Starfox
Hero
I feel we're discussing apples and pears here - a class niche is different for a character niche in a party.
IMO, party niche is much more interesting that class niche. But the discussion here is more about class niches, which is how this has traditionally been handled in DnD.
One reason I dislike class niches is because it make certain classes mandatory. The worst offender here is the healer - a party cannot function without a healer, traditionally the only healer is a cleric, and thus every party needs a cleric. As cleric is a genuinely unpopular class around here, this is a problem. Opening the healer niche up to more classes helps alleviate this, opening it up to anyone with a decent Use Magic Device does so further. When you do this, healer becomes a party niche instead of a class niche. Suddenly many characters have the option to learn how to heal, but some will still be better at it. If there is a cleric in the party, it is usually pure waste for the bard to learn hearing spells (known spells being a very limited resource), but having a wand of cure light wounds might still be a good investment.
IMO, party niche is much more interesting that class niche. But the discussion here is more about class niches, which is how this has traditionally been handled in DnD.
One reason I dislike class niches is because it make certain classes mandatory. The worst offender here is the healer - a party cannot function without a healer, traditionally the only healer is a cleric, and thus every party needs a cleric. As cleric is a genuinely unpopular class around here, this is a problem. Opening the healer niche up to more classes helps alleviate this, opening it up to anyone with a decent Use Magic Device does so further. When you do this, healer becomes a party niche instead of a class niche. Suddenly many characters have the option to learn how to heal, but some will still be better at it. If there is a cleric in the party, it is usually pure waste for the bard to learn hearing spells (known spells being a very limited resource), but having a wand of cure light wounds might still be a good investment.