D&D General What is the right amount of Classes for Dungeons and Dragons?

[Vael]

I'd argue that end cycle 3.5, with weirdness like the Book of Nine Swords was less prone to extruded bloatware than early 3.5 that from memory started (after the PHB) with the Minis Handbook

I also just liked a lot of those more experimental books. Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Magic, Tome of Battle weren't perfect, but I appreciated the innovation.

 

[I'm A Banana]

what would be taking the clerics slots then?

Every other class.

Arcana cleric? Wizard.
Death cleric? Let's say Paladin.
Forge cleric? Fighter.
Grave cleric? Maybe Paladin again.
Knowledge? Wizard.
Life? Paladin works.
Light? Wizard again.
Nature? You're a druid.
Order? Fighter.
Peace? Let's throw a Bard in here.
Tempest? idk, barbarian why not
Trickery? You're a rogue.
Twilight? Druid again
War? Fighter.

(these are all suggestions, I haven't given them more than a few minutes' thought, the idea is more the principle than the execution here)

Every class should have a basic level of healing/support functionality, and the gods of the campaign should be distributed among the classes, not given one class that cares about them while everyone else can just ignore it.

 

[TiQuinn]

If you can't build a warlord from a fighter, then you've implemented fighter wrong. Likewise, a psion is just a type of magic-user. If your existing magic-user classes can't cover a psion, then you've implemented them wrong.

Can’t agree with that. That speaks to your tastes in systems, not that the system that doesn’t follow that level of simplicity or modularity wrong. For instance, I want arcane magic to feel decidedly different from psionics or from clerical magic.

 

[CleverNickName]

Was wondering this when it comes to new editions of Dungeons and Dragons. How many classes are too many and how many are too little?

Is it for flavor purpose and fulfilling certain archetypes? Having certain roles be fulfilled?

I'd say more than one, and fewer than ten. It's less about archetypes and roles, and more about unifying all of the mechanics. I don't really need more than one way to swing a sword or cast a spell, but D&D gives us several of each and it makes the game harder to learn, harder to run, and harder to adapt to other systems.

To paraphrase Thoreau: "Our game is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify."

 

[TiQuinn]

To paraphrase Thoreau: "Our game is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify."

Heads, you hit the Orc.

Tails, you miss.

D2 system all the way.

 

[CleverNickName]

Heads, you hit the Orc.

Tails, you miss.

D2 system all the way.

I know you're just being facetious, but there is plenty of room to streamline D&D without resorting to a coin toss. And I think the 13 different character classes, with more than 120 different subclasses, is an excellent place to start.

 

[TiQuinn]

I know you're just being facetious, but there is plenty of room to streamline D&D without resorting to a coin toss. And I think the 13 different character classes, with more than 120 different subclasses, is an excellent place to start.

I think it’s just a self-defeating goal. You’re looking at the end result of 10 years of products for an edition. I’d prefer a system that reigns in the permutations via multiclassing versus trying to get rid of classes overall and having a slew of feats instead.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Considering all the things 'simplicity' took away in the move to 5e, forgive me for having zero enthusiasm for letting it take more.

 

[CleverNickName]

Considering all the things 'simplicity' took away in the move to 5e, forgive me for having zero enthusiasm for letting it take more.

Fair enough. For me, if I'm given a choice between (a) adding complexity, (b) removing complexity, or (c) doing nothing, I'm going to vote B every time.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Fair enough. For me, if I'm given a choice between (a) adding complexity, (b) removing complexity, or (c) doing nothing, I'm going to vote B every time.

That will eventually get you to the D2 system is you vote B every time, yes?

Then the d1 system where the DM just reads you Prince Caspian for four hours a week.