Cyberzombie wrote:nockermensch wrote:
At the same time, I don't subscribe to the notion that "awesome requires being supernatural". You keep seeing as an absolute rule of the universe what's actually an artifact of decades of bad design decisions.
You could change the paradigm, but it'd require depowering wizards to about 5-10% of their current power level. You'd go to a wizard being Gandalf. And I don't mean the bullshit Gandalf superpowers we never see because he's some secret demigod. I'm talking about the spells Gandalf actually does in the movies, disregarding the whole fight with the balrog and resurrecting. He casts a light spell, sends an animal messenger and gets in a magical shoving match with Saruman. When he wants to kill stuff, he fights with swords, because swords are actually better than what his spells do.
You could make a game like that, but it wouldn't resemble D&D at all. A purple worm would be a destroyer of civilizations, not a random monster mid-level parties face.
This is a non-sequitur. Fighters don't need to be a sad and pathetic class and everybody else don't need to be depowered for melee combat to shine. You can have a paradigm where if a "fighter" takes their 8th level, they get to pick stuff like:
Improved Really Good Jumping (Ex) [mobility] : You jump to any point within Medium Range from you as a move action. If you jump at a flying creature, you can grab it / land on it as a free action.
Improved Guardian (Ex) [defense] : You're intensely aware of attacks happening within Short Range from you. You can attempt to redirect these attacks to you. Roll (whatever is balanced) and if successful, you becomes the target. These redirected attacks deal half damage. If they allow for a save, you save at +4.
Greater Resolve (Ex) [defense] : Inside Combat: You gain 25 temporary hit points at the start of your round. They don't stack. Outside Combat: You get to ignore weather and planar effects that deal less than 25 damage/round. City of Brass? Sure, whatever.
Elaborate Planning (Ex) [keikaku] : Inside Combat: As a move action, you reorder your and your allies' initiatives. This ability can be used once per five minutes. Outside Combat: Your uncanny talent to make people work together can do (stuff appropriate for those who like to play Logistics and Dragons).
Greater Goading (Ex) [keikaku] : Inside Combat: As a move action, force an enemy to make a Will Save. On a failed Save, that enemy acts immediately (this permanently changes his initiative place) moving as you determine and doing nothing for their standard action. Outside Combat: Works like Suggestion, while still being (Ex) People that make their saves realize you tried to manipulate them.
etc.
QUITE OBVIOUSLY, this isn't going to fly for everybody. People intent to roleplaying Conan from 1-20 are still fucked. I don't consider this a problem, because people intent on that want low level adventures forever, and this can be achieved with more sincerity by playing only on the low levels. A sincere discussion about tiers of adventuring certainly belongs on any RPG that wants to do D&D's adventuring scope. If people can't accept that the adventuring companion for a flying / teleporting / mind-controlling wizard looks more like One Piece's Zoro than with the historical king Arthur, then they should avoid playing at that tier.
