D&D (2024) Should the PHB have an arcane half caster?

[Warpiglet-7]

So how much would this truly differ from multiclassing?

Paladins have features like smite and their aura. They have smite spells.

I am not a king rhetorically but rather wondering what it would so that multiclassing does not.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

There are dozens of Third Party Gish classes made out there. Which ones are you playing? Which ones are gaining traction in the marketplace? Which ones' emphasis and style do you want WotC to follow suit on? Do you know? Does anyone? If none of (general) you can point to one Gish class out there and say to WotC "This is what we want!"... how will WotC ever just "guess right" and release another class or subclass in the way you want it?

See: Warlord, Psion

It doesn't help that every single edition of DnD and Pathfinder has a completely different gish class, rather than sticking with anything consistent.

If they'd stuck with 'bladesinger' in every edition since it came in back in ADnD, maybe it would have established itself as a class. But instead it was bladesinger, then eldritch knight, then duskblade, then magus, then swordmage. Then bladesinger and eldritch knight were subclasses.

Is it really any surprise that there is no consistent vision of the class?

There is no consistent view of Ranger either. Everyone wants something different from the class. From it's always been called 'ranger', so there is at least some overarching identity for it. People can argue the details from there.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

So new edition... and once again, not a single arcane half caster class to act as a paladin/ranger counterpart. Doesn't matter if you prefer artificer or swordmage, neither makes it in.

The entire archetype has been strangely ignored in 5e, with artificer having only 4 subclasses and banned by many DM's. While a swordmage class never even made it in, with a large proportion of the playerbase actively against having one at all.

Should an arcane half caster have priority over one of the PHB classes next edition? Or should it come later on?

I think we should have either (prefreble both) a combat half arcane and a skill based half arcane... a swordmage (or magus or eldritch knight, or gish) and an artificer sounds good to me.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

The artificer is cool and all and fits a lot of asks but I would prefer a Gish that’s got different flavor…

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Yes, there should be an arcane half-caster. The bard.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Yes, there should be an arcane half-caster. The bard.

I have never played one as I disliked the flavor. I thought about taking magic initiate so I could take blade cantrips and something other than vis mockery.

Again the flavor will be off for what some are asking for here.

I am going to play a whispers bard with blade cantrip or perhaps two weapons…I am flexible but some really want different flavor.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

"Arcane Half-caster" covers a multitude of concepts. Unless this is to be purely a form-filling exercise, something more specific may me needed.

I mean 5e has an arcane half caster with an identity. It's called the artificer.

And (at least initially) it's not making the jump to 1dnd. We don't even know if it will ever get ported across.

 

[Frozen_Heart]

Yes, there should be an arcane half-caster. The bard.

Though I've never thought of the Bard as arcane (more occult), I totally think it should be a half caster.

It seems like they forgot the entire 'jack of all trades' thing and turned it into a wizard with a guitar.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I mean 5e has an arcane half caster with an identity. It's called the artificer.

And (at least initially) it's not making the jump to 1dnd. We don't even know if it will ever get ported across.

It doesn't need to. The class changes for 1D&D are happening because of 8 years of global post-release playtesting that have revealed issues either mechanically or narratively that WotC wants to finally errata or change. But the Artificer has not been around long enough for there to be a clarion call to "fix" it yet.

Grante, it probably will happen at some point down the road if enough people continue to play Artificers and find any additional issues with it... but for now it will be fine to use with the 2024 book-- right up until the time WotC decides to re-introduce cross-class subclasses in a splatbook... and the Artificer stans demand at barest minimum a level re-working so that the Artificer now gets its subclass features at the same levels all the 2024 classes do.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Yes, there should be an arcane half-caster. The bard.

Most probably no. But I could imagine a bard that fits.
I also would like to rename the current bard into dilletant. Bard does not really fit the bill. That would lwave the bard or skald as an arcane half caster. Or the druidic bard could be the primal half caster, leaving eoom for the ranger to be more martial oriented.