years of combat experience. Both Dwarfs have exactly the same chance of hitting an enemy in melee.  There is also a 1st level human fighter in the party.  The 1st level human fighter has a greater chance than both dwarves, of striking an opponent.

  • Registered: 2018-03-25
  • Posts: 4

Re: Dwarfs and Attacks?

I think it helps to focus on how they are different than the points where they overlap. Yes, the two dwarves can fight alongside each other with equal skill (assuming the Older dwarf doesnt have some powerful magical loot from his years raiding dungeons), but the endurance will quickly become apparent. The younger dwarf will start getting his butt kicked, while the older one will remain resilient and steadfast no matter how many blows he takes.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2016-10-20
  • Posts: 132

Re: Dwarfs and Attacks?

RiSi wrote:

Is this correct?

There are two dwarfs in a party. One is 1st level dwarf that has just left his home to started adventuring. The other  is a 10th Level dwarf  with years of combat experience. Both Dwarfs have exactly the same chance of hitting an enemy in melee.  There is also a 1st level human fighter in the party.  The 1st level human fighter has a greater chance than both dwarves, of striking an opponent.

Yup, that is correct smile The Fighter class is the one and only in LotFP that gets better at killing stuff with mundane tools. And it is the one and only thing this class ever has.

Clerics heal the holy s**t out of you, among casting other useful "aid-spells"
Magic-Users do their (godless?) witchcraft
Specialists become really good at what they are doing, and/or jack-in-all-trades
Dwarfs become so resilent (HP, but most of all: Saving Throws) that they grow into weather-it-all´s
The up-noseElves play their tried-and-true better than u routine: wear armor, cast spells with the flick of a wrist and be better at Search AND Surprise
Halflings are the masters of get-me-not (look at the Saving Throws). Guess being small and disliked makes you good at getting away after a time.

The Fighter does one thing, and one thing only: grow tough, and turn tough enemies into Schaschlik.

*clears my throat*
My personal OSR-ranting put aside: if you feel that experience should make a difference in regard to fighting, give the following classes an additional +1 Attack Bonus of their choice (Melee or Ranged, not both) at the 3rd and 5th level.

Specialists; Dwarfs; Elves

In regard to those pesky Halflings, make it a "+1 Ranged Attack Bonus OR +1 Stealth/Sleight of Hand

Last edited by Gregorius21778 (2018-04-12 11:46:05)

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  • Registered: 2017-10-22
  • Posts: 8

Re: Dwarfs and Attacks?

I agree that dwarfs get more than enough bonuses to be worthwhile without increasing their to-hit chance. Higher hit dice, Fighter combat options (not a minor thing, with ACs topping out around 21), better saving throws, and an increased Constitution Modifier.

Now my version of LotFP has a handful of houserules, the first being that a character's Attack Bonus also applies to damage rolls (to stop Magic Missile becoming the only way of dealing meaningful damage to high HD monsters), so I'd be more than happy to give dwarfs, halflings, and specialists increases in their Attack Bonus at every third level up to +5 (which would be at 13th level), but it's not something they actually need. Although note I've also modified the Saving Throw rules to use d6s and standardise across classes, which results in high saves not being a bonus for a class.

But without ACs in the mid-twenties a mid level dwarf is par with a mid level fighter, although magic-users still end up being the best of the whole set (an unfortunate side effect of high level magic being that powerful and the standard casting system having resource management as the only downside). The Fighter doesn't actually catch up in the higher levels either, due to their Saving Throws capping at about three points higher than the Dwarf.

Will most parties prefer a Fighter to a Dwarf? Probably, that to-hit bonus is a massive boost, but having a stout dwarf who just will not die is just as good if not better in most situations.

The Dwarf is the LotFP class I want to play the most for that reason. No fancy spells or scaling attack bonus, just a beard and a the inability to die.