Three's Company: Another Interview!

All right! In the interest of getting progress made, I'm posting yet another interview, this time with Lauren, playing a cleric-fighter for the Ravens. That's three characters down in the party.

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I'm sure readers will catch on to this pattern soon enough, but it's a good opener: what's the scoop on Aer? What is she, and who is she?
I've always loved playing dervishes but I hadn't had the chance to translate one into 4.0. Our DM pointed me at a fighter build called Tempest Fighter. The cleric was an afterthought, but one that really helped. I'm a tactical player, so I build my characters based on combat. Aer has been extremely fun to play so far. I've never found myself in that "I'm useless because I'm a stiker/defender/leader/controller" situation. I'm still working on the "who is she" bit, but hey, that's what epic heroic journeys are about, right?

Shifters...they're kinda like werewolves, right? How does that play into the party dynamic?
I think shifters were an attempt at Werewolves, but they ended up being a lot more subtle. Aer is actually a were-fox because her natural climate is a lot more arid, hot, and sandy than the forests and caves we've been travelling in. In our groups campaign setting shifters have their own culture and supposedly mostly keep to themselves. Hopefully my race will play a bigger role if we ever go and visit my tribe. So far it's provided some interesting flavor text in combat, such as pouncing on that last enemy who's running away.

So, seeing as Aer's the only character whose class is at least partially from the divine power source...how does that play into party makeup? Does Aer go around evangelizing for her deity?
Aer is the only one who has a divine power source, but a good portion of our party has a god mark, or dreams, or pings. Rather than trying to convert people to her cause she's been expressing her annoyance at her dietys silence. Her personality is more of a soldier than a priest. For awhile I was the groups main healer, but once Elena joined I didn't have to heal the group as much. Now I mostly use cleric powers to keep myself alive as well as launch ranged attacks when something is too far away. It is nice to have that backup "weapon" in combat. You don't have to pick up a rock and wonder if you get a +1 bonus for being a halfling.

"Aer" is a cool name. Where'd you get it?
I had built myself a dervish from the desert, but she was nameless. Our DM informed us that most of the nomenclature for the game was latin. This elicited the response of "I should use the latin word for air as my character's name!" Turns our the latin word for air is Aer.

So, now we've heard from both Hestia and Misery, regarding party dynamic. How does Aer fit into everything, and interact with the other characters?
On a RP level I'm still trying to figure Aer out. I am NOT an actor so mostly Aer has seemed quiet and sullen. She's really supposed to be quite optimistic, but the damp mountain air has really ruined her spirits. Combat is really where she fits into the party dynamic. I kind of fill in the empty bits of the party. In a group of our size people will overlap each other as far as talents go. I did my best to make sure I was augmenting the group. If one of our fighters gets cornered I can take some of the heat off the group. If a healer is downed I can get them back on their feet. If something is too far away for a sword I can smite. Just don't ask me to do any of it alone....or well....

What's your favorite bit of playing Fourth Edition D&D?
This is going to sound bad but...

miniatures.

I know the hardcore 3.5 folks hate me, but I love having a visual of where everything is. It's easier to figure out the best way to utilize powers. For me combat is not just about the hitting of things, but the hitting of things well, with flourishes.

Have any really cool character moments in the current campaign?
Not yet. I'm sure I've done some neat stuff, but nothing truly awesome. Most of my gaming has been expressing superstitions (Aer has a lot of cultural idiosycricies), or sitting back. I'm hoping for a chat with a quite interesting wizard, as well as a visit to my home. Add some guy issues in and something is bound to pop up.

Combat wise I'm sure there's something, it's just eluding my brain.

Finally, what advice would you give somebody just getting into RPGs?
Don't get discouraged, and don't get boxed in. If it seems difficult at first it's because there are a LOT of rules to learn, don't worry, most of them are made to be bent horribly (don't kill me DM). If you hate a certain class try playing seversl different ones.

Don't let anyone rule how you play them game. Make it your own and have fun with it.