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The problem is that basically any existing class could be conceptualized as a subclass of a different class. ALL of these lines are arbitrary, which makes it silly to act like classes HAVE to be designed around a precise uniqueness.

Except that it placed arbitrary restrictions on the concept of a ranger in a pointless effort to mechanically differentiate it more from a fighter. Why, for example, would no ranger be able to use a two-handed weapon effectively? Likewise, why would a fighter not be able to pursue archery...

Not only that, but the ranger has expanded alongside this shift - which is why you have subclasses like planar stalkers and gloomwalkers in 5e. Honestly, being an expert wandering loner with unusually good tracking/hunting/survival skills is very much a solid core identity for a D&D class.

The main problem with rangers is nothing other than peoples' fixation on the idea that classes must be mechanically "pure" and unique in some significant way, which is unnecessary in cooperative tabletop gaming and it's kind of a new trend inspired at least in part by video game logic (I'm not...

If I'm understanding you correctly, I kind of agree with this. To be honest I think this is something that could have been handled much better in 5e. They weren't bold enough in committing to cleaning up the base class options by reducing the # and backing out features to give more design space...

The overarching point I think you're making is that it's really a table by table "agreement" whether that agreement is literal or simply plays out organically through the soft dynamics of the group at play. Ultimately, I suppose this isn't really a matter of right and wrong (like with most...

Impact, huh? So it seems to me that you are admitting that your emotions are the problem here. Otherwise my statement would have had no impact whatsoever, and we wouldn't be having this silly conversation. How disappointing all of this is. Contrary to what Robin DiAngelo might have taught you...

That's funny. I see no hyperbole or emotion in that post. It was merely a statement on my philosophy regarding the roles of players including the GM. Maybe you're just injecting your own bias?

This doesn't seem like a very objective critique if I'm being honest. I had no issues with alignment in 4e and in fact I preferred it to all prior incarnations because it felt just a bit more properly abstracted, IMO the way alignment should. The way it felt prior to 4th was an overly simplistic...

Condescension, again? If you feel I overstated my point, perhaps you should examine your own interaction style. Otherwise, my point stands.

It appears you missed my point.

Shocking. He's at it again here.

The GM does not have a job other than facilitating games. How they choose to do that is up to them, but should also involve negotiation of such with players. Any or all players can take on this type of responsibility just as much as a GM can. This idea of the GM as a "big boss" of the game that...

I think that's totally fair. But I also think it's fair to acknowledge that the game has evolved in all kinds of ways, that this isn't what suits everyone's tastes, and that there's a lot of opportunity to bring it to life in a totally different way for different settings and/or tables. I'm not...

It really depends on how you philosophically approach the ability scores. I'm not actually fan of boxing a bunch of different barely related things into an ability score, which is basically what the 6 score system does - especially for Wisdom and Charisma which are really just "doens't fit...

I'm glad they finally divorced if from most game mechanics, but my biggest issue with alignment is that it "boxes" morality in a way that turns into a massive oversimplification of how both psychology and society actually work. It's clearly a very old school way of conceptualizing morality and...

Cool article even if I'm mildly disappointed there was no plug for fey gnomes. Even though I'm pretty lukewarm about 4e, it had the best version of gnomes in the history of D&D.

Power tripping on message boards is extremely unbecoming. You seem to have a penchant for it.

The problem has been found. This modern trend of surfacing racism and sexism in everything and talking about them endlessly is a zeitgeist and a moral panic tied to little more than media & pseudoacademic brainwashing. Confoundingly, race and gender activism today manifests many of the same...

Honestly this kind of naughty word is getting so off the rails that even liberals are sick of it. We need a paradigm shift.