D&D (2024) Class features with drawbacks

[Snarf Zagyg]

That's ridiculous, they should ask the Druid about that. Except that I think the developers were not fully responsible of the armor restrictions, I always had the feeling that it was sneaked into the PHB by a high-up who listened to a bad but influential playtester at the last minute without thinking of the repercussions.

Druid armor restrictions are by far the worst possible kind of drawback, because not only they are permanent, but they also carry over when multiclassing, there is technically no way to offset them except merrily ignore or reinterpret the rule.

Perhaps they are an awesome idea that many people like, but some people are like, "I DON'T WANT ANY LORE IN MY CAPTAIN CRUNCH!"

To each their own.

I think drawbacks are a great idea, and give the game more flavor as opposed to just being a power-trip fantasy. But that's not the direction the game has moved.

Just like I think that the game is better when classes are more specialized, and there is more class protection (and, thus, more need to operate thinking of the party holistically instead of individually), but that too has fallen by the wayside.

Things change.

 

[Guest 6801328]

No, but it doesn't make sense that all the clumsy Elves and non-sturdy Dwarves would be the ones to go adventuring, does it?

Errr....no. But if we play a campaign together, and one of us has a clumsy elf, does that mean “all the clumsy elves” go adventuring?

I guess it does if you assume there’s only one in the entire world.

 

[Phazonfish]

I always had the feeling that it was sneaked into the PHB by a high-up who listened to a bad but influential playtester at the last minute without thinking of the repercussions.

Perhaps they are an awesome idea that many people like, but some people are like, "I DON'T WANT ANY LORE IN MY CAPTAIN CRUNCH!"

Found the bad, but influential playtester! Just kidding.

The thing I think I've seen people take issue with about the Druid armor restriction isn't that it exists, but rather that it is a lore idea with mechanical consequences and the mechanical side of it is poorly defined. If they just said something like "Druids will not wear metal armor, and as such are always treated as not proficient with it, even if they have proficiency from another source." things would be better. It also doesn't help that they tell us that Druids don't like wearing metal armor, but not why. Metal is a naturally occurring material, and fashioning it into armor is no more unnatural than fashioning clothes from other materials (though a bit more work is involved). How am I supposed to roleplay such a nonsensical notion?

 

[Guest 6801328]

Found the bad, but influential playtester! Just kidding.

The thing I think I've seen people take issue with about the Druid armor restriction isn't that it exists, but rather that it is a lore idea with mechanical consequences and the mechanical side of it is poorly defined. If they just said something like "Druids will not wear metal armor, and as such are always treated as not proficient with it, even if they have proficiency from another source." things would be better. It also doesn't help that they tell us that Druids don't like wearing metal armor, but not why. Metal is a naturally occurring material, and fashioning it into armor is no more unnatural than fashioning clothes from other materials (though a bit more work is involved). How am I supposed to roleplay such a nonsensical notion?

Funny I’ve never had problems interpreting it. I suspect that hair-splitting is mostly interesting to those looking for a loophole in the restriction.

 

[Krachek]

Base on the UA class variant and the overall popularity of the berserker I can guess that we won’t see drawback so much.

 

[Phazonfish]

Funny I’ve never had problems interpreting it. I suspect that hair-splitting is mostly interesting to those looking for a loophole in the restriction.

There's probably a good deal of that going on too, but given the nature of the hobby I suspect a good deal of them are like myself and just like things to be well-defined. Also, like I said, I find the lore pretty illogical in the first place; are Warforged Druids just supposed to kill themselves on principle?

 

[GlassJaw]

Abilities with drawbacks are perfectly fine, so long as the benefit makes the cost worthwhile. Overchannel is farily acceptable, but I think the argument with Frenzy is that getting rid of Exhaustion is rather difficult.

No it's not. Just get rid of it. Done. Congrats you just fixed the Berserker!

You hit the nail on the head with cost benefit. Everything we do in life - never mind gaming - is cost-benefit analysis.

The problem with the berserker is that incurring exhaustion is an extremely steep price to pay, and one that no other class has to pay.

 

[ChameleonX]

There's probably a good deal of that going on too, but given the nature of the hobby I suspect a good deal of them are like myself and just like things to be well-defined. Also, like I said, I find the lore pretty illogical in the first place; are Warforged Druids just supposed to kill themselves on principle?

It's because the Druid originated as a specialty variant of the Cleric, and in those days, specialty variants had to give up some of their features in order to get new ones. Losing their armor proficiency in exchange for wild Shape is one of those. Its been carried over into the modern edition partly out of tradition, and partly because it (at least on the surface) reinforces the unique identity of the class.

Incidentally, there are historic examples of armor (mostly scale) being made of non-metallic materials like bone, animal horn, or even wood.

 

[Rikka66]

Metal is a naturally occurring material, and fashioning it into armor is no more unnatural than fashioning clothes from other materials (though a bit more work is involved). How am I supposed to roleplay such a nonsensical notion?

That's the the nature of a lot of moral/philosophical/religious beliefs. Full of contradictions, illogical, and eventually you'll come up with a scenario too challenging to be answered by rigid principles. The question is whether you can imagine the founders of a druidic sect convincing themselves working metal is wrong, or at least worse than using other naturally occurring materials.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

are Warforged Druids just supposed to kill themselves on principle?

Yes.