Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 8457405" data-attributes="member: 205">I think there's really a few systemic questions you need to ask about character creation and growth before making this kind of decision; every system weights these questions a bit differently.1)&nbsp; How much differentiation between characters, mechanically, should there be at character creation?&nbsp; [Assuming everyone wants characters with different personalities, so just focusing on mechanical differentiation.]2.&nbsp; How much customization should there be at character creation?&nbsp; [A different question than 1; a large number of inflexible classes can allow high differentiation but low customization.]3.&nbsp; How much customization should be allowed post-character creation, during the campaign?&nbsp; [3e and 4e allowed a ton (feats, powers, MCing, etc), 5e still has quite a bit, older versions fairly little to none.]4.&nbsp; How much differentiation and change to the character should occur during the character leveling process?&nbsp; [Contrast a 5e fighter to a OD&amp;D fighter, one gets a number of bespoke abilities, the other gets HPs and attack bonuses.]Classes are really a means to an end for these questions; the real benefits to classes over point-buy is trope protection and dispersion of special abilities.&nbsp; Personally, for D&amp;D, I favor high amounts of 1, am flexible on 2, and actually prefer low amounts of 3 and 4.&nbsp; (I prefer D&amp;D character growth to be through acquisition and gameplay rather than the player making bespoke choices from a menu.&nbsp; More magic items, less feats.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TwoSix, post: 8457405, member: 205"] I think there's really a few systemic questions you need to ask about character creation and growth before making this kind of decision; every system weights these questions a bit differently. 1) How much differentiation between characters, mechanically, should there be at character creation? [Assuming everyone wants characters with different personalities, so just focusing on mechanical differentiation.] 2. How much [i]customization[/i] should there be at character creation? [A different question than 1; a large number of inflexible classes can allow high differentiation but low customization.] 3. How much customization should be allowed post-character creation, during the campaign? [3e and 4e allowed a ton (feats, powers, MCing, etc), 5e still has quite a bit, older versions fairly little to none.] 4. How much differentiation and change to the character should occur during the character leveling process? [Contrast a 5e fighter to a OD&D fighter, one gets a number of bespoke abilities, the other gets HPs and attack bonuses.] Classes are really a means to an end for these questions; the real benefits to classes over point-buy is trope protection and dispersion of special abilities. Personally, for D&D, I favor high amounts of 1, am flexible on 2, and actually prefer low amounts of 3 and 4. (I prefer D&D character growth to be through acquisition and gameplay rather than the player making bespoke choices from a menu. More magic items, less feats.) [/QUOTE]

Verification