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Would Sub-class Feats Solve a Problem? (Is there a problem?)
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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 7179684" data-attributes="member: 7006"><p>As is usually the case... if you want differentiated characters, you need players willing to play their character differently.</p><p></p><p>If you find yourself with a bunch of PCs that are all similar, it's because the PLAYERS are not actually putting personality into their PCs, they are really just playing game mechanics. A Barbarian and a Fighter aren't all that mechanically different-- they both have similar armor classes, they both have similar hit point totals, they both often use the same types of weapons, the Barbarian gets an extra +2 damage when they've "raged"... exactly like the +2 to damage the Fighter got by taking the Duelist fighting style. Where's the difference between these classes? At the table during play, mechanically there aren't much at all.</p><p></p><p>But it's only when the players ROLEPLAY the differences do we see how the Barbarian and Fighter are different. How the Barbarian talks, and walks, and fights, and behaves will be much different than how the Fighter talks and walks and fights and behaves. Mechanics be damned. After all... if your player of the Barbarian character says simply during their turn "I rage"... like it means absolutely nothing and has no emotional connection and is just simply flipping on a character mechanics switch... then what good are those different mechanics? There ARE NONE. A barbarian PC getting some new numbers because they used the "rage" mechanic just changes a couple numbers. That's it. And the fact the game used the term "rage" means nothing at all. The game could have called it a "hype" mechanic, or a "preen" mechanic for all it cares, if all that results are the same exact numbers being added the same exact way to a couple die rolls because the player doesn't actually care or act out what "raging", or "hyping" or "preening" is supposed to be in the story. </p><p></p><p>Game mechanics are just numbers. And you can move numbers around all you want, because they DON'T make characters different. It is only the STORY of the class or subclass that is different, and even then only if the player ROLEPLAYS that story. So focus on that at the table, and you'll begin to see a real difference.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 7179684, member: 7006"] As is usually the case... if you want differentiated characters, you need players willing to play their character differently. If you find yourself with a bunch of PCs that are all similar, it's because the PLAYERS are not actually putting personality into their PCs, they are really just playing game mechanics. A Barbarian and a Fighter aren't all that mechanically different-- they both have similar armor classes, they both have similar hit point totals, they both often use the same types of weapons, the Barbarian gets an extra +2 damage when they've "raged"... exactly like the +2 to damage the Fighter got by taking the Duelist fighting style. Where's the difference between these classes? At the table during play, mechanically there aren't much at all. But it's only when the players ROLEPLAY the differences do we see how the Barbarian and Fighter are different. How the Barbarian talks, and walks, and fights, and behaves will be much different than how the Fighter talks and walks and fights and behaves. Mechanics be damned. After all... if your player of the Barbarian character says simply during their turn "I rage"... like it means absolutely nothing and has no emotional connection and is just simply flipping on a character mechanics switch... then what good are those different mechanics? There ARE NONE. A barbarian PC getting some new numbers because they used the "rage" mechanic just changes a couple numbers. That's it. And the fact the game used the term "rage" means nothing at all. The game could have called it a "hype" mechanic, or a "preen" mechanic for all it cares, if all that results are the same exact numbers being added the same exact way to a couple die rolls because the player doesn't actually care or act out what "raging", or "hyping" or "preening" is supposed to be in the story. Game mechanics are just numbers. And you can move numbers around all you want, because they DON'T make characters different. It is only the STORY of the class or subclass that is different, and even then only if the player ROLEPLAYS that story. So focus on that at the table, and you'll begin to see a real difference. [/QUOTE]
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Would Sub-class Feats Solve a Problem? (Is there a problem?)
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