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Any D&D/D20

Shadowrun

World of Darkness

Palladium

Other (feel free to post about it)

[BlackFlyme]

With an adaptive-enchanted composite bow, the bow will scale to give additional damage based on your strength bonus. Though bows are still lighter in terms of output when you factor in that you can't get 1.5x damage like you can by wielding a melee weapon two-handed. That damage bonus also applies on power attacks, to my knowledge, which would push melee up a bit further.

Though regardless of builds, I think that in general a ranger could out-damage a fighter, when facing their favoured enemies. An animal companion can help increase the ranger's damage output as well, but they are not as strong as the companions of other classes. Though fighters do get more feats than rangers, whose feats apparently include poultry and poultry accessories. I've taken a look at the archery combat style selection, and I don't think I care for it too much.

Though I don't think a paladin would be a 'quasi-class'. While they can definitely be played as a full-supporter, and can fill a few different roles, they can still hold their own on the frontlines, with their high saves, full bab, and a fair amount of proficiencies. Plus a horse can be a beast. Admittedly, similar to rangers, paladins tend to be most effective against certain types of enemies. Some of their archetypes aren't that great, either. There are a few that replace or nerf their smite.

[Neonivek]

Quasi doesn't mean "bad" but yes by far the Paladin is the one who has the least trade off for casting ability when it comes to just raw physical might compared to all others.

But I definitely wouldn't remove them from that classification. They are a mix between Divine Casting and raw combat.

The only argument someone COULD make is that Druids are a quasi class of a hypothetical pure caster.

[Gentlefish]

Er. I don't think there's an argument on whether or not a druid is a "quasiclass". It's its own tree of magic, with many spells being unique to it. It's not like the druid is to the cleric as the sorcerer is to the wizard; they've been a staple since (at least) AD&D. It handles the natural world's magics, rather than the Cleric's domain-based magics, or the wizard's arcane magics. It's a triangle bro, and everyone knows triangles are the most stable shape.

[Bohandas]

Er. I don't think there's an argument on whether or not a druid is a "quasiclass". It's its own tree of magic, with many spells being unique to it. It's not like the druid is to the cleric as the sorcerer is to the wizard; they've been a staple since (at least) AD&D.

Yes, but in AD&D they were explicitly a cleric variant

[Gentlefish]

and bard was a multiclass monstrosity

[Sergius]

Well, our party just fought 4 minotaurs, a 9-headed pyrohydra, some sort of earth elemental and a big mobile plant that liked to hug people.

We as well as the DM figured out a few things.

1) Hydras are freakin' dangerous as they have LOTS of attacks (9 for this one). DM had to "nerf" it by rolling a random dice to see how many hydra heads decided to attack, otherwise it would probably kill one adventurer each round.

2) Icy prison is an awesome spell to cast at the remaining last (intelligent) enemy since there's nobody left to save him before he dies. Minotaur popsicle FTW.

3) Succeeding with a 20 attack roll at a hydra, which then rolls a natural 1 to resist my Stunning Fist attempt is awesome, specially when everyone then gets to gang on it for massive alpha-strike damage.

4) Enlarged Monk with reach is pretty nice too. Also... Stunning Fist AoO is confusing, haha.

5) Next time, everyone kill the hydra first.

6) No grappling the Minotaur, srsly. Reserve grappling for humans with two-handers and no natural attacks. Also it ruins Flurry of Blows, which Blows.

[Gentlefish]

HAHA Pyrohydras are even worse, since they're immune to fire damage and thus can only be successfully stopped by acid in the "hydra" way. Otherwise stupidly massive body damage is what it takes. Btw, that's how our group did it for... three separate hydras?

Oh, and we fought a twelve-headed thessa hydra. It ate my favorite character

[Rolan7]

Pff that's nothing!  Last session we used a hydra as an improved weapon
But seriously, that sounds like a cool fight - congrats on that clutch stun!

Technically we really did use a hydra - our transmutation wizard - as an improvised weapon.  We had a party fight (very cheerfully.  I wanted a new character, other player would take the winning character).  The wizard got bored and volunteered himself as ammo.  We had obscenely high strength scores, plenty to pick up a 2,000 pound "object" and throw it for 13d6+str.

My frenzied berserker probably should have had the fight, with his deathless rage and "wrathful heal" weapon enchantment (receive half of all damage done as healing, completely insane), but the raging barbarian pulled out a magic carpet and an eversmoking bottle and flew around to outlast the frenzy.  He did use a climb check and "corner perch" first though, which was pretty cool to visualize.

I think he really bends the rules of rage actions, but it's all good!  I'm glad he won, my character (a former NPC turned emergency backup character) had 5 int was kinda one dimensional.

Later in the session I switched to my backup character, a silly twin brother of my old bard character.  The one who lasted thirty minutes before dying and getting reincarnated as a tarasque...  Well, turns out I had never finished the character sheet.  It was still great fun though!  Instead of playing a dumb ogre I was a foppish bard (counterpoint to his skilled, world-wise brother).  I helped the wizard escaped jail, learned that even bards really need to retrieve their possessions from jail because holy cow material components for *everything*, and even survived a couple of encounters!  Got knocked unconscious though.

Then the party realized that the incoming liches were scrying my bard to find us at sea.  As the character was a complete joke, and the real party members were pretty solidly evil, they turned my character to stone and pushed him into the ocean XD

So I lost two characters in the session, sorta, and had so much fun.  Technically 3 - through complicated shenanigans, a mindless zombie version of my Ogre Mage Druid was present.  My frenzied berserker beat him into a pulp out of frustration (regaining health) then used him as ammo as well.  It was amazingly cathartic.

[Sergius]

Technically we really did use a hydra - our transmutation wizard - as an improvised weapon.

You had a Monk of the Empty Hand pick him up and beat people with it?

[Neonivek]

I have to say that often I think the games split the knowledges up too much.

I mean given that religion history are pretty much one and the same... you would think there would be crossover.

Or Religion and the Planes... or Geography and the Planes... or Nobility and history...

Sometimes I wish they would just sort of redo the knowledges to reflect the ACTUAL dungeons and dragons universe and not real life.

Or heck... give them some fringe inclusions... Have a monster knowledge skill and a religion knowledge skill... and allow religion knowledge to work on knowledge of the undead AND allow knowledge history to allow fringe knowledge on gods.

It just becomes incredulous that "I" can know more then the typical adventurer reading a few books then the adventurers who have to do it for a living.

[BlackFlyme]

I think they mashed a few of them together in Pathfinder's Unchained book, but I don't care much for alternate rulings. I do like the adventuring/background skills bit though; if only because it gives everyone more skill points to work with.

[Rolan7]

DM fiat.  I think knowledge checks in particular are a case where the DM can or should be creative, or allow creative suggestions.  In my game we're often allowed to apply knowledge skills which are only tangentially related to the question.  The DM just applies a secret modifier, and sometimes changes the perspective of what we know.

A common case in my group is Knowledge (History) as a fallback.  If we don't have the knowledge of Arcana or Religion to recognize a, say, ritual...  We can use Knowledge (History) to see if there are legends we remember from our childhood. 

So for the forest of trees that bleed.  My druid from a distant island only knows that they're unnatural, but alive (from Nature).  The party wizard identifies some sort of soul trapping (Arcana).  Our ogre grew up nearby, and his people knew to avoid them because they'll drain your very soul (History).

Whereas the rest of us couldn't get anything from Knowledge (History), because we were from distant lands.

[Neonivek]

Ugh I just made a session too silly again.

I am sure someone else can tell this story better

But the goal of the session was that the players were going to hunt down the families of those who got killed and make amends by mostly... giving them money if they need it.

I kind of was like "Well... why is this a whole session?" given that this could have been done as an aside or by a post. So I created Drama.

So basically they just saved an Orphanage from debt and the children were so happy they sang like a heavenly choir that even made the birds in the sky happier.

[Gentlefish]

Playing a pregen adventure with the group I've been a part of for about two years. Tonight though, the lawful-evil assassin went on a goddamn killing spree. He killed the captain of the guard, a sergeant, and a bunch of 1st level warrior guards. Only the one sergeant and the captain were dominated.

Our group was wanted for a murder of a woman the assassin extorted information out of. The spawn killed her, likely. So we were hiding in a ropetrick from the previous night in the inn room we were renting when the guards busted in and couldn't find us. He ran off and did his killing thing while the wizard teleported me and the Tiny-sized gnome out beyond the gates. We were then seeming'd into a man, a woman, and a baby. We walked back into town in our disguse seeking shelter from the 65mph wind and torrential rain. We weren't allowed into the inn where we were staying but they let us in the stable. Where the wizard (father) started arguing with the gnome (baby). The whole time, the assasin is going murderhappy while I'm playing mother as a female druid.

[kilakan]

Ugh I just made a session too silly again.

I am sure someone else can tell this story better

But the goal of the session was that the players were going to hunt down the families of those who got killed and make amends by mostly... giving them money if they need it.

I kind of was like "Well... why is this a whole session?" given that this could have been done as an aside or by a post. So I created Drama.

So basically they just saved an Orphanage from debt and the children were so happy they sang like a heavenly choir that even made the birds in the sky happier.

Saved is maybe a too liberal word there, we bought the orphanage mostly with the goal (at least for me) of getting apprentices who are endlessly thankful to us.  Exceptionally devoted trainees with no parents to tell them not to do what you say is a god send to the slightly grey-er morally inclined.