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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dandu" data-source="post: 5544149" data-attributes="member: 85158">Unless the campaign or story revolves around it, I assume?Right... except I'm not... so... what's the issue here?Your misconceptions are  not my problem.Thanks, I'll look into it. I heard it is very fun.The  most immediate counter example I can think of are battlefield control  and buff casters who need the other party members to deal damage to the  enemy.A  Swift Hunter is an optimized Scout/Ranger built, but you won't need 3-4  EL +4 encounters to truly strain it. Optimized is not synonymous with  "broken" or "overpowered".Which  means it gets one round to savage a PC. Given that the classes  available are Warmage, Healer, Knight, Ninja, Swashbuckler, Monk, Soul  Knife, Aristocrat, Expert, Warrior, and Commoner, at least half of them  are going to have really bad AC. Given that a CR 10 hydra has 11 heads  which attack at +16 each for 1d10+6 damage each... I'm pretty sure the  NPC classes at least stand a pretty good chance of snuffing it on the  Hyrda's first round. Rogues, Monks, Swashbucklers, Ninjas, Soulknifes, Healers and Warmages all wear either light or no armor, so they're vulnerable as well - better hope the Hydra doesn't pop out from under a bridge and proceed to attack the party like the one in the Red Hand of Doom. Looking back on everything I just said... I think the Warmage is actually the least likely to feel useless in combat.Do  you know how tanking works in WOW? Melee classes get a taunt ability  that draws aggro. With few exceptions, this does not exist in DnD.  Fortunately, the <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060501a&page=2" target="_blank">Knight</a>  class does get to do this... if the enemy has an Int of 5 or greater,  which the Hydra does not. (Though it would be useable against other  opponents.)The other way of doing it is the <a href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20050107a&page=3" target="_blank">Goad</a>  feat, which requires an Int of higher than 3... and the Hydra has an  Int of 2. (Again, this would work be usable against other opponents, so  perhaps a Hydra's just a bad example in this case.)Anyways,  the point of this is that the Hydra is not going to be forced to stick  to the party tank and can just as easily rip one of the more lightly  armored PCs to shreds. Heck, a CR 8 Hydra with its 9 attacks at +13 each  for 1d10+5 damage would probably have the same effect on its target.Even if it dies as a result of the attack, you've still got a dead PC. This is not allowing a weak class to shine.Yes,  as you have noticed the Warmage is the best class available. Still, the  Warmage seems to be the only one contributing, as the other classes  aren't good at archery. To hit with archery you need Dex, and to do  damage you need Str. Given that there aren't going to be stat boosters  or magic weapons, hitting and dealing damage with bows is going to be a  problem.Which,  incidentally, reminds me: the OP should probably avoid throwing ghosts  and incoporeal undead at the party. A CR 3 allip could be devastating if the party includes neither a Healer or Warmage; a group of them would be murderous.A Hydra's heads can only be  severed by a Sunder attempt. Do you mean to say that the Warmage will be  cauterizing the stumps after the party "tank" has severed one or more  heads? (Presumably to avenge the Tank's untimely demise at the hands of the multiheaded, befanged horror?)Also,  one thing that bugs me about this example is that it apparently assumes  a Hydra will just sit there and take it instead of taking cover.If you really feel that the  description does not apply to the Warmage, then take it off and apply it  to one of the other classes. Pretty much any other class than Rogue could take it  with good justification.I  am aware that the default assumption is that PCs will face challenges  of varying CRs, sometimes below their level and at other times above it.Is that what you mean by arbitrary, or are trying for something else?Quite frankly, I disagree with your assessment that the game is purely numerical in nature. What about actual abilities, such as Shape Stone, Control Weather, Contact Other Plane, and even Create Food and Water, which have effects that cannot be quantified with mere figures. A class that can control the world is broken. A class that can influence the world is probably ok. A class that can't do anything significant is underpowered. Not having easy options and world shattering power is not what makes a class underpowered, it's not having any options or power at all that does it. I personally feel that most of the allowed classes come rather close to not having significant abilities to impact the world, ie, to shine. For example, A Rogue can do many things, such as be a backstabbing combat opportunist, a silver tongued con-man, or an advanced scout. What can a Commoner do? A Warmage, as you noted, has tactical options in combat. What can the Warrior do? The contrast is most striking between PC and NPC classes as the latter were designed to be redshirts, but it's still present between some of the PC classes listed like Rogue vs Ninja.And even with the stronger classes, what does a Warmage or Rogue do if there's an enemy that you have to fly to catch up with, or who burrows into the ground, or who lives under the sea? (Which, incidentally, are also challenges the OP should probably avoid.)</blockquote>

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