NaturalZero
Hero
If they made short rests 5 minutes and balanced around that, pretty much all of the short vs long rest issues would evaporate.
How does one balance around 5 minute short rests? Presumably that just makes those abilities useable once per fight or at-will out of combat?If they made short rests 5 minutes and balanced around that, pretty much all of the short vs long rest issues would evaporate.
That is true, but much of it could be fixed simply by turning the "essential picks" into core features. Agonizing Blast and eldritch blast, for example, should be hardwired into the class*. Hexblade and Thirsting Blade should be merged into Pact of the Blade. Et cetera. I will be very surprised if those things don't happen, regardless of what happens to pact magic.When you're making any of those classes, you make a small handful of choices compared to a warlock.
In play, a warlock is less complicated ("I cast Eldritch Blast"), but when you're first making the character, especially as a newbie (see my original post)? There's a ton more choices for warlocks.
That's what I was specifically addressing.
I mostly agree, but I guess if we are okay with a given ability being once per encounter and (effectively) at-will out of combat then I prefer the narrative of it being tied to short rests to the gamier "per encounter" concept.How does one balance around 5 minute short rests? Presumably that just makes those ability useable once per fight or at-will out of combat?
As far as pact magic itself, there are two main issues. First is the high variation in short rests between tables (such that at many tables you might not even get one most days); second is the lack of scaling for many of the spells on the warlock list. The first will cease to be an issue if warlocks follow the general trend of changing short-rest abilities to "prof bonus times per day" ones. The second requires more work to add scaling options to spells, but doing so would benefit all classes and improve the game generally.
I don't see that change being much bigger than the current change to spellcasting. I mean rangers get two first level spells and two cantrips and can pick their spells from the druid (er primal) list. That is a pretty large change from the 5e ranger, even factoring in Tasha's. Having also seen what they did with wild shape, holy orders and the bard spell list, I don't really feel Pact magic is incredibly sacrosanct.I suspect this will be the change to the Warlock, since they are trying to make the game backwards compatible. If this was an entirely new edition, I'd assume a massive overhaul to the class instead.
The way we do it in my game is that short rests can be taken twice, but then you need a long rest to recharge them. They're also a character specific resource, one character can take a short rest without everyone else taking one.How does one balance around 5 minute short rests? Presumably that just makes those abilities useable once per fight or at-will out of combat?
No, the Occam's Razor solution is to scrap the entire class. Scrap all caster classes except one, call it the magic-user, and make it serve all concepts equally. Pick your casting stat, pick your spell list, and you're good to go.That way, you have a fixed, higher number of spells per day without worrying about midday recharge mechanics, and you have slots of every level to cast spells that don't benefit from upcasting. It's really the Occam's Razor solution...
I think Eldritch Blast as a class feature would make sense, make it channeling your patron's raw energy and have your patron affect its damage type.That is true, but much of it could be fixed simply by turning the "essential picks" into core features. Agonizing Blast and eldritch blast, for example, should be hardwired into the class*. Hexblade and Thirsting Blade should be merged into Pact of the Blade. Et cetera. I will be very surprised if those things don't happen, regardless of what happens to pact magic.
You mean the BORING solution. (Also: Screw level-based multiclassing.)I mean, the OTHER thing that fixes both of those problems is the standard 9-level spell progression. That way, you have a fixed, higher number of spells per day without worrying about midday recharge mechanics, and you have slots of every level to cast spells that don't benefit from upcasting. It's really the Occam's Razor solution, plus it plays nicely with multi-classing and is beginner friendly. And while it is a larger change, I don't see it as any more disruptive than the changes to bards and rangers becoming prep casters or druids having fixed wild shape stat blocks.
I mean, we can create all manner of patches, exceptions and corner case mechanics to fix pact magic's multitude of problems, but the easy answer is right there.