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The danger of the Three Pillars of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5818759" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>But the non-likeability of the antihero has an impact on social situations. It's a mode of contribution.</p><p></p><p>I don't want to pass judgement on your gnome PC, but neither the dapper assassin nor the dumb muscle strikes me as ideal PCs for an RPG based on the so-called 3 pillars. If the dapper assassin is in a melee, something has gone wrong. If the dumb muscle is trying to make friends at the ball, likewise something has gone wrong. (In fiction, the dumb muscle generally would be a sidekick or a hencman.) </p><p></p><p>One approach - which has some merits, and is underexplored - is the lazy warlord from 4e. Another approach - which has been explored extensively, but only in the context of one archetype (the wizard) and has some issues but probably not insoluble ones - is the magical summoner. A third approach, which has also been explored but probably inadequately in the context of a contemporary D&D game, is the sidekick/henchman (eg why can't the dapper assassin have the dumb muscle take part in combat for him?).</p><p></p><p>Well, here's where we discover (once again) that D&D, played straight out of the rulebooks, is not a generic fantasy system. If three out of ten core classes are about wilderness exploration, the game is going to <em>have</em> to be tweaked or drifted in some way to support urban intrigue. This isn't an issue for class design or the three pillars (a ranger, barbarian or druid can be as strong as you like in each pillar and still suck for an urban intrigue campagin). As you say, it's about setting the parameters at the start of a campaign.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5818759, member: 42582"] But the non-likeability of the antihero has an impact on social situations. It's a mode of contribution. I don't want to pass judgement on your gnome PC, but neither the dapper assassin nor the dumb muscle strikes me as ideal PCs for an RPG based on the so-called 3 pillars. If the dapper assassin is in a melee, something has gone wrong. If the dumb muscle is trying to make friends at the ball, likewise something has gone wrong. (In fiction, the dumb muscle generally would be a sidekick or a hencman.) One approach - which has some merits, and is underexplored - is the lazy warlord from 4e. Another approach - which has been explored extensively, but only in the context of one archetype (the wizard) and has some issues but probably not insoluble ones - is the magical summoner. A third approach, which has also been explored but probably inadequately in the context of a contemporary D&D game, is the sidekick/henchman (eg why can't the dapper assassin have the dumb muscle take part in combat for him?). Well, here's where we discover (once again) that D&D, played straight out of the rulebooks, is not a generic fantasy system. If three out of ten core classes are about wilderness exploration, the game is going to [I]have[/I] to be tweaked or drifted in some way to support urban intrigue. This isn't an issue for class design or the three pillars (a ranger, barbarian or druid can be as strong as you like in each pillar and still suck for an urban intrigue campagin). As you say, it's about setting the parameters at the start of a campaign. [/QUOTE]
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The danger of the Three Pillars of D&D
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