Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 8459041" data-attributes="member: 52734">The proposed intent we were presented with was that the classes had parity.&nbsp; You could choose any class and they should contribute to the game equally.Unfortunately, behind the scenes it was never designed that way.&nbsp; For the first 3 levels or so, Martials (Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Monk) had interesting things going on that they could be beneficial.&nbsp; Unfortunately, around 5th level the martials starting hitting glass ceilings where there abilities seemingly couldn't get better without becoming &quot;magic&quot;.&nbsp; Skills had limits - far below even Olympic or guinness world record standards whereas spells could accomplish things without a check or limit, or low-level spells giving you bonuses that outstripped anything that level advancement could get you close to.On the other hand, spellcasters quickly outstripped the &quot;mundanes&quot; - there wasn't a glass ceiling they would hit and they kept getting stronger the more spells were added to their repertoire.&nbsp; &nbsp; And even the low level spells got better as you leveled up.&nbsp; A 1st level attack spell cast by a 1st level caster was slightly inferior to a 1st level fighter's sword attack.&nbsp; But a 1st level attack spell cast by 10th level wizard could outshine a similarly leveled fighter's entire attack routine - and the wizard still had 2nd-5th level spells to fall back on.&nbsp; It was literally Linear Fighter, Quadratic Wizard.&nbsp; Didn't help Clerics getting 8th and 9th level spells while still retaining decent combat bonuses and good armor.In the end, post 6th level if you didn't have spellcasting available to you, running martials was a fool's errand.&nbsp; And looking back, the designers meant it to be that way.&nbsp; I think that's why there was a large population that adopted the idea of the E6 variant; your character capped out at 6th level ability, mainly to reign in spellcasters and not leave the martials too far behind that they could no longer contribute.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 8459041, member: 52734"] The proposed intent we were presented with was that the classes had parity. You could choose any class and they should contribute to the game equally. Unfortunately, behind the scenes it was never designed that way. For the first 3 levels or so, Martials (Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Monk) had interesting things going on that they could be beneficial. Unfortunately, around 5th level the martials starting hitting glass ceilings where there abilities seemingly couldn't get better without becoming "magic". Skills had limits - far below even Olympic or guinness world record standards whereas spells could accomplish things without a check or limit, or low-level spells giving you bonuses that outstripped anything that level advancement could get you close to. On the other hand, spellcasters quickly outstripped the "mundanes" - there wasn't a glass ceiling they would hit and they kept getting stronger the more spells were added to their repertoire. And even the low level spells got better as you leveled up. A 1st level attack spell cast by a 1st level caster was slightly inferior to a 1st level fighter's sword attack. But a 1st level attack spell cast by 10th level wizard could outshine a similarly leveled fighter's entire attack routine - and the wizard still had 2nd-5th level spells to fall back on. It was literally Linear Fighter, Quadratic Wizard. Didn't help Clerics getting 8th and 9th level spells while still retaining decent combat bonuses and good armor. In the end, post 6th level if you didn't have spellcasting available to you, running martials was a fool's errand. And looking back, the designers meant it to be that way. I think that's why there was a large population that adopted the idea of the E6 variant; your character capped out at 6th level ability, mainly to reign in spellcasters and not leave the martials too far behind that they could no longer contribute. [/QUOTE]

Verification