D&D General (+) Fixing martial casters through Latetal Thinking and DM Empowerment

[MichaelSomething]

Those who dislike the Oberini (I don't remember how to spell that) fallacy stay out!

Those who enjoy DM empowerment and ignoring the rules stay in! Like @dave2008

The rule imbalance between the martial and casters are just a bunch of rules! We've been ignoring the rules since race as class and gold for exp has been around.

In the age of DM empowerment, surely any decent DM can ensure all players are useful?

And we need to instruct players and dms in art of free form fiction negotiations so that they can see beyond the character sheet! Improv classes for all!

 

[Oofta]

I once had a player join our game, before I vetted the PC they were bringing, who described their PC as a seven foot tall albino elf. This was back in 2E, when elves where limited to 5'6". In any case, he had no weapons, no powers, no real game abilities of any kind. When I asked him what his PC did do he told me they had a scarf that waved in a nonexistent wind and when he walked into a room everyone was scared of him. Thinking this was some ability I didn't know about I innocently asked why. Leaning he head back, raising his eyebrows dramatically, he intoned in a serious voice "Because they are."

So just make up stuff, seemed to work for this guy! When asked how it works just give your best Vincent Price impersonation and say "It just does."

 

[bloodtide]

Well, the first big rule....is a unwritten one...but one the majority of all DMs follow....the 800 pound dragon rule of "never ever effect the spellcasyers with any big negative things and always roll out the red carpet for them.

For example:

Nearly all DMs have No Problem telling a player of a martial character that they can't play for minutes or even hours of game time. Even something simple like darkness, and the DM tells the player of a martial character "your character can't see, so just sit there and do nothing". The same is true with an underwater adventure location "sorry your mundane character can't go to the sunken shipwreck, so just sit there and do nothing." And right up to "your mundane weapons can't hurt the monster, so just sit there and do nothing."

Far too many DM would just say all the above is "well, that's just the way the D20 rolls.....oh well".

But...wait......what about the other side? A whole adventure location of dead magic? Or foes immune to magic? Anything where the DM would say the the player of a spellcasting character that they can't play for minutes or even hours of game time.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I once had a player join our game, before I vetted the PC they were bringing, who described their PC as a seven foot tall albino elf. This was back in 2E, when elves where limited to 5'6". In any case, he had no weapons, no powers, no real game abilities of any kind. When I asked him what his PC did do he told me they had a scarf that waved in a nonexistent wind and when he walked into a room everyone was scared of him. Thinking this was some ability I didn't know about I innocently asked why. Leaning he head back, raising his eyebrows dramatically, he intoned in a serious voice "Because they are."

So just make up stuff, seemed to work for this guy! When asked how it works just give your best Vincent Price impersonation and say "It just does."

Some DMs would kill for a player that is COMITTED to playing their character's vibe!