D&D 5E An Argument for Why Paladins are the Strongest Class in 5E D&D

[jmartkdr2]

I'm not a fan of any class that can run through its daily resources in under a minutes, and paladins surpass even wizards in that capacity.

While I'd prefer to address the issue by simply making a nova strategy sub-optimal, I'm really not sure that it can be done, given the basic 5E framework.

You'd need to get players to assume there's always another encounter possible between now and the next long rest, or at least believe that 6+ is a normal number to deal with. This is certainly possible if you always keep the pc's on a time crunch for the adventure. But no official DnD book really teaches the importance of this to dm's. So this is not the 'normal' way to play DnD.

If time isn't a limited resource, the game doesn't really work as a wargame. It can still work as a roleplaying activity, which is how a lot of people have fun when it looks like it should be horribly unbalanced.

 

[generic]

You'd need to get players to assume there's always another encounter possible between now and the next long rest, or at least believe that 6+ is a normal number to deal with. This is certainly possible if you always keep the pc's on a time crunch for the adventure. But no official DnD book really teaches the importance of this to dm's. So this is not the 'normal' way to play DnD.

If time isn't a limited resource, the game doesn't really work as a wargame. It can still work as a roleplaying activity, which is how a lot of people have fun when it looks like it should be horribly unbalanced.

I can see 6-8 combat encounters being feasible if the session lasts at least 4-6 hours, any shorter, and you'll end up with fewer. At my table, we generally only have 2 hours to play per session, so 2-3 combats with social encounters and exploration has become the norm. It isn't ideal, but, I've adapted by scheduling things like rests to happen over the course of sessions.

While a group might normally rest once at the end of a session, my group might have to go 2 sessions before they get a chance to rest and so on.

 

[Zardnaar]

I can see 6-8 combat encounters being feasible if the session lasts at least 4-6 hours, any shorter, and you'll end up with fewer. At my table, we generally only have 2 hours to play per session, so 2-3 combats with social encounters and exploration has become the norm. It isn't ideal, but, I've adapted by scheduling things like rests to happen over the course of sessions.

While a group might normally rest once at the end of a session, my group might have to go 2 sessions before they get a chance to rest and so on.

Takes us 2-3 sessions to hit 6-8 encounters.

 

[generic]

Takes us 2-3 sessions to hit 6-8 encounters.

How long are your sessions? My group takes a similar amount of time, but our sessions are only 2 hours long.

 

[jmartkdr2]

How long are your sessions? My group takes a similar amount of time, but our sessions are only 2 hours long.

You don't have to long rest after each session.

My groups with short adventuring days are ones where we don't go into dungeons much, rather than ones with shorter sessions.

 

[generic]

You don't have to long rest after each session.

My groups with short adventuring days are ones where we don't go into dungeons much, rather than ones with shorter sessions.

Makes sense to me. I was generalizing, probably without reason.

 

[Zardnaar]

How long are your sessions? My group takes a similar amount of time, but our sessions are only 2 hours long.

3 hours.

 

[Zardnaar]

You don't have to long rest after each session.

My groups with short adventuring days are ones where we don't go into dungeons much, rather than ones with shorter sessions.

True but it's easier.

I suspect a lot of groups don't like splitting daily/long rests over multiple sessions.

It's just easier book keeping.

 

[Seramus]

I think the Bard outperforms the paladin in almost every category except that nifty Aura. The bard is a much more flexible class that empowers many character concepts, and can even do a lot of what the paladin does by poaching their spells.

Seriously, a Bard can have find greater steed, banishing smite, or destructive wave several levels before a Paladin can.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think the Bard outperforms the paladin in almost every category except that nifty Aura. The bard is a much more flexible class that empowers many character concepts, and can even do a lot of what the paladin does by poaching their spells.

Seriously, a Bard can have find greater steed and a holy weapon several levels before a Paladin can.

Bards don't tend to do much damage.

I still think for a 5 person party something like paladin, valor bard, light cleric, and 2 whatever is the best 5E party.

Replace the rogue with bard.