D&D General Requesting permission to have something cool

[EzekielRaiden]

So, your solution is to make fighters equally annoying.

It factors into the "I feel like a sidekick" complaint. No changes to game mechanics are going to change that, it's a player issue*, not a mechanics issue.

*And a DM issue, a good DM should do more to make all players feel equally significant.

So, in other words, the power imbalance doesn't exist because players can do things...that any player can and should do...and because the DM can play favorites to ensure that the pesky rules don't actually achieve anything.

Great solution!

 

[Micah Sweet]

So, you are advocating a nerf to wizards, since a wizard certainly could destroy the ship with their high level abilities, so the fighter would also need ship-destroying high level abilities for parity.

Not that I'm advocating such, but a wizard destroying a ship with magic is a different aesthetic than a fighter doing the same with their sword, and the latter does seem more "superhero" to me.

 

[Oofta]

So, in other words, the power imbalance doesn't exist because players can do things...that any player can and should do...and because the DM can play favorites to ensure that the pesky rules don't actually achieve anything.

Great solution!

Meanwhile fighters can do things wizards can't.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

So, in other words, the power imbalance doesn't exist because players can do things...that any player can and should do...and because the DM can play favorites to ensure that the pesky rules don't actually achieve anything.

Great solution!

The rules rarely actually achieve anything much in D&D. "The players win" is usually a forgone conclusion. It's a shared narrative experience, not a competitive sport.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So, in other words, the power imbalance doesn't exist because players can do things...that any player can and should do...and because the DM can play favorites to ensure that the pesky rules don't actually achieve anything.

Great solution!

I think the power imbalance does exist...but it doesn't matter to a lot of players in a practical way, and to those who do care about it there is not and IMO will never be agreement on what and how sufficient for any kind of large scale action.

 

[Scribe]

I think the reason why we don't see this answer work is

1. WOTC designing overtly magical subclasses for martials exclusively after XGTE
2. 3PP designing overtly magical subclasses for martials almost exclusively
3. DMs not allowing players to design their own subclasses

So the desired subclass doesn't ever get allowed.

Then do it yourself, get it published, and point to it after its picked up and beloved by all the "I want a mythic martial just dont call it magic" players, and boom, the DM will have to acknowledge that its amazing.

I think thats how it works.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Not that I'm advocating such, but a wizard destroying a ship with magic is a different aesthetic than a fighter doing the same with their sword, and the latter does seem more "superhero" to me.

I agree. But that's the consequence of wanting parity.

 

[Reynard]

So, in other words, the power imbalance doesn't exist because players can do things...that any player can and should do...and because the DM can play favorites to ensure that the pesky rules don't actually achieve anything.

Great solution!

It isn't that the GM is ignoring the rules, it is that the GM is (supposed to be) reading the table and making sure that everyone gets spotlight time in whatever modes of play/pillars that player enjoys. This is done in conjunction with players making the effort to create a character that makes sense for style of play they find interesting. If a player wants to reform the battlefield and control groups of enemies and cause massive casualties with limited use abilities, it isn't the GMs fault if that player builds a Champion fighter character and can't do any of those things. Players share in the "make the game fun for everyone, myself included" responsibility -- and that responsibility starts with making their character and (hopefully) RTFM.

 

[Minigiant]

Since This is a topic about permission isn't the question not about power but about options?

The Fighter class as to find in 5E is just increasing power.

Options come from subclasses.

And Martial subclass more or less ended after XGTE. There is no master swordsman who can chop a wooden or stone door down (or force with a magic weapon). No expert marchman class that can pin a foe's foot to the floor. No spearmaster that can skewer 3 guys on his pike then suplex them backwards with his 20 strength.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It isn't that the GM is ignoring the rules, it is that the GM is (supposed to be) reading the table and making sure that everyone gets spotlight time in whatever modes of play/pillars that player enjoys. This is done in conjunction with players making the effort to create a character that makes sense for style of play they find interesting.

It's much the same as I would do as a teacher. You encourage the quiet ones to speak up and share ideas, whist encouraging the more confident to do more listening.