Gilbetron's page

There are plenty, heck I'd even say a majority of, gamers that still just want to create the character they envision. However, the thing about "builds" is that they are fun to *discuss*. It is not much fun to discuss some person's random character - there's just no meat to the bones of that discussion. "Hey, here's my half-drow/half-dwarf named FoeSmacker!" is usually responded to with a couple of "that's cool" and maybe a pointer to something interesting in Golarion that could be useful.

But a discussion of "Which classes should I pick to fit my vision of FoeSmacker" will merit a decent discussion as people analyze the pros and cons of different approaches.

It's a big issue with RPGs. They are a lot of fun for the handful of hours you get to play every week or two, but outside of that it is difficult to do anything with them. I love RPGs, but it drives me crazy that I can't actually play them when I want. So I discuss them. And builds are something that is easy and fun to discuss. I don't care about the background of your character very much, but I like thinking about the rules that go into making it.

And so forums are filled with such talk because that is about the only talk that is fun to partake in on a forum.

tldr: builds are very discussable, hence why forums are filled with discussions about them.

The problem with the idea of allowing some sort of limited Full attack after a move is that the Monsters will also get it.

Not really. Maybe *some*, but just make it a class feature for martial classes, and don't let monsters have it. There's no Union for Monsters that requires equality with PCs in all things ;)

However, to restate- some degree of power difference at some levels is not a BAD THING. It’s part of D&D to have the Wizard be more powerful than the fighter at the highest levels, and the reverse at the lower levels. What goes wrong is when the disparity is too great or too early.

It's rather a myth that Wizards were more powerful in pre-3E D&D. They are "differently powered". Remember, if a Magic Users casts Power Word Kill against a 20th level fighter, the fighter has a save vs Death Magic of ... 3. That means the fighter saves on a 3 or higher, not including protection magic items or anything of that sort.

Caster/Martial disparity is largely a thing of post-2E D&D.

"Q: What do you think of caster/martial disparity at higher levels?

A: I think it's a myth propagated by people with agendas."

-- James Jacobs, 2013

A more nuanced reply from him:

I think the martial/caster disparity is mostly present in the view of folks who favor martial characters who are jealous of casters, or from the point of view of folks who favor caster characters who are jealous of martial characters.

AKA: I don't think its as big a deal as the internet makes it out to be. In my games, casters and non-casters tend to be equally valuable to the party, and equally dangerous in various situations as enemies. I've seen parties get into big trouble when their only strong spellcaster wasn't at the game, and I've seen them get into big trouble when their only strong non-spellcaster wasn't at the game.

To a large extent as well the responsibility to keep things fair and fun for all involved lands on the GM's shoulders. If every single fight is against flying creatures that use ranged attacks, the characters who focused on melee stuff are going to be cranky. Likewise, if every single fight is against golems or high SR foes, the spellcasters are going to be cranky.

It's a balancing act.

I've seen a lot of people asking about high level fighter play. I bring you Marcus Muri, Fighter 18. He was in my Kingmaker campaign, and he utterly destroyed anything he could physically accost. He could kill any boss by RAW in one full attack action at any level, even at higher ones. Buuuuut, he existed at the graces of the wizard and cleric, who were on hand to make sure he could reach stuff, and not be annihilated when reflex and will saves became a thing.

Basically, I found that what held true on low levels also hold true in coarse forms on high levels: The fighter kills everything it gets to full attack, most stuff needs 15-20 to hit him, he has staying power but NO versatility.

One of the more interesting house rules to increase martial power is to make a Full Attack be a Standard Action. It certainly helps Monks a ton and makes the image of a powerful warrior running around slicing and dicing more achievable.