Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Halivar" data-source="post: 6275011" data-attributes="member: 9327">If I was an RPG designer, I might be able to tell you in detail. Alas, as a layperson, all I have are my personal feelings, but I'll try my best.I suspect (but am not married to the idea) that a breakout moment is that point in the game where your character, by virtue of who he/she is (expressed in D&D in its purest mechanical form as their class) has a moment to be THE (and the only possible) pivotal actor in a conflict; where the other players at the table say "thank god you were here; whatever would we do without you?" Currently, if you play a bard, you get these opportunities if and only if you are missing one of the following:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">an arcane spellcaster</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">a fighter of at least middling skill</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">a rogue</li> </ul>Bonuses to attacks or saves are nice, but they do not make pivotal actors. They make contributory actors. The guy swinging the sword, casting the fireball, and disarming the trap are pivotal actors. Clerics are pivotal because of their sheer necessity; nothing about a bard is necessary.What encourages me about the 5E bard is that with the full proficiency bonus with the full spellcasting chart, the bard feels more like a full adventuring peer and not the second-string back-up.</blockquote>