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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5490416" data-attributes="member: 2067">Neither was Odysseus or Hercules or Achilles or Gilgamesh or.... That doesn't make Batman any different from them.Neither does Superman, in the context of the universe. Neither does Achilles or Gilgamesh or Merlin, in the context of the universe. That doesn't make Batman any different from them.He also did things that Achilles and Orpheus could not do. And Bruce does things that Herculues could never do. That doesn't make Batman any different from them.No one can ever be like Batman in any meaningful sense at the most fundamental levels.In the universe of the greek myths, characters could and did be like Hercules, even mostly-probably-mortal characters like Odysseus and Orpheus. In the same way that Batman is like Superman. There's should be no enormous gulf between a D&D warrior, and any of those characters. They're all fantasy heroes, as our D&D warrior should be.Those objections are what hold back D&D warriors from achieving equity with D&D spellcasters. Spellcasters get to do that because it's magic, hey!, but warriors don't get to do that because they're not magical, hey!. D&D warriors need to be magical. They need to be as clever as Odysseus, as strong as Hercules, as invulnerable as Achilles. Or, as clever as Batman, as strong as the Hulk, as invulnerable as Superman. Since it's ultimately the same thing.Because D&D has had a problem embracing the idea that warriors of enough skill just make things happen, as if by magic, it's a persistent problem.CaGI is not a great mechanic, but it's not fundamentally different in concept than saying "Batman happened to have planned for this very eventuality...." It's magic. It just works. Because they are that skilled. This isn't a problem if all of your fantastic powers are basically the same as a sword blow or an arrow shot, functionally. Essentials characters get no rituals. They only have attacks, defenses, and "utilities" (which are mostly related to attacks and defenses). Aside from skills, they are mostly undefined outside of a combat scenario.Which works kind of OK with the idea of narrative control like this as treasure. Because wizards don't get teleport by default, it lets you award teleport, or a similar effect, to anyone who can do it, at any level you're comfortable with. It might be the actual teleport spell, or it might be the ability to slip through shadows and teleport around that way, or it might be the ability to fly swifter than light itself, or it might be the ability to jaunt through the Feywild, or whatever, the function remains the same.In D&D, this is true, too.So why can't my rogue be as clever as Batman/Odysseus/Coyote/whatever, without me as a player having to be this clever?Why can't my rogue effectively be magical (even if it's handwaived for the modern myths as "really just very skilled and very practiced")? Why can't my rogue have prepared for every contingency and acquired the right weapon for every battle?Why can't my rogue climb walls without having to roll a friggin' skill check? And why does the Wizard, who should not be as good at this sort of thing, get to?</blockquote>

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