Non-Core Class Survivor: Round 16

[tetsujin28]

I have given the psion the new players, and they did find it far simpler to deal with.

Spell points has a very simple metaphor: money. Spell points are magical money.

Exactly. It's why spell points were one of the very first house rules. I have never met anyone who was ever confused by a spell/psionic/whatever point-based resource system. I have, however, met countless people who have refused to play standard D&D spellcasters due to the confusing slot system.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Precisely. Every dungeoncrawling RPG since Nethack has used spell points, so a new player (who, given that they're interested in playing D&D, has -probably- played a videogame at some point in their life) just has to plug in the knowledge from other stuff they've played, as opposed to learning a new system.

Once you actually understand slots, they're not hard at all. But, they turn off new players without adding anything vital to the game, therefore, they should get the axe.

Whether power augmentation psionics-style is a good thing, I'll leave for another day.

 

[Nyeshet]

Out of curiosity will this be continuing beyond this round? Will we be counting down to the last one, or is this the final round?

The comments about 'best three' that have been going around for the last few polls has confused me on this one issue . . . .

 

[Glyfair]

By the largest margin since the samurai got voted off the first round, the Psychic Warrior is voted off the list. We are down to the final 3, with only 2 more rounds to go to determine the "soul survivor."

Will the Duskblade get the boot, or will the votes from the anti-psionic crowd swing the vote towards the Scout or Warlock?

 

[Particle_Man]

While I wouldn't bet on it, I would actually guess the opposite... that the spell slots are easier to start out with. Sure it's 10 different levels, but effectively they are all the same thing, and you begin with only 2, anyways. But it's hard to say without being able to look at it through the eyes of someone not familiar with the concepts.

Keep in mind that the Psion starts out with only 3 powers, and the Wilder starts out with only 1. It is easier to keep track of X or Y or Z than it would be to keep track of "3 0th level spells" in one category and "1 1st level spell" in the other category (barring ability scores adding some slots here), since that is 4 things rather than 3 things. Plus the character has to pick them out at the beginning of every day, if a Wizard or Cleric or Druid. If you have not had to suffer through a slow player deciding whether to switch out their spells, and for what, every damned day, then you have been more fortunate than I.

 

[Glyfair]

Keep in mind that the Psion starts out with only 3 powers, and the Wilder starts out with only 1. It is easier to keep track of X or Y or Z than it would be to keep track of "3 0th level spells" in one category and "1 1st level spell" in the other category (barring ability scores adding some slots here), since that is 4 things rather than 3 things. Plus the character has to pick them out at the beginning of every day, if a Wizard or Cleric or Druid. If you have not had to suffer through a slow player deciding whether to switch out their spells, and for what, every damned day, then you have been more fortunate than I.

Of course, this is somewhat mitigated by the player who can't make up his mind in character creation. When playing a class with very limited abilties like the Psion (or Sorcerer), he can't decide which of the limited few are best. Inevitably he decides he made a mistake and asks to swap out one, often in the middle of the first adventure (and occasionally several times in the first adventure).

 

[Particle_Man]

Of course, this is somewhat mitigated by the player who can't make up his mind in character creation. When playing a class with very limited abilties like the Psion (or Sorcerer), he can't decide which of the limited few are best. Inevitably he decides he made a mistake and asks to swap out one, often in the middle of the first adventure (and occasionally several times in the first adventure).

But that is easy to deal with. Either the DM chooses for the player (if a total newbie) at character creation, or else the character chooses, and the DM gives the player "tough love" so the player can't switch. A learning experience for the player, and a time saver for the other players!