Talk:Fist of the Righteous (3.5e Class)

Ratings

Aarnott dislikes this article and rated it 1 of 4.

It's not completely awful, but this class is really boring. I get that it is supposed to be a martial adept monk. That's a great idea, but the execution here is not. The code of conduct is something that should have gone the way of the dodo, not become more restrictive. Hands of the righteous should probably give a slam natural attack rather than increase unarmed damage. Unarmed damage is nonlethal to start, so the damage mixture created is awkward. Sacred bonuses are really lame. They shouldn't be handed out like candy with a 1-level dip. Full-round action maneuver recovery sucks. This is hardly wizard level (it's rogue, but that's not a deficiency in the article, just the categorization). The bonuses granted are just boring vertical increases. Sure, the maneuvers offer all the horizontal options we might want, but the other class features come across as uncreative and dull. All in all, this would be a 2/5, which is just not good enough for a neutral rating.

ThunderGod Cid dislikes this article and rated it 1 of 4.

I second everything that Aarnott said, especially the bit about the code of conduct. There may be no better way to make a class that can turn off everyone than by giving it such a cruel code, or almost any code of conduct for that matter. It's just asking to straightjacket the roleplaying options of anyone who plays the character. As a side note, I believe the swordsage is supposed to be a martial adept equivalent of the monk or at least has the ability to serve in such a capacity.

In the strategic planning stage, a list of things one must or must not do or accomplish can increase the intellectual depth. Knowing that you have to make sure the captives get out safely when you're attacking Count Dracula's mansion ensures that you need a slightly more delicate plan than "just use a whole bunch of dynamite". A code of conduct is capable of providing that list, and also serves as a mental crutch for getting into the psychology of one with noticeably different morals from your own.

Of course, D&D is a game where each player controls only a single member of a larger team, usually built separately without much coordination between players, so it's rare to find multiple characters who share a code of conduct. When presented with two choices: "Assault or sneak past all of Count Dracula's guards and traps before confronting him directly, with a high likelihood of death", or "ditch the Paladin and blow up the mansion, then sift through the rubble to finish off the crushed Count", you can bet that people are likely to regret giving in to the Paladin player and doing the former option, especially if they don't have a similar compunction about collateral damage. --Foxwarrior 04:57, 3 May 2012 (UTC)