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The Hall of Suck: Worst Classes in D&D History (Spoiler Alert: Nothing from 5e)
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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8053628" data-attributes="member: 7023840"><p>My ideas for the worst subclasses, special blast from the past 1e design edition!</p><p></p><p>In the base AD&D game, PHB-only, there were two categories of classes that were worse just because of the design:</p><p></p><p>A. Bards. I'm not going to lie and say that I've ever <em>liked</em> Bards*, but the original conception of the Bard in The Strategic Review had them as an actual class. The PHB had them as the only "prestige class" and made you go through levels of fighter and thief before you started your bard career. It was a poorly-thought out idea that didn't fit in with the rest of the game.</p><p></p><p>B. Illusionist, Assassin. One weird thing about 1e is that you had subclasses that were "gated" off by having requirements of higher ability scores, but provided you increased power in exchange. Admittedly, that's a poor game design! But at least it explains the Ranger, and the Paladin, and (kinda) the Druid. </p><p></p><p>But the Assassin and the Illusionist, while they were <em>cool</em> in many ways, were <em>underpowered </em>compared to their base classes of Thief and Magic User, yet still had heightened requirements. It would be like having a minimum height requirement to get on a ride, but the ride sucked. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>*How do you spell Bard? D. I. A. F.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8053628, member: 7023840"] My ideas for the worst subclasses, special blast from the past 1e design edition! In the base AD&D game, PHB-only, there were two categories of classes that were worse just because of the design: A. Bards. I'm not going to lie and say that I've ever [I]liked[/I] Bards*, but the original conception of the Bard in The Strategic Review had them as an actual class. The PHB had them as the only "prestige class" and made you go through levels of fighter and thief before you started your bard career. It was a poorly-thought out idea that didn't fit in with the rest of the game. B. Illusionist, Assassin. One weird thing about 1e is that you had subclasses that were "gated" off by having requirements of higher ability scores, but provided you increased power in exchange. Admittedly, that's a poor game design! But at least it explains the Ranger, and the Paladin, and (kinda) the Druid. But the Assassin and the Illusionist, while they were [I]cool[/I] in many ways, were [I]underpowered [/I]compared to their base classes of Thief and Magic User, yet still had heightened requirements. It would be like having a minimum height requirement to get on a ride, but the ride sucked. *How do you spell Bard? D. I. A. F. [/QUOTE]
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