D&D 5E [+] Ways to fix the caster / non-caster gap

[mamba]

Kind of. My personal experience playing a Warlock was too much Eldritch Blast, not enough spells of levels 1-5 per day, lol. The variability of short rests in games kind of ruined it for me

all things that 2024 could have fixed, but decided not to, unfortunately.

Somewhat related to your ‘should a game evolve’ topic…

 

[Micah Sweet]

As much as I'd like to see them slaughter all the sacred cows, there's simply too much value in brand recognition for that to be realistic.

Then we're back to profit motive. Why should I care?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Not seeing an argument here against a profit driven company updating their lead product to suit what is appropriate for the time.

If you want to play something other than the latest edition of D&D because you don't like where it went then you do you. I'm currently running my own 4e retroclone with one group and have just wrapped up Apocalypse World with another.

My issue is more that they're changing the design direction of literally the same game (5e, as 3e and 4e were different games that unfortunately shared a name). 5e in 2014 has different design priorities than 5e in 2023. That's my problem here.

 

[mamba]

Then we're back to profit motive. Why should I care?

no one says you have to care, only that it is why WotC does it

 

[mamba]

My issue is more that they're changing the design direction of literally the same game (5e, as 3e and 4e were different games that unfortunately shared a name). 5e in 2014 has different design priorities than 5e in 2023. That's my problem here.

maybe it is just me, but I am not seeing much of a change in direction between 2014 and 2024. Where are you seeing that change?

 

[Neonchameleon]

My issue is more that they're changing the design direction of literally the same game (5e, as 3e and 4e were different games that unfortunately shared a name). 5e in 2014 has different design priorities than 5e in 2023. That's my problem here.

Why is it a problem? The only edition this didn't happen in was 3.0 because it was killed two years in

 

[DammitVictor]

Kind of. My personal experience playing a Warlock was too much Eldritch Blast, not enough spells of levels 1-5 per day, lol. The variability of short rests in games kind of ruined it for me (and too many DMs who want every fight to be a big epic battle, so you get 1-2 per game day)...but that is an entirely different conversation.

Way I'd fix that: kill Mystic Arcanum and all 6-9 level spells from Warlock class list, allow Pact Magic to scale up to 9th for Warlock spells only with extra slots at 2/6/10/14/18, and then give them Paladin/Ranger spellcasting on top.

 

[TwoSix]

I'm going to ask for examples of what you think are "modern fantasy mages". People have mentioned a bunch who do not already and I could even continue the list

Gandalf, harry Dresden, Harry Potter, Eragon, Rojer halfgrip & everyone with power in those books, Kate Daniels, Rachel morgan, jade Godfrey, Atticus O'Sullivan, Alex Verus, and more i'm forgetting.

i can't think of any "modern fantasy mages" that look much like the ones from the gauntlet arcade game or d&d5e until there is a big stretch to include some of the self insert power fantasy isekai and gamelit one dimensional MCs.

To be clear, when I say "modern representations of fantasy mages" I mean stuff that's been created recently, in the last decade or so, not urban fantasy. Just wanted to clarify since a little more than half of your list is urban fantasy characters, which I don't think need more than a token nod in D&D.

The bulk of modern "sword and sorcery" medieval style fantasy is coming from video games or from gamelit fantasy, so that's definitely the type of fantasy that should be influencing current fantasy TTRPGs.

 

[TwoSix]

Then as I said, make a new game.

I agree with you. I'm not buying the 2024 books precisely because they aren't novel enough for my tastes.

 

[overgeeked]

The bulk of modern "sword and sorcery" medieval style fantasy is coming from video games or from gamelit fantasy, so that's definitely the type of fantasy that should be influencing current fantasy TTRPGs.

Anime, manga, and light novels say hello.