Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
Shadowdark General Thread [+]
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="BryonD" data-source="post: 9784708" data-attributes="member: 957"><p>I think you have taken a generalization regarding SD and stretched it beyond reason.</p><p>I mean, first, you can simply list the fighter "things" alongside the Warlock "things" and demonstrate the difference.</p><p>Almazzat is the melee destruction theme.</p><p>At 5th level a human warlock will have 5 boons. If they got lucky and rolled a 2 or 12 then they get advantage 3 rounds a day (which for this lucky character is unique and cool)</p><p>Assuming a typical luck character they will have 5 total bonuses of +1 to melee attack / melee damage / HP (possibly including other perks for +2 STR or CON). And maybe one of those is traded for a weapon prof or adv on init.</p><p></p><p>At 5th level the human fighter has 4 perks</p><p>The same standard luck fighter will get 4 total bonuses. He can't increase damage but he can increase attacks with melee and ranged together.</p><p>For simplicity call it +4 to melee and ranged attacks vs +5 to melee only.</p><p>For the cost of that +1 fighter gets all weapons (the warlock might give up that +1 edge for ONE).</p><p>The fighter also gets ADV on all STR or Dex checks</p><p>The fighter also gets Hauler. Hauler is huge in the SD system.</p><p>Oh, and the fighter gets +3 to hit AND +3 to damage with his main weapon.</p><p>So really the warlock is comparing his "+5" worth of bonuses to "+10" total for the fighter when it counts.</p><p>And if the you look at the lucky warlock who rolled a 2, then you have to give the fighter that +3/+3 with their backup weapon on choice.</p><p></p><p>Objectively it just doesn't compare.</p><p></p><p>Now, we can back up and go to the "its not about power" position. I agree.</p><p>Power isn't nothing. But for SD, I agree.</p><p>But everything that expresses the warlock as "the warlock" is captured in the above.</p><p>When comparing one class to another your statement "The game is not about character builds" falls flat. The warlock class is just that, an alternative character build. full stop.</p><p>As noted already, nothing is stopping a player from running a fighter and proclaiming that character is a warlock of Almazzat. I suspect it would be a pretty common opinion that this is completely in the spirit of SD. And the GM and player could happily agree that grit and hauler and +3/+3 are all boons. The "why" of the fighter class abilities are not hard coded, for exactly the reasons people have stated for theme over min/max.</p><p>Why does the Warlock class exist other than to offer a "build" that creates a more fulfilling representation of the patron devotion / boon concept?</p><p></p><p>We don't need the paladin or the ranger. The fighter could be skinned as either. The Thief could skin as a ranger.</p><p>In my opinion the ranger and the witch and the bard and most every other class provide opportunities represent different concepts in a way that the players will enjoy more than just reskinning the fighter or wizard.</p><p>They are "character builds" which push the flavor to a desired outcome.</p><p></p><p>In the end, a lucky roll on stats will make a "more powerful" character. And that character will be slightly more survivable. But the nature of SD is that the range from slightly weak to high power is small.</p><p>But I'd rather play a weak ranger whose class "build" came through at the table than a well rolled warlock with a few +1s and stat perks and nothing that expresses "Warlock".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BryonD, post: 9784708, member: 957"] I think you have taken a generalization regarding SD and stretched it beyond reason. I mean, first, you can simply list the fighter "things" alongside the Warlock "things" and demonstrate the difference. Almazzat is the melee destruction theme. At 5th level a human warlock will have 5 boons. If they got lucky and rolled a 2 or 12 then they get advantage 3 rounds a day (which for this lucky character is unique and cool) Assuming a typical luck character they will have 5 total bonuses of +1 to melee attack / melee damage / HP (possibly including other perks for +2 STR or CON). And maybe one of those is traded for a weapon prof or adv on init. At 5th level the human fighter has 4 perks The same standard luck fighter will get 4 total bonuses. He can't increase damage but he can increase attacks with melee and ranged together. For simplicity call it +4 to melee and ranged attacks vs +5 to melee only. For the cost of that +1 fighter gets all weapons (the warlock might give up that +1 edge for ONE). The fighter also gets ADV on all STR or Dex checks The fighter also gets Hauler. Hauler is huge in the SD system. Oh, and the fighter gets +3 to hit AND +3 to damage with his main weapon. So really the warlock is comparing his "+5" worth of bonuses to "+10" total for the fighter when it counts. And if the you look at the lucky warlock who rolled a 2, then you have to give the fighter that +3/+3 with their backup weapon on choice. Objectively it just doesn't compare. Now, we can back up and go to the "its not about power" position. I agree. Power isn't nothing. But for SD, I agree. But everything that expresses the warlock as "the warlock" is captured in the above. When comparing one class to another your statement "The game is not about character builds" falls flat. The warlock class is just that, an alternative character build. full stop. As noted already, nothing is stopping a player from running a fighter and proclaiming that character is a warlock of Almazzat. I suspect it would be a pretty common opinion that this is completely in the spirit of SD. And the GM and player could happily agree that grit and hauler and +3/+3 are all boons. The "why" of the fighter class abilities are not hard coded, for exactly the reasons people have stated for theme over min/max. Why does the Warlock class exist other than to offer a "build" that creates a more fulfilling representation of the patron devotion / boon concept? We don't need the paladin or the ranger. The fighter could be skinned as either. The Thief could skin as a ranger. In my opinion the ranger and the witch and the bard and most every other class provide opportunities represent different concepts in a way that the players will enjoy more than just reskinning the fighter or wizard. They are "character builds" which push the flavor to a desired outcome. In the end, a lucky roll on stats will make a "more powerful" character. And that character will be slightly more survivable. But the nature of SD is that the range from slightly weak to high power is small. But I'd rather play a weak ranger whose class "build" came through at the table than a well rolled warlock with a few +1s and stat perks and nothing that expresses "Warlock". [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
Shadowdark General Thread [+]
Top