D&D 5E [+] Ways to fix the caster / non-caster gap

[Gammadoodler]

Not at all - if you guys want super hero, wuxia wire-fighting, boulder splitting martials just make them explicitly supernatural and give them magical powers. Done and dusted.

They..

Are..

Already..

Supernatural..

But..

If all we need to satisfy your crowd is a reminder in the PHB...

That D&D is a fantasy rolplaying game..
and..
That heroes in a fantasy setting tend to be fantastic..

Then sure let's get it "done and dusted".

It boggles my mind, though, that there are people who need this reminder.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Fighter gets Battlemaster maneuvers, pick two to start, each usable one per encounter, can recharge with second wind. Additional maneuver or an extra use per encounter for oen you have every 3-4 levels.

Maneuvers expand to include more options including friendly forced movement, forced saving throw, great leaping/swimming, climbing and some social options.

Feats to allow Grapples, Trips, etc on increasingly larger creatures.

Higher level ability to parry or divert a spell targeting you.

Champion fighter is burned in the town square for the mortal sin to gaming that it is and the devs must write a personal apology to everyone that bought a physical copy of the PHB for its existence.

that'd be a start to satisfy 'they'.

 

[mamba]

I would love an example of a fleshed-out game mechanic or additional rule that would satisfy them.

I assume 'them' is me, not sure why it is not a 'you' however... I'll let you know when I have it

The minimum requirement is to nerf casters, whether all the way to the level of the current martials or to a level of buffed martials (which is tbd) is up for grabs. I lean towards the latter.

Also at a minimum, spells do not just work, they get rolls to succeed as well, preferably with several states, not just success / failure. I mentioned those a few pages back. Also, make the non-combat spells less powerful (have drawbacks or nerf, maybe increase their level).

As for martials, the Level Up maneuvers might be a good first step. Maybe go a bit above those, also tbd.

Also, stop everyone at around level 10 or 12. If you want to go further, be my guest, but I will not try to fix all the high level stuff to make it palatable

 

[M_Natas]

The question is: where do you put the verisimilitude? For most fiction it’s in the relationships between the characters. Not the setting, power levels, etc. So superheroes can make sense because the relationships are relatable to us even if the powers are not. So too with most fantasy.

The breaking point for verisimilitude is for every person different.
Like people complained about GOT TV Characters staying fat wild being month in the wild with barley any food.
That can be a deal breaker, because we expect fat people to loose weight when they don't have food.
It wasn't for a deal breaker for me, but I can understand when it puts people out of the fantasy.
Like for example what it did for me where the first two JJ Abrams Star Trek Movies, where for cinematic effect the flight times were reduced to seconds between different solar systems and were a cadets was put as a captain and stuff. It was all stuff that Star Trek did before but it was so over the top, that it just ruined the movies for me.
Or the super nova that destroys several star systems. I was like - what is that stupidity! Super novas don't behave that way!
While later I read up on that and I was wrong. Supernovae can be so big that they destroy several Star systems ...

So you see, verisimilitude is quite subjective and can also be based on wrong notions of what people think is realistic. I can tell you what I think would break verisimilitude for a lot of people:

If humans wouldn't be humans anymore in an TTRPG.

 

[Raiztt]

They..

Are..

Already..

Supernatural..

But, if all we need to satisfy your crowd is a reminder in the PHB, that D&D is a fantasy rolplaying game and that heroes in a fantasy setting tend to be fantastic..

Then sure let's get it "done and dusted".

It boggles my mind though that there are people who need this reminder.

So you're fine with them the way they are, I'm confused?

Can you give me an idea of how you would improve martial classes? Do you have any game mechanics or rules in mind?

 

[mamba]

They..

Are..

Already..

Supernatural..

No. They. Are. Not.

It boggles my mind, though, that there are people who need this reminder.

it's not so much a reminder as wishful thinking on your part...

 

[Gammadoodler]

So you're fine with them the way they are, I'm confused?

Can you give me an idea of how you would improve martial classes? Do you have any game mechanics or rules in mind?

I think they could use a mechanical, possibly heroic power bump.

The underlying narrative needs no change whatsoever.

 

[Raiztt]

Fighter gets Battlemaster maneuvers, pick two to start, each usable one per encounter, can recharge with second wind. Additional maneuver or an extra use per encounter for oen you have every 3-4 levels.

Maneuvers expand to include more options including friendly forced movement, forced saving throw, great leaping/swimming, climbing and some social options.

Feats to allow Grapples, Trips, etc on increasingly larger creatures.

Higher level ability to parry or divert a spell targeting you.

Champion fighter is burned in the town square for the mortal sin to gaming that it is and the devs must write a personal apology to everyone that bought a physical copy of the PHB for its existence.

that'd be a start to satisfy 'they'.

Ask your DM to let you do all that then? Those are all very minor and easy to implement.

Also a champion fighter with battle master would be amazing.

 

[Vaalingrade]

If humans wouldn't be humans anymore in an TTRPG.

Based on the standards of the kind of folks that ruin every action movie by telling us every time John Wick should be killed or couldn't 'actually' do that.

 

[Raiztt]

I think they could use a mechanical, possibly heroic power bump.

The underlying narrative needs no change whatsoever.

Ok, can you describe this bump? or do you not even have an idea of what you want?