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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 4927396" data-attributes="member: 7635">Yeah, but typically "subclasses" didn't feel much like their parent class. Druids don't feel like clerics, despite being a divine caster with Cure Wounds spells on the list. Likewise, fighters don't at all feel like paladins, rangers, or barbarians. And rogue/thief and bard are as opposite as night-and-day despite having similar HD and skills. They did this through unique class abilities (wildshape, bardsong), different attack/save progressions, and occasionally borrowed mechanics (paladins turn undead for example). Its a very different beast when a druid can fill a wizard's role (better than the wizard can) or a bard is just a cleric in flashier clothes. Few people would claim that a 2e (or 3e) fighter played like a paladin. Sure, they both wore heavy armor and fought in melee, but paladins had divine abilities (both in combat like smite & out like detect evil) and a fighter had a boatload of feats (or in 2e, weapon specialization, granting them more attacks/round). Now? The difference mostly resides how they mark, the exact level of armor worn (fighters can't wear plate; wtf?) and a few minor class tweaks (fighters are OA masters, paladins can heal 2/encounter by burning their own surges). Without getting into a level-by-level breakdown of fighter vs. paladin powers (and what riders/energy those have) the differences end here. Cool divine powers like Turn Undead or Detect Evil? Gone. Paladin spells? Gone. Warhorse? Nope. Weapon Specialization for additional attacks? Not anymore. Bonus feats to specialize in more than one combat-path? Nah, too unbalancing. Chose sword-n-board or two-hander at first level and stay with it. (Want to dual-wield? That'll be $34.99 please. Oh, archery? Play a ranger). That is the homogeneity of the rules. When a paladin is nothing more than a fighter with a couple tweaked class abilities and powers with different names (which all still deal damage + status effect, with few exceptions) its balanced, its easy to run, and its dull as dishwater. (IMHO, of course).</blockquote>

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