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<blockquote data-quote="jdrakeh" data-source="post: 4685388" data-attributes="member: 13892">I think that most games accommodate that style of play better than D&amp;D, actually. D&amp;D is somewhat unique in its default assumption of a specific party composition based on narrowly defined roles. Even other fantasy games that are ostensibly D&amp;D clones (e.g., Rolemaster) don't assume specific roles will be filled by certain character types and then build the rest of the game around that assumption. Frex, even though games like HarnMaster or Rolemaster have priests, magic users, fighters, and thieves, their heavy reliance on skills resolves most issues of narrowly defined roles by eliminating niche protection as a design goal. D&amp;D 3x went much further toward resolving this issue than previous editions did, though the issue did still exist to some degree (especially with regard to clerics and healing). I think that there is a choice to be made between niche protection and lack therof — you either have it, or you don't. Things like multi-classing have, I think, been employed as a conscious effort to address the issues that arise from a default assumption of a specific party composition but they seem like more of a band-aid than a longterm solution (i.e., a kind of uneasy compromise between niche protection and the lack thereof).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="jdrakeh, post: 4685388, member: 13892"] I think that [I]most[/I] games accommodate that style of play better than D&D, actually. D&D is somewhat unique in its default assumption of a specific party composition based on narrowly defined roles. Even other fantasy games that are ostensibly D&D clones (e.g., Rolemaster) don't assume specific roles will be filled by certain character types and then build the rest of the game around that assumption. Frex, even though games like HarnMaster or Rolemaster have priests, magic users, fighters, and thieves, their heavy reliance on skills resolves most issues of narrowly defined roles by eliminating niche protection as a design goal. D&D 3x went much further toward resolving this issue than previous editions did, though the issue did still exist to some degree (especially with regard to clerics and healing). I think that there is a choice to be made between niche protection and lack therof — you either have it, or you don't. Things like multi-classing have, I think, been employed as a conscious effort to address the issues that arise from a default assumption of a specific party composition but they seem like more of a band-aid than a longterm solution (i.e., a kind of uneasy compromise between niche protection and the lack thereof). [/QUOTE]

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