D&D General If faith in yourself is enough to get power, do we need Wizards and Warlocks etc?

[Retros_x]

So why would a Warlock ever make a deal with Cthulu or a Fey Princess? Why would a Wizard spend thousands of hours pouring over spell books? They can just "Believe in themselves" hard enough and gain magical power. Cannot a Warlock just make an Oath to himself and gain spells? A Wizard Believe in magic so much he just finds it deep inside (but not like a Sorcerer who is just born with it!)?

A warlock deal is like a super shortcut, you don't have to work for it, you don't have to believe in yourself, you can just take the easy shortcut. Also a wizard studying thousands of hours instead of believing in themselves sounds to me like a workaholic trying to distract themselves that they should see a therapist.

The question reminds a bit of the Eberron religion "Blood of Vol" whose follower think that all powers comes from yourself and other religions are just delusional in terms of where their powers origin from.

 

[Ancalagon]

PC by the rules are different from NPCs in mechanics and assumptions.

in this (5e) edition they are...

but are they different in the game world? A lot of the differences are there to make it simpler for the DM to operate various NPCs.

 

[CreamCloud0]

PC by the rules are different from NPCs in mechanics and assumptions.

personally, i believe they are only different in scale and power not in their kind, a PC might be magnitudes more skilled/powerful but they are still the same fundamental type of being the NPC is.

 

[Micah Sweet]

PC by the rules are different from NPCs in mechanics and assumptions.

Simplified maybe, not different in kind

 

[Retros_x]

I think PCs shouldn't be any different from NPCs, except a player is controlling the former.

At least RAW they definitely are different and follow different rules - do you change the corresponding rules to be compliant to your opinion?

 

[Micah Sweet]

At least RAW they definitely are different and follow different rules - do you change the corresponding rules to be compliant to your opinion?

Yeah, basically, or I use a different version of D&D works the way I want.

 

[Minigiant]

in this (5e) edition they are...

but are they different in the game world? A lot of the differences are there to make it simpler for the DM to operate various NPCs.

Yes.

Like I said earlier. 99% of people who get Divine power without a god or oath would be legitimately insane or otherwise not functioning members of society due to their grade level of fanaticism and faith.

A player running a cleric of a philosophy of clear mind would rarely met another if ever.

 

[Amrûnril]

And again, if that's a problem, just don't use divine classes.

This is what I have a hard time understanding. There are an essentially infinite number of narratives that would justify an armored character who focuses on healing and support magic and can repel undead creatures. The PHB lore is a great source of inspiration, but saying that those mechanics can only ever be tied to a divine narrative seems like a massive and unnecessary limitation on what the game can be.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This is what I have a hard time understanding. There are an essentially infinite number of narratives that would justify an armored character who focuses on healing and support magic and can repel undead creatures. The PHB lore is a great source of inspiration, but saying that those mechanics can only ever be tied to a divine narrative seems like a massive and unnecessary limitation on what the game can be.

Fair enough. Create a new class that has a different narrative then.

 

[Hawk Diesel]

Fair enough. Create a new class that has a different narrative then

How about we don't prescribe the ways a person can solve or approach a problem. That's the big issue I take with your claims and approach to the discussion. You seem to suggest that your way is the only correct way or only way that makes "sense."

Not everyone is versed in mechanics and can design something new whole cloth, nor would they want to invest the time or energy if they could. Repurposing existing mechanics and envisioning them expressed in new ways is equally parsimonious and an acceptable way to play the game.