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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeff Carlsen" data-source="post: 6112383" data-attributes="member: 61749">D&D has long been caught in the difficult position of being the first RPG trying to stick to its roots while also trying to compete with modern expectations. No edition shows this more clearly than third with its vast array of similar, but slightly divergent mechanics.Despite my general dislike of Fourth Edition, I give it a lot of credit for knowing what it was. It made decisions about what classes, levels, skills, bonuses, hit points, damage, and training were and how they would be represented mechanically. I believe that that, more than anything, is the hallmark of a modern game.Which is why I think 5E is doing a great job of threading the needle between tradition and modern by being an ability score based game with bounded accuracy. That's its solid modern core. The emphasis on the six ability scores is also very traditional, so it's a big win.But you are right that a lot of the talk about multiclassing is about allowing the class and level based system to function more like a classless system. But that can also be seen as trying to expand the flexibility of a class based system without removing the simplicity of one.As for hit points, people have been arguing about hit points and damage for over thirty years. D&D has never found a compromise that everyone can accept.</blockquote>