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I've played RPGs with a lot of different skill systems and they all show cracks. When you have lots of skills, then some of them are too niche to be worth investing in but they end up punishing everyone when they become important to the story. When you have too few then the party can cover all...

I think the current skill list is the right size to make assigning skill proficiencies an interesting choice in character creation, and to provide PCs with different hooks for interacting with the world. There is ample rationale for reducing or consolidating skills, or leaning into their...

I do feel like HP totals are too high and too similar among PCs. I think having fewer HD and more impact from Con and size at level 1 only could help. I saw here on ENworld another idea I liked a while ago: rerolling your HP after each long rest so your maximum changes each day and the...

I agree the wizard looks pretty boring storywise compared to the sorcerer and warlock nowadays. Its story is a relic from a different era of fantasy writing and Gary Gygax' gamist effort to make a class with truly impressive magic and strong limitations on using it. But the spells have been...

Martials and spellcasters aren't even playing the same game in some ways, which is another problem. I think fighter, barbarian, and rogue coexist well because their rules encourage different styles of combat. Naturally, the rules could go even further to differentiate them, and it seems like...

You're absolutely right... the story of the sorcerer is compelling but the mechanics have never backed it up or given them something to play with that delivers a player experience distinct from the wizard and supportive of the story. In my recent experience with 5e, 2 out of 2 sorcerer players...

Well, this comes down to spell selection, doesn't it? If you want to play a "sorcerer" using the wizard class structure, you can choose blasting spells and a subclass like Evoker or War Mage that gives you innate powers of blasting. If you want to play a "wizard" using the sorcerer class...

Indeed, and this would be the kind of rule that would justify the sorcerer as a base class. "Overchannel" and use a 4th level spell slot even though your normal maximum is 3rd, or cast one of your theme spells that you haven't qualified for yet. At a cost, of course, and probably a steep one...

What is the sorcerer's reason for existence? Does it have enough traction to continue as a class? When introduced in 3rd edition, its only distinction from the wizard was limited spells known and more spell slots. The class was a reaction to Vancian spell preparation, but didn't introduce any...

Yes, planar embodiment and bloodlines make for a good story to explain the source of a playyer's magic. But they do not do a good job of explaining the unique rule options attributed to sorcerers. Among all these origins, only 1 or 2 justify the emphasis on random/chaotic magic (and...

I feel like the academic identity of the wizard is well established and giving them rules (not necessarily spells) to modify and invent new spells is aligned with that identity. Sorcerers don't have an identity, or they have too many. The current playtest attempts to make both random/wild...

If Scribe Spell is a ubiquitous feature of wizard spellcasting, it doesn't even need to exist as a detailed class feature. You might as well just say "wizards use personalized ciphers to protect their spells against casual reading, but any wizard can decipher another wizard's spellbook given a...

I do like them, because they give fighters some control. Imagine your favorite PC going up against a "fighter" monster that trips, pushes, bleeds, etc. It has the potential to be very scary especially if the fighter has allies or battlefield triggers other effects. On the other hand , the...

Hi folks, I just finished reading the playtest Wizard in detail. I love retro-gaming but I have never felt the slightest pang of sadness over the loss of read magic and write in later editions. Now, for some reason, they are back and fused into a single spell: Scribe Spell. To summarize...

So I finally read the new warlock more carefully. I'm going to ask one of my players if they would like to try playtesting it. I think the framework is good and it just needs power adjustment. The pact abilities are well explained and each one gets a free virtual invocation at 5th level. Really...

The chassis looks good. The subclasses can trigger damage bonuses and effects worthy of high-level play.

There is a strange tendency in this packet to define class powers in the spell framework. Pact boons = cantrips Wizard research and metamagic = spells with ritual tag (BIG throwback to AD&D and while I love that edition I did not miss read magic and write at all moving forward) Sorcerer...

The mastery effects are better than I thought they would be. There is lots of interesting design space here for martials: interactions between mastery and a fighting style, a gladiator subclass that lets you design a new combo maneuver that grants higher damage or more potent special effects if...

First of all, thanks to @EzekielRaiden for navigating a difficult subject with grace and patience, and dare I say touching hearts and minds? :) Regarding AD&D OA, the best parts of that book were the new character classes and spells. The classes did a good job of exploring new design space and...

I think that the underlying problem is the perceived lack of design space for martial classes. Modern D&D devotes an enormous amount of attention to spells and spellcasters, so it is easy to see their variations and failings. If they devoted as much space to diversifying the martial classes with...