Connoisseur
by Charis

Class: Any
Tag: BUD

Introduction

The Connoisseur is an adventurer who now specializes in the rarest of the rare. Often he is retired or semi-retired, and likes to spend his time in the church hunting for rare artifacts, and as a service to adventurers, finding hidden shrines. The BUD seems to live to promote random acts of kindness. In some ways, he was conceived as a utility character for other characters. There are two flavors to this variant, the secular connoisseur and the religious Buddhist. The connoisseur is dedicated to Lance (for his insight) and UprightMan, already a BUD.

Rules

The Connoisseur just enjoys the company of others, and will frequently play co-op games. He will almost never take treasure other than some gold to shop for others, as he loves to buy quaint gifts for friends. The connoisseur enjoys making potion runs to town for his Barbarian friends, arranging for birthday gifts for his SNOB colleagues and other acts of kindness. Rather than a fancy title or name, and with Connoisseur frequently misspelled, most of his friends simply call him "Bud". Or perhaps this comes from the fact that apart from their materialistic tendencies, Connoisseurs are like Buddhists in their gentle nature, desire to do acts of kindness, and belief that what comes around goes around. (And no, there is no Nirvana quest :) Those with further tendencies along these lines have additional guidelines.

In the natural course of adventuring he will happen to level up, although that is never a goal of his per se. However just to show that he is not some crusty coach potato, it is a goal to get his first dot at lvl 17, his second dot at lvl 20, and third dot at lvl 30 (need not be solo, but he must at least get a hit on Diablo :-) [Goal 1].

As a semi-retired character: (or once he gets third dot) Having established a good reputation, the conn. starts his vocation in earnest. He will rid himself of all extra items that would not be needed for church runs, and will spend his days happily (but quickly, efficiently) looking for rare items and shrines. He may carry items from other characters to be built up by hidden shrines, as well as a personal favorite item which he seeks to make indestructible [Goal 2].

Enlightenment

For those who seek not only rare artifacts but the path of enlightenment, the following guidelines are suggested (Buddhist flavor):

Live a life of detachment. Things come, things go, things happen. The lag monster is neither good nor bad, he just is (ie no backups). When entering a game there is no sense of a personal pile, anything in inventory goes near Cain, and if others need more than you they should take.

Consider recovery optional. If those items weren't good enough to protect you, either they weren't worth recovering, or have caused you to trust in things instead of your own skill. The Buddhist style BUD would never spend an hour fretting and recovering gear.

Shrines are a vital part of life, and should be sought and visited often (up to the player to decide if goat shrines/cauldrons are the right type to visit)

The Buddhist style BUD would be most comfortable in a robe or cloak, and/or equipment that has no Strength requirement

It is not uncommon for a BUD to wear -dfe items or attacker take dmg items, surround himself with firewalls, and allow attackers to bring death upon their own heads, rather than killing them outright. An occasional walk into these fire walls himself can help purify the soul as well.

The rare items sought are not of monetary value, but because of their rarity are very useful to meditate on. For this reason too, items which are weird, strange, holy, blessed, perfect, celestial, and Master's are highly valued.

In coop games, the Buddhist may not necessarily speak often, but the pearls of wisdom which flow from his lips should benefit those who listen. He likes to refer to his partners as Grasshopper when giving such advice.