D&D General Wizard vs Fighter - the math

[Scott Christian]

GURPS would be an obvious answer, though it taints everything with its characteristic Excel spreadsheet flavour.

That's funny. In my original answer, I actually had a sentence about GURPS being the only one I could think of that might be broader. Then I deleted it because I wanted the answers to come from a blank slate.

 

[pemerton]

There is no particular correlation, is there, between a RPG being popular and it being versatile.

No doubt D&D 5e is quite popular. But that doesn't show it's versatile - maybe it shows that people like whatever it is that 5e offers!

 

[Micah Sweet]

There is no particular correlation, is there, between a RPG being popular and it being versatile.

No doubt D&D 5e is quite popular. But that doesn't show it's versatile - maybe it shows that people like whatever it is that 5e offers!

I think it shows a lack of exposure to other ideas in gaming due to the vastly outsized influence WotC has.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I think it shows a lack of exposure to other ideas in gaming due to the vastly outsized influence WotC has.

And that TSR had in the 20th century. 50 years of dominance can leave very little breathing space for alternatives.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And that TSR had in the 20th century. 50 years of dominance can leave very little breathing space for alternatives.

True, TSR was powerful, but I played a lot of different games in the '90s, not just AD&D. Cyberpunk 2020, GURPS, Deadlands, Palladium, Legend of the Five Rings, 7th Sea, Call of Cthulhu, the list goes on.

 

[Oofta]

True, TSR was powerful, but I played a lot of different games in the '90s, not just AD&D. Cyberpunk 2020, GURPS, Deadlands, Palladium, Legend of the Five Rings, 7th Sea, Call of Cthulhu, the list goes on.

I blame the OGL for the lack of innovation.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I blame the OGL for the lack of innovation.

Maybe so.

 

[Minigiant]

I think it shows a lack of exposure to other ideas in gaming due to the vastly outsized influence WotC has.

It's less lack of exposure and more desire for dominance combined with a heavy bias or preference of what D&D should be by both TSR and WOTC.

Most of the branching out that WOTC and TSR have historically done was after they milked preferred playstyles, themes, and setting dry but still having the need for new content.

That's typical how business works. Companies tend to now branch out in serious manners until they have to.

This is why "offbrand" classes, races, and archetypes tend to be underpowered or very late. It is why there is no surprise that all the non-traditional classes in 5e are dependent heavily on sticking to the expected rest pattern to work and the non-traditional races were flavorful but among the weakest at release.

 

[Tony Vargas]

No doubt D&D 5e is quite popular. But that doesn't show it's versatile - maybe it shows that people like whatever it is that 5e offers!

Popularity proves popularity. It's meaningful in popularity contests, marketing, and politics... put I repeat myself.

 

[andrul]

I'm an old player who has run a lot of characters both martial and magic, and I've encountered many players over the years who were caught up in the whole "My wizard does more damage than your fighter." mind set. The thing to remember is if you're running intelligent or cunning enemies correctly they recognize the danger of the wizard and go after them first, followed by the healer types. The fighter's job wasn't so much to deal out massive damage than it was to look big and intimidating, preventing the enemy from getting to the caster by any means.

All that being said, I've always felt when playing 5e that it blurs the lines between the classes. Heck, I ran an insane Warlock (GOO pact) who thought he was a fighter and actually held his own as party protector.