D&D General Iconic characters that have changed in later editions

[Voadam]

He's a character in literature, and none of the books reflect D&D's rules anyways with regard to spells, particularly healing magic and the ability to easily raise the dead.

I think a lot of D&D literature handles D&D spells decently. Dragonlance Chronicles felt like appropriate AD&D spell use that a D&D player would use and would make sense in a 1e world with rare clerics mostly confined to the PC parties, a few NPCs, and some bad guys.

The drow spellcasters in the early Drizzt novels (I only read the first half dozen or so) felt like AD&D drow as portrayed in D1-3 and later the 2e Drow of the Underdark sourcebooks to me.

 

[Morrus]

In 5e Rangers have spells at 2nd level and I am not aware of official stats for him.

There's these two different versions, but they're semi-official at best.

Check Out DRIZZT DO'URDEN'S 5E Character Sheet!

Here's a look at the character sheet of one Mr. D. Do'Urden. Chris Perkins played the character during the latest Pax East Acquisitions Inc. live game. Eagle-eyed readers might spot that Drizzt is only 8th level here; Perkins has a decent explanation for why that is: "I didn't feel it was...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Drizzt Do'Urden official stats in D&D Beyond Announcement?

So what you guys think about Drizzt official stats (if they are official?) in the Dnd Beyond Announcement. Drizzt Do'Urden stats: Multiclass Fighter 11 / Ranger 8 lvl 11 Fighter/ 8 Ranger So he is now lvl 19 and no longer has the barbarian lvl to explain his days as the hunter. What you...

www.enworld.org

 

[Voadam]

There's these two different versions, but they're semi-official at best.

Check Out DRIZZT DO'URDEN'S 5E Character Sheet!

Here's a look at the character sheet of one Mr. D. Do'Urden. Chris Perkins played the character during the latest Pax East Acquisitions Inc. live game. Eagle-eyed readers might spot that Drizzt is only 8th level here; Perkins has a decent explanation for why that is: "I didn't feel it was...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Drizzt Do'Urden official stats in D&D Beyond Announcement?

So what you guys think about Drizzt official stats (if they are official?) in the Dnd Beyond Announcement. Drizzt Do'Urden stats: Multiclass Fighter 11 / Ranger 8 lvl 11 Fighter/ 8 Ranger So he is now lvl 19 and no longer has the barbarian lvl to explain his days as the hunter. What you...

www.enworld.org

Thanks, I don't keep up with the 5e web and DnDBeyond stuff that much. Most of my FR sources are 1e-3e even though 5e is my current system of choice.

 

[Charlaquin]

Rogues as overpowered?

I've literally only ever heard that take from people who cannot/will not do math.

Overpowered? No. Mostly I hear that rogues are a good, solid class.

 

[Xamnam]

Overpowered? No. Mostly I hear that rogues are a good, solid class.

I certainly never hear Rogues talked about like Monks.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I certainly never hear Rogues talked about like Monks.

I'd agree with that. Rogues are a better-rounded and better developed class than Monks.

It's like, if the worst classes in 5E are 7/10 (again, which is still solid), most Monk subclasses are that, but only a couple of Rogue subclasses are, the vast majority are like 7.5/10 which is noticeably better.

They're still increasingly screwed by the fiat nature of spells as levels increase. If, as seems to be the case, 1D&D wants to encourage more play above level 10, this is only going to become more and more obvious with time, because above that level spellcasters get an increasingly huge array of great spells.

 

[Laurefindel]

Who else? How's Elminster fair? Wizard/Cleric/Sorcerer/Warlock?

You could make a strong case that Aragorn-the-ranger is a D&D Paladin, Gandalf-the-wizard is better represented as a Cleric, Merlin-the-enchanter (a term used in many translations for the sorcerer class) is a bard, Conan-the-barbarian is a fighter/rogue… And can guarantee you I can make Batman out of any single D&D class.

D&D, as a roleplaying game, needs to codify things in ways that fiction doesn’t, but it doesn’t mean fiction archetypes need to map perfectly to abilities and labels that D&D uses for PC classes that are often charged with a strong (and different) archetype of their own. I know this was not part of the OP’s question but I still prefer to play Gandalf as a wizard than as a cleric, because what I know of a D&D cleric doesn’t match the wizard archetype of Gandalf, even if the abilities fit better. It’s easier to digest when you take the class and re-write all abilities using different fluff and names while keeping the mechanics intact. I did that for a homebrewed setting to see how far I can push the changes without changing a thing on abilities, but it’s a lot of work and dedication for a PC.

 

[Seramus]

You can make a great Drizzt with a Hunter Ranger:
Horde Breaker
Multiattack Defense
Whirlwind Attack
Evasion

Guenhwyvar has always been a magic item.

 

[Incenjucar]

The fact that things change drastically with each edition makes fiction hard to maintain. Ideally there would be characters designed to mostly model the game and essentially be idealized examples of PCs, but the next edition would switch their powers around and break the pattern.

 

[Echohawk]

In 4e Rangers were martial and had no spells and I am not aware of official 4e stats for him.

Drizzt is a level 21 solo skirmisher in Dungeon #171. He's developed as a potential adversary, and gets what is essentially a monster stat block rather than a character sheet, so I'm not sure if that counts. He also has 764 hit points, which is several times more than any of the Demonlords or Archdevils in the original Monster Manual!

 

[Shadowedeyes]

Rogue's biggest problem(In 5e at least) is the bareboned skills system. It makes it hard to evaluate what exactly a master of skills can actually do.

Ranger has an identity problem for sure. Martial guy who survives in the woods can be done by other classes now, so it's not surprising that it has pushed deeper into the magic using part of the class.

 

[Seramus]

Rogue's biggest problem(In 5e at least) is the bareboned skills system. It makes it hard to evaluate what exactly a master of skills can actually do.

Also suffers from classic GAG issues. Have to roll even for things well trained humans can do without issue. Half the GM's I know would make the rogue roll to walk across a tightrope even if he trained his whole life as an acrobat at a circus until his parents died in a staged accident.

 

[cbwjm]

Also suffers from classic GAG issues. Have to roll even for things well trained humans can do without issue. Half the GM's I know would make the rogue roll to walk across a tightrope even if he trained his whole life as an acrobat at a circus until his parents died in a staged accident.

That's because people think you have to roll for everything. In the case ofnthr tightrope walker, in normal scenarios you don't have to roll. If you were move across a tightrope in high winds while archers were shooting flaming arrows at you, then you roll.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Overpowered? No. Mostly I hear that rogues are a good, solid class.

If you have more than one encounter per day. Actually the rogue is the class that is the least dependent on any rest. They can keep on going forever.