Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hawk Diesel" data-source="post: 7575664" data-attributes="member: 59848">Perhaps that is your table experience, but that does not extend to all tables. Per the D&D Beyond data, the Fiend is chosen significantly more than the Hexblade. However, the Hexblade is the second most chosen, and requires additional monetary investment by a player oe gaming table to access, and I suspect that impacts the numbers.Secondly, I'm not talking about why players pick the classes they do or how players play/use the game. I am talking about game design and mechanics. And from a game design perspective, WotC has created classes that follow a general structure with each class and archetype getting access to certain abilities at certain times. This creates a relative means by which a one class or archetype can be assessed against others. It's not perfect, but it's what we are working with. Considering the other Warlock Patrons, at first level each gets a fairly limited power. Fiend can gain temp when they kill something, Archfey gets a once per rest spell-like ability, and Great Old One gets rather limited telepathy.Then in comes the Hexblade. They gain a once per rest spell-like ability (that grants a number of things in addition to ripping from the Fiend's ability), medium armor, shields, martial weapons, and can opt to use Cha for attacks instead of Str or Dex.In essence, mechanically speaking, this is making a statement. All the things a Hexblade gets at level 1 is essentially equal to all the things a Fiend, Archfey, or Great Old One gets. Which I categorically disagree with.Now does the Hexblade play as one would expect a Hexblade to play? Sure. So does a Fiend Warlock or a Great Old One. But I'm not talking about how they play. I am talking about mechanical structure and balance. Not only does the Hexblade completely disregard the precedent of structure set by the original Warlock archetypes by offering much more than any of the original archetypes, but it does so in a way that gives a Hexblade many more mechanical advantages and options than any of the other archetypes.But, once again, perhaps this is a discussion best made in a separate thread. Getting back on topic, I do not believe there is enough design space within the Wizard archetype structure to allow one to substitute Intelligence for Strength or Dexterity with weapon attacks. This is the whole reason that Wizards get access to attack cantrips that use Intelligence and scale with level. Not only that, but simply substituting one stat for another is a very boring mechanic. Yes, it creates mechanical advantages to reduce MAD. However, it runs into the same issue as +1 weapons and armors have. They are mechanically impressive, but lack any kind of imagination. +X magic items do not inspire any kind of role playing opportunity nor create any kind of cinematic quality that can heighten or add to how one plays their character. By considering abilities that aren't "Replace X stat with Y stat" you increase design space for mechanics that can inspire more creative opportunities for play. Additionally, this creates a bounded space, which can enhance creativity. If a Wizard Warrior cannot just substitute Strength/Dexterity for Intelligence when using weapons, then how do they compensate for their relatively weaker physical ability while demonstrating capacity to hold their own in a fight? How do they Wizard their way into a fight, rather than just approach a fight like a Fighter? These are interesting questions that can inform design choices that are way cooler than substituting an inconvenient modifier for a more convenient one.</blockquote>

Verification