Bravado
by Galt

Class: Any, but the Nec doesn't really fit the role.
Tag: BRAG

Introduction

From Webster's...

Main Entry: bra·va·do
Pronunciation: bra-'vä-(")do
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -does or -dos
Etymology: Middle French bravade & Old Spanish bravata, from Old Italian bravata, from bravare to challenge, show off, from bravo
Date: circa 1580
1 a : blustering swaggering conduct
b : a pretense of bravery
2 : the quality or state of being foolhardy

The basic premise here is that the Bravado is God's gift to Diablo II -- The Ultimate Fighting Machine. He is convinced that his skill far surpasses that of any foe he will ever meet in his lifetime, and the idea that he could be defeated in battle is preposterous. How does this translate to gameplay? I'm glad you asked...

Rules

The Bravado, upon birth, will immediately venture out into the Cold Plains wielding the meager weapons with which he begins his journey. These weapons should serve him well throughout his entire career, as he is confident that his superior skills will be more than enough to defeat any foe that crosses his path. He does not feel the need to purchase armor or weapons from the simple townsfolk he has come to protect. (You can use them for items other then armor and weapons). Nor would he deem worthy any of the item drops of a common demon who falls to his blade. The Bravado will stick to his guns, until death.

Death. It happens, and it will happen to the Bravado. But how, pray tell, can the fragile ego of the Ultimate Fighting Machine deal with the ignominy of being slain by an unworthy minion of Diablo? Excuses, that's how. Clearly, the slayer of our hero must have been equipped with an item of unspeakable power. If, after exacting his revenge upon his slayer, the foul beast should drop this enchanted weapon, he must use it (if magical or better). Surely an item which was able to slay the Bravado in a weak hell spawn's hands will wreak many times the destruction when used against the demons by a warrior of such skill as the Bravado. This item will remain in use until it is replaced by an even more powerful item that is dropped by another beast who has slain our hero.

This means that death will play an important role in the life of the Bravado. Luckily, we have a personality trait which should ensure that there are ample opportunities to find these items of unspeakable power: Foolhardiness. There is no situation that a Bravado won't rush into to test and prove his superior skills. This should translate into many deaths, especially if the items of unspeakable power that you are currently using are not all that powerful. Throw in coop characters of the opposite sex, and:

A) Male characters will try to impress female characters by taking on much more then they can handle

B) Female characters will try to show male characters that they are equally skilled, if not more so, in the arts of battle.

Items

The Bravado's blind faith in any item which has been used to slay him takes precedence over any item attributes which would go against his personality, such as Howling or of Spikes. Once a Bravado learns of the existence of exceptional weapons, he will no longer wield inferior normal weapons. This is to prevent you from having to kill Andariel on Hell difficulty with a short staff, which would be darn near impossible, and much more tedious than challenging.

Skills

Cowardly skills are not usable.

Examples

- Blaze: The whole idea is to run away. A Bravado would never employ "run-away" tactics.
- Thorns/Iron Maiden: Skills based solely on the character taking damage. Preposterous! [Note: If a Bravado is cooping with a Paladin who is using Thorns, he wills stay far enough away to avoid the aura's effects. If cooping with a Necro, he will not attack any monster who has been cursed with IM.]
- Terror/Howl/Grim Ward: You will take on all comers. No need to scare monsters away.
- Valk/Decoy/Conversion: A truly skilled warrior has no need to hide behind human (or inhuman) shields. One should stand up to the heat of battle themselves. (Not sure about Necro's minions, like I said, it doesn't really fit, and I'm not much of a necro player.)

Dodge/Avoid/Evade: These skills are allowed. On the one hand, it's a little too much like flinching. On the other, a good fighter knows when to duck. We'll go with the second interpretation.

Quests

1) The Quest for Bragging Rights
To prove his superiority in the skills of battle, every Bravado will complete the following quest.

The fighter will begin the quest at the River of Flame waypoint, equipped with either...

A) The items with which he began the game (go back to Charsi and buy a hand axe and buckler, or a stack of javelins and a buckler, etc.) and nothing else
or
B) Naked (for a sorc, for example, there is really no point in getting a staff of +1 to firebolt when they in all likelihood will not utilize that skill)

The Bravado must then fight his way from the waypoint, fully clearing the maze area of the River of Flame and the Chaos Sanctuary, and ultimately defeating Diablo, without the aid of any other players. Along his quest he may use any item that drops, whether it be from a monster that slayed him, one that did not, a chest or hung skeleton, etc. All items are fair game. During the quest, the Bravado is not required to equip any of the items that drop, he has free choice in his equipment among all the items that have dropped. He may return to town at any time for pots, repairs or IDs. Obviously there is no buying equipment, excepting arrows/bolts, or more throwing weapons if the BRAG has run out without finding a single new weapon to use.

Reward
As a reward for completing the quest, the Bravado may keep one item of his choosing which was dropped during the quest as a permanent part of his setup. (Note: By permanent, I mean that it never has to be swapped out. However, once it is swapped out, it can never be swapped back in.)

After completion of the quest, the Bravado moves on. He may, at this time, choose to either

A) revert back to his old equipment setup from before he began his quest
or
B) use his new equipment setup which he earned while completing the quest. He cannot mix and match for optimal equipment. Also of note, the Bravado may not complete this quest more then once per difficulty, in order to gain several pieces of permanent equipment.

2) Hobby
I thought it could be fun for some to dabble in the following "Hobby." Enter any public "Duelz here" game. Explain to potential opponents that you have both unsurpassed skills in fighting and you are wielding items of unspeakable power. Announce that you will fight all comers, even in groups of three or four, or even seven. Let them know that they should expect to be slain quickly. Begin the duel. You will undoubtedly lose very quickly. Inquire excitedly about the weapon that your dueler is wielding. Insist that it must be crafted by the hands of the Almighty himself to be able to take down a warrior such as yourself. Try to get the player to agree to hand over this incredible weapon if you should defeat them on the field of battle. If you can get them to agree to this, continue to duel them until they get tired of beating you. Constantly inquire about their items. If they are using uniques, act as if you have never heard of an item of such power, and that you must have it. Eventually the dueler will tire of you. Rinse and Repeat. I've never dueled, but I have a feeling this would be hilarious.

Issues: F.A.Q.

1) Can you use your imbue?
If you fall to the Smith, it must be that he has summoned the strength of Diablo himself in order to protect an instrument of great power. You can use your Charsi imbue on any item you choose, but preferably at least use an imbueable item which was dropped by a worthy foe and not a chest or trapped soul. You can wait as long as you want to use the imbue, but remember, you have to use whatever Charsi gives you. If you best the Smith without dying (and frankly, how could one such as you not expect to defeat him without so much as a scratch?) then your Bravado cannot use the imbue (of course, you can use the imbue for another char).

The same goes for other quest-item rewards. If you die to the boss who drops the Gidbinn or to any demon in Tristram, you may keep the ring reward. If not, too bad. You may only wield Khalim's Will or the HellForge hammer to complete those quests.

2) Suicides
No Suicides! This is out of the question. If you have Mephisto down to a sliver, you cannot let him kill you just so you can use his uberdrop. But do not despair! You have foolhardiness on your side, and dying, especially to those demons who wield the most powerful items (Dury, Meph and Diablo) should not be problem. At the same time, if you are lucky enough to be gifted with a truly great item, you cannot purposefully avoid death because you are afraid that your good item will be replaced by a poor item. A Bravado faces all battles the same -- with an arrogant swagger.

3) Who killed me?
The Bravado would much rather take on many foes at once. At times, you may be swarmed and killed (I know, it's preposterous) by a large group of demons. In this case, any item drops from the swarming group will be equipped. If you were overcome by a large horde, it is not necessarily the demon that struck the killing blow who is responsible for your demise, but rather the group as a whole.

4) Corpse Recovery
Exiting and returning to a game in order to retrieve one's corpse is cowardly, and the Bravado disagrees with this conduct. He will make every reasonable effort to retrieve his corpse from the battlefield where it fell. However, sometimes a corpse is unrecoverable, and in these cases the Bravado will exit and return rather then start a new game and lose hard earned progress.

5) What if...
What if a bow drops and I'm a Barbarian? You have to use it.
What if I'm using a shield and weapon already? You still have to use the bow.
What if an item drops that's class-specific (i.e. "(CLASS) Only") and is unusable to my class? You can't use it, silly.

Summary

The Bravado will only use those items that drop from a monster who has killed him. He will use this item (magical or better) until it is replaced by the next item of the same type (i.e. fits in the same slot) that drops from a killing monster. He will not use cowardly skills. He will frequently bite off more then he can chew, in an attempt to prove his superior skill.