It really bugs me thematically for a lot of classes, especially Warlock. It's my favorite class, and part of that is the fact that the mechanics of character creation are also world and backstory building. Now it's "I made a pact with <TBD Later>" and it just feels wrong. - ThreadSky

robertbrydon.bsky.social • 13 days ago

It really bugs me thematically for a lot of classes, especially Warlock. It's my favorite class, and part of that is the fact that the mechanics of character creation are also world and backstory building.

Now it's "I made a pact with " and it just feels wrong.

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mnemex.bsky.social•13 days ago

I mean,to be fair, what you usually do is "I made a pact with The Lady of the Grey Flame (or whatever)" and then you lock in what they actually do for you later, but yes, the old approach was way more story-forwards and swapping in pact boon doesn't actually make the class much less front- loaded.

robertbrydon.bsky.social•13 days ago

And yeah, it is hilarious that the most loved/hated level 1 dip is the only one that still works. But you *can't* have a popular archetype unplayable unless you start at level 3+.

Of course, Fighter 1 (Magic Initiate: True Strike) at level 1, Bladelock from then on is even better...

mnemex.bsky.social•13 days ago

I mean, or you just make a strength or dex fighter/mage who focuses on utility spells until their int builds up a bit.

It's weird how they pingpong "NO MAD" and "every stat should matter" with the editions, swinging between extremes as they go.

robertbrydon.bsky.social•13 days ago

I don't expect campaigns to necessarily last very long, and I've not found higher levels of D&D as fun as lower levels. So future builds are interesting as an exercise, I'm not keen to play something that is a holding pattern until later levels.

There are some core flaws that they can't fix, really

robertbrydon.bsky.social•13 days ago

Or rather, they can't fix them without really overhauling the system from the ground up, and 4e convinced them to never try that again. But quadratic scaling Wizards *have* to be in the system, and unlike AD&D they have to be enjoyable to play at level one, so your power curve is always screwed.

robertbrydon.bsky.social•13 days ago

MAD is baked in because AC and HP matter for everyone, but Int matters for Wizards only. Some classes don't have any hard choices in stat spreads, others are always stretched. 4e having your defensive values be based on the best of a pair of stats was *great*, and I wish it had stayed into 5th.

mnemex.bsky.social•13 days ago

Yes. They actually had some DNDNext ideas for making every stat matter, which would work better for every stat having a defensive use, but they dropped them--I've thought of putting some back in; you don't want "every stat is critical" but having every stat matter somewhat rewards player choice.

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