Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf 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 Nest
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!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
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
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Mearls on Controller design and At-Will balance
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="Cryptos" data-source="post: 4592344" data-attributes="member: 58439"><p>It's not just that you can build a better "controller" out of other classes. Honestly, I feel like a lot of classes have as much or more "control" than the Wizard without any tweaking on the player's part, now that they're finally going with the "control flow, pace and direction of the battle" definition rather than "control things by killing them."</p><p></p><p>Warlock's at-will either discourages a target from moving closer, makes the caster invisible to the target (so, ultimately, they will most likely choose another target) or discourages damage to the caster. Then, at that same level, their encounters either: slide, cause a penalty to a defense, a penalty to attack rolls, or give temporary hit points. Then, at that same level again, their dailies do even more sliding, immobilize, or cause damage over time.</p><p></p><p>And... when you do kill something, you can: modify a roll, teleport around the battlefield, or gain temporary hit points. And when you move, you're "fuzzy".</p><p></p><p>That's from the Striker, the role that is "kill things."</p><p></p><p>The Wizard, by comparison at the same level: does damage, does damage, does damage to several targets, does damage and pushes, punishes movement to one square, effectively, or slows. Then, at the same level, does damage in a blast, does damage and dazes, does damage in a what is effectively a burst, knocks prone, or weakens. Then, for dailies, does damage, does damage with a conjuration, does damage with a cloud, or makes things a little sleepy.</p><p></p><p>And... when you do kill something after doing all that damage, you get... nothing. When you move, your arcane power does... nothing. But you can make lights and little noises which aren't allowed to have combat effects, and once per encounter boost your attack, defense, or make it harder to resist what will most likely be an ongoing damage effect.</p><p></p><p>That's the "controller." </p><p></p><p>Weird. </p><p></p><p>I think I always understood that the arcane classes seemed bass ackwards in the PHB on some level. In most editions, they'd be my favorite class and almost every character would have some sort of arcane power. Suddenly, with 4e (when all we had was the core), all I was making were martial characters.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cryptos, post: 4592344, member: 58439"] It's not just that you can build a better "controller" out of other classes. Honestly, I feel like a lot of classes have as much or more "control" than the Wizard without any tweaking on the player's part, now that they're finally going with the "control flow, pace and direction of the battle" definition rather than "control things by killing them." Warlock's at-will either discourages a target from moving closer, makes the caster invisible to the target (so, ultimately, they will most likely choose another target) or discourages damage to the caster. Then, at that same level, their encounters either: slide, cause a penalty to a defense, a penalty to attack rolls, or give temporary hit points. Then, at that same level again, their dailies do even more sliding, immobilize, or cause damage over time. And... when you do kill something, you can: modify a roll, teleport around the battlefield, or gain temporary hit points. And when you move, you're "fuzzy". That's from the Striker, the role that is "kill things." The Wizard, by comparison at the same level: does damage, does damage, does damage to several targets, does damage and pushes, punishes movement to one square, effectively, or slows. Then, at the same level, does damage in a blast, does damage and dazes, does damage in a what is effectively a burst, knocks prone, or weakens. Then, for dailies, does damage, does damage with a conjuration, does damage with a cloud, or makes things a little sleepy. And... when you do kill something after doing all that damage, you get... nothing. When you move, your arcane power does... nothing. But you can make lights and little noises which aren't allowed to have combat effects, and once per encounter boost your attack, defense, or make it harder to resist what will most likely be an ongoing damage effect. That's the "controller." Weird. I think I always understood that the arcane classes seemed bass ackwards in the PHB on some level. In most editions, they'd be my favorite class and almost every character would have some sort of arcane power. Suddenly, with 4e (when all we had was the core), all I was making were martial characters. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Mearls on Controller design and At-Will balance
Top