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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 1774013" data-attributes="member: 2209">Different from the norm should not be inherently weaker than the norm.If that were so then any new class should be weaker than the core ones because it offers the advantages of a different selection that meets a different concept better.An alternate ranger class should be balanced against the existing ranger, not detrimented for being different and meeting a different concept.The unfettered from AU is a good swashbuckler class about equivalent to a multiclass fighter rogue with a better fit of mechanics to swashbuckling concept. They should not be detrimented balance wise because it is not the default D&D option.If you want people to have options but be rewarded for hewing to the existing concepts then customized options could reasonably be given a cost. This is the philosophy behind ECLs, that it is usually a bit better to play a straight PH character rather than an equivalent ECL adjusted monster race.If you want to provide options that are balanced then the customized differences should not be detrimented.However if the argument is that the flexibility of a class is part of its power then you get the converse rule, take a customizable class like the fighter, restrict its options to fit a narrower concept, and you can boost the power of the class above what an existing fighter trying for the same concept can do. This would lead to the AU warmain, arguably a fighter with fewer choices of bonus feats plus d12 hit points who out tanks a fighter who specializes as a heavy armor big weapons tank.I dislike this design choice because any flexible class option can be restricted in the creation of a new similar class for the same character but stronger and more focused on what the character already is trying for.</blockquote>

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