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Forked Thread: Should complexity vary across classes?
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<blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4470835" data-attributes="member: 710"><p>What is so difficult about playing a Wizard?</p><p>What makes playing the Wizard interesting? </p><p></p><p>Is it the spell management? Having to prepare spells, order them into slots? </p><p></p><p>Or is it how to use the powers he has effectively? Figuring out the right spot for his Fireball spell? Determining that this is the encounter where he should pull out his Wall of Force spell to restrict the enemies? Deciding which character should gain the Resist Energy (Fire) spell while fighting the Red Dragon? Seeing the enemies that line themselves up for a Lightning Bolt?</p><p></p><p></p><p>What is so so easy about playing a Fighter?</p><p>What makes playing him enjoyable? </p><p></p><p>Is it the fact that he just has to make an attack every round? </p><p></p><p>Or is it that you pick a foe and deal a lot of damage to him? That you coordinate yourself with the Rogue to get flanking opportunities? That you turn the enemies attention to you and get in the way of enemies trying to attack the (physically) weaker characters? That it's you that gets attacked, often missed, sometimes hurt, but always in the heat of the battle? </p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>I think you see where I am going with this - I think it is not the mechanical complexity that defines these characters, or makes them so interesting. It is the kind of things they just do, the way they operate, the way they decide when to act, or how to act. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The last time I played a (3E) Cleric, I made him (her, actually) a Healing/Buffing machine. I could have tried a melee-focused build - but I really found doing that way to complicated and uninteresting. If I wanted melee, I would have picked a Fighter.</p><p>And indeed, the last time I picked a Fighter, I played one that was in the midst of the battle and kept his enemy busy. I didn't go the Weapon Focus route, instead picked all the various Combat Maneuver feats (ending up mostly with feats improving my ability to trip, or allowing me to trip more often). I used these feats to annoy my enemies and to "disable" them. I tripped them, so they couldn't get away from me, and that they couldn't hit has hard as they wanted.</p><p>The last time I played a Wizard, he was definitely more in the "blast-a-lot" category. I was always looking for the right opportunity to cast my most effective spells - At low levels, I had one Scroll of Fireball (unable to cast the spell on my own yet), prepared for the right moment - which happened to be a formation of Hobgoblins we were about to engage.</p><p></p><p>In hindsight, I think all these aspects defined what I enjoyed most about these classes - it was not the mechanical complexity (though that was part of the motivation why I switched, too - I didn't always want to manage spell slots, but sometimes melee combat gets a little boring, too), it was the decision-making process that made me fulfill my characters role.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mustrum_Ridcully, post: 4470835, member: 710"] What is so difficult about playing a Wizard? What makes playing the Wizard interesting? Is it the spell management? Having to prepare spells, order them into slots? Or is it how to use the powers he has effectively? Figuring out the right spot for his Fireball spell? Determining that this is the encounter where he should pull out his Wall of Force spell to restrict the enemies? Deciding which character should gain the Resist Energy (Fire) spell while fighting the Red Dragon? Seeing the enemies that line themselves up for a Lightning Bolt? What is so so easy about playing a Fighter? What makes playing him enjoyable? Is it the fact that he just has to make an attack every round? Or is it that you pick a foe and deal a lot of damage to him? That you coordinate yourself with the Rogue to get flanking opportunities? That you turn the enemies attention to you and get in the way of enemies trying to attack the (physically) weaker characters? That it's you that gets attacked, often missed, sometimes hurt, but always in the heat of the battle? --- I think you see where I am going with this - I think it is not the mechanical complexity that defines these characters, or makes them so interesting. It is the kind of things they just do, the way they operate, the way they decide when to act, or how to act. The last time I played a (3E) Cleric, I made him (her, actually) a Healing/Buffing machine. I could have tried a melee-focused build - but I really found doing that way to complicated and uninteresting. If I wanted melee, I would have picked a Fighter. And indeed, the last time I picked a Fighter, I played one that was in the midst of the battle and kept his enemy busy. I didn't go the Weapon Focus route, instead picked all the various Combat Maneuver feats (ending up mostly with feats improving my ability to trip, or allowing me to trip more often). I used these feats to annoy my enemies and to "disable" them. I tripped them, so they couldn't get away from me, and that they couldn't hit has hard as they wanted. The last time I played a Wizard, he was definitely more in the "blast-a-lot" category. I was always looking for the right opportunity to cast my most effective spells - At low levels, I had one Scroll of Fireball (unable to cast the spell on my own yet), prepared for the right moment - which happened to be a formation of Hobgoblins we were about to engage. In hindsight, I think all these aspects defined what I enjoyed most about these classes - it was not the mechanical complexity (though that was part of the motivation why I switched, too - I didn't always want to manage spell slots, but sometimes melee combat gets a little boring, too), it was the decision-making process that made me fulfill my characters role. [/QUOTE]
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