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Hack Or Heartbreaker?
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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 7718388" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p>I don't agree that class and level design is "obsolete". If players are expected to engage the game by way of strongly mechanically-defined roles, classes are a good way of doing this. And levels can be useful as a reward mechanism (eg classic D&D) or a pacing mechanism (eg 4e D&D).</p><p></p><p>But if you don't want those things; or, if you're not prepared for the costs that class and level impose (eg not very gritty/"realistic"); then don't use class and level!</p><p></p><p>Levels aren't always a reliable indicator of mechanical effectiveness: eg compare a classic D&D 7th level thief to a 7th level MU; and 3E also has big issues here. And a non-level based game can still allow comparisons (eg in RQ the difference between a 40% skill rating and (say) 70% speaks for itself).</p><p></p><p>As far as classes are concerned, I think fitting fictional characters into them can be quite hard. Is Aragorn a ranger or a paladin? Is Gandalf a wizard, cleric, F/MU or . . . ? What class is Sam Gamgee? I tend to find that D&D's classes are really rather specific in the sorts of characters they lead to.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 7718388, member: 42582"] I don't agree that class and level design is "obsolete". If players are expected to engage the game by way of strongly mechanically-defined roles, classes are a good way of doing this. And levels can be useful as a reward mechanism (eg classic D&D) or a pacing mechanism (eg 4e D&D). But if you don't want those things; or, if you're not prepared for the costs that class and level impose (eg not very gritty/"realistic"); then don't use class and level! Levels aren't always a reliable indicator of mechanical effectiveness: eg compare a classic D&D 7th level thief to a 7th level MU; and 3E also has big issues here. And a non-level based game can still allow comparisons (eg in RQ the difference between a 40% skill rating and (say) 70% speaks for itself). As far as classes are concerned, I think fitting fictional characters into them can be quite hard. Is Aragorn a ranger or a paladin? Is Gandalf a wizard, cleric, F/MU or . . . ? What class is Sam Gamgee? I tend to find that D&D's classes are really rather specific in the sorts of characters they lead to. [/QUOTE]
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