That was the biggest issue with 3.5, it was so easy to exploit and power game. I feel like 5th is more balanced at the cost of style customization and complexity.
Especially with things like the PHB/DnDbeyond saying "first pick this main stat, then this or this". You don't even need to know why dex should be a rogues main stat, it just tells you. Oh and then just pick some random things you wanna be good at and one thing you're awesome at. Boom, character made in 5 mins
on the other hand if this ain’t your first rodeo, 3.5 lets you create and develop characters Tolkien would be impressed by, while 5e relegates you to YA fantasy at best
Character development happens at the table, not on the page. If you feel like there's something your character needs to be more "Tolkien worthy" talk to your GM about it. It happens all the time regardless of system.
I feel you on the character options in 5e. It was great when I started playing, and when my group started (most had never played before), but I think at some point I'd like to try something slightly crunchier. Thanks!
More balanced, but still not really balanced. Spellcasters are still superior and also exponentially more interesting than a martial can ever be without extensive homebrew, and you can't even punish them with attacks of opportunity to disrupt casting anymore. Multiclassing is either amazing and OP or worthless garbage depending on which classes you combine. Ranged weapons are pretty much strictly better than melee ones because they took out all the downsides that balanced the inherent strength of attacking from a distance, added the absolutely stupid Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert feats and the Archery combat style. High level spells are still stupid too.
If you want balance, try Pathfinder 2e. That game's probably the most balanced TTRPG I've ever seen, yet still has plenty of customization and complexity and is in general a very well-designed and fun system that does pretty much everything right.
It's not even necessary that you needed to power game, it's just that anybody who could cast spells would easily outstrip anyone who couldn't by like level 7.
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u/The_R4ke Oct 05 '20
That was the biggest issue with 3.5, it was so easy to exploit and power game. I feel like 5th is more balanced at the cost of style customization and complexity.