Elidath's Warrior Guide
Greetings all. So I hear that you're wanting to know what it is to be a warrior? Or how to be one in general? Well, you've come to the right place, I hope, and if any of you have any problems with my guide about warriors, my deepest apologies, it is the best I can do, feel free to correct me if'n I'm wrong. I will start with what it is to be a warrior, how we live, how we fight, and such, so you can see if its what your cut out for. Now, I'm sure you've noticed that there is more to being a warrior than just swinging a sword and regulating local monster populations, but you're probably not sure exactly what is entailed. Let me start with Elidath's Code of Chivalry: The Warrior's Creed—"Serve the Gods. Defend that which is entrusted unto you. Protect the weak and fight for the right, always unto the death. Always fight the enemies of virtue and order. Never give up until the foe are defeated, for who else will carry on if we do not? Never break faith with friend or ally, for your word is your bond. Always display honor and courtesy, even if it is denied unto you, for death is better than dishonor, and in your honor lies your soul. "
Now, I'm not saying go commit suicide if you feel you've been dishonored, only you can bring shame on yourself. These are the tenants by which all true warriors live. There have always been, and always will be those who call themselves warriors, but do not live by a similar code, they are but common mercenaries and soldiers, even common bullies and skull-breakers. But they are not without honor wholly, many possess that which is honor in some small measure. Each warrior must find for themselves a code by which to abide. This is not as restricting as it sounds, for any that know me would surely testify that I do not adhere to my code letter by letter. In fact, the code is more for principle than guidance, something on which you can base your morals and decisions. Truly it is hard to be a warrior.
To be a warrior, one must first learn humility. Until the ends of time will there always be one out there who is greater than you. Rare indeed is the warrior who can weave a spell. We sit by and watch the great clerics raise the dead, the powerful wizards and sorcerers bind magic to items, saintly empaths heal the wounded, sweet-voiced bards sing songs of power, earthly rangers bend nature to their will, and skilled rogues ply their trades with ease. Much is denied to us because of our purely martial way of life, but it is our pride that we survive and persevere where the others will fall. Indeed, a warrior who is granted the boon of spells from kindly members of another profession can hold his own beside those who are well trained above their skill level. We warriors, more than any others live in a dual-world of magic and mundane, in which we can utilize the prior, but command only the latter. A warrior places his trust in honest steel before magic, for it will never abandon him.
Now, I will tell you a bit about the other professions that we warriors live with day by day. The rogues are most akin to us, utilizing that which is at hand to get the job done rather than conjuring up a spell to satisfy their ends. Although many a rogue devotes his or her entire life to the task of opening locks and disarming traps, many lead a life of martial combat like us. The rangers, and bards are next in line when distancing themselves from us, augmenting their skills with the powers of magic to get even the most common chore done. The clerics place their faith in gods over earthly matter, and wield a magic of the spirit to help those in need, but let it never be said that they are strangers to the art of combat, mighty indeed are they on the field of battle. An empath now, is a warriors best friend. Like a cleric, they devote themselves to helping others, but unlike a cleric, it is almost an all-consuming gift. Empaths give of themselves to heal and restore the wounded and maimed. They take the wound itself from the afflicted upon themselves, and relieve the burden of pain. The wizards and sorcerers are most unlike us, weaving intricate dweomers, casting great spells, and wielding unseen powers with just a thought and a gesture. Fierce indeed are those of this walk of life, though most commonly they are rather weak and puny of body. These are your other options when choosing the path you will follow. As you see, there is much beyond being a warrior.
Ok, so you still want to be a warrior? Good, welcome to our proud sect of weapon wielders. I'm going to start at the beginning of character creation, with the dice rolls for your statistics. Now, this is only a suggested method, feel free to modify and deviate as little or as much as you want to. Primarily, you should have four stats of 80 or greater. Secondly, you need 4 stats of 50 or higher. The last two stats can be whatever happens to be in the batch. Strength should be your first priority, placing your highest 80's number in that slot, never put anything higher than 90 in it, because you get a +10 to strength for being a warrior. The next highest number should go into Dexterity, and then into Reflexes, because these affect your Round Time speed and Defense Skill. The lowest of your four highest numbers should go into Constitution, because it will also get a +10 from being a warrior, and affects how well you will take damage. I recommend that for your next four stats, you place the higest numbers in this order: Discipline, Wisdom, Intelligence, Logic. These will affect various things, and I have found that that priority works best. Next, you should place the highest of your remaining scores in Aura, although it is what generates mana, and you will likely never cast spells, it is what determines your spirit points. Charisma should be the stat that gets your lowest number, because it mainly only affects bard spells and the reactions of non-player characters, and it won't be that big a deal who they like. Now you will need to chose a race for your character. I highly recommend that you chose one that best fits the personality that you intend to roleplay. But if you are going for greatness as a warrior, and don't care what race your character is, then I suggest the races of Giantman, then Dwarf, then Human. These seem to make the most potent warriors, as the numbers you will see suggest. In fact, the numbers that are across from each race do not apply to your characters statistics directly, but rather are bonuses and penalties that will be applied to rolls involving that particular stat. Now you've some to the point of Skill training. The first things I suggest that you train are armor and shield use. Train in these at least twice a level, because you should always improve your defense before you improve you offense. Now you will need to decide what type of fighting style you will use. If you intend to fight with two weapons, then don't train in shield use at all. Likewise if you intend to wield two-handed weapons. But if you intend to use blunt or one handed edged with a shield, then by all means train in shield use. Two weapon fighting merely reduces the attack penalty associated with wielding two weapons, and eventually might even give you a bonus. You will still have to train in Edged or Blunt if you chose this one, it only replaces shield use. The two-handed style gives you the bonus of not having to train in either two-weapon combat or in shield use, and allows you to fight with weapons that are much more potent than single handed ones. The downside of this as well as two-weapon fighting is that you loose a enormous defense bonus that you would get from a shield. I recommend that you use the one handed edged and shield combination, because most of the useful weapons out there are OHE, or One Handed Edged, and the defense bonus you get from carrying a shield is enormous. I don't recommend at all that you train in ranged weapons, they are extremely hard to use. No matter what style you choose for fighting, you should always train at least once if not twice in combat maneuvers. CM affects not only your attacks, but your defense as well, amongst other things. You should train in Physical Training approximately twice each level, because this is how you gain additional hitpoints. Your maximum HP ever will be limited by your race and constitution bonus. Never train more than twice a level, you don't need that much HP, and its a waste of skill points. High on your list should be first aid, because it allows you to tend your bleeding injuries and assure that you won't bleed to death before you find an empath. Brawling is also very important, because it affects you Defense Skill, or DS when you don't have a weapon and/or shield in hand, as well as your skill in using the Voln punches, kicks, and throws. Don't neglect Climbing and Swimming, there are many places in the lands where you will meet your doom if you don't know how, or aren't good enough. Three other skills that you will find extremely useful and should train in maybe once a level are Perception, Stalking & Hiding, and Ambush. Perception is how well you will be able to find hidden people or things. Stalking & Hiding are how well you will be able to do just that, stalk and hide. Ambush is highly recommendable because it is how well you aim your shots at specific body parts of your target. The rest of your skills, train in as would be defined by the character you roleplay. You see it is possible to train in spell research, and thus be able to cast spells (one spell per training), but it is extremely costly and uneconomical of your skill points. Now that we're done with the training part, we'll continue. The next thing you will choose is your gender, and its none of my business what you choose. Likewise the different aspects of your appearance, thats something for you to decide. Last, but not least you have come to the great part of naming your young warrior. Be careful what you name your character, because if its inappropriate, the gods will ruin all your hard work by making you retire. I have little advice on this other than this: Be Original and Creative. Follow the advice that the computer gives you.
Now, that you have a character, I'll try and help you out with life in the lands. One thing that warriors are stereotyped as is "robohunters". Try not to become this if at all possible. For the first few trainings of your adventuring career, you will be able to hunt critters several years above your experience. This will last until about 20th level, but will begin to lessen around 10th. I suggest that you enjoy it while you can, cause it doesn't last forever. But don't get too overzealous and try to hunt something like hill trolls when you're only level 1 (I tried this, not a good idea). Know your own limits. Starting out, in order to reach level 1, you will need to visit several of the shops and locations around town, no matter if you're starting in Wehnimer's Landing or in Icemule Trace. When you're hunting, try to be courteous to your fellow adventurer, and don't poach or steal. Always watch what stance you're in, because being caught in offensive without weapon or shield out, can cause grievous harm, and its almost impossible to hit anything while in defensive. Learn your way around town quickly, and make maps if you need to, because once you reach level two, you won't be able to use the DIR command to get where your going anymore. In the Landing or in the Mule, visit the local Inn and speak with certain NPC's to learn more about the lands, as well as gain an experience bonus. When your fifteen trainings, you will be able to join the warriors guild, and start learning new abilities and commands. Well, I'm sure that if I thought hard enough I could come up with something else important to tell you, but I'm starting to get weary of all this business. I'll leave you to your own designs now. I wish you much luck in your journeys, and farewell in you adventuring career.
Elidath Heinmighty
Giantman Warrior