Quote Originally Posted by Kerrin View Post
Something I've pondered recently regarding the fighter / wizard disparity ...

It seems to me that when a typical vancian wizard levels up and gets new spell slots they effectively get new "ability slots" (to use a generic term) and get to pick from a list that is rather vast and varied in both potency and variety.

Yet when a fighter levels up they might get a single additional "ability slot" (aka feat) and get to pick from a much shorter list that is far less varied in both potency and variety.

When I started thinking about the fighter / wizard disparity like this it became a forehead smacker moment for me that, duh, the wizard gets way more "ability slots" than the fighter over their careers and the things they can fill those slots with are vastly different in variety and potency. I never before really equated spell slots and lists of potential spells with feats and lists of potential feats. I feel pretty dumb for not equating the two.

I think this is what fourth edition TRIED to even out but unfortunately their implementation left a lot to be desired.

I wish WotC luck with fifth edition. I really do.
Well it makes sense not to equate feats and spell slots. After all, Wizards get feats too. In fact, they get 12 of them, only 6 less than the Fighter gets. If Feats were as potent as spells, and Wizards were limited in spell slots to the same number as Fighters get feats, there would STILL be a disparity, because feats aren't a mechanic that can replace a resource/ability system for classes.