Playtesting in Detail

Wizards of the Coast · Nov 12, 2012

What happens with the feedback you give to us regarding D&D Next? Mike goes over this topic in this weekâ??s Legends & Lore.

Read Playtesting in Detail on D&D Insider here!

GX.Sigma · Nov 12, 2012

"core D&D elements such as the paladin, half-orc, and cavalier"

...wait, what?

Grimmjow · Nov 12, 2012

GX.Sigma said:
"core D&D elements such as the paladin, half-orc, and cavalier"

...wait, what?

i agree with paladin, and i half-agree with half orc (see what i did there?) but whats a cavalier?

GX.Sigma · Nov 12, 2012

Grimmjow said:
i agree with paladin, and i half-agree with half orc (see what i did there?) but whats a cavalier?

My only guess is that it's generic for Paladin, so they can feel free to make the actual Paladin class as narrow as it traditionally has been. But if that were the case, why would he not then put Paladin under "world-specific stuff"? Curious.

FireLance · Nov 12, 2012

Grimmjow said:
i agree with paladin, and i half-agree with half orc (see what i did there?) but whats a cavalier?

1. Snotty rich kid with a magic shield in the D&D cartoon.

2. Class for snotty rich kids in the 1e Unearthed Arcana.

3. Type of paladin in 4e Essentials.

Grimmjow · Nov 12, 2012

Sounds to me that it should just be part of the paladin, maybe a theme?

Steely_Dan · Nov 12, 2012

Yes, not sure why he would mention both in the same sentence, and the cavalier is not nearly as core as the paladin and half-orc (or bard, druid and monk).

I am pleased that he mentions the old Rules Cyclopedia being a big influence.

Dragoslav · Nov 12, 2012

Sweet, I can't wait to play all of my favorite D&D classes, such as the paladin, the cavalier, the chevalier, the cavalryman, the chivalric knight, the knight errant, the crusader, and even the horse-riding-man-in-plate-armor. Now I just have to decide whether I want my character to be a half-orc or a half-human (with an orc parent).

Jester David · Nov 12, 2012

Class in 1e and 3e (the knight in PHB2). Kit (or two) in 2e. Build in 4e. And it's a class in 4e. You can make an argument for the cavalier.
Or it could be merging with the warlord for all we know...

Or Mearls is just trying to get some easy conversation going. Poking the ant hill as it were.

Treebore · Nov 12, 2012

The cavalier has been around since 1E AD&D, so is far closer to being core than "...draconians, warforged, and bladesingers." That is all Mearls means.

So "core" is what is closest to original, and the further down the time line something appears, the further away from core it is. So it is basically a alternate way of talking about the progression over time of the game as new classes and races appeared.