D&D 5E (2014) A simple houserule for martial/caster balance.

[DND_Reborn]

Would you be okay with them if they were refluffed to be less magical or if they had a material cost like an arrow?

Not really--they would still be at-will magic, which for utility cantrips I can sort of deal with since they have little real-game impact on the game, but combat is a big focus.

FWIW, we moved the "lighting cantrips" (dancing lights, light, produce flame) to 1st level spells because they have more real-game impact.

We've even consider limiting utility cantrips, but frankly other than fluff they see so little use we didn't bother.

 

[LoganRan]

I think I would rather just ban martials.

Between Wizards, Bards, Clerics, Druids, races, backgrounds and feats you really have everything covered that a party is ever going to need.

I just died inside after reading this.

 

[Gammadoodler]

I just died inside after reading this.

You have to understand that, in this interpretation, the primary thing the party needs is adequate justification to have and wear an obnoxious hat (or tiara)..

These four are the signature floppy hat and antler crown classes.

 

[Undrave]

Wizards should be the most powerful class. The company is WIZARDS of the Coast. The game is about magic and fantasy.

I don't get why everyone thinks this is bad. Anyone can choose to play a wizard if you want. Or you can choose to play a weaker, and you can still have fun.

I play mostly Wizards Rogues and Rangers and when I am not playing a wizard I know I am playing a less powerful class (especially when I play a Rogue) and there is nothing wrong with that.

Further all this whining about martials is a bit hypcritical given the design of Monk and Rogue. The power difference between those classes and a Fighter or Barbarian is pretty significant.

If they want the game to go that way they can, but they have to be honest about it. Nothing in the PHB indicates a hierarchy of classes.

"This class is more powerful than all the others, ask you DM before playing it". Boom. Done.

 

[James Gasik]

I just died inside after reading this.

It's unfortunate, but you can do this rather easily in 5e. Ask yourself what a martial class brings to the table. Then think of how you could replace it with a non-martial.

 

[Micah Sweet]

What we need from WotC is a book called "how to mod your game and not destroy it in the process".

I'm not confident completely convinced WptC is qualified to write that book.

 

[James Gasik]

Believe me, I understand that thought process. But somebody needs to, and I, for one, would be happy to hear their thoughts on how they think people should accomplish this for a change.

EDIT: because honestly, all I ever hear them say is "it's your game, do what you want, we're not here to tell you how to run it".

 

[DND_Reborn]

But somebody needs to, and I, for one, would be happy to hear their thoughts on how they think people should accomplish this for a change.

It depends on the changes you (and your group hopefully) want to achieve.

A few examples:

Attack rolls are too successful
My table hates how easy you hit in 5E. Successful attack rates are roughly 65% +/- 5%. Way too high! The sweet spot is close to about half that for us, about 35-40% roughly. We tried various ways to achieve this, and ultimately decided on disadvantage, meaning you roll two d20s and use the lower roll. You don't actually have disadvantage, but the mechanic is identical.

And, happily, it works great!

Hit Point bloat is out of control
Hand-in-hand with the prior issue is too many hit points for creatures and PCs alike. An orc with 15 hp? Seriously? It should be reasonable feasible to one-hit an orc, but in 5E it really isn't. So, again, we tried various means (half listed hp was the first idea) but ultimately decided to remove CON bonus from hp. Why? Because hp are abstract and not just meat points, so why should bonus hp come just from CON? Makes no sense really in that framework. For example, an ogre RAW has 59 (7d10+21) hp instead has base 38 hp (removing the 21). Finally, due to hp being abstract, you add the highest ability modifier (maybe CON but doubtful). In the case of an ogre, the STR +4 would give you 42 hp.

This works out to most creatures averaging about 65-75% of their listed HP.

And, again, it works great!

Spamming Attack Cantrips is Annoying
Oh, the pew pew pew of casters using cantrips in combat---how dull, boring, and not really "magical". So, we made cantrips recharge on a 5-6 instead of usable each round. Sure, making them actually use a weapon in a fight might not appeal to you, but we like it more.

Cyclical Initiative is Boring
And so cinematic initiative was born! On your turn you do one thing and then it moves on until you can act again. Once all your actions are done, the round is over (short version).

And so much more... To date, our "mod" is about 60 pages (reduced from a peak of 150 to bring it closer to RAW).

We also removed Barbarians, Sorcerers, and Warlocks at one point, later restored Barbarians, folded Sorcerers into Wizards, made Warlocks half casters, and so on and so on and so on.

So, yes it's a process, and depends on what you want a chance to accomplish.

 

[James Gasik]

I think that shows why guidance would be necessary. If you want combats where people hit less often, then monsters take more hits to kill, so now you need to reduce hit points to compensate.

Fiddle with one lever, and there's a dial that needs to be adjusted elsewhere.

ASIDE: I'm curious why you settled on disadvantage instead of just raising AC though.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Simply cap spells known to 4th level or less (maybe 5th level or less). Casters can keep the slots.

In a typical High Magic setting, cutting back on magic power is very difficult. But if you are creating a Low, or just lower, Magic setting, then there are all sorts of tricks to use and the players will be accepting of them because the expect it from a Low Magic setting. Capping the highest level of spells available, or increasing the level gap between gaining each level of spells, can work.

I also like the idea of all full casters having to be multiclass characters and the number of levels in a full caster class has to always equal the levels taken in other classes. This way a PC will not have more than 10 levels in a full caster class, and even if they do something wild like multiclass as cleric/wizard or bard/warlock, you are still only looking at 10 levels in each at max, and that makes a limit of 5th level spells.