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Lemmy wrote:Marthkus wrote:N. Jolly wrote:Show me a Fighter who uses abilities intrinsic to the Fighter Class (so no trait band aids or magic item bandaids) who can pull off HALF that stuff.This annoys me. If I made a class that as a feature received infinite gold, by your logic the class couldn't do anything and is worthless.
A class providing a character with extra resources in one area so that they can invest in another is part of the overall class balance and design.
Not really... If getting infinite WBL was a class feature, one could reasonably argue that the class is designed to have better gear, therefore, having better gear is a merit of class. I think gear is a valid resource, if obtaining/using said gear is part of the class.
But that's not the case. Casters get just as much wealth as everyone else. In fact, they usually have more gold because need less gear (e.g.: Sorcerers don't need weapons or armor), are less dependent on it (e.g.:A Cleric can still be a great asset to the team even if she loses all her weapons) and/or have a much easier time crafting their own feats.
Give a wizard all the magical armor and weapons you want, he doesn't become more effective.
Lets see here, give a Wizard +5 Glamored Adamantine Full Plate and a +5 Arrow Deflection Mithral Heavy Shield, and he sells it for 1/2 price getting a total of 47360, then uses Craft Rod to make 2 lesser dazing metamagic rods, uses Forge Ring to forge a Ring of Freedom of Movement, and buys the 5k diamond for the cleric, who can now cast Raise Dead on the whole party, and the wizard still has a little cash leftover.
Give the Fighter the same thing, and he gets more AC and a little DR, and a little defense against arrows. Very good, but not as good as a fight-ending debuff and Freedom of Movement, and essentially a 1up for the party, and a bit of cash on top.

thejeff |
My naswer is that modular design is in its infancy right now. Designers were trying to accomodate too many tastes with a single inflexible frame. Going forward I'd like to see designers put a dial on power/epic that can be adjusted by the table. "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.
Why not? And what is the fix really?
If I want to play a gritty realistic style, what's the point in having high levels that are still gritty and realistic? If I want sprawling epic high fantasy, what's the point in forcing low levels to work like that? Just start higher up.
There are plenty of games that cater to one of those playstyles and they do it by starting characters there and keeping them there.
One of the neat (and often frustrating) things about D&D/PF is that it starts you out very weak and takes you all the way up to super power levels. Most RPGs don't do that. It's not surprising that not everyone is happy with both ends of the scale.

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NOte that he have to provide 3 character for the diferent things. Particularly his "decent" (not great) save fighter is bad at skill and the one with acces to magic have an atrocious will save.
He actually can not do the things he promised. It is pretty know that you can have devote enough resources in the fighter to patch a weakness.
Now, the barbarian by the other hand, would be better at skills, saves, TOuch AC, no less AC, pounce, high DR, more HP, incredibly high CMB/CMD, cleave magic, all in the same build.
People tend to leap to the Barbarian since he's pretty much the poster boy for what seem people think the Fighter should be able to do, but I'd like to point out that it's not just the Barbarian.
The Rogue can mix damage, skills, and magic mitigation into a single build. Granted the damage portion takes system mastery to squeeze out, but it can certainly be done in the same build as a character that disarms magical traps, picks locks, sneaks, dispels magic-users buffs, successfully serves as the party face, and can UMD consistently. The consistency and strength of some of these options may peter out a little as levels rise, but the options are all there.
The Ranger can push his DPR to levels that are very competitive with the Fighter while simultaneously providing some battlefield control, buffing or improved action economy, some magic mitigation, and mastery in wilderness related skills. All in the same build.
I can go on, but the point is the same one I made earlier: Pretty much every class other than the Fighter is specifically designed to be well-rounded based on their core chassis alone. They don't require scads of magic items and points in a non-class skill that lets them borrow tricks other classes get inherently; getting those or doing that only makes them more well-rounded and capable. The Fighter is one of the only classes that doesn't get a full packet of capabilities grafted right onto his chassis, and he actually needs magic items more just to take full advantage of his class features. That basically just goes back to the point of "anything a Fighter can do with magic items any other class can do better, and a lot of them will probably have more cash to spend on peripherals to boot".

Darksol the Painbringer |

For example, mind showing me a magic item that gives a fighter a 200 foot movement speed and lets him split it up between attacks in a full attack action?
Not many creatures can have that level of movement, nor would people of high level be that stupid, especially considering doing so provokes AoOs, so even if done, would most likely be dead before the action was completed.
However, a thought experiment:
Mobile Fighter can move 40 feet at level 15 (30 feet at level 7 via Armor Training, 10 untyped increase at their 15th level ability); some abilities give increased base speed, usually 10, so I'll play it safe and say it'll go to 50 via Boots of Striding and Springing. Haste (via fused Boots of Speed at CL 20) increases your base speed up to a maximum of 30 feet increase, so we end up with a grand total of 80 we can have at a fair, reliable constant (if combat goes for more than 20 rounds, you're in trouble). Tack on a Quick Runner's Shirt, and you essentially double that, resulting in 160 feet movement in a single turn. (Given it's only 1,000 price, you can definitely increase the uses per day, increasing the total cost by 1,000 per use per day.)
Their capstone ability allows them to perform a Full Attack Action as a Standard Action, meaning they can move 80 (or 160) feet, and take a Full Attack. Or their 11th level ability (which is somewhat a weaker version of their capstone), allows them to Full Attack in conjunction with a Move Action, where they can take a Full Attack (although they lose one attack, their highest BAB), and divvy up their attacks at any point during their movement, which provokes as normal.
So although it isn't as strong, this 'feat of strength' is still definitely permissible in the rules.
That being said, it's a late-game ability whose premise of being able to pull it off not only borderlines suicide, but also effectiveness and possibility of occurring reaches near zero. So there's that...

kyrt-ryder |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
kyrt-ryder wrote:Ok I guess I shouldnt have said anyone. Like many issues such as 3 min work day, LF;QW, rockettag, etc. you can say these things are no big deal but they are to some people. Modular design can help everyone out and wont affect those who are fine with things as they stand.Pan wrote:My naswer is that modular design is in its infancy right now. Designers were trying to accomodate too many tastes with a single inflexible frame. Going forward I'd like to see designers put a dial on power/epic that can be adjusted by the table. "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.I certainly find it acceptable. If I want to play a lord of the rings esque campaign, I'll stick to one at low levels. If I want to play something more in line with the Avengers I'll play high levels.
The frame the game is built on really does DRAMATICALLY change as levels rise, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Now, the fact that many people depend on APs which carry adventuring groups from level 1/2 up into the mid-high teens is an issue to be sure. But the fact remains that there's nothing wrong with leveling up incredibly slowly or not leveling up at all. So long as the character concept is fulfilled I'm perfectly happy sitting at level X for years exploring that character and his influence in the world.
I'm all for mitigating things like the 3 minute workday, Linear Fighters;Quadratic Wizards, and rockettag. The reason staying at low level so frequently gets brought up is because one of the fixes for LF;QW is to turn the game into QF;QW (in distinct ways of course. Nobody wants martials and casters to play the same, or at least I certainly don't.)
This allows the game to change at a steady pace on both sides of the martial-caster divide, in essence creating multiple 'games' at different level ranges, along with the option to 'transition' into a higher power game by going to a higher level.
The CRB gives Spellcasters a changing game but locks martials (especially Fighters, Rogues, and CRB-only-Monks+Barbarians, but also to a lesser extent Rangers, Paladins, and Splat-Supported-Monks+Barbarians) into the same exact game from level 1-20 while casters transition without them.

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Pan wrote:My naswer is that modular design is in its infancy right now. Designers were trying to accomodate too many tastes with a single inflexible frame. Going forward I'd like to see designers put a dial on power/epic that can be adjusted by the table. "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.Why not? And what is the fix really?
If I want to play a gritty realistic style, what's the point in having high levels that are still gritty and realistic? If I want sprawling epic high fantasy, what's the point in forcing low levels to work like that? Just start higher up.
There are plenty of games that cater to one of those playstyles and they do it by starting characters there and keeping them there.
One of the neat (and often frustrating) things about D&D/PF is that it starts you out very weak and takes you all the way up to super power levels. Most RPGs don't do that. It's not surprising that not everyone is happy with both ends of the scale.
There may be plenty of those games around but its not easy finding players for them. Most casual gamers wont ever try anything besides D&D/PF. As you noted its a little wonky that D&D starts gritty and goes to gonzo. Traditional soultions are ok but using modular design opens up so many more options for those who have pains with the system without casuing any pains for those currently without. Put plainly the fix isnt for you its for folks unlike you and the best part is you wont even notice.

thejeff |
thejeff wrote:There may be plenty of those games around but its not easy finding players for them. Most casual gamers wont ever try anything besides D&D/PF. As you noted its a little wonky that D&D starts gritty and goes to gonzo. Traditional soultions are ok but using modular design opens up so many more options for those who have pains with the system without casuing any pains for those currently without. Put plainly the fix isnt for you its for folks unlike you and the best part is you wont even notice.Pan wrote:My naswer is that modular design is in its infancy right now. Designers were trying to accomodate too many tastes with a single inflexible frame. Going forward I'd like to see designers put a dial on power/epic that can be adjusted by the table. "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.Why not? And what is the fix really?
If I want to play a gritty realistic style, what's the point in having high levels that are still gritty and realistic? If I want sprawling epic high fantasy, what's the point in forcing low levels to work like that? Just start higher up.
There are plenty of games that cater to one of those playstyles and they do it by starting characters there and keeping them there.
One of the neat (and often frustrating) things about D&D/PF is that it starts you out very weak and takes you all the way up to super power levels. Most RPGs don't do that. It's not surprising that not everyone is happy with both ends of the scale.
Except PF doesn't use modular design (not so's I'd notice anyway), which means those gamers won't use it either.
Next made noises about it, but I don't think has pulled it off.What does "modular design" actually do for this problem? You keep throwing it around as a buzzword, without actually giving me a hint of what Pathfinder would look like using modular design and how it would address the LF/QW issue?

Lemmy |
5 people marked this as a favorite. |

The saddest part is that making PF far more balanced doesn't even require a complete overhaul of the system, just a few teaks.
- Nerf/Remove/Clarify disruptive spells, such as Blood Money, Planar Binding, etc.
- Set 4 + Int modifier as the bare minimum number of skill points to PC classes. Also, make skills more useful at higher level. Allow skills to do fantastic stuff when they are supposed to mirror fantastic characters.
- Remove SoL and SoD effects. Or, at the very least, make it so they are only SoL against weak opponents (at least 4 HD less than the caster).
- Replace feat chains with level/BAB -dependent scaling feats.
- Better Combat Maneuvers (e.g.: Only provoke when you miss, can be used against opponents of any size, don't require 2~3 feats just to be usable, etc.)
- CMB & CMD is a great system. Simple and intuitive. It just needs to be recalibrated so that CMD doesn't scale so much faster than everything else!
- Give characters a way to consistently move and still make more than 1 attack. Doesn't have to be a full attack, but say... Up to 2 attacks for BAB +6 and up to 4 attacks for BAB +11. Half of these attacks must be provided by BAB, and the other half must be provided by something else (TWF, Haste, natural weapons, etc.)
- Reduce the Christmas tree effect by giving innate bonuses instead of requiring a bunch of obligatory items. Right now, magic weapons and attribute boosters don't add anything to the game, they're just math filler.
- Make stuff that already comes with an innate penalty just a combat option, instead of a feat. e.g.: Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, etc.
- Add feats/class features that expand what martial characters can do, both in combat and in general. There is nothing wrong with full attacks being powerful, but they being the only reasonably effective action a martial character can do is terrible design.
Those would be good tweaks that don't require a full rewrite, IMO. At least, not one that makes the game almost unrecognizable, such as 4th Ed.

Marthkus |

Marthkus wrote:Uh Metamagic Rods alone prove this statement completely shamelessly false. And that's before we get into stuff like Mnemonic Vestments or Cackling Hag's Blouse. Or Book of Harms. Or Cloak of the Hedge Wizard. Or..Lemmy wrote:Marthkus wrote:Give a wizard all the magical armor and weapons you want, he doesn't become more effective.You're missing the point (and being dense on purpose, I believe).
Both Wizards and Fighters get the same WBL. Wizards need less gear, since they don't need weapons and armor, so they effectively get more wealth.
They don't do much with gear either.
They don't give themselves new options. they just add more uses to the ones they have.
Fair point.

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- Give characters a way to move and still make more than 1 attack. Doesn't have to be a full attack, but say... Up to 2 attacks for BAB +6 and up to 4 attacks for BAB +11. Half of these attacks must be provided by BAB, and the other half must be provided by something else (TWF, Haste, natural weapons, etc.)
One of the fighters I linked can full attack after moving 40-50 feet.
Another has the ability to roam the battlefield during his opponent's turn, ensuring he is always in a position to full attack.- Reduce the Christmas tree effect by giving innate bonuses instead of requiring a bunch of obligatory items. Right now, magic weapons and attribute boosters don't add anything to the game, they're just math filler.
All characters, of any class, use this mechanic. It has nothing to with martial/caster
- Add feats/class features that expand what martial characters can do, both in combat and in general. There is nothing wrong with full attacks being powerful, but they being the only reasonably effective action a martial character can do is terrible design.
Given the number of skills with a +28 bonus or higher some of my fighters had, how much more do you expect?

Lemmy |

Marthkus wrote:That depends on the weapons and armor.Give a wizard all the magical armor and weapons you want, he doesn't become more effective.
True.
A simple +1 Fortified Haramaki gives Wizards a 25~75% chance of avoiding criticals, and they don't need to boost the +1 at all, since they already have Mage Armor. A +1 Mithral buckler opens similar options and since Wizards are unlikely to 2-hand anything, they don't care about the -1 penalty to attack rolls. A Dueling +1 gauntlet grants the Wizard a +4 to initiative. That's pretty awesome, and again... The Wizard don't really need to increase the enhancement bonus.

Alexandros Satorum |

Lemmy wrote:- Give characters a way to move and still make more than 1 attack. Doesn't have to be a full attack, but say... Up to 2 attacks for BAB +6 and up to 4 attacks for BAB +11. Half of these attacks must be provided by BAB, and the other half must be provided by something else (TWF, Haste, natural weapons, etc.)One of the fighters I linked can full attack after moving 40-50 feet.
Once per day. next turn the mundane mount will be dead (though not that much proble now that animal ally exist).

Lemmy |

One of the fighters I linked can full attack after moving 40-50 feet.
Another has the ability to roam the battlefield during his opponent's turn, ensuring he is always in a position to full attack.
Meh... I'll comment on that after I take a closer look into them... I personally don't like checking 20th level builds because there is so much clutter to filter through.
EDIT: Hey, look! Nicos saved me the trouble and pointed out some flaws with your characters' "mobility".EDIT 2: Also, let's say... Consistently move and make multiple attacks. Preferably without having to devote countless resources to do it. Casters are able to teleport as a move action and still cast two different spells. Why can't martials move 10ft without lose effectiveness?
All characters, of any class, use this mechanic. It has nothing to with martial/caster
It has a lot to do with it when we consider martials are far more gear-dependent than casters.
Given the number of skills with a +28 bonus or higher some of my fighters had, how much more do you expect?
Raising Int is not a Fighter class-feature, nor do Fighters get any more benefit from it than, say, Commoners.
I too created Fighters who are extremely effective party-faces., even though they they were not Human or Lore Wardens. The problem is the disproportionately high investment necessary to make a Fighter barely better than mediocre at anything other than standing still and full attacking.
Can it be done? Sure! But Fighters need a lot more effort for a much smaller gain.
(Also, there are, like, 7 other ideas there)

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Pan wrote:thejeff wrote:There may be plenty of those games around but its not easy finding players for them. Most casual gamers wont ever try anything besides D&D/PF. As you noted its a little wonky that D&D starts gritty and goes to gonzo. Traditional soultions are ok but using modular design opens up so many more options for those who have pains with the system without casuing any pains for those currently without. Put plainly the fix isnt for you its for folks unlike you and the best part is you wont even notice.Pan wrote:My naswer is that modular design is in its infancy right now. Designers were trying to accomodate too many tastes with a single inflexible frame. Going forward I'd like to see designers put a dial on power/epic that can be adjusted by the table. "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.Why not? And what is the fix really?
If I want to play a gritty realistic style, what's the point in having high levels that are still gritty and realistic? If I want sprawling epic high fantasy, what's the point in forcing low levels to work like that? Just start higher up.
There are plenty of games that cater to one of those playstyles and they do it by starting characters there and keeping them there.
One of the neat (and often frustrating) things about D&D/PF is that it starts you out very weak and takes you all the way up to super power levels. Most RPGs don't do that. It's not surprising that not everyone is happy with both ends of the scale.
Except PF doesn't use modular design (not so's I'd notice anyway), which means those gamers won't use it either.
Next made noises about it, but I don't think has pulled it off.What does "modular design" actually do for this problem? You keep throwing it around as a buzzword, without actually giving me a hint of what Pathfinder would look like using modular design and how it would address the LF/QW issue?
Ah but PF does have some modular design in the Mythic rules. Traditionally called a supplement, but it still serves as a good example of modular design. From 3E era PHB II and Unearthed Arcana provide some insight as well. Essentially, modular design uses insight to build supplemental material right into the core. You can have the traditional mud farmer to God experience or go with a more hardy heroic experience in its entirety. You also have the option of starting out high powered and staying there or lowering it as you level. To achieve this, the core introduces kits of features that adjust HP, skills, magic systems, etc. The way the game plays and feels is in the hands of the table/group.
Modular design as a concept makes a lot of sense in my head but I’m not good at explaining it so I apologize for that. Care to expand on the "noises" about Next and why you dont think its being pulled off?

Thaago |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
@OP:
I think a large part of the problem is that the skill system has some pretty terrible assumptions underlying it.
The biggest offender is skillpoints per level = # + int.
Intelligence does not mean versatility in all things! In fact, looking historically at the smartest people, they were quite frequently extremely specialized. The very first thing I would do if tweaking classes would be to take that '+int' out back and shoot it. Then rebalance the skill points classes receive.
The next thing about the skill system has been pointed out: it is built to allow you to do 'normal' things. Difficult normal things, but still normal. Put in some examples of epic actions with DC's in the high 30's and 40's and explicitly tell DM's to base their DC's for other actions off of them.

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Artanthos wrote:Once per day. next turn the mundane mount will be dead (though not that much proble now that animal ally exist).Lemmy wrote:- Give characters a way to move and still make more than 1 attack. Doesn't have to be a full attack, but say... Up to 2 attacks for BAB +6 and up to 4 attacks for BAB +11. Half of these attacks must be provided by BAB, and the other half must be provided by something else (TWF, Haste, natural weapons, etc.)One of the fighters I linked can full attack after moving 40-50 feet.
Every round.
And good luck killing her obsidian steed.
1. She's got the feats to protect it
2. She only needs 1 round to stun lock opponents

MrSin |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Alexandros Satorum wrote:Artanthos wrote:Once per day. next turn the mundane mount will be dead (though not that much proble now that animal ally exist).Lemmy wrote:- Give characters a way to move and still make more than 1 attack. Doesn't have to be a full attack, but say... Up to 2 attacks for BAB +6 and up to 4 attacks for BAB +11. Half of these attacks must be provided by BAB, and the other half must be provided by something else (TWF, Haste, natural weapons, etc.)One of the fighters I linked can full attack after moving 40-50 feet.
Every round.
And good luck killing her obsidian steed.
1. She's got the feats to protect it
2. She only needs 1 round to stun lock opponents
Still not responding to the fact your not actually using fighter abilities, and this still doesn't help them act less linearly. Anyone can use magic items, anyone can play a special race.

thejeff |
Ah but PF does have some modular design in the Mythic rules. Traditionally called a supplement, but it still serves as a good example of modular design. From 3E era PHB II and Unearthed Arcana provide some insight as well. Essentially, modular design uses insight to build supplemental material right into the core. You can have the traditional mud farmer to God experience or go with a more hardy heroic experience in its entirety. You also have the option of starting out high powered and staying there or lowering it as you level. To achieve this, the core introduces kits of features that adjust HP, skills, magic systems, etc. The way the game plays and feels is in the hands of the table/group.
Modular design as a concept makes a lot of sense in my head but I’m not good at explaining it so I apologize for that. Care to expand on the "noises" about Next and why you dont think its being pulled off?
Sure, I can see how Mythic fits what you're talking about.
As far as Next goes, a lot of the original buzz was about modularity, being able to play it in the style of any version of D&D. What I've seen of the last playtest doesn't do that. It may blend versions but it certainly didn't let you switch between them cleanly. It is of course possible they'll publish supplements allowing it.More deeply, I'd argue that PF does accomplish what you're talking about. It's just that it does it by level rather than with modularity. When you said "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.", why is it acceptable to only play part of the game when it's divided up by modules, but not when it's divided by levels? You're still only playing part of the game.

MrSin |

More deeply, I'd argue that PF does accomplish what you're talking about. It's just that it does it by level rather than with modularity. When you said "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.", why is it acceptable to only play part of the game when it's divided up by modules, but not when it's divided by levels? You're still only playing part of the game.
I'm not sure if that's totally correct, there isn't really a sign saying "hey play these levels!" and unless your using houserules, its hard to play at around the same level over and over with the same character. Its pretty heavy handed about how you play at each level too, imo.
There's also that thing where a lvl 6/11/16 martial fight a lot alike, there paradigm didn't really change much.

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Pan wrote:Ah but PF does have some modular design in the Mythic rules. Traditionally called a supplement, but it still serves as a good example of modular design. From 3E era PHB II and Unearthed Arcana provide some insight as well. Essentially, modular design uses insight to build supplemental material right into the core. You can have the traditional mud farmer to God experience or go with a more hardy heroic experience in its entirety. You also have the option of starting out high powered and staying there or lowering it as you level. To achieve this, the core introduces kits of features that adjust HP, skills, magic systems, etc. The way the game plays and feels is in the hands of the table/group.
Modular design as a concept makes a lot of sense in my head but I’m not good at explaining it so I apologize for that. Care to expand on the "noises" about Next and why you dont think its being pulled off?
Sure, I can see how Mythic fits what you're talking about.
As far as Next goes, a lot of the original buzz was about modularity, being able to play it in the style of any version of D&D. What I've seen of the last playtest doesn't do that. It may blend versions but it certainly didn't let you switch between them cleanly. It is of course possible they'll publish supplements allowing it.More deeply, I'd argue that PF does accomplish what you're talking about. It's just that it does it by level rather than with modularity. When you said "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.", why is it acceptable to only play part of the game when it's divided up by modules, but not when it's divided by levels? You're still only playing part of the game.
Well lets use mythic. The regular game has a baseline of power. Now if I chose to add mythic options I have powered up the game. I still get to play 1-20 and have a dial now instead of being stuck with the factory default. Ideally this dial is usable at any point so im no longer stuck with mud farmer to God D&D tradition, though its still in place for those who want it.
Its all concept right now so its difficult to picture. I agree that I dont think Next is going to hit it out of the park but ill hold judgement until the game is out. I am really glad they are at least attempting some cool concepts with 5E.

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Still not responding to the fact your not actually using fighter abilities, and this still doesn't help them act less linearly. Anyone can use magic items, anyone can play a special race.
- You are welcome to stand there naked and scream "It's not fair."
- I'm still within RAW
- Fighter bonus feats paid for my mounted combat feats. That is a class feature.

Drock11 |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
In the end spellcasters can be the way they are because the "it's magic" reasoning is not only a great excuse, and rightly so, but the absolute ultimate excuse for anything and everything. It works. It makes sense. Most importantly in a high fantasy setting where magic is powerful it rarely breaks verisimilitude. IT'S MAGIC. Magic being the nature of what it is can justify almost anything. That’s the way it is.
Without making non-spellcasters de facto magical beings or giving them magical powers that are attempted to be played of as non-magical that's just not possible. In short they just don't have the "it's magic" excuse. Sure they can survive lava and things like that, but that's more along the line of being really tough and being better at what they can already do. At least at some level it can be rationalized, especially by people that would be virtual demi-gods to us. Non-magical people suddenly getting magical powers can't be rationalized nearly as well. I don't know about anybody else and can't speak for anybody else, but I also don't want magical fighters in my game or a standard fantasy RPG where everybody is magical by default.
You have people that can swing sticks really really well against people that can bend the normal laws of existence to there will. In some ways unless the whole basis of what a standard fantasy RPG comprises is changed there is just no way around that.
I'm going to put an idea out there that might be somewhat controversial and what some people might not like to hear, but has anybody ever considered the idea that casters are supposed to be better at some things and maybe more singular powerful than non-casters in many ways in a standard fantasy type setting the way it should be?
Think of all the fictional fantasy settings of the last 50 or so years and even longer that have ever remotely made it big or became notable. I'm not just talking about the ones linked to D&D like Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance either. How many of them essentially had casters, or that setting version of casters, as their most powerful people or most powerful group. I would think that's it's not only the overwhelming majority, but almost all of them. I'm having a hard time thinking of one where that's not the case.
It's just not how we think of things. Unless we nerf magic people to the point they are no longer what most people envision in fantasy or give non-magic people what are really magic abilities and pretend they aren’t magical there is just no way around the situation where one group can change the laws of reality and one can swing objects and take being stabbed really really well. It's just not completely reconcilable.
With that said, I also don’t have as big a problem with it because I recognize that things like Pathfinder are a cooperative group effort where the group handles challenges and not one where one person is up against another. I’ve also seen many times where martials can completely mess up casters if they get their hands on them. Part of it is not so much a power level disparity as they can’t do as many interesting things as people that can cast an infinite verity of spells. Even that doesn’t bother me too much, even if it were possible to make martial actions as interesting as the virtually infinite options casters have, which it isn‘t.
I will also admit besides what I just said there are some things that could be done to equalize martials like letting them attack more after a move action or giving them more skill points, but beyond that I don’t concern myself with trying to balance issues that aren’t possible to balance without changing the very nature of the game being played.

thejeff |
thejeff wrote:More deeply, I'd argue that PF does accomplish what you're talking about. It's just that it does it by level rather than with modularity. When you said "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.", why is it acceptable to only play part of the game when it's divided up by modules, but not when it's divided by levels? You're still only playing part of the game.I'm not sure if that's totally correct, there isn't really a sign saying "hey play these levels!" and unless your using houserules, its hard to play at around the same level over and over with the same character. Its pretty heavy handed about how you play at each level too, imo.
There's also that thing where a lvl 6/11/16 martial fight a lot alike, there paradigm didn't really change much.
No, there isn't any such sign, but there's also no rule saying you must play from level 1 to 20.
It's fairly easy, without houserules to only play within a range of levels you enjoy. You just start a new game when you get out of that range.

anlashok |
8 people marked this as a favorite. |
You are welcome to stand there naked and scream "It's not fair."
No one said that, have no idea why you're being such an ass about this. Creating a bunch of gimmicky, mediocre builds isn't exactly anything to pat your back over.
And using a bunch of class-neutral mechanics and slapping them on an inferior chassis doesn't "prove" the fighter is good either.
I really don't know why you're grasping so hard and being so bitter over the idea that some people want the fighter to suck less.
Without making non-spellcasters de facto magical beings or giving them magical powers that are attempted to be played of as non-magical that's just not possible. In short they just don't have the "it's magic" excuse. Sure they can survive lava and things like that, but that's more along the line of being really tough and being better at what they can already do
Wizard get to be magical and fighters get to be "just that good".
And I'm sorry, but I'm not seeing how you can reasonable say that a normal, nonmagical human being taking a bath in a pool of lava then drying himself off with barbed wire is completely acceptable and easy to rationalize but low level tome of battle style shenanigans are too unrealistic. Seriously the statement is almost too absurd to comprehend.

MrSin |

MrSin wrote:Still not responding to the fact your not actually using fighter abilities, and this still doesn't help them act less linearly. Anyone can use magic items, anyone can play a special race.
- You are welcome to stand there naked and scream "It's not fair."
- I'm still within RAW
- Fighter bonus feats paid for my mounted combat feats. That is a class feature.
I didn't say it wasn't raw, or that you didn't have mounted combat feats, or that ITS NOT FAIR!, and I definitely didn't do it naked.

Marthkus |

MrSin wrote:Still not responding to the fact your not actually using fighter abilities, and this still doesn't help them act less linearly. Anyone can use magic items, anyone can play a special race.
- You are welcome to stand there naked and scream "It's not fair."
- I'm still within RAW
- Fighter bonus feats paid for my mounted combat feats. That is a class feature.
Apparently feats aren't fighter specific either so they don't count.
Even though for the fighter feats are twice as good since they only cost half as much.
Apparently most fighters not needed to spend money on mythral armor doesn't count either, or fighters not being dependent on mythral full plate to drop to use their dex score.
Apparently being effortlessly good at melee combat just by using power attack and a weapon in the right group which leaves them 20-21 other feats to branch out with isn't considered a fighter-specific enough.
Just so sick of all the BS. If the fighter build does what you want it to do, people shouldn't complain about the method. Ignoring how their extra resources for combat allows them to branch out easier does little to convince me or many other people of a problem.

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MrSin wrote:thejeff wrote:More deeply, I'd argue that PF does accomplish what you're talking about. It's just that it does it by level rather than with modularity. When you said "You want x playstyle? Only play this part of the game then" should not be acceptable for anyone.", why is it acceptable to only play part of the game when it's divided up by modules, but not when it's divided by levels? You're still only playing part of the game.I'm not sure if that's totally correct, there isn't really a sign saying "hey play these levels!" and unless your using houserules, its hard to play at around the same level over and over with the same character. Its pretty heavy handed about how you play at each level too, imo.
There's also that thing where a lvl 6/11/16 martial fight a lot alike, there paradigm didn't really change much.
No, there isn't any such sign, but there's also no rule saying you must play from level 1 to 20.
It's fairly easy, without houserules to only play within a range of levels you enjoy. You just start a new game when you get out of that range.
Problem is staying within levels only works for a few playstyles. Folks who want high level larger than life martials will never be as epic as casters. Only playing those levels does nothing to help out folks with that problem.

thejeff |
In the end spellcasters can be the way they are because the "it's magic" reasoning is not only a great excuse, and rightly so, but the absolute ultimate excuse for anything and everything. It works. It makes sense. Most importantly in a high fantasy setting where magic is powerful it rarely breaks verisimilitude. IT'S MAGIC. Magic being the nature of what it is can justify almost anything. That’s the way it is.
Without making non-spellcasters de facto magical beings or giving them magical powers that are attempted to be played of as non-magical that's just not possible. In short they just don't have the "it's magic" excuse. Sure they can survive lava and things like that, but that's more along the line of being really tough and being better at what they can already do. At least at some level it can be rationalized, especially by people that would be virtual demi-gods to us. Non-magical people suddenly getting magical powers can't be rationalized nearly as well. I don't know about anybody else and can't speak for anybody else, but I also don't want magical fighters in my game or a standard fantasy RPG where everybody is magical by default.
I love the "We can rationalize superhuman powers that completely impossible in the real world because they're virtual demi-gods, but we can't accept magical powers" argument. What does it even mean?
Can we give them cool stuff as long as we don't call it "magic"? (Insert the "barbarian getting so angry he grows wings" bit here.)

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MrSin wrote:Still not responding to the fact your not actually using fighter abilities, and this still doesn't help them act less linearly. Anyone can use magic items, anyone can play a special race.
- You are welcome to stand there naked and scream "It's not fair."
- I'm still within RAW
- Fighter bonus feats paid for my mounted combat feats. That is a class feature.
And in the same fashion, Lemmy proved Commoners were fair. Broken, even. He just used a different race.
No one's saying "fighters suck, don't play them!" It's more along the lines of "fighters suck, let's give them things so they don't suck." And as for bonus feats, Monks and Rangers get nearly as many, and other class features (although the Monk is a mess in that respect).

Lemmy |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Apparently feats aren't fighter specific either so they don't count.
Fighter-onyl feats are usually pretty bad. In fact, most feats are pretty underwhelming.
Even though for the fighter feats are twice as good since they only cost half as much.
Not really. Fighter Depend exclusively on feats, so every feat chain hurts them twice as much as any other class.
Apparently most fighters not needed to spend money on mythral armor doesn't count either, or fighters not being dependent on mythral full plate to drop to use their dex score.
Doesn't really matter for most builds, since Fighters still need incredibly high Dex to benefit from it. Besides, Mithral Celestial Plate is the best armor available anyway, so chances are Fighters will take it anyway...
Apparently being effortlessly good at melee combat just by using power attack and a weapon in the right group which leaves them 20-21 other feats to branch out with isn't considered a fighter-specific enough.
If by good, you mean "can spam full attack", then I guess you're right. Unfortunately for Fighters, combat includes much more than that.
Just so sick of all the BS. If the fighter build does what you want it to do, people shouldn't complain about the method. Ignoring how their extra resources for combat allows them to branch out easier does little to convince me or many other people of a problem.
That's the point. It does not do what we want. The class is awful at every thing other than standing still and full-attacking.

thejeff |
Problem is staying within levels only works for a few playstyles. Folks who want high level larger than life martials will never be as epic as casters. Only playing those levels does nothing to help out folks with that problem.
That's certainly true. But I suspect any modular approach we're likely to see would boost casters as much as martials, so we'd have epic martials and god-casters.

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Pan wrote:Problem is staying within levels only works for a few playstyles. Folks who want high level larger than life martials will never be as epic as casters. Only playing those levels does nothing to help out folks with that problem.That's certainly true. But I suspect any modular approach we're likely to see would boost casters as much as martials, so we'd have epic martials and god-casters.
Ideally you could power up martials without touching casters. Modular is supposed to be functional that way. In fact my preference would be to knee cap casters so high level wouldnt be such a PITA. The options should be there for everyone though.

Marthkus |

Marthkus wrote:Apparently most fighters not needed to spend money on mythral armor doesn't count either, or fighters not being dependent on mythral full plate to drop to use their dex score.Doesn't really matter for most builds, since Fighters still need incredibly Dex to benefit from it. Besides, Mithral Celestial Plate is the best armor available anyway, so chances are Fighters will take it anyway...
Not really. Start with 14 dex. By the time you can max out armor training you'll have a +6 belt for two or three stats. That's exactly enough to make full use of it for full plate.
Celestial Plate is only +3 and comes from a non-PRD source. Not only is it worse for the fighter than +5 full plate, there is no guarantee you have access to it.
That and party divine caster casting air-walk is far the more cost efficient method for the party. Baring that potions of air-walk are relatively cheap at this level.
EDIT: OK so no airwalk potion but it is still the best method. You split the cost of a wand with the rogue if you really don't have any divine casters. It's hands down better than fly.

swoosh |
Pan wrote:Problem is staying within levels only works for a few playstyles. Folks who want high level larger than life martials will never be as epic as casters. Only playing those levels does nothing to help out folks with that problem.That's certainly true. But I suspect any modular approach we're likely to see would boost casters as much as martials, so we'd have epic martials and god-casters.
That's kinda how mythic went. The archmage can cast spells without losing slots and make enemies roll twice and take lower for saves... the champion can make a ranged attack that ignores cover.
Honestly you could give the regular fighter in a regular game access to mythic feats and he wouldn't be that scary.
And I've been testing a couple games where everyone gets mythic combat reflexes as a free bonus feat... and it hasn't caused any problems either.

Nicos |
And good luck killing her obsidian steed.
1. She's got the feats to protect it
Fireball? or several others spell/SU?
Also, afther having a +6 int bonus your build show how the fighter is bad at skills. Because a ranger could do the mounted thing better while having more skill point and etc.

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Even though for the fighter feats are twice as good since they only cost half as much.
This is not an accurate equivalency.
Feats are exactly as good for the Fighter as they are for anyone else, he just gets more of them (rarely does this actually mean twice as many since most classes get at least a few bonus feats).Now, if feats actually provided benefits equivalent to what other classes were getting instead of feats, we wouldn't have all of these conversations going.
Similarly, if Fighters could do something with a weapon different than what someone else could do, the "that's not a class feature" argument wouldn't keep coming up.

Avh |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Alexandros Satorum wrote:It's a magic item. If this is the one, it's not even that impressive.Artanthos wrote:Not sure what is that and how you have it.
And good luck killing her obsidian steed.
19 hp.
28500gp per figurine.Useable once per week.
Yeah, I don't think that this figurine is that useful.

Marthkus |

Marthkus wrote:
Even though for the fighter feats are twice as good since they only cost half as much.This is not an accurate equivalency.
Feats are exactly as good for the Fighter as they are for anyone else, he just gets more of them (rarely does this actually mean twice as many since most classes get at least a few bonus feats).Now, if feats actually provided benefits equivalent to what other classes were getting instead of feats, we wouldn't have all of these conversations going.
Similarly, if Fighters could do something with a weapon different than what someone else could do, the "that's not a class feature" argument wouldn't keep coming up.
Feats are half the opportunity cost for a fighter so they are twice as good for him, provided you can get good use out of all your feats.
More feats like Blind-Fight would be nice.

KestrelZ |

The more I read, the more I think people that want "Epic fighters" might be more happy with a superhero RPG? There are plenty of them out there, and allow "fighters" to split mountains with their bare hands and leap miles in a single bound.

Marthkus |

Athaleon wrote:Alexandros Satorum wrote:It's a magic item. If this is the one, it's not even that impressive.Artanthos wrote:Not sure what is that and how you have it.
And good luck killing her obsidian steed.
19 hp.
28500gp per figurine.
Useable once per week.Yeah, I don't think that this figurine is that useful.
Also that 10% cumulative per use chance to gib you is not great if you are good align.

Athaleon |

Athaleon wrote:Alexandros Satorum wrote:It's a magic item. If this is the one, it's not even that impressive.Artanthos wrote:Not sure what is that and how you have it.
And good luck killing her obsidian steed.
19 hp.
28500gp per figurine.
Useable once per week.Yeah, I don't think that this figurine is that useful.
Don't forget, 10% chance to be dragged to hell if you're Good aligned.

Arachnofiend |
6 people marked this as a favorite. |

I'd argue that the Fighter gets less out of their bonus feats than other classes because the Fighter does nothing to jump prerequisites.
Who's getting more out of their bonus feats: the Ranger who is getting TWF, ITWF, and Two-Weapon Rend absolutely free, or the Fighter who also needs to pump their dex to 17, pick up Double Slice, wait an extra level to get Rend, and maybe Weapon Finesse and the Agile enchantment to justify buying a high dex?