D&D General The Crab Bucket Fallacy

[FrogReaver]

Technically, I think that the biggest complaint regarding shouting up people's hit points comes from the deaf community.

Sign Language them up!

 

[Vaalingrade]

We need to bury the idea that the warlord's healing was just 'shouting' under a concrete slab so thick it unbalances the rotation of the Earth.

 

[FrogReaver]

We need to bury the idea that the warlord's healing was just 'shouting' under a concrete slab so thick it unbalances the rotation of the Earth.

I’m not sure how that was offensive? I definetely didn’t mean it to be.

 

[James Gasik]

I suppose it would have been narratively more appealing to some if the Warlord instead had to get on their knees and beat on their allies' chest, screaming "don't you dare die on me, soldier!".

EDIT: now I want to try that in a game, see if I can give someone advantage on their Death save.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

We need to bury the idea that the warlord's healing was just 'shouting' under a concrete slab so thick it unbalances the rotation of the Earth.

What it is then?

 

[Scribe]

5e has psionics. It even has a power point Psion in the Aberrant Mind that can augment its abilities the way psions of yore could augment their powers by upcasting them and can trade slots for points losslessly.

What 5e does not have is literally 70 pages of spells to support its caster-psionicist the way 2e and 3.X did. And that's how a choice can be anathema. 5e just isn't interested in publishing 70 pages of rules outside the PHB just to support a single non-core class. And as a DM I'm not interested in letting you run a non-PHB class with 70 pages of rules.

And if you want psionics to be explicitly different to magic 5e also has the Soulknife, the Psi Warrior, and the Astral Self Monk - which unlike the Psion work more like the psionicists I read about in other sources than slightly tweaked mages. It's also made the consistent world building decision to tie Psionics to the Far Realm.

The Aberrant Mind has literally every feature of a Psion except the name and working off spells it doesn't share. It is much much more a Psion than the Battlemaster is a warlord.

How is this any different than what is being protested by Warlord fans?

The Aberrant Mind is no more my Psion, than Battlemaster is your Warlord.

 

[Neonchameleon]

The 'eh, better than literally nothing, better stop trying' attitude is how we got here with 5e in the first place.

And I dislike it - but it's been very successful.

You're not even playing 5e. I'm curious: if WotC had the Warlord you want, would you?

I'm close to a perma-DM and was running 5e from the end of lockdown until about February. And it's on the DM side where the failures of 5e are greatest. The key strength of 5e is that there is a class for almost everyone who doesn't get scared off by the math.

What would happen if WotC had the warlord I want is that I would be able to run one of the campaigns I've been considering without needing significant homebrew or third party - or just using another system. The warlord unlocks low magic campaigns.

 

[Vaalingrade]

And I dislike it - but it's been very successful.

So has Walmart.

 

[Neonchameleon]

What it is then?

Encouraging people to dig deep into their own stamina. Hence the "Spend a healing surge" or my 5e translations having "spend a hit die"

How is this any different than what is being protested by Warlord fans?

The Aberrant Mind is no more my Psion, than Battlemaster is your Warlord.

Because psion fans both ask for way way more and have way more. The Aberrant Mind does almost everything (in a 5e way) that Psion fans say made the psion distinctive. The only thing it doesn't actually do is have hand-tailored spells or a hand tailored spell list.

The aberrant mind is:

• A dedicated subclass (unlike the Battlemaster "Warlord" which doesn't even get that)
• That has the targeted fluff of "this character is psionic" (unlike the Battlemaster "Warlord")
• That has at least a couple of sides dedicated to the concept (unlike the Battlemaster "Warlord")
• That has the core distinctive mechanics of the class (spell points that are fungible, spell slots with upcasting/augmenting, casting spells without components - unlike the Battlemaster "Warlord" that fails to be able to shout people back onto their feet.
• And a customised ability list dedicated to them (unlike the Battlemaster "Warlord")
• That is both powerful and effective at all levels (unlike the Fighter)
• And only one of a number of subclasses that are centered around the concept of psionics, most of which are both relatively strong and effective (when the only alternative warlord is the awful PDK)

Now there is a case that the Aberrant Mind doesn't go far enough to be a Psion, but there is a thousand times more love, care, attention, and replication of previous editions put into it than there has been the Battlemaster "Warlord".

 

[Oofta]

Sign Language them up!

I can think of one particular sign I'd like to use for ... well never mind.