D&D 5E "I would play in a 5e game with no caster classes at all" (a poll)

[TwoSix]

It might be fine by the OP, but to me it doesn’t fit the premise. When we play no casters we exclude paladins.

I totally get that, I'm pretty on the fence about paladins (and rangers and artificers). For rangers and artificers, I think enough of their power budget is baked into their spell options that it would be a major nerf to not have spells. Paladins, though, are strong enough that losing their spells would still make them pretty functional.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

(Now if they wanted to run a 4e no caster game I'd be there with bells on.)

having warlord to stand in for healer does help

 

[TwoSix]

having warlord to stand in for healer does help

I've already got a homebrew Warlord ready to go, as well as a Savant (Int-based rogue/expert type). I'd like to have about 9 or 10 classes, altogether, so I'm still digging through some recommended homebrew.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

In 4th edition this would be great since non-casters aren’t treated like second class citizens. But 5e undid the good work 4e accomplished by making casters OP again and forcing melee to do nothing but auto Attack.

So unless 5e stopped having dogshit combat then I’d never play a non-caster game.

I feel like you have done little other than edition war, and complain about 5e.

 

[Neonchameleon]

A 5e game with no caster classes at all is one strike against - and two if it's meant to be a campaign rather than a one shot. But fundamentally the DM and the other players at the table are more important than the system. Would I play in a Matt Mercer one shot or a one shot run by one of my friends whose DMing skill I really respect with that restriction? Yes (although I'd be very surprised if most of the ones whose DMing I respect chose 5e all martial). Would I be interested in a game with some random DM with those restrictions? No. I consider it a bad pitch that would put me off the game. But it wouldn't put me off enough that I'd turn down certain people running this game.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Someone's probably already mentioned it, but doesn't Adventure in Middle Earth already do a game without casters?

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Honestly if a friend proposed running a game like that I'd ask what game they really want to run and see if I could encourage them to run that instead. 5e just seems like the wrong engine - and the wrong edition of D&D - for a no-caster game to me.

(Now if they wanted to run a 4e no caster game I'd be there with bells on.)

Just use A5e and your good to go!

 

[TwoSix]

Someone's probably already mentioned it, but doesn't Adventure in Middle Earth already do a game without casters?

Supposedly it does. I considered it, but Middle-Earth isn't really the feeling I'm trying to evoke. It could definitely work for others planning a similar type of game, though.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

In 4th edition this would be great since non-casters aren’t treated like second class citizens. But 5e undid the good work 4e accomplished by making casters OP again and forcing melee to do nothing but auto Attack.

So unless 5e stopped having dogshit combat then I’d never play a non-caster game.

Marshall characters are great for 5 AM, just have to be creative enough to play them!

 

[tetrasodium]

Someone's probably already mentioned it, but doesn't Adventure in Middle Earth already do a game without casters?

I tried it once but it just felt off somehow

 

[MoonSong]

In all honesty, probably not. I don't have any issues playing in games where a system lacking casters is used & don't generally mind if a gm disallows certain class/archetype/etc based on interesting lore. A game where the gm bans caster classes is one I would listen to skeptically to decide if the GM understands the crunch well enough to have enough understanding of the problem they think is being solved of if there are interesting lore reasons for it.

Even in darksun where it can be a monumentally bad idea to play a caster doesn't ban casters, it gives cool lore reasons why playing a caster is going to be an interesting ordeal & sets up measures such a caster would need to regularly take in order to protect themselves.

What if the theme of the campaign is hunting magic users?

 

[MoonSong]

Also, shameless self-plug, I nominate the Noble

 

[DND_Reborn]

I tried it once but it just felt off somehow

I finally acquired a copy and read it over. It looks good but I can understand the feeling.

 

[TwoSix]

Also, shameless self-plug, I nominate the Noble

Yea, there's a few classes from EN5ider I'm considering, Noble definitely among them.

 

[tetrasodium]

What if the theme of the campaign is hunting magic users?

Could work, I'd want to know more. Why are they being hunted? what makes them a problem that needs hunting? They are hunted in Darksun& still playable. Fiction is packed with things like drizzt or buffy & spike/buffy & angel. Then you've got examples Like Jayne from firefly who was literally a bad guy starting out to the point that the actor himself didn't know if Mal was only going to scold him instead of spacing him in the biggest role he'd had up to that point

 

[Baron Opal II]

I would consider it. The hook for the campaign would have to interest me, however.

 

[Oofta]

I don't see why not. I enjoy all types of characters, the actual mechanics of the PCs involved are secondary to the story and the group dynamics. I still haven't had a chance to play a barbarian, although I keep threatening my DM for ToA that if he kills off my monk I'm going play Ole, the nicest barbarian with the worst accent you've ever met.

 

[aco175]

I would play in a game like that. I would like it to still have magic like potions of healing and +1 swords though. I could also see where it could creep into having Lay on Hands become some sort of plant salve instead of magic. Some other magic could be justified.

 

[cbwjm]

This game would be fine, the magic classes are great and all, but you can easily play a game without them. This would also give me a reason to play the schalar class by Benjamin Huffman. There's actually a few scenarios that I can think of which I think would be cool to run in this situation.

• The thieves guild, rogues and warriors with the criminal background performing jobs in a city campaign.
• The mercenary company, doing the jobs no one else wants to.
• Ordinary adventure group. No reason that these guys couldn't exist, could easily run the various official adventures with a no spells group.
• Sword and sorcery, the adventures of the Conan knock-off. Little magic in the world, the strength of your sword arm will determine success. In this case, there may be evil sorcerers that the team can overcome, but otherwise they're rare enough that they won't be travelling with them on adventures.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I feel this poll leads to a subsequent question:

Would you play in a game where everyone had to play a full caster? (Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard.)

Because if the answer to that question is "no" or even middling...I am quite confused by the ENWorld 5e fanbase.