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I'll grant you it's an easier comparison (more 1:1). Still, if you compare the fighter and the wizard, the fighter has both less versatility and less raw power. Many have argued that the fighter makes up for it with staying power. That (at least in combat) a fighter can overtake the wizard in...

It would be fair to say that a table like that may have found an internal balance. However, unless the game actually promotes such an approach to play, that wouldn't be indicative of the balance of the game itself. Certainly we could imagine a different table where the wizard player ignores...

I think D&D would be better if the wizard were designed more like Batman and the fighter more like Superman. That might arguably be the case at low levels, but it certainly is not at high levels. The fighter is basically designed like a Batman who gets blindsided by every situation. And the...

If he's aware that he was frozen in time for a long time, then he knows he's a stranger in a strange land. He may tag along with the party simply because they can serve as "guides" to this time period.

Alphatia doesn't exist post Wrath of the Immortals. The Immortals destroyed Alphetia. First they destroyed the capitol of Alphatia, and when Alphatia refused to surrender, they sank the entire country.

They more or less tried. Alphatia made war against the combined forces of Thyatis and Glantri. As a result, the Immortals sank the continent of Alphatia. [Glantri - Kingdom of Magic - The Grimoire, pg 16] Alphatia isn't likely to be conquering anyone unless they all had Water Breathing...

Glantri is only a small region of Mystara though. I don't think anyone is questioning whether a campaign world with one or two magocracies would be fun. It's more a question of whether a setting where pretty much everything is a magocracy would be fun.

The society that uses mages in secret can't possibly last any significant length of time, but the society whose nobles are overtly casters definitely would endure? Sure. I've been trying to meet you half way by discussing things based on the terms of your premise; that of a world where magic is...

I think you're massively oversimplifying. That's one possibility, but out of a myriad of possibilities. People are complicated. Let's say that early cultures perceived magic as dangerous. This could be for any number of reasons. Perhaps magic in those days was less understood and therefore a...

It doesn't matter what kind of superpowers you have. If you can't do the job, you're going to lose your legitimacy. If you can even achieve legitimacy to begin with.

You realize that having superhuman abilities doesn't actually qualify one to be a better ruler, don't you? If it turns out that the court jester is actually a max level bard, does he automagically get to usurp the throne in the setting you've imagined?

This sounds more like an evil magical overlord, than a normal magocracy to me.

High level characters have more money than they know what to do with. My high level character can spend all of their "useless" gold to buy unlimited skills and feats in your campaign? I don't know any DM who would allow that, but if you do that's your choice.

That's specifically called out as a special reward, not unlike a magic item. It's not something where any character (not even a PC) can just go out and find the right trainer to train them. There might be an exceptional teacher out in the world who could easily teach quantum mechanics to...

It's about checks and balances. A battlefield nurse having cure wounds is almost unquestionably a boon. But she doesn't wield great authority. On the other hand, giving a leader magic is quite questionable. Sure, if they are pure and benevolent, they will likely never misuse such power. Ever...

No, you can't train feats. If I'm wrong (pretty sure I'm not) feel free to cite the page number so I can see that rule for myself.

I already debunked that actually. You cannot learn new skills from training, only tool proficiencies and languages. Please don't perpetuate misinformation. If I am the one who is mistaken, please let me know where I can find the relevant rules so that I can be corrected. However, if it's from...

Yeah, even looking to our own world, simply imagine how much worse things might have been if someone like Hitler, Stalin, or Nero could cast 9th level spells. I can imagine the people in a world where something like that happened making darn sure it could never happen again. It would be quite...

I agree that magocracies aren't any more (or less) likely to fail vs other types of kingdoms. However, I think magocracies do seem to have something of a tendency to fall in spectacular fashion. For example, the Priest King of Istar brought the Cataclysm down upon Krynn. The Dragon Kings of...

Precisely. It's equally valid to decide that magic is difficult to learn for even talented individuals and requires many years of dedicated study, as it is to choose for it to be something that anyone can pick up after a few weeks of training. You can find some evidence to support either...