D&D 5E Adapting the Warlock Chassis for other Classes

[Undrave]

I like Fractal Class. So it shall be.

Cool. I really had a long sit-down to think about exactly what the right term should be. Simple, meaningful, avoiding being dry or overly technical, ideally something visually evocative. Spent at least an hour banging my head against stuff until "Fractal" just popped in, sans fanfare, and said, "Oh, were you looking for me?"

We could have went with Vorpal Class

 

[Vaalingrade]

Isn't that enough?

Is weighing the same as a duck enough to conclude something is made of wood?

 

[DarkCrisis]

Is weighing the same as a duck enough to conclude something is made of wood?

Its good enough to conclude someone is a witch.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Isn't that enough?

I would laugh, if I didn't know that you were actually serious here.

No. It is not.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

You don't read the right threads then.

I see nothing but people complaining endlessly about how the Wizard is overpowered and that Martials pale by comparison, LOL!

I would not consider you (or a few other folks here) as being spellcaster fans who also would like to see non-spellcasters getting lots of nice things.

It is generally the non-spellcaster fans (regardless of their opinions of spellcasters) who ask for that.

 

[Undrave]

I was thinking the Paladin would be SUPER easy to do like this! Just replace the Spell Slots with self-scaling Smites! Then you can use Invocations (or I guess 'Prayers'? Blessings? Divine Boons?) for utility magic and ways to modify the Smites further. Their Arcanum equivalent would be called Miracles. Classic Fighting Style would replace one of the Cantrip and Lay on Hands the other one, Oath replaces the Patron.

And the Pact equivalent, let's call it 'Divine Arms, decides your armor. You got the classic Heavy Armor Paladin with the shield (and mounted combat skills?), then the Avenger who gets skirmishing abilities and extra speed and uses light armor buffed by their Divine Fervor, and we could introduce a moderately armoured Divine Archer.

 

[ezo]

I liked the 2024 playtest chassis, I can see that as the basis for many classes, the 2014 and final 2024 one not so much…

I haven't been following playtest material for 2024 in general, since I already know odds are against it will appeal to me, but is there anything in particular about the 2024 playtest chassis versus the others?

I feel that the warlock is the best chasis because its the only class that has ANY choices. 5th ed is designed to railroad you into everything from level 1. Choice is scary and think of all the illiterate new people who cannot be bothered to read any of the material?! Best not to design a game for those who actually play it.
After you choose your class, the only decisions left to make are each ASL - which is usually not a real decision, as there is often one choice which is significantly stronger than others.

Warlocks are so liked because they are a mediocum of character choice in 5th ed.

I'll wait for @Reynard to reply. I think the other classes have plenty of choices... but that's just my view.

 

[Undrave]

I'll wait for @Reynard to reply. I think the other classes have plenty of choices... but that's just my view.

If they're casters, otherwise it's all very front loaded.

 

[Reynard]

I'll wait for @Reynard to reply. I think the other classes have plenty of choices... but that's just my view.

The interaction of defining features, choices during progression and multi-modal abilities makes the Warlock the best chassis.

 

[ezo]

If they're casters, otherwise it's all very front loaded.

Everything is front loaded in 5E, it just the nature of the design.

Not even warlocks have a lot of decision points after 3rd-- I mean, all they pick is an invocation every 3 levels or so and spells -- which every spellcaster gets.

I'll grant you it is more than other classes but when you consider most games stop when they do, it is really 3 invocation choices after 3rd; hardly a "big difference" IMO.

The interaction of defining features, choices during progression and multi-modal abilities makes the Warlock the best chassis.

The short-rest spell limitation of warlocks really hurts IME. Every player whose tried the class has felt the "spell slot pinch" pretty quickly.

I already posted before some stuff to give you ideas, but the first and third items in your response don't really resonate with me.

Best of luck! FWIW, I think a lot of classes need more choices along the way.