Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 6364224" data-attributes="member: 205">I think the point I bolded is a point that's worthy of discussion.  5e flips the paradigm of stat boosting items from 3e.  In 3e, you gave gauntlets of ogre power to the warrior types.  In 5e, you give them to the wizard to give him some melee options, as they're useless to the warriors.To generalize further, in 3e (and also 4e) magic items existed to enhance your specialization, and support your character build.  In 5e, magic items are best at enhancing weaknesses and making characters more well-rounded, and can diminish the efficacy of certain build options. (Say, putting a stat boost into Strength that becomes unnecessary when the gauntlets are worn.I think that speaks to a general division in playstyles, actually.  Does the game exist to demonstrate and challenge various build options (as in 3e and 4e), or does the character build exist only to be modified and molded by play within the game (as is a stronger feature of OSR style games)?I think the relative strength of class features and magical items would speak as to which playstyle is preferred.  Strong class features and weaker magic items make character build paramount, while weaker class features but strong magic items favor the "build through play" approach.</blockquote>