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<blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 6790205" data-attributes="member: 6677017">I think this needs some more context, since we don't know exactly what background of playstyle or experience the OP is coming from.The only way casters are unbalanced compared to non-casters is if we are talking about serious power-gaming optimization, or intentional use of rules exploits. And, as you said, even in that situation it isn't as abusable as 3e was. For some groups the level of power-gaming required to throw off balance is apparently normal (fine if that's their preferred D&amp;D style), so the fact that its easier to &quot;break&quot; than 4e might stand out. In practice, this doesn't happen for most groups. For instance, 5e fighters were consistently rated as the &quot;best&quot; or most powerful class in WotC polls involving over 100,000 players of all editions and levels of gaming experience.While the very fact that classes are built differently means you can't have a 4e level of balance, I think 5e did a pretty good job of making sure (almost) nobody is going to be overshadowed during normal play assumptions, and I really don't think it requires any particular DM skills to make that true. Now, sure, if you want to attempt to approach 4e levels of balance the DM is going to have to be careful about encounter pacing and such.Bottom line is that the game is fairly well balanced out of the box, and casters and caddies only happens if you have skilled power-gamers who intentionally make it happen.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sword of Spirit, post: 6790205, member: 6677017"] I think this needs some more context, since we don't know exactly what background of playstyle or experience the OP is coming from. The only way casters are unbalanced compared to non-casters is if we are talking about serious power-gaming optimization, or intentional use of rules exploits. And, as you said, even in that situation it isn't as abusable as 3e was. For some groups the level of power-gaming required to throw off balance is apparently normal (fine if that's their preferred D&D style), so the fact that its easier to "break" than 4e might stand out. In practice, this doesn't happen for most groups. For instance, 5e fighters were consistently rated as the "best" or most powerful class in WotC polls involving over 100,000 players of all editions and levels of gaming experience. While the very fact that classes are built differently means you can't have a 4e level of balance, I think 5e did a pretty good job of making sure (almost) nobody is going to be overshadowed during normal play assumptions, and I really don't think it requires any particular DM skills to make that true. Now, sure, if you want to attempt to approach 4e levels of balance the DM is going to have to be careful about encounter pacing and such. Bottom line is that the game is fairly well balanced out of the box, and casters and caddies only happens if you have skilled power-gamers who intentionally make it happen. [/QUOTE]

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