Drew
Explorer
Like a lot of you, I'm constantly tinkering with the rules of D&D. I don't usually implement all of these changes, but it seems that I'm always tweaking. I try to bounce these ideas off my players, and I've noticed a strange trend: player's seem to feel that whatever class they're playing is weaker than other classes. If I suggest any kind of change to the actual classes, they generally have no problem unless I'm trying to change "their class." At that point, I'm often informed that the class is weak enough as it is, and change X would make it pretty much pointless to even play.
A couple examples:
The player that runs a wizard thinks that wizards are WAY too weak compared to fighters. He complains that his hp are woefully, unbalancingly low. Never mind that he's 17th level and pretty much renders himself invincible with Ghost Form and other spells. Never mind that he can kill instantly from a distance, teleport around the world without effort, etc. He plays his wizard like he's made of glass. I once proposed making falling damage more lethal, and he told me that this rule really screwed the wizard class because they are more likely to be flying or otherwise high in the air, and don't have the hp to survive a fall. When I suggested adding a few more skill points to wizards, he said "Good. Wizards need something!" Apparently the ability to throw lightning at people isn't good enough to keep the class from sucking.
The party rogue is finally coming around a bit (at, you know, 16th level or so) and realizing that he can actually stand up in a fight. As long as the odds are on his side, he deals retarded amounts of damage. Its only taken him 4 years with this character to stop acting like everything on the planet can kill him without effort. He claims that this attitude is a hold over from 2E (where thieves, according to him, were "one of the weakest classes"), but I don't know...
Have I found a trend? Do players just assume that the classes they are playing suck?
A couple examples:
The player that runs a wizard thinks that wizards are WAY too weak compared to fighters. He complains that his hp are woefully, unbalancingly low. Never mind that he's 17th level and pretty much renders himself invincible with Ghost Form and other spells. Never mind that he can kill instantly from a distance, teleport around the world without effort, etc. He plays his wizard like he's made of glass. I once proposed making falling damage more lethal, and he told me that this rule really screwed the wizard class because they are more likely to be flying or otherwise high in the air, and don't have the hp to survive a fall. When I suggested adding a few more skill points to wizards, he said "Good. Wizards need something!" Apparently the ability to throw lightning at people isn't good enough to keep the class from sucking.
The party rogue is finally coming around a bit (at, you know, 16th level or so) and realizing that he can actually stand up in a fight. As long as the odds are on his side, he deals retarded amounts of damage. Its only taken him 4 years with this character to stop acting like everything on the planet can kill him without effort. He claims that this attitude is a hold over from 2E (where thieves, according to him, were "one of the weakest classes"), but I don't know...
Have I found a trend? Do players just assume that the classes they are playing suck?
