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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dkyle" data-source="post: 5898247" data-attributes="member: 70707">I actually think well-defined mechanics help here.  If it's very clear where the sledgehammer can be used, and the player understands, up front, how limited it can be, they're more likely to diversify.On the other hand, a lot of the "good roleplaying" I see being advocated (for example, that crushed mug example from earlier) really boils down to coming up with justifications for the DM to allow you use the thing you're good at in a wide array of situations.  The crushed mug is really an excuse to use Strength to Intimidate in a game where Intimidate is a Charisma skill.Are people angry that they can't do x without taking x class? It's the same thing.Also, if this is a big concern, this could be addressed using the "bonus feats" idea I said earlier: a Theme would get 7 feats over 5 levels, and if a "custom feats" build takes enough of those feats, he can get the bonus feats too.And even with fully custom themes, I wouldn't want them to be the only access to major abilities. Just have a combination of features that can't literally be duplicated by a trivial feat selection.The thing is, in actual practice, it won't be as clear as "Themes are 70 amps, feats are 10 amps each".  Every one will have their own assessments of the various options.  If they do it right, being angry over themes being more powerful will be about as common as anger over Slayers being more powerful than PHB Fighters to "begin with".  As in, none that I've seen.First off, I seriously doubt even the Themes I'm advocating for will end up requiring serious optimization to beat. I don't think that most feat selections would wind up being the "naive" ones that are inferior to Themes.A person can easily screw themselves over with poor feat selections, even if the Themes suck. Overall, I think it's better to have good Themes, for non-character-building-minded players to use, than have bad Themes they won't want to use, and thus be forced to use feats if they actually care about being effective.This is a game. If someones not good at playing the game, then that's unfortunate. But as long as there are options, good options, that make the game easier to play, I think that's all that can really be done. In any game with significant customization ability, there will always be opportunity for players to screw themselves over. But I think there's a bigger problem when the mechanics meant to give them a lifeline, and make it easier to build their character, end up producing a lousy character.</blockquote>

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