D&D 5E Mission Impossible?!

[Vitor Bastos]

How can you make a melee character, like a Barbarian or a Fighter, become as useful as Wizard or a Bard, in and out of combat? Solving situations both RPing and cracking skulls...
They dont have as many tools as Casters, but how can they improve and have the same value to the party on all 3 pillars (combat, social and exploration)?
Or the secret is just accept that they wont be as useful and just play with what you got?

Edit: Just to clarify, Im not trying to diminish the melee classes. Matter of fact, most times I played as melee. I'm just trying to raise some questions and see what you guys have to say about it based on your gameplay experience.

 

[Seramus]

Characters with more martial focus tend to solve their problems with skills.
Let them.

 

[Tony Vargas]

How can you make a melee character, like a Barbarian or a Fighter, become as useful as Wizard or a Bard, in and out of combat? ...

Play it in a game that's not D&D.

 

[delphonso]

Mercenaries are valuable. Let them trade services at a later point for something now.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

For Fighters, I propose Allies. Not necessarily combat companions, though they should have some limited ability to gain a battle ready hireling at reduced cost, but what I’m aiming at is to give stronger explicit, player facing, weight to the fluff of many of the subclasses.

If you’re a knight, you generally have an order. Same for Samurai, really. Most Fighter subclasses have some flavor that can related to factions and organizations. Those that don’t could instead get more out of their backgrounds, or could simply define with their DM where they trained, who they came up with, etc, and form a cadre of Allies via that they can call upon.

What would Allies do? Well, they’d give the player the ability to say, “I know someone here” or “I’ve a friend who knows about that” or similar, and determine that they have an Ally who can help with the current obstacle, whether that is research, access to an organization or place, or some extra muscle.

Really, Rogues could also get this, but I don’t actually think they need it. Still, maybe they could get a more specialized (and thus limited) version.

Now I know how I run this concept in my own system, but I’m 5e I’m not sure.

 

[Shiroiken]

How can you make a melee character, like a Barbarian or a Fighter, become as useful as Wizard or a Bard, in and out of combat? Solving situations both RPing and cracking skulls...
They dont have as many tools as Casters, but how can they improve and have the same value to the party on all 3 pillars (combat, social and exploration)?
Or the secret is just accept that they wont be as useful and just play with what you got?

There are 3 pillars, and no one is good at all three (alone, anyway). I will agree that since combat is a higher focus for most games, the game has changed to make everyone "useful" in combat. No one's really bad at it, but some characters are supporting members, mostly just healing and/or providing some control (buffs/de-buffs). This is the equivalent to the warriors not being great at the other two pillars. The warriors can still use skills and their ability scores to help in the other two pillars, but they're not going to shine as well. Even the most versatile character, the wizard, can't normally be great at all three pillars in a single day.

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

Choose a background with non-combat options, like Sage, Charlatan, or Noble, and then put higher scores (not highest!) in those skills.

Not only would that increase out-of-combat options, your character would feel pretty unique.

Ime, 5E is set at a fairly easy difficulty. Allocating 3rd or 4th highest scores (even 2nd?) to abilities won't cripple your character.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

How can you make a melee character, like a Barbarian or a Fighter, become as useful as Wizard or a Bard, in and out of combat? Solving situations both RPing and cracking skulls...

I find that characters are as useful as the person playing them, irrespective of class.

 

[Todd Roybark]

Feats for starters. I’ve seen a Fafhrd inspired variant Human Barbarian chose the Actor Feat at 1st level. It was point buy, so even with the stat bonus from the feat, her CHA was a 13 or a 14, but the Advantage to checks to pretend you are someone else is stupendously useful.

She was able to bluff her way deep into a castle garrison’s warren like maze of corridors, and through cunning play; like listening in to a conversation between the bailiff and a subaltern and mimicking their voices....(including a mock tryst while imitating the voice of the bailiff —-with production value help from the Bard’s Minor Illusion cantrip), navigate the various corridors while keeping the patrols at bay.

Sure the Bard had Expertise in Deception and a higher CHA modifier, the Barbarian, however, had panache and the backing of Advantage....which keep her on a roll...........................
...............Until it didn’t....and then a Raging Barbarian fared much better against piercing dmg of spears than the Charming Bard without Bladeward.

Smart play will always win, no matter the character class.

Also many spells have Saving Throws. In Descent to Avernus you have to get info from a Sibrex.....Persausion DC 15.... or Detect Thoughts.....the Sibrex has a +7 to Wis saves....
In this case a Persausion Character succeeds ....Magic Fails.

Also Magic is limited....Skills are a Forever.

 

[Doug McCrae]

1. Lots of encounters so the magic people run out of magic.
2. Magic items for the non-magic people so they're now magic too.
3. Various forms of magic-doesn't-work-here or magic-doesn't-work-on-me, such as spell resistance and immunities.