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General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
6e, how would you sort the classes/sub-classs?
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<blockquote data-quote="Aldarc" data-source="post: 7323081" data-attributes="member: 5142"><p>I can't speak to what is "best," but I can entertain an idea that I would find interesting for my own sensibilities. Adopt more of the mechanics of Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved from the 3.X era. AE offered itself as something of a variant version of D&D that floated a variety of new concepts, mechanics, and structures. And there were several things, in particular, that I liked about AE that I think that Mearls should remember from his time at Malhavoc Press. </p><p></p><p>(1) Classes were designed primarily around broader playstyles: etc., the healer, the spell-master mage, the innate mage, the champion of a cause, the lightly-armored warrior, the heavily-armored, the wilderness warrior, the gish, the skill-master, etc. And I think that while I would want to ensure that D&D's traditions were preserved - for the sake of unity - that there is also a lot of room to reduce redundancy while also providing tremendous flexibility. I do think that we have seen this somewhat in Paizo's recent Starfinder book. For example, psionists, clerics, shamans, and druids were more or less thrown under the same umbrella of a Mystic class, which was ingenious. People already debate the redundancy of the druid as a "nature cleric," or the distinction between shamans and druids, or whether the psion should use Wisdom rather than Intellect. We could probably expand this to other classes, archetypes, and playstyles as well. </p><p></p><p>(2) AE had a universal spell system with a lot of dials and knobs. Spells at each level are organized in terms of simple, complex, and exotic. Spells had "tags" on them that were more thematic (e.g., positive, fire, draconic, plant, etc.) and less defined by D&D's traditional schools of magic (e.g., Abjuration, Illusion, etc.). Some classes only had access to spells up to 6th level. Some classes only had access to simple spells to 9th level. One class got access to all simple and complex spells up to 9th level. Many classes got access to simple spells and complex spells with certain tags (e.g., the Greenbond got access to complex spells with the Plant and Positive Energy tags). You could weave a spell up or down for a greater or lesser effect. There were also thematic templates, similar to metamagic, that you could apply to your spells. </p><p></p><p>I am not saying that I want AE verbatim. But I do think that its mechanics provide excellent inspiration for changes that would open up for a lot of flexibility in class and subclass design for D&D. Also, I find separate class spell lists to be somewhat redundant, and I think that AE's system can help streamline that entire process. For example, let's take the Draconic Sorcerer. One thing the above would help alleviate is being able, for example, to say that Sorcerers gain access to all simple spells. But the Draconic Sorcerer gains further access to all complex spells with the Draconic and X Energy (e.g., Fire, Lightning, Acid, Earth, etc.) tag reflective of their dragon bloodline.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aldarc, post: 7323081, member: 5142"] I can't speak to what is "best," but I can entertain an idea that I would find interesting for my own sensibilities. Adopt more of the mechanics of Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved from the 3.X era. AE offered itself as something of a variant version of D&D that floated a variety of new concepts, mechanics, and structures. And there were several things, in particular, that I liked about AE that I think that Mearls should remember from his time at Malhavoc Press. (1) Classes were designed primarily around broader playstyles: etc., the healer, the spell-master mage, the innate mage, the champion of a cause, the lightly-armored warrior, the heavily-armored, the wilderness warrior, the gish, the skill-master, etc. And I think that while I would want to ensure that D&D's traditions were preserved - for the sake of unity - that there is also a lot of room to reduce redundancy while also providing tremendous flexibility. I do think that we have seen this somewhat in Paizo's recent Starfinder book. For example, psionists, clerics, shamans, and druids were more or less thrown under the same umbrella of a Mystic class, which was ingenious. People already debate the redundancy of the druid as a "nature cleric," or the distinction between shamans and druids, or whether the psion should use Wisdom rather than Intellect. We could probably expand this to other classes, archetypes, and playstyles as well. (2) AE had a universal spell system with a lot of dials and knobs. Spells at each level are organized in terms of simple, complex, and exotic. Spells had "tags" on them that were more thematic (e.g., positive, fire, draconic, plant, etc.) and less defined by D&D's traditional schools of magic (e.g., Abjuration, Illusion, etc.). Some classes only had access to spells up to 6th level. Some classes only had access to simple spells to 9th level. One class got access to all simple and complex spells up to 9th level. Many classes got access to simple spells and complex spells with certain tags (e.g., the Greenbond got access to complex spells with the Plant and Positive Energy tags). You could weave a spell up or down for a greater or lesser effect. There were also thematic templates, similar to metamagic, that you could apply to your spells. I am not saying that I want AE verbatim. But I do think that its mechanics provide excellent inspiration for changes that would open up for a lot of flexibility in class and subclass design for D&D. Also, I find separate class spell lists to be somewhat redundant, and I think that AE's system can help streamline that entire process. For example, let's take the Draconic Sorcerer. One thing the above would help alleviate is being able, for example, to say that Sorcerers gain access to all simple spells. But the Draconic Sorcerer gains further access to all complex spells with the Draconic and X Energy (e.g., Fire, Lightning, Acid, Earth, etc.) tag reflective of their dragon bloodline. [/QUOTE]
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6e, how would you sort the classes/sub-classs?
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