NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 5484548" data-attributes="member: 34175">Did I mention I HATE playing wizards.  Yes, mythology has many examples of fighting types taking on wizard antagonists, I concur, and often times it is the gods themselves that get involved through a (im)mortal hero.Frankly, I would be happy if D&D had NO wizards, I find them to be either modeled after Elminster, Raistlin or Gandalf (unfortunately in that order) or some really goofy eastern Wire-fu take-off.  I like that wizards are easy to kill at lower levels.  As for Fighters "peaking" at 1st level - sorry, I don't buy it.  You can make a saving throw versus almost any spell, you cannot save versus two-handed sword.  With a high magic game, fighters can do as much or more damage than a wizard of appropriate level, in any edition.  Also, when a wizard is out of spells, what do they have to fall back on?  Nothing.  Your wizards have never been out of spells - DM failure.  Gary didn't pull punches (Tomb of Horrors anyone) and neither do I.  If there isn't at least one time when the monsters are breaking down the door while the wizard is frantically trying to re-memorize spells, something is wrong.Fighters are CRUCIAL to a swords and sorcery game (that's why it's called swords and sorcery).  Sure a wizard can take out armies with powerful fireballs from three hundred yards away.  Let a thief backstab the bastard and see how many spells he casts while he's bleeding out from his kidneys on the floor.  Wizards are inherently easy to kill because they believe that all that power makes them invincible and when you are sitting upon the lofty perch it just means there is farther to fall when you are pushed.The "balance" in a wizard/fighter relationship is one of give and take.  Wizards can usually take down a fighter even at 1st level with a magic missile likewise a fighter can throw a rock and kill your garden variety mage.  At 6th level the magic-user has powerful long range spells that do great damage.  The fighter (in every edition) has many many more hit points and much better saving throws against said powerful magic - a fireball that does 36 (the max a 6th level wizard can do) hp of damage is scary for a 6th level wizard (who may have 24 if they are lucky) but a fighter who has a decent set of hp rolls will have in the neighborhood of 35 - 50 and this is prior to the save for half and not including any magic armor or fire resist magic they may have.  36 is easily shrugged off and then the fighter gets to swing - if the wizard hasn't rolled 4 for hp at every level - this fight is over.The problem I see is that over the years players feel "entitled" to always win.  Guess what, even from the early days there was always the description of a character death in the example of play, right up until 3e.  Hell, the NPC cleric even bought it in the basic solo walk through in the Mentzer edition.  I don't see a balance issue - I see a whiny player issue.  Play with a DM who could care less if you live or die and strictly runs an adventure and leaves the living and dying up to you and chance and all this pissing and moaning about balance goes away, quickly.(okay stepping off the soapbox -  grognard walking)</blockquote>

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