No, You Can't Be Drizzt

Okay lads and lasses.  They call me Patrick, and I have a certain thing that’s been annoying the piss out of me since the first time I rolled up a character in ’98.  NO, YOU CAN’T BE DRIZZT.  Hopefully, I have your attention now. Almost everyone wants to be the ‘super’ character, unkillable, capable of doing EVERYTHING.  Ya know the type, stronger than a bugbear, wiser than a dragon, more magic than any deity, and oh, by the way, most of them want to kill some kind of deity in their story.  Listen up;

1.)    It’s the number one way of showing everyone around you, you’re the most inexperienced, single-minded gamer. You’re at the top of a very narrow list of people with narrow-minded expectations of a game.

2.)    There is no depth to a character that can do everything.  Limitless powers, and the ability to suddenly pull things out of your ass in tight situations (and I do mean literally.  I mean c’mon, who creates a character and then suddenly forgets the portable battering ram he ‘bought’ or the skill / ability / feat until it becomes an issue).  That’s called cheating, my friend.

3.)    It’s supposed to be hard; that’s what makes it fun.  If you’re a combat nut like I am, the challenge makes the struggle worth the victory.

Now having said that: every now and again, it’s fun to be able to kill everything that comes at you.  Make it short, and vicious,  thus the challenge is still there. 

Alrighty, I’ve slightly calmed down.  I am notorious for picking martial characters and creatures.  My favorite is the half-orc barbarian. In an attempt to make up for this, I give my character flaws.  Sometimes for the better or worse, but always to make the story fun.

The biggest advice I can give to gamers is that they should attempt to break from this vicious cycle or the game itself will grow very stale.  Attempt to move out of your archetype.  If your character is usually a “tank”,  play a mage; you’ll be surprised what you can do with eight hit points instead of thirty six.