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

[Gammadoodler]

I see what you're getting at here and in fact like the idea; but once you tack on all the (IMO necessary) modifiers for size, species, and strength/dexterity, tracking everyone's move speed would become - going by the reaction to encumbrance rules, re-rolled initiatives, etc. - more fiddly than a lot of people would seem to want.

And you'd need to do this for all the opponents as well.

Even assuming all the fiddly additional modifiers you've added (which are of variable and IMO questionable necessity), at the end of the day you track this maybe..once a level or less, and just enter the result into one place on the character sheet for "base move speed."

This an order of magnitude less fiddly than tracking the weight of every single piece of gear, incremented by items consumed etc.

Heck..it's not significantly more fiddly than what people are already doing (and most of the fiddliness would come from the additional parameters you've added to the equation).

Opponents, like most other creatures would have a statblock, where move speed would just be stated, and you'd use that.

All in all, this seems like an easy thing to implement even with all the things you've added to try and make it difficult.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Worth noting perhaps that in 1e very-low-level Fighters had the worst saves vs magic but by high levels their saves vs magic were the best of any class.

Yeah tbh I think the fighter could get more save proficiencies as they level or something, if my ideas are too wild, and maybe even get expertise in a couple eventually.

 

[Neonchameleon]

1e would like a word. Absent magical healing, physical recovery in that system takes ages...maybe even longer than it might in real life. Hard to think of that as cartoon-y.

OK. Let's listen to what 1e has to say

"Regardless of the number of hit points a character has 4 weeks of continuous rest will restore any character to full strength"​

- 1e DMG p82​

It takes 3 to 6 weeks to heal bruised ribs. A broken ankle normally takes 6 to 8 weeks to heal - and you keep it in plaster and go round on crutches unlike in 1e where you're fit as a fiddle with no actual impairment for breakages. I've had a baby sister confined to a bed for months on end due to serious heart surgery and it was well over a year before she recovered.

You know what you actually need a month of rest to recover from? Running a marathon. Recovering injury in 1e in the worst case scenarios is comparable in duration to recovering from very hard exercise. 1e is cordially invited to sit down and stop embarrassing itself.

 

[FrozenNorth]

I suppose moving the boredom off the chassis and onto the Champion could help with that?

I think you can have a boring chassis, if the sub-classes are powerful enough to pick up the slack. The stronger the sub-class chassis, the easier this is.

 

[Micah Sweet]

OK. Let's listen to what 1e has to say

"Regardless of the number of hit points a character has 4 weeks of continuous rest will restore any character to full strength"​

- 1e DMG p82​

It takes 3 to 6 weeks to heal bruised ribs. A broken ankle normally takes 6 to 8 weeks to heal - and you keep it in plaster and go round on crutches unlike in 1e where you're fit as a fiddle with no actual impairment for breakages. I've had a baby sister confined to a bed for months on end due to serious heart surgery and it was well over a year before she recovered.

You know what you actually need a month of rest to recover from? Running a marathon. Recovering injury in 1e in the worst case scenarios is comparable in duration to recovering from very hard exercise. 1e is cordially invited to sit down and stop embarrassing itself.

Still better than any faster nonmagical method IMO.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Still better than any faster nonmagical method IMO.

But that's still like arguing The Muppets have more realistic injuries and healing than Bugs Bunny.

 

[Tony Vargas]

But that's still like arguing The Muppets have more realistic injuries and healing than Bugs Bunny.

But... Bugs is a cartoon....

 

[mamba]

It would be cool to get back to the thread's actual topic of ways to fix the gap between casters and non-casters. Any new ideas in that regard?

not new, but I am starting to lean more drastically towards nerfing casters / the proliferation of magic.

I am leaning towards getting rid of Monks (never liked them and the new ones are not getting any better), Bards (never liked them, too magical for this), Barbarian and Fighter get rolled into one and buffed slightly, Rogue stays, not sure what happens to Ranger yet but at a minimum they will be de-magicked. Druid disappears altogether / gets rolled into Cleric. Sorcerer and Wizard get the axe (too magical), Warlock becomes the only mage type spellcaster and uses the 2024 half-caster approach, with probably a slight buff over that. As the sole survivor, they will get more spells, but the half-caster puts them into the right place while the other half allows for some competence in battle despite this.

Spells, I will have to go through, but some will be thrown out, others nerfed. The whole list needs pruning.

Good first step of cutting casters down to size, details tbd

 

[mamba]

Wait a minute, maybe the all-encompassing power should be the first wish

that was my immediate thought when I got to the 4th wish

 

[Tony Vargas]

not new, but I am starting to lean more drastically towards nerfing casters / the proliferation of magic.

I am leaning towards getting rid of Monks (never liked them and the new ones are not getting any better), Bards (never liked them, too magical for this), Barbarian and Fighter get rolled into one and buffed slightly, Rogue stays, not sure what happens to Ranger yet but at a minimum they will be de-magicked. Druid disappears altogether / gets rolled into Cleric. Sorcerer and Wizard get the axe (too magical), Warlock becomes the only mage type spellcaster and uses the 2024 half-caster approach, Spells, I will have to go through, but some will be thrown out, others nerfed. The whole list needs pruning.

Wow. That is some serious house-cleaning.

I love the Druid, my favorite class from 1e, but I have to admit that, along with the Bard, Barbarian, and Monk, it makes a lot of sense to cut. They're all arguably culture, not class (and some possibly even offensive).

I question Warlock as half-caster. Maybe Pact Magic, without the higher level 1/day spells?
Will the Cleric's spells also be compressed to a 5-level progression? ...oh, and you didn't mention Paladin?