NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7831850" data-attributes="member: 996">Oh, I'm not actually asserting 5e is much less complex than 1e - it does have less the needless complications 1e had, particularly in that d20 has long since consolidated resolution on the d20 vs DC core mechanic but it also has more classes, for just one instance, and, y'know, skills, and, optionally, feats...I'm sorry you're tired of those mathematical facts about traditional D&D class designs, even if you selectively ignored and/or appreciated the imbalances they created.  You're certainly right to be tired of them:  they've endured all this time with only the occasional blip.In theory, no, but it's tricky to balance increased versatility like that.  Clearly a mana system should come up short if used to imitate the default progression - if it's able to duplicate the default progression, then it's a flat power-up - but by how much?  Versatility is very potent, but not as readily quantifiable as DPR, for instance.Sure.  I've seen mana systems like that, just not in D&D.  In Ysgarth, for an obscure instance, you started with a lot of mana, but it came back /so/ slowly (over /years/) that you prettymuch had to plan your career around managing it, or you'd end up not even a mage anymore.  If you played like a D&D mage, you'd be burned out in a few adventures.That's an increase in versatility with no corresponding reduction anywhere else, so a flat increase in power overall. Right. Just like you can use an BM maneuver /until/ you run out of HD.  They're both useage limits on "what should be an at-will ability."  One's a resource on the attacker's side, the other on the target's side, but both prevent the attacker from just doing a specific action at will.  Can't strongly disagree, there.  It does shift a lot of scaling burden onto hp/damage, and it makes skills and basic combat ability fungible, 'warm body' contributions.  It really erodes the sense of fighters (and rogues & barbarians) progressing in ability to /do/ things.  Kill things, one at a time, stand up to bigger damage numbers, sure ,but that's really about it.  It does not have the same chilling effect on spells, which can avoid issues with BA scaling by avoiding choices with attacks/saves, and still progress impressively in what they can accomplish.</blockquote>

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