Newbie templar questions

E

Eriktheswift

Novice
Hello,

This is my first time joining a LARP and I have a few questions. For the templar out there. I've only decided to have interest in this class because I like the idea of being an earth templar. I like the idea of being able to fight and help out teammates in need. I've been told to try fighter or rogue, and that they are the high tier meta characters. However I've always played a healer warrior role in video games.

1, is it a good idea to pick templar as my starting class?
2, I've been reading these forms and it seems like the popular templar are celestial are earth templar not as good or less popular?
3, I've been told newbies get 29 points to spend what skills should I get with these points.

Please help! It's 5am and I can't sleep just thinking about what and where to spend my points
 
1) I generally suggest to newer players that come play South Michigan that they start out as a fighter (if they're looking to play a templar), and then transition to Earth Templar as their character levels up. You can change your class at any point you'd like so long as you can afford to do so. Templars really get good at higher levels but, at very low levels you're not doing much because of the costs of all the skills. I recommend your purchase a few weapon proficiencies first. Benefit from the extra body a fighter gets, then start nabbing up spells.

2)Earth Templars are pretty popular. You get a lot of survivability out of the class. And no one ever says no to more healing and life spells. At higher levels, you can stand in the front line and fight, or be in the back and heal.

3) Characters start at 15 build points. Some chapters offer 3 monthly back blankets for free when you start. Which puts you at 29 build.
You'll want to answer these questions first.
What kind of weapon do you want to use?
If it's not two handed, do you want to fight with a shield, or another weapon?
What race do you plan on playing?

29 is a solid starting place.
A shield fighter would look something like this.
One Handed Edge (5)
Shield (6)
Weapon Proficiency + 1 (15)

That will leave you with 3 extra build. Depending on your race you can buy a racial.
But, if you want to move toward Earth Templar, First Aid is probably a good choice. It only costs 2 build.
Or you could save the build. Read & Write is a pretty expensive (6) and you'll need it before you can start casting magic.
 
Hey there, Erik!

Based on your "Templar" intentions, I recommend one of the following three basic paths.

1) Fighter, as Alkalin3 recommended. This'll give you a solid melee base while you start working towards spellcasting. Once you've spent enough build on spells, you can "fluidclass" to Templar.

2) Scholar, to give you a solid spell-casting foundation as you accumulate fighter skills. Once you've spent enough build on fighter skills, you can "fluidclass" to Templar.

3) If you want to start off with a little bit of magic and martial skill from the getgo:

1 Handed Edge (7)
Shield (10)
Read/Write (3)
EITHER - Read Magic (4), or First Aid/Healing Arts (4 combined)
1st level Spell Slots x 3 (3)
2nd level Spell Slots x 2 (2)

Earth Templars don't have the same kind of spell damage or spell-depth that Celestial Templars do (Scrolls), but further down the line, they're also really, really hard to kill (Healing, High Magic Rebirth). That being said, there's nothing stopping you from having an Earth Templar with Read Magic and maybe a single 1st level Celestial Slot (eventually) so that you can use 5th level scrolls (Spell Shield).

"Fluidclassing" means you're changing your class. Your skills are recalculated into your new class, and as long as it doesn't leave you with negative build, your class is changed legally.
 
@Draven's advice is spot on. I tend to push people into fighter because you can do more for longer. Fighters can always swing a sword.

That being said, if you're playing an Elf, scholar with a bow is a really really awesome at low levels. Since Bows are base 3 damage, and Crossbows are base 4. As long as you have arrows, you've got a sustainable damage source + your spells. It's a bit prohibitive however, if you're not an Elf or Dark Elf.

Archery takes a bit of prep time before the event but, it's not so bad.
 
Thanks guys. I don't think I'll be using a shield if I start off as a templar I was thinking of saving the points for magic. I'm a pretty good dodger so I was gonna rely on my sword blocking and dodge skills with healing to keep me alive. But after reading all your great suggestions I might just start as a fighter and then transition or fluid casting into a templar. Thanks for the advice guys!
 
Eriktheswift said:
I'm a pretty good dodger so I was gonna rely on my sword blocking and dodge skills with healing to keep me alive.
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If you're serious about being in the thick of combat, I can't recommend enough that you either have a weapon or shield in your off hand (Unless you go two handed). With the way boffer combat works in this game, it's really hard to fight with a single one handed weapon.
 
Eriktheswift said:
Thanks guys. I don't think I'll be using a shield if I start off as a templar I was thinking of saving the points for magic. I'm a pretty good dodger so I was gonna rely on my sword blocking and dodge skills with healing to keep me alive. But after reading all your great suggestions I might just start as a fighter and then transition or fluid casting into a templar. Thanks for the advice guys!
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Hey man, you do what you feel is right for you. :)

If you feel you want to rebuild a little bit, good news! For your second PC event with that character, you can totally rebuild however you want. And if you like how it works out, go for it!
 
That's cool!
I see. Yeah I meant dodging with spells since I've never fought with boffers before. I heard that shield can be a good target for spellcasters that why I thought maybe I'll skip the shield and dodge spells. And hopefully be able to block attacks with my sword. But dual wielding isn't a bad choice. I'm a pro archery tag player so I've been front line dodging arrows with padded tips so I figured it should be easy to dodge some packets. But then again I've also never dodged a packet before lol so not sure what to expect. I'll take your advice since I will be going as a fighter and I'll take up the shield, maybe I can help tank or take hits for people.

Last question, do people form battle formation like shield walls and all? That would be a dream come to reality but I've been watching videos of LARP and it doesn't seem like people do unless it's the reinactment ones
 
And thanks so much guys for getting back to me. I really appreciate the knowledge. I will be joining with michigan south it's the closest one to me, so it will be convient
 
Eriktheswift said:
Last question, do people form battle formation like shield walls and all? That would be a dream come to reality but I've been watching videos of LARP and it doesn't seem like people do unless it's the reinactment ones
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I can't speak for other regions but, line battles are pretty common in the midwest.
 
In Alliance Alberta we regularly have shield walls. I play a Sarr Earth Templar, and am usually put right on the front line with my Shield and Spear. I have a couple healing spells set up, but mostly Curses and Binding to help the front line control the monsters facing us. So a Earth Templar "Tank/Support" comes in handy on the front line if that's what you enjoy. I went full Templar at 61 build. My effectiveness was a bit iffy for a little bit. But I really started becoming effective around 90-100 build.
 
Thanks for your feedback! I'll keep that in mind Thorcanine.

I've recently ordered a Calimacil sword would I be able to use that or do I have to use the bulky boffer weapons I've seen on the alliance video
 
From my experience, Earth Templars work really well as combat medics - you're not the biggest healer around, you're not the biggest fighter around, but you can keep yourself and your buddies going through the fight.

Latex weapons are allowed on a case-by-case basis as decided by the chapter's weapon marshals. I'd say more a lot more weapons pass than fail, but Calimacil tends to be fairly hard, so there's a chance your local weapon marshals will reject it. That said, I've heard their newer weapons are softer than their old ones, and after a little use they tend to soften up anyway. It really comes down to the individual weapon and the marshal.
 
I also want to point out that there is no wrong way to build a character if you're having fun with it, just efficient vs inefficient. My first character was a High Ogre fighter who came into the game with Read/Write and One-Handed Edged. I picked up craftsman skills, weapon master, style master, archery, thrown weapon, couple ranks of teacher... all kinds of extremely inefficient build options. It was however exactly the character I wanted to play, so I had fun with it. If you want to build a tanky melee healer, then do it and have fun. If making an efficient character will make the game more fun for you, do that instead.
 
ok so i've been thinking

so ive been told i'll get 29 pts for joining, I am still taking your advice to create a fighter however im still putting some builds together before i make a final decision
so far i've came up with 2 builds to use my points please give me some advice on the build whether its viable or whether i did the math wrong or whether its not possible.

Barb Fighter
7 - 1h edged
9- 3 x critical attack
6- shield
3 - resist element
2- first aid
27 pts

human Templar
7 - 1h edged
7 - read and write and magic
4 - first aid and healing arts
5 - 5x earth lvl 1 magic
4 - 4x earth lvl 2 spells
2 - 1x earth lvl 3 spell
29 pts


please tell me what you guys think. if i'm going the right way or not.
for my earth spells i was thinking

lvl 1 spells
3 cure light wounds
1 cure diease
1 endow

lvl 2 spells
2 magic armor
2 bless

lvl 3 spells
1 bind (not sure if this is a good pick or not)
 
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Weapon profs cost 15 total for a Fighter because you need to buy four Critical Attacks first (at a cost of three build a piece) and then another three build to "trade up" all of those Critical Attacks into a Weapon Proficiency.
 
Durnic said:
Weapon profs cost 15 total for a Fighter because you need to buy four Critical Attacks first (at a cost of three build a piece) and then another three build to "trade up" all of those Critical Attacks into a Weapon Proficiency.
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Was my templar build decent though? Would I be viable as a healer templar?
 
Eriktheswift said:
human Templar
7 - 1h edged
7 - read and write and magic
4 - first aid and healing arts
5 - 4x earth lvl 1 magic
4 - 4x earth lvl 2 spells
2 - 1x earth lvl 3 spell
29 pts
Click to expand...
There's a fairly specific order in which you have to purchase spells. Basically it works out so that until you have a full 4 columns of spells, you have to have (or be working toward) a pyramid shape at the top. Page 52 of the rulebook goes into it more in-depth. The spells you picked out aren't quite a legal build since you can't have a difference of more than two in the number of spells from one level to the next. That said, you still have 1 free build (4 level 1 spells costs 4 build, not 5) so you could get 432 instead of 441, which would be legal.

It's a pretty good starting build. You have enough spells to get some good use out of them if you spread them out right, you have your weapon skill, and you have Read Magic so you can use scrolls to supplement your innate spells.

For actual spell selection, I'd go with either Disarm or Cure Light Wounds for your first level, Magic Armor or Pin for second level (supplement your fighting vs. crowd control), and Weakness or Bind for third level - Weakness also gives you access to Remove Weakness. What will be most useful tends to vary from location to location, but those are spells that should be fairly useful anywhere. You can get some advice from the local casters when you go to your first game as well.
 
Back to the fighter build... I would seriously consider dropping First Aid to get your weapon proficiency. You're going to find that three critical attacks a day are not going to last long but a weapon proficiency is good all day, every day, on all targets, forever.

You can always buy First Aid later and, assuming you have some spell support, I would argue that first aid isn't as useful as it seems to be from the rulebook.

What chapter are you looking at playing in?
 
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