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<blockquote data-quote="Korgoth" data-source="post: 3337965" data-attributes="member: 49613">Not relevant.But an Elf is not just a pointy-eared human.&nbsp; It is something different: elves have a certain way of life and culture.&nbsp; They don't spend 100 years growing up just to become a cutpurse.&nbsp; All elves study magic and all elves learn swordsmanship.&nbsp; It's just part of their cultural values... it's how they do things.In Classic bard isn't a separate class anyway.&nbsp; Anybody can be a guy who plays music and sings.&nbsp; A fighter who does this is like a nordic skald.&nbsp; A magic-user who does this is a singing spellcaster.&nbsp; A thief who does this is an entertaining rogue, etc.&nbsp; It's just color.&nbsp; If you want to have magic songs, play a class that casts magic.&nbsp; If you're a cleric of a musical diety, maybe you sing your cleric spells.I think it makes the races into just variant humans (even 1e and 2e with their class restrictions implied some distinction among the races, although I don't like the idea of demihuman thieves).&nbsp; And I don't see that classes really ought to be that flexible.&nbsp; Maybe it's just from anime, but there seems to be an idea that a 19 year old hero should be able to do acrobatics, be a swordmaster and have an emeritus knowledge of arcane lore all at once.&nbsp; I don't buy it: any one of those things takes a life of single-minded study.There is a &quot;sweet spot&quot; when it comes to rules saturation.&nbsp; After that point, that &quot;via media&quot; or center of balance, the more rules you add the less you're able to do in the game.&nbsp; As soon as you add a feat called &quot;Boomrunner&quot; then nobody else can run on booms.&nbsp; As soon as you add a &quot;Trenchrider&quot; feat where a mounted combatant can run his horse through a trench disrupting the defenders, then nobody can pull that stunt unless they have the feat.&nbsp; They become restrictions on the imagination.&nbsp; Then character creation becomes like constructing a Magic deck: what &quot;powers&quot; am I going to take for this &quot;build&quot;.&nbsp; Rubbish and hogwash!&nbsp; Anybody can pull cool stunts.&nbsp; They're heroes.&nbsp; It's like DMs who call for a skill check to climb a tree or hunt a rabbit.&nbsp; If the adventurers are such clowns that they even have to roll for it, I'm sorry the fate of the kingdom is in their hands.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Korgoth, post: 3337965, member: 49613"] Not relevant. But an Elf is not just a pointy-eared human. It is something different: elves have a certain way of life and culture. They don't spend 100 years growing up just to become a cutpurse. All elves study magic and all elves learn swordsmanship. It's just part of their cultural values... it's how they do things. In Classic bard isn't a separate class anyway. Anybody can be a guy who plays music and sings. A fighter who does this is like a nordic skald. A magic-user who does this is a singing spellcaster. A thief who does this is an entertaining rogue, etc. It's just color. If you want to have magic songs, play a class that casts magic. If you're a cleric of a musical diety, maybe you sing your cleric spells. I think it makes the races into just variant humans (even 1e and 2e with their class restrictions implied some distinction among the races, although I don't like the idea of demihuman thieves). And I don't see that classes really ought to be that flexible. Maybe it's just from anime, but there seems to be an idea that a 19 year old hero should be able to do acrobatics, be a swordmaster and have an emeritus knowledge of arcane lore all at once. I don't buy it: any one of those things takes a life of single-minded study. There is a "sweet spot" when it comes to rules saturation. After that point, that "via media" or center of balance, the more rules you add the less you're able to do in the game. As soon as you add a feat called "Boomrunner" then nobody else can run on booms. As soon as you add a "Trenchrider" feat where a mounted combatant can run his horse through a trench disrupting the defenders, then nobody can pull that stunt unless they have the feat. They become restrictions on the imagination. Then character creation becomes like constructing a Magic deck: what "powers" am I going to take for this "build". Rubbish and hogwash! Anybody can pull cool stunts. They're [i]heroes[/i]. It's like DMs who call for a skill check to climb a tree or hunt a rabbit. If the adventurers are such clowns that they even have to roll for it, I'm sorry the fate of the kingdom is in their hands. [/QUOTE]

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