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A simple houserule for martial/caster balance.
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<blockquote data-quote="TheOneGargoyle" data-source="post: 8598001" data-attributes="member: 6924207"><p>If you're wanting to run a game in a low magic world setting, then that sounds like a great way to do it. And if your players are on board too, then have at it. Sounds like great stories & awesome fun in the making !</p><p></p><p>But if you and your players are wanting to run a high magic "swords & sorcery" style fantasy game (which by default is what classic D&D is all about and what a lot of people want to play) then ..... no, just no.</p><p></p><p>So, start here. What power level of game setting are you looking for. Low, Medium or High is good enough to start with.</p><p></p><p>If Low, your houserule sounds great, use milestone levelling and keep that slow, strongly limit magic item availability, martials will be fine</p><p>If High, be liberal with levels & magic items, let casters get everything the books say they get, you might need to give some martials some extra love*</p><p>If Medium, somewhere in between, a light touch of either of the above might be required on a case-by-case basis, be discerning</p><p></p><p>* this really seems like the crux point of this whole concern and issue, so let's clearly define the problem space:</p><p></p><p>1) In a Low Magic game world setting, casters & magic items need to be toned down. If everyone buys into these changes in order to tell these stories, everyone is happy, no problem. There is nothing wrong with this. No changes need to be made to martials in this case. This is the perfect use case for your homebrew rule and it should work well here.</p><p></p><p>2) In a High Magic game world setting, some players want to play reality-warping spellslingers. These players don't want their characters to be gimped to avoid showing up other characters, they want everyone else to be awesome with them. There is nothing wrong with this. No changes need to be made to casters in this case.</p><p></p><p>3) In a High Magic game world setting, some players want to play legendary but non-superhuman non-magical martials. This is important. These players don't want their characters doing all sorts of wierd stuff, they want to be able to be awesome at what they do, eg being warriors. As long as nobody goes forcing their characters into supernatural shennanigans that they don't want, these players are fine, no problem. There is nothing wrong with this. No changes need to be made to the martial character classes & subclasses that these players choose (they don't choose things like EK or AT for example and are happy with that).</p><p></p><p>4) In a High Magic game world setting, some players want to play martials who are superhuman, supernatural & beyond. These players don't want their characters having to be pidgeon-holed into casting spells, they want them to be preternaturally powerful in other ways, but akin to the capabilities of spellcasters in terms of flexibility, able to contribute to the direction of the narrative both in and out of combat. There are many different archetypes of this, from the wuxia style ki warriors, to characters who stories are inextricably linked to their magic items, to children of gods & prophecies, etc These players feel that the existing classes/subclasses in 5e don't satisfactorily fulfil these char concepts, and that extra capabilities are needed beyond what is currently available in order to fully express and play those characters, and also to keep up with casters, esp in terms of narrative flexibility outside combat. There is nothing wrong with this. These players have a point.</p><p></p><p>Note that only the first of these 4 cases is the perfect use case for your homebrew rule and it should work well here. The other 3 cases require no changes to casters and applying this homebrew rule would be disastrous for game cohesion and player satisfaction.</p><p></p><p>Also note that there are precisely zero cases where wholesale changes of martial classes to add supernatural capabilities to all base classes and subclasses is either appropriate or required, as this would directly and negatively impact case 3.</p><p></p><p>Instead, the entire remainder of the discussion should be to address case 4, and should not impact any of the other 3 cases.</p><p></p><p>This is the only approach that I would support as being broadly useful and applicable to the game and community at large.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TheOneGargoyle, post: 8598001, member: 6924207"] If you're wanting to run a game in a low magic world setting, then that sounds like a great way to do it. And if your players are on board too, then have at it. Sounds like great stories & awesome fun in the making ! But if you and your players are wanting to run a high magic "swords & sorcery" style fantasy game (which by default is what classic D&D is all about and what a lot of people want to play) then ..... no, just no. So, start here. What power level of game setting are you looking for. Low, Medium or High is good enough to start with. If Low, your houserule sounds great, use milestone levelling and keep that slow, strongly limit magic item availability, martials will be fine If High, be liberal with levels & magic items, let casters get everything the books say they get, you might need to give some martials some extra love* If Medium, somewhere in between, a light touch of either of the above might be required on a case-by-case basis, be discerning * this really seems like the crux point of this whole concern and issue, so let's clearly define the problem space: 1) In a Low Magic game world setting, casters & magic items need to be toned down. If everyone buys into these changes in order to tell these stories, everyone is happy, no problem. There is nothing wrong with this. No changes need to be made to martials in this case. This is the perfect use case for your homebrew rule and it should work well here. 2) In a High Magic game world setting, some players want to play reality-warping spellslingers. These players don't want their characters to be gimped to avoid showing up other characters, they want everyone else to be awesome with them. There is nothing wrong with this. No changes need to be made to casters in this case. 3) In a High Magic game world setting, some players want to play legendary but non-superhuman non-magical martials. This is important. These players don't want their characters doing all sorts of wierd stuff, they want to be able to be awesome at what they do, eg being warriors. As long as nobody goes forcing their characters into supernatural shennanigans that they don't want, these players are fine, no problem. There is nothing wrong with this. No changes need to be made to the martial character classes & subclasses that these players choose (they don't choose things like EK or AT for example and are happy with that). 4) In a High Magic game world setting, some players want to play martials who are superhuman, supernatural & beyond. These players don't want their characters having to be pidgeon-holed into casting spells, they want them to be preternaturally powerful in other ways, but akin to the capabilities of spellcasters in terms of flexibility, able to contribute to the direction of the narrative both in and out of combat. There are many different archetypes of this, from the wuxia style ki warriors, to characters who stories are inextricably linked to their magic items, to children of gods & prophecies, etc These players feel that the existing classes/subclasses in 5e don't satisfactorily fulfil these char concepts, and that extra capabilities are needed beyond what is currently available in order to fully express and play those characters, and also to keep up with casters, esp in terms of narrative flexibility outside combat. There is nothing wrong with this. These players have a point. Note that only the first of these 4 cases is the perfect use case for your homebrew rule and it should work well here. The other 3 cases require no changes to casters and applying this homebrew rule would be disastrous for game cohesion and player satisfaction. Also note that there are precisely zero cases where wholesale changes of martial classes to add supernatural capabilities to all base classes and subclasses is either appropriate or required, as this would directly and negatively impact case 3. Instead, the entire remainder of the discussion should be to address case 4, and should not impact any of the other 3 cases. This is the only approach that I would support as being broadly useful and applicable to the game and community at large. [/QUOTE]
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