In an alternate universe...

[Lapsed Pacifist]

I know there are tons of threads about this topic, but i'm just fed up with my wizard feeling useless and outclassed by the party fighter. Really, the only thing more powerful than a fighter (sword + board, although other options work) is a CW Samurai, but most GMs ban tier zero characters. I mean, the rules and options inherent to D&D just enforce martial supremacy, whichever way you look at it...

So, imagine D&D had been designed in a different way, and the tier system is essentially reversed (probably excluding NPC classes) - monks and fighters are really powerful, wizards, druids and clerics are a joke. All the same classes exist, and the very basics are still the same (there are still feats, spells, saves & d20 rolls, although they probably work differently).

Why is this the case? Did the designers just read more Conan?

How does this change D&D?

How would this change forum culture, optimization axioms etc?

[Segev]

The biggest barrier to that lies in the core source of the Tier 1 classes' power: "magic" can do anything.

There is no real-world basis for comparison. No point at which saying "it's magic" can't, to some degree, justify any power, capability, or effect. The way D&D has structured its magic plays into this: everything a T1 spellcaster does is a spell. Spells are discrete blocks of rules which do explicit things, and while there's the potential for themes to them within schools or for specific classes, there's nothing really preventing a spell from doing just about anything.

Finally, spells are more numerous and more easily acquired and swapped out than the closest equivalent that non-casters get: feats.


So, to approach how this could have come about, feats would have to be more plentiful, first of all. That, or more easily swapped out. They would have to have less restriction in terms of their power and scope; there would need to be potential for feats to do literally anything, justified by "it's a supernal feat" or something like that.

It's a bit to a lot harder to sell a feat that lets you use Shapeshift than it is a spell. Not impossible, but harder. Especially if the feat is supposed to be on the alt-universe T1 class called "fighter."


So the long and the short of it is, "magic" is the independent variable. It can be made more or less powerful by altering the rules that apply to it, because it's purely fictional.

The fighter-types will always be, on some level, bounded, unless they're given functional magic as well. (He-Man seemed to be able to do just about anything with a feat of strength, even if it was nearly nonsensical; various shounen anime have martial arts which are functionally magic, with DBZ, Naruto, and Hunter x Hunter being good examples.)

Mages CAN be made weak compared to fighters, but bringing non-magical people up to Tier 1 by the definition of Tier 1 (can break the game in just about any fashion desired) without introducing magic (which is the go-to excuse for "can do anything") would be difficult.

[FocusWolf413]

Do you want EVERYONE to be Batman?