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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vikingkingq" data-source="post: 6009129" data-attributes="member: 66208">I'm not dodging the issue. What I'm saying is that, if a quality is shared by all classes, it doesn't make sense as a basis for a class mechanism shared by only "martial classes." If every class has ED, then the Fighter goes back to having nothing unique about them except more of what everyone else gets. We tried that before in the playtest and 80% of participants hated it. We tried that in editions before 3.X, and it led to Fighters becoming Tier 5 and a paradigm of caster dominance that led to the Tier 3 Warblade being banned from many tables, while CoDzillas and BatmanWizards reigned supreme. They have martial training in the same way that a weekend firing range enthusiast has training with guns. The Fighter has martial training in the way that a Navy SEAL does. That's why the Fighter can do things in combat that no other class can do, and that's the way it should be. There's plenty of other ways to buff players without handing around class features like candy. As I've said, if all characters can use ED, the Fighter goes back to what it was in Playtest 1, 3.X, etc. Hence, all characters shouldn't use ED, which is my point.I think the Warlord granting extra actions, movement, temporary HPs, and Advantage is plenty to give the class a unique purpose and function. Giving EDs is gilding the lily. They're clearly not non-existent if they're written into the design goals. The designers have said what they want the Paladin to be, and that's a class that casts divine spells,  lays on hands, smites and detects, and has supernatural protection against effects. So the question is, what mechanics are suited to that vision? I would argue that making people roll skill checks to acquire dice to fire off effects is bad design; it adds additional layers of complexity to the player's turn and additional points of failure given the inherent 5% chance of a natural one on any check. A champion of the divine who has performance issues isn't as fun to play as a paladin who can Smite Evil or Lay on Hands with confidence because they have the holy fire within them. It doesn't evoke the class concept the designers are going for - Paladins are meant to be fearless, selfless, and self-sacrificing, not flexible tacticians.</blockquote>

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