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

[TwoSix]

I thought you were a 4e fan?

Plenty of us were able to be both fiction-first and play 4e. It's not nearly as hard as people liked to present it.

 

[Gammadoodler]

It's a preference, one I happen to share. You're not required to be persuaded by it.

Sure. And it's been a long thread. Has someone presented an argument for it?

Like, I'm happy to engage with a discussion for how it might be achieved if someone can point out the virtue they see in it.

If I disagree with that argument or it's underlying assumptions, then at that point it makes sense to part ways.

But "please tailor your response for a set of preferences you may not share and for which I've provided no justification" seems like a less than fruitful way to have the conversation.

 

[TwoSix]

Was he one of the best NPCs you've played because of how his mechanics worked?

Of course. His roleplaying and presentation was fine, not my best work but decent, but he really sang by screwing over the PCs in multiple combats.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There are lots of board games, my dude, take your pick.

Dungeons and Dragons.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Plenty of us were able to be both fiction-first and play 4e. It's not nearly as hard as people liked to present it.

I don't disbelieve you, but I ran 4e for over a year and bounced off that issue hard and often.

 

[M_Natas]

Then asking for examples was rather silly.

It's like this..
If you say "show me an honest millionaire"

And then go on to say "I regard all millionaires as thieves regardless of how they attained their riches"

You're "winning" a rigged game, not having a discussion.

We are talking about D&D here. So the baseline for all Players Character Races is the commoner, with 10s in everything +-2 with a maximum of 20, which is the highest ability score that can be achieved without magic.

That is the context of our discussion.
Of course you can create a Drax race, with a 50 in strength as their baseline, but that would disintegrate the game and doesn't need any discussion.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Of course. His roleplaying and presentation was fine, not my best work but decent, but he really sang by screwing over the PCs in multiple combats.

Was it necessary to his success that he not be built like a PC, or at least in the spirit of such? Because if not, than our method would have worked just as well.

 

[TwoSix]

I don't disbelieve you, but I ran 4e for over a year and bounced off that issue hard and often.

I'm not saying it can't and didn't happen, but it generally seemed to occur more in those who were "looking for problems" than those who were "looking for solutions".

If your power can't prone the ooze, suck it up. But also, figuring out how to describe a prone ooze isn't hard.

 

[TwoSix]

Was it necessary to his success that he not be built like a PC, or at least in the spirit of such? Because if not, than our method would have worked just as well.

How would a 5e PC be able to cast a 6th level spell equivalent at-will?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

How would a 5e PC be able to cast a 6th level spell equivalent at-will?

I don't know, but I hope you do when the PCs ask the NPC to teach this to them!