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Yes, that would be a problem. OTOH, 5e is modular, so it will have to deal with that issue all the time. Tag those themes as "Rare" and let the DM decide?

Do we need to tag themes with a keyword, so that you can't stack themes (without DM permission)? ie., half-elf and half-orc have the 'blood' keyword so you can't combine them? Maybe, but I'm not sure it's necessary. I haven't heard much about it recently, but 5E was announced with the goal that...

I agree, but it also depends on what is meant by a paladin or ranger. Some people think of the paladin as simply a champion (or crusader) of any cause. To me, being a champion per se isn't a class any more than an adventurer or dungeon explorer is a class. Others think of a paladin of a...

I picked Timmy (Johnny?) Vorthos but I get a different reading of what that means from your summary vs the "Timmy, Johnny, and Spike Revisited" article. I think the poll results will reflect people's comprehension of the OP and/or the articles as much as what roleplaying type they actually are.

I don't know how 4E themes work, but I might enjoy being able to choose a Minor Theme and Major Theme for each PC. Minor Themes could be Commoner, Pubcrawler, Dwarven Stonecutter, etc. Major Themes could be Noble, Tiefling Blood, Radiant Paladin, etc. Themes could be swapped when appropriate...

Man, I love this thread. It's really zeroing in on distinguishing the difference between class-specific vs class-independent traits -- and good use of themes makes class creation feel so much more organic without getting into the hazards of a purely classeless system. I hope 5E will use themes...

Yes, let's do that :) I won't presume to judge one or way another. But I would like to quote a tidibit from Ron Edwards just less than a year ago that makes me wonder how much he is in touch with RPGing as a social activity:

Bedrockgames, or to put it simply, Duchampe was subverting conventional notions of "What is art?" So you walk through an art gallery, adoring the Mona Lisa and other great artworks, and then suddenly you come to a urinal mounted on a wall, and that's there to challenge you -- the usual...

I personally dismiss the modernist movement in art because whenever I go to an art gallery I can't help but laugh at the unnecessarily pretentious Artspeak. The underlying message about the human condition or whatnot is buried under so much jargon, I can't help but think this is just another...

Do you remember the nods to realism L&L article and threads which differentiated between "realism" and nods to realism? I'm not a purist simulationist. I don't care if katanas do more damage than longswords. Like many people (but we never did get to see the poll results for the nod to realism...

Yep, same here. I think I'd be happy to allow my DMs to excercise discretion over whether a non-orthodox ability score should be used for a saving throw, assuming the DM is less biased and assuming some players who are looking "to win" frankly aren't going to be objective about it. However, this...

Ok, ok! I confess.... it is true, I've recently been guilty of passive-aggressiveness once or twice when buttons get pushed, but I hope my net contribution is positive. Please, Wizards, don't abandon us due to the occasional failing. We CAN do better, I know it.

When people poke fun at in-game logic and nods to realism, and I'm not sure if it's intended as carte blanche statement that fantasy needs no logic, I tend to switch tactics. I'd say something like: if you watch a fantasy movie like LoTR, and you see a hobbit in a contest of raw strength...

might know I summon mudbunny with the question "O mudbunny, Messenger Between Worlds, do You know if The Wizards value the people of En-World as much as any other?"

Really? I've stuck to the Enworld forum because I thought the most provoking intelligent conversation is here, not on the WoTC forum. Well, I can't say I have any inclination to volunteer my time and effort to go over to the other forum and rehash all my opinions over there, simply because they...

I thought 'Stay Classy' was going to be a pun on the importance of classes in D&D.

This thread looks like its converging with the alignment restrictions thread. I've convinced myself that Paladin as a theme is the best way to go, at the very least because it makes it easy to swap between Paladin and Fallen Paladin themes.

I think it's possible, a simple nuanced way to give everyone what they want (but maybe not the way they expected). Fighter class defines how you fight, paladin theme defines why you fight. Like the way a gladiator or mercenary could be a theme and not a class. I'm not sure how a Paladin theme...

But for me, that in itself is not enough to justify a paladin as a separate class. Any fighter can put on heavy arms and armour, follow some code/honor/devotion, and doesn't necessarily have any magic to show for it. In another thread, I thought that the classes are best defined by how they...

I was thinking of this yesterday. The Paladin might be rebooted as a Radiant Knight (a knight in shining armor, literally!). Then in the flavor, describe the radiant powers as a boon from a god, being favored as a divine or moral champion, due to lawful dedication to certain codes and cause (or...