deganawida
Hero
Yeah, I miss simple character sheets that one only glanced at a few times in the game.After many years, the 2e game I'm in has added a new player. And for the first time, I've noticed something that never stood out to me before; how different two characters can really be in terms of abilities; for fairness, I made a new character to adventure with the new player's character, a Human Noble Warrior.
She made a comment when looking at my sheet that I had way more stuff written on it than she did, and that got me to thinking.
I mean, for example, an Elf Fighter and a Human Fighter. The Elf has to record 90% MR vs. sleep/charm, 60' infravision, and the ability to notice/detect concealed and secret doors, and also gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls with long swords, short swords, and bows.
Then both get the same proficiency slots, and can record weapon specialization.
If both characters take Kits, some Kits are as simple as Gladiator/Myrmidon "get a free weapon specialization" and some comments about working for a standing military force or being very recognizable.
Other Kits, like the Cavalier or Berserker require a great deal more notes (Cavaliers get a lot of abilities, Go Berserk is extremely wordy).
Just using Core + Fighter's Handbook, the amount of bookkeeping can vary wildly!
I'm not sure what I think about this. It's not really a bug or a feature, I don't think, it's just how the game is. But it is interesting when you look at how gaming has evolved, and most characters now have several abilities of note, as opposed to a 2e Fighter you could fit on a notecard!
What you noticed also means that no two fighters will play the same. Since ability scores are rolled, and weapon proficiencies are limited, you’lol see fighters pick weapon types that they can use well. Wasn’t uncommon to find a dagger fighter hanging with an archery fighter hanging with He-Man. Each one was equally skilled, though the delivery method was different.
…I may be saying the same thing you were, just in different words. If so, my apologies.