Sutek said:
How are you arriving at that value? What feats? That may give folks a rough idea of why you're saying what you're saying. I don't know the feats well enough yet in Conan, and I can't think of any that would do it in D&D. Base STR Bonus of +4, boosted by level 8 to +6 with a 2 handed weapon with d12 damage is a range of 7-19pts per strike. Stuff like Power Attack can foctor in, but I can't think of anything that directly increases damage to the scale you're talking about unless a Crit is generated (x2 or x3 damage).
Ok, but this is going to take a while.
Lets start with a lowball example. A Soldier 10 with Str 18 (pathetic) and Power Attack and Weapon Spec[polleaxe] He uses PA for 2 so that is: 2d6 + 6(Str) + 2(spec) + 4(PA) = 18 on average. For the purposes of estimating damage output against an unknown AC I usually assume that that a character with full BAB can make his two highest itterative attacks hit and miss with the rest. Two attacks at 18 each is 36 HP/round.
Now lets try a character that looks more like what I expect a typical Conan character to look like. A Barbarian 10 with Str 22 (now thats more like it) and Power Attack. He also has Weapon Focus[bardiche] and will PA for 1 so we get: 2d8 + 9(Str) + 2(PA) = 19 on average. Again, if we arbitrarily give him hits with his two highest attacks that makes for 38 HP/round.
Now I know what you are thinking; I promised you an easy build that "any single class Barbarian or Soldier who put his highest stat in Str and uses a two-handed weapon ought to be able to hit 36 points per round just by tripping over his own two feet." But both these guys are using Power Attack and that is a really complex feat to use, right? Well, it can be, and believe me I have seen all sorts of graphs and charts and excell sheets and calculators designed to compute the
optimum PA for any given matchup. But it doesn't
have to be that way. If you don't stress over finding the optimal PA anybody, even a novice more interested in roleplay than rollplay, can use the feat very effectievly by following their choice of a few simple strategies.
Option 1)
Always PA for one point per itterative attack plus the value of any circumstance bonuses to attack. Thus a soldier 10 who has 2 attacks will PA for 2. By "circumstance bonus to attack" I mean miscelaneous bonuses for battelfield position; so if you are on high ground you PA for another point, if you are flanking or charging add another 2, if your opponent is prone add 4.
Option 2)
Always PA for the value of your Weapon Focus feats plus the value of any enhancement bonuses from superior weapons plus the value of any circumstance bonuses to attack. Thus a character with Weapon Focus would PA for 1 while a character with Weapon Focus and a masterwork weapon would PA for 2. Circumstance bonuses are as described above.
Both these strategies opperate on the principal that a full BAB will eventually outsrtip your opponent's DV (unless you opponent is a defense twink :wink: ) thus classes with full BAB should always try to do something with their excess BAB. Honestly once you start thinking in terms of this pardagrim you realize that this is the true advantage of a full BAB: the ability to convert it into extra damage or protection or additional combat options, that is what makes full BAB classes such fierce melee opponents.
Option 3) All Power Attack, All The Time (or APAATT for short). Now this is one nasty piece of work right here :twisted: The plan is to
always PA for your full BAB no matter what. You hit less often, making fights longer, but when you do hit it is a beautiful sight 8) Not only is this an easy strategy to play but it can be a lot of
fun to play and can be a great roleplay aid if your character happens to be the battle-rager type ("Hulk smash!!!"). There are two ways for APAATT to work. One is if you have a lot of bonuses to hit from sources other than BAB (high Str, feats, cool gear, etc) and your opponents have a DV slightly lower than what is "average" for your level, in this case you may be hitting with a roll of 17 or 18 anyway so go nuts and get some mielage out of your Great Cleave feat. The other is if your opponent has really high DV to begin with and is generally tougher than you, in this case a good idea is not only to go all in with PA but also to max out Combat Expertise and fight defensevly as well (yes, it is legal to max out PA and CE at the same time) what you are doing is trying to make yourself invulneurable and wait for that Nat 20 to come up. I know it sounds wierd but it can be suprisingly effective. And the great thing about APAATT in this contex is that Conan has some benefits to make your wild swings even
more attractive (god I love this game). For starters, if you go all in PA and hit I can almost guarantee you a massive damage save your opponent has no hope of making; so an APAATT character can count on flat out killing their opponent at least 5% of the time. Secondly everybody in Conan can Fight on the Run and APAATT favors single hits, this is particularly good for classes with the Manuverability ability chain as they can run at their enemy again and again suffering only one attack a round themselves but threatening their opponent with insta-death should they ever conect. A Barbarian 10 can have Power Attack and Fleet-Footed three times and move 30 feet, attack with APAATT, and move 30 feet out without provoking an AOO. Like I said, you may be suprised by just how effective this strategy can be (even if it does take longer to finish a fight, but hey, drag-out fights can be cool too) and it couldn't be easier for someone who is "just there to roleplay" to catch on to.
Maybe I'm just jaded from all my years of twinkage but to me this all seems like prety basic stuff. 8) Not really the kind of thing you have to be a "min/maxer" to engage in. Everything I have shown you here will work more or less on auto-pilot once you explain it the first time.
Now how about I show you someting a little more complex, just for contrast. This is a classic mid-difficulty twink I refer to as "The Blademaster". For this we will need a single class Soldier. He will use the greatsword and take Weapon Focus and Greater WF, Weapon Spec and Greater WS, Improved Crit and Greater Crit, and Power Attack of course. At level 20 will will imagine he has a 26 Str. If we make him Hyborian for the free Greatsword prof and favored class: any he also has
fifteen (15) feats left over to play with. Lets have him PA for 4 and we will say once again that his first two attacks hit and the rest miss. That gives him: 2d10 + 12(Str) + 4(spec) + 8(PA) = 34 per hit or 68 per round. But he also has a crit threat range of 15-20. Statistically that may be only 25% but it is likely that, if facing an "apropriate" DV and given his PA of 4 he will only hit with his first hit if he rolls someting in the area of a 10 or better and his second hit will likely only connect if he rolls a 15 or so (these numbers may vary some). So it is very likely that he will wind up either criting or missing every time. So with crits that makes his damage 68 per hit or
136 per round. That my friend is worthy of being called a real life Twink 8) (though I still would not call such a character build a min/max, and it isn't even anywhere close to a true munchkin build). Also keep in mind that with Versatility a high-level Barbarian can remain competitive with this.
Anyway, I think I've rambled on long enough about this. Hope that helps.
