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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9342616" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Well, frankly, while that wouldn't be bad, it's also not enough on its own. As an example, one of the classes that got an awful lot of post-release feedback in 13th Age first edition (since they're working on a second now--13A1e? Lotta numbers there...) was the Paladin. And a big part of why it got all that feedback was that the vast majority of its gameplay options were...well, pretty much what you describe. Purely passive gains. And passive gains, while nice, are a lot harder to notice than active ones. That doesn't mean they're totally invisible, but it does mean they need to do a lot more work in order to be visible more than once in a blue moon. Even things like Cunning Action. Reckless Attack is a bit of a middle ground, mostly because it's a mixed blessing, so players are always a tad more cautious about its use...but it can still very quickly become a "default state of being" kind of thing, and thus slip off the radar.This is where things like usable "stances" or "phases" come into play. The main difference between the two is that you usually stay in one stance for an extended period of time, while you progress through multiple phases, often in a particular intended sequence. In a certain sense, Rage is a stance in this framework. 4e had several stance-based classes, like the Barbarian and Warden, or (arguably) Runepriest, though that really should've been a Cleric subclass. It also had some phase-based options, notably the Cosmic Sorcerer, which would go through a celestial cycle (Solar/fire+radiant, Lunar/cold+psychic, Stellar/force, IIRC), each with different effects on you.These manage to be a little bit of both things; you mostly get your benefits from passive boosts, but which passive boost you get varies. You never become completely acclimatized. It always feels just a little bit fresh, because it doesn't fall into one eternal pattern.Now, of course, having some classes that are just always consistent all the time is not bad. I'd say that's what works well for both brand-new players and players who just really want to zone out and not think too much while playing, the "beer and pretzels" crowd. They deserve recognition--including the recognition that magic doesn't have to exclude them. But to force any class, let alone multiple classes, to ONLY be that (unless they become spellcasters themselves...) is simply Not Okay.</blockquote>

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