Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How is the Wizard vs Warrior Balance Problem Handled in Fantasy Literature?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5536042" data-attributes="member: 42582"><p><strong>Mearls' view, worldshaking magic and "spotlighting"</strong></p><p></p><p>In one of his <a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20110412" target="_blank">Legends & Lore</a> columns, Mearls explained the wizard vs warrior issue as one of easy (warrior) vs hard (wizard) mode for playing the game - which makes sense to me in light of the game's wargame roots, and also has some resonance with how I played the game when I first started playing back in the mid-80s.</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20110419" target="_blank">These days</a>, however (and according to Mearls), in the era of character building and attachment, by players, to those characters doing the schticks that they have been buit to do, different considerations are pertinent.</p><p></p><p>This thread has suggested some further considerations, though, which may complicate Mearls' analysis somewhat.</p><p></p><p>First, Mearls analysis is primarily from the point of view of the player's engagement with the PC as a game element. But the notion expressed by many on this thread - that they like the "truthfulness to fantasy fiction" of worldshaking magic in their wizards - suggests that PC-as-game-element is not the only thing in play. There is also the player's experience of the fiction.</p><p></p><p>My (tentative) hypothesis is that the D&D rules, which were originally conceived of and implemented in more of a "game-element" way, gave rise to aesthetic preferences about exploration which reflected the play produced by use of those game elements (including the power of wizards), but which now exist among some members of the RPGing community independently of their origins. That is, there is now a distinctive aesthetic preference, detached from its reflection of the early AD&D play that Mearls describes, for a fantasy game that delivers the "worldshaking magic" experience, but that also involves somewhat mundane warriors.</p><p></p><p>Second, but related, it seems that at least some fantasy RPGers reconcile that aesthetic preference with the shift in gameplay to focus on each PC as a distinct and important character in the fiction (rather than primarily a mere game element) by focusing on "spotlight balance" rather than the balance of comparatively equal mechanical capacity to contribute to resolution of typical ingame situations.</p><p></p><p>I'm personally not the biggest fan of spotlight balance - as others have also pointed out on this thread, it can rather easily turn into "a job for Aquaman" or "fighter-as-bodyguard/sidekick".</p><p></p><p>Still, from the point of view of Mearls' professed goal of discussing the evolution of the game, I think his failure to consider these additional factors perhaps paints an incomplete picture - because a complete picture has to explain how the early AD&D game tropes have survived, and indeed remain highly valued by many players, well past the approach to play in which they have their origins (at least according to Mearls).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 5536042, member: 42582"] [B]Mearls' view, worldshaking magic and "spotlighting"[/B] In one of his [url=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20110412]Legends & Lore[/url] columns, Mearls explained the wizard vs warrior issue as one of easy (warrior) vs hard (wizard) mode for playing the game - which makes sense to me in light of the game's wargame roots, and also has some resonance with how I played the game when I first started playing back in the mid-80s. [url=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20110419]These days[/url], however (and according to Mearls), in the era of character building and attachment, by players, to those characters doing the schticks that they have been buit to do, different considerations are pertinent. This thread has suggested some further considerations, though, which may complicate Mearls' analysis somewhat. First, Mearls analysis is primarily from the point of view of the player's engagement with the PC as a game element. But the notion expressed by many on this thread - that they like the "truthfulness to fantasy fiction" of worldshaking magic in their wizards - suggests that PC-as-game-element is not the only thing in play. There is also the player's experience of the fiction. My (tentative) hypothesis is that the D&D rules, which were originally conceived of and implemented in more of a "game-element" way, gave rise to aesthetic preferences about exploration which reflected the play produced by use of those game elements (including the power of wizards), but which now exist among some members of the RPGing community independently of their origins. That is, there is now a distinctive aesthetic preference, detached from its reflection of the early AD&D play that Mearls describes, for a fantasy game that delivers the "worldshaking magic" experience, but that also involves somewhat mundane warriors. Second, but related, it seems that at least some fantasy RPGers reconcile that aesthetic preference with the shift in gameplay to focus on each PC as a distinct and important character in the fiction (rather than primarily a mere game element) by focusing on "spotlight balance" rather than the balance of comparatively equal mechanical capacity to contribute to resolution of typical ingame situations. I'm personally not the biggest fan of spotlight balance - as others have also pointed out on this thread, it can rather easily turn into "a job for Aquaman" or "fighter-as-bodyguard/sidekick". Still, from the point of view of Mearls' professed goal of discussing the evolution of the game, I think his failure to consider these additional factors perhaps paints an incomplete picture - because a complete picture has to explain how the early AD&D game tropes have survived, and indeed remain highly valued by many players, well past the approach to play in which they have their origins (at least according to Mearls). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
How is the Wizard vs Warrior Balance Problem Handled in Fantasy Literature?
Top