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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 5652977" data-attributes="member: 996">The effect - and, I presume, intent - of creating classes based around augmenting basic attacks via novel mechanics is simply to add arbitrary mechanical distinctiveness.  There is a mind-set that is more comfortable if there is a 'hard' mechanical distinction for each 'fluff' distinction.  The kind that finds using Bastard Sword stats for a Katana unbearable, for instance. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />   Catering to that desire /increases/ the complexity of the game, because you have more and less consistent mechanics modeling the same things.  The assertion, for instance, that Essentials 'made the game simpler' is flat-out wrong.  The reality is that some Essentials classes are simpler, taken individually.  Taken as a whole, the classes in HotFL, alone, give the new player more of a learning curve than pre-PH3 4e did, with it's more unified aproach to class design.  /Added/ to the pre-exiting 4e, they represent a flat-out increase in complexity, making the game harder to learn for players and harder to keep balanced for DMs.  But, that's largely theoretical.  The /experience/ of a new player playing a Slayer or whatever is that it feels fairly simple.   (Ok, except for the stance thingy, but once they've gotten into a stance, they can more or less forget about it - and it's not like the Slayer has much else to do with his minor actions).  (And, Knights are another story - on the first round of a combat a Knight generally needs to turn on his defender aura, go into a stance, move and attack - 4 vital actions with only 3 available - better hope you can charge.)  It is certainly true that everything the basic-attack spamming classes do could have been done under the AEDU model.  The differences are arbitrary, and the effect of them is to create arbitrary distinctions.  The common thread seems to be that any martial class, or class that hints at martial skill, is getting put 'back in it's place.'  4e-haters were very vocal in being apalled that 'Fighters cast spells in 4e' (that is, that everyone uses 'powers,' putting them on a potentially equal footing).  With Essentials+, the propper order has been restored - sword-swingers are using a 'basic' ability and suitable for the less sophisticated player, while casters are more varied, flexible, complex and interesting (and 'gish' partake of some of the full-casters' privillege).</blockquote>

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