One free travel power at character creation?

[Steampunkette]

8 hours ago, PaxArcana said:

.... by accident.  Emmert worshipped at the altar of the Holy Trinity.  The proof is in the intended roles of the Heroic ATs.  Tanking (Tankers), Crowd Control (Controllers), Buffs and Debuffs (Defenders), and DPS (Blasters and Scrappers).

Emmert was big on the holy Quintet.

 

Tank, Glass Cannon, Lancer, Support, Control

 

DPS is a thing, absolutely, but it was broken into two segments. The Lancer or Melee DPS and the Glass Cannon or Ranged DPS. With the idea that Casters would have controls to keep themselves alive while Lancers had lesser defenses than Tanks. Meanwhile the Support character could provide heals but also buff you to the nines or ruin the enemies by making it harder for them to hit. And of course Control is all about battlefield denial and locking them down completely.

 

And if you look at those character roles you can certainly see the seeds of the Holy Trinity of WoW or the Holy Quartet of EQ. But it's really, at it's core....

 

The 5 Man Band of D&D.

 

The Five Man Band is a series of gaming roles that can be fulfilled in different ways by different classes. Sometimes the Tank is the Paladin or the Fighter or the Barbarian or the Wildshaped Druid. Sometimes the Glass Canon is a Sorcerer, a Warlock, or a Wizard. The Lancer can be a Ranger, a Rogue, or a Light Fighter. Clerics, Druids, Wizards, and Bards can play the Support Role. And of course Druids, Wizards, Sorcerers, and some Warlocks can play the Control role.

 

Five Man Banding was the surest way to survive GenCon One-Shots because you covered specific roles that synergized well. Of course it was -absolutely- useless when Gygax pulled out Tomb of Horrors... but still.

[PaxArcana]

57 minutes ago, Steampunkette said:

Five Man Banding was the surest way to survive GenCon One-Shots because you covered specific roles that synergized well. Of course it was -absolutely- useless when Gygax pulled out Tomb of Horrors... but still.

My 5E campaign has an alternate game for when the regular GM can't make it.

 

It's the Tomb of horrors.  We had no idea going into it, so I have a Warforged Fighter, "Ellek".  90% of what he is and does will be irrelevant in all but a few situations.

 

But he's got a good Wisdom - I toyed with the idea of Paladin, before settling on Fighter(Battlemaster) - is Proficient in Perception, and has the feat: Observant.

 

Passive Perception 21, ftw.  (If I'd wanted to really be obnoxious about it, I could have pulled off a 26 by also taking Dungeon Delver ...)

 

So, he just moves slowly, and spots just about every trap or secret door in the place.  He may not know if what he sees is a trap, a secret door, or whatever - but he knows where the "hinky stuff" is.  😄

 

...

 

If/when we get to Acererak, if the Wail doesn't TPK us on the spot, Ellek also wields a Mace of Disruption, so ... 😄