I know you guys will tear me apart for this post.
No. But I will note that you are responding to a discussion from 5 years ago...
I know you guys will tear me apart for this post.
Are you trying to suggest feats made 3e paladins more mechanically distinct than 5e's paladin subclasses and 5e's fewer feats? Paladins throughout editions have always seemed rather "seen one seen them all" mechanically until you get into various antipaladin and champions of specific gods/alignment/causes.
Feat chains just allowed more customization than the tiny number of feats in 5E. The variety of feats in 3E was VAST...
This is one reason I really wish the Inspiration mechanic were, you know, actually good.They allowed more numerical fiddling. The Background system, including Ideals/Traits/Bond, allows for much more in the way of actual character concept customization.
This is one reason I really wish the Inspiration mechanic were, you know, actually good.
It works, and it's not being strictly necessary for the game to function is part of the modularity of the whole game.
3.x and 5e are alternate offshoots of different styles of AD&D 2e.Early in playing 5E, I made this observation:
3.x, 4e, and 5e are almost more of alternate offshoots of AD&D (2E). 5e borrows most strongly from the "good stuff" in 3e, but it also pulls a few things from 4e. In other places, it feels like they went all the way back to 2e and fixed something that didn't work without worrying about what has come since.
3.x and 5e are alternate offshoots of different styles of AD&D 2e.
5e was taking basic core-rules 2e and deciding to make a streamlined, fast-playing, easy-to-run game that had the same general feel but had a much more modern design, but at the cost of not gaining the flexibility of all the other books that existed beyond the core rules.
3.x was taking AD&D with all the Skills and Powers/Players' Option books, Complete Handbooks, and countless other supplements and going through the same process. It was complicated, intricate, ornate. . .and a masterpiece for certain styles of play.
The gaming groups I played with were usually in the latter camp, hence my preference for 3.x, but I'm coming to see that 5e comes from the same lineage. . .just a different evolutionary path.
4e? 4e was an alien shapeshifter from the Far Realms that morphed into something resembling D&D. It didn't follow in the D&D design lineage at all and only bore a superficial resemblance to D&D. It didn't look like, act like, play like, or have rules like 1e or 2e or 3e. It passed itself off as part of the family, but that was more of a Disguise check instead of an actual family resemblance.
4e? 4e was an alien shapeshifter from the Far Realms that morphed into something resembling D&D. It didn't follow in the D&D design lineage at all and only bore a superficial resemblance to D&D. It didn't look like, act like, play like, or have rules like 1e or 2e or 3e. It passed itself off as part of the family, but that was more of a Disguise check instead of an actual family resemblance.