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You may have to consider the problem of healing. Most 5e methods of fast healing require magic. So no magic means little or no fast healing, which can slow play down to a crawl, especially when things go wrong for the PCs. A slow pace of play may suit the OP, but may torpedo some faster paced...

in 4e it was Str for Melee, Dex for ranged for the ranger from the PHB, even for the mixed attack powers, so the balanced ranger had to invest in both Str and Dex. Some later 4e classes like the essentials thief keyed all their attacks to Dex, but the 3e divisions for stats were retained in the...

In my 4e experience effective rangers picked one of melee or ranged. The balanced option was potentially viable but meant boosting Str and Dex to stay viable and got increasingly expensive in maintaining a variety of magic weapons, and wouldn't be as good at either as a specialist. As regards...

The devil is in the details. In earlier editions archery was viable at lower levels without huge investment, but paled in comparison to melee at higher levels if strengthbows weren't allowed (often the case) and/or archery specialisation, and there was the need for magic bows and arrows, and in...

In class based RPGs I prefer a larger number of specialised classes to a smaller number of broad classes with lots of options. The former allows the class name itself to be more descriptive of the desired style of play of the character - it's "role" within the party if you like, and narrower...

A quick internet search found this article (no connection with myself) discussing the Charm Person spell's evolution. Charm Person the spell has been weakening in effect through the editions, being most powerful in OD&D. A first level permanent enslavement spell - my MUs would have cast it...

That's interesting, as it's not something many RPGs wholeheartedly encourage, including a number of versions of D&D. A lot of RPGs encourage specialisation for those interested in their PCs being successful. In most RPGs individual tasks are "all or nothing", success or failure. Failing tasks...

Some good points, strikers do vary in defenses, but I do find most have average to low endurance vis a vis healing surges. I find that in multi-encounter adventures strikers are the most likely PCs to run out of healing surges, at which point pressing on is risky at best. It's much more...

I would disagree slightly with the description of strikers above - for me it's strong attacks, and being able to pick and choose targets in some way, whether its ranged attacks, improved mobility, stealth, teleportation etc. Strikers tend to be relatively squishy with medium to low defenses, hit...

I generally agree with pemerton's comments on the 4e fighter as it evolved. It was viable but not as strong straight out of the first 4e PHB, but became a lot stronger with subsequent material - Fighters and wizards are both contenders for the 4e classes with the most available options, and more...

Re fighters, almost exactly the opposite AFAIK.In the 3e min max forums the conventional wisdom was no more than two levels of fighter in a melee PC build, four at the outside. The other options from multiclassing and prestige classes were considered better than the few bonus feats that were all...

If I'm meeting to set up a typical game of D&D as a player I might ask "Is anyone playing a healer?". By which I mean, as I go on to say, "Is someone planning to play a PC both willing and able to provide a useful amount of healing to the party". This being a meaningful question over say, "Is...

This'll end badly I predict, but I'll try. I can dislike something without giving a reason, so can anyone. Likes and dislikes are primarily emotional, aesthetic, there may or may not be explainable reasons behind them, and those reasons are sometimes strawman rationalisations. While people...

I find these discussions frustrating and circular. Nethertheless, this is my experience, YMMV... I played basic, AD&D and up so there was less emphasis on looting and more on fights. In older editions I found dungeon delving fascinatingly Darwinian (I'm talking vaguely logical dungeons here...

Is this a change in your position? Before you said there were no roles at all in pre-3e D&D, not just 4e roles? 4e combat roles apply to 4e and emerge out of its design and explicit effort to support those roles. Other D&D editions suggest somewhat different roles, depending on the exact rules...

This quote illustrates one of the strong tensions in class-based RPGs, between those who want strong or restrictive classes, and those who want weak or unrestrictive classes. Both extremes here have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on how well they are implemented...

Arguably, but that really doesn't mean it has to stay there. Enough people want shiny heroic games or games with sympathetically realised fantasy religions to permanently muddy the waters I believe. No, I suspect I come in on the opposite side of this question. My favourite class was "cleric"...

I think this is over-simplistic. There's a lot of D&D products and you can find material supporting any view you want in there somewhere. Clerics and other religious spellcasters having spells provides tangible evidence that faith can matter, depending on the surrounding nuance. Products like...

Because immersion is so subjective it can be frustrating to discuss, as what immerses one player may be neutral or detrimental to another's immersion. I don't value immersion as much as I used to as I'm usually a referee nowadays and immersion is a luxury, one that's arguably bad for referee...

I do think some, even most players, have some flexibility and can adapt their playing styles to some extent given a chance(some are more limited than others). I've seen excellent contributions from players, which I know for a fact were made honestly and without ulterior motives, rejected just...