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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andor" data-source="post: 3265661" data-attributes="member: 1879">Generally speaking, WotC's design ethic seems to be that new classes are used to allow access to new mechanics when those mechanics are central to the image of the character. Feats are used when the mechanic is something that any character should be able to learn without detracting from his core competancy. Put another way, a class is a career and a feat is a night class.There are 2 problems with this approach. 1) Mundane classes kind of blur together. A Fighter 1/Ranger 1/Swashbuckler 1 isn't all that different from a Fighter 3.2) Because the average character has (theoretically) 20 levels and 7 feats to play with, feat actually represent a greater opportunity cost that a level does. The proper approach should be this:A Class is used to allow a mechanic that grows progessively over the life of the character.A Feat is used to allow a static mechanic.So the problem with having only a few base classes is that you then don't have many different mechanical systems possible that progress with the character. Unless of course you give them a 'class ability' at every level and have them choose from lists of abilities that grow in long chains. And then (Guess what?) you're multiclassing anyway, just under a different name.It depends on the campaign world you're trying to portray. If heavy armour and Heavy Cav are the kings of the battlefield, and the is only one type of magic, then the Fighter, the Wizard, and the commoner are the only classes you need. If you want a lightly armoured, speed based fighter to be a viable playstyle you now need to add another class. If you want divine healers you add another class. If you want pact mages whose powers differ from Wizards and Clerics you add another class.It's all in the world you want to portray, and how much you want to highlight the differences between different career paths in that world.Can I make a single flexible fighter class that can be used to emulate a gladiator, a knight, a paladin, a woodsman, an archer, a swashbuckler, a hexblade? Yes, yes I can, although the class description and options will take up many many pages.Can I make a single caster class that can emulate a vancian wizard, an instinctive sorcerer, a devout priest or an evil summoner. Yes, I can swing that too, although the classes won't be as distinct as they otherwise might be.Can I make a single hybrid class that can cover terrain as diverse as a Psiwarrior, a Binder, a Totemist, a Warlock, a Spellthief, a Ninja, a Shadowcaster, a Monk or a Dragon Shaman? No. I don't think I can. There is only so much you can squish into a base class before you might as well play HERO.</blockquote>

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