(con't) I think that the game does need to reward both good Character Building AND good Party Building. I mean, it is fun sometimes to make a special group that breaks from the norm, but part of the reason that is fun is because it does in fact make the whole concept more challenging. A group of all fighters is great in straight combat, but the lack of the other 3 archetypes makes it harder to avoid traps, handle swarms, counter magic, and heal magically, as well as repel undead. A party of all...
View full comment(con't) I think that the game does need to reward both good Character Building AND good Party Building. I mean, it is fun sometimes to make a special group that breaks from the norm, but part of the reason that is fun is because it does in fact make the whole concept more challenging. A group of all fighters is great in straight combat, but the lack of the other 3 archetypes makes it harder to avoid traps, handle swarms, counter magic, and heal magically, as well as repel undead. A party of all Clerics is a little more rounded, especially if each is a cleric of a different God/Domain so they are better able to sub for missing archetypes, but still, their not quite as good at AOE as if they had a Wizard type, they aren't as good at trap-finding than if they had a Rogue, etc... A group of all Wizards is drastically hurting in the AC and HP departments. Much weaker in toe to toe fighting, however, with properly diverse spell selection, they can handle a lot of situations. They are still shy on healing.
Reward good Role-playing, reward good Character Building, reward good Background/storytelling, and reward good Party Building. Simple as that!
I love playing clerics, but I also like the option of DMing a world inspired by Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones - both settings with lower magic and less healing. Just as Mike Mearls likes to run an all day castle siege, and Chris Perkins a new campaign with lots of political intrigue, I think the basic rules should allow for an easy to use option for non-magical, or more rare, or slower forms of healing. Keep up the good work, Mike - and thanks as always for listening!
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