D&D 5E Sub-classes and World Building

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Yes, I didn't address the issue on purpose.

Which makes your comments helpful how?

 

[Li Shenron]

Once again, you don't address the crux of the issue, which was that The odds of two unique individuals (let alone 10 or more individuals [PCs]) on opposite side of the continent simultaneously discovering the exact same abilities through self training is astronomically small.

Ok. So let's rule out self training. Other options could be:

- there are enough trainers around the world, tracing back centuries, organised in a hierarchy (think martial arts in real world ): lower level trainers are abundant and locally available, for high level training you may be required to travel

- there are few trainers around the world, but they make themselves available, for example they travel themselves

- there are few trainers and they are available only locally : classes have regional meaning e.g. in region X are Monks and Wizards, in region Y there are Barbarians and Sorceres, in region Z are Rangers and Driid

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Just go the Pathfinder route and assume that there is at least one god associated with every class, and if the god wants a subclass to thrive, he/she will arrange for a teacher to show up where the student is. I have heard they work in mysterious ways after all.

Another idea is to change your idea on how scarce magic is. If every village has two wizards, a cleric, and a bard, then the notion that a PC wizard is going to have difficulty finding someone to train him/her to be a evocation specialist is pretty flimsy.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

In my games, the character is already training for the subclass they’re going to pick. Well, usually we just start at 3, these days, but when we have started at 1, that’s how I guessed it in world.

Also, I don’t actually imagine a specialized instructor for the Shadow Monk, for instance. I talk to the player and we workshop their backstory, but generally a shadow monk or Eldritch knight or similar has always been training to do that, and it’s part of their normal training. In my worlds, an EK doesn’t go find a wizard to train in wizardry, they’re a warrior training to combine martial arts with arcane arts, and the actual spell casting takes longer to come fully online. They have always been and Eldritch Knight, it’s just that at lvl3 they get their spells, because the game mechanics don’t fit the story well.

But this is also why I don’t like that most classes choose a subclass after lvl1, and we mostly just skip lvls 1-2.

 

[TwoSix]

But this is also why I don’t like that most classes choose a subclass after lvl1, and we mostly just skip lvls 1-2.

I do find the "training for a super specific subclass" origin irritating, which is why I always start games at least at level 3, and possibly higher if there might be multiclassing.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I do find the "training for a super specific subclass" origin irritating, which is why I always start games at least at level 3, and possibly higher if there might be multiclassing.

We've basically adopted 3 as the "real" level 1 in 5e. Level 1-2 is basically "level 0".
Especially with how quickly you level up to 3 with level appropriate encounters.

 

[cbwjm]

In my games people just pick whatever subclass they want, no questions asked because no questions are necessary. Now that doesn't mean that I won't fit specific classes/subclasses into the game world but in general I don't worry about requiring people to justify their own choice.

The signature of champions.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

In my games people just pick whatever subclass they want, no questions asked because no questions are necessary. Now that doesn't mean that I won't fit specific classes/subclasses into the game world but in general I don't worry about requiring people to justify their own choice.

The signature of champions.

Im the same. All my talk of fitting them into the world comes into the equation after they've picked a subclass.

I do ask questions about their training and such, because I want a thorough backstory with lots of NPCs I can use. I don't need justification for their subclass, just an explanation of how their character got to hwere they are, what their goals are, who got them there, who they hurt or were hurt by or left behind or...you get the idea.