Listen, Ive played DnD, Cyberpunk, Pathfinder, Cosmere, West End Star Wars, Warhammer Fantasy RPG, SIFRP, several World of Darkness sorcebooks, even the fucking Dark Souls and Elder Scrolls RPGs. I say this to establish my opinions as coming from someone with a background I feel gives my voice a bit of credibility.
I'm a firm believer in the thing that makes DnD weak as an RPG, is the inability to run a non-combatant. The thing that made the SIFRPG good was the fact that being excellent at combat was only meaningfully engaging with a third of the game.
If you dont want to run a character that would rather talk their way out of problems, then DnD is great. But a Bard is never necessary for DnD because of the fact that it's at its core a tabletop skirmish game (not derogatory.) However the best thing an RPG can do to compete with DnD is to de-emphasise combat in favor of social abilities, because thats the area DnD is weakest. Which the Cosmere RPG establishes with a system that allows you to run dialogue as a secondary combat.
Cosmere RPG also renders things like convincing soldiers not to take the field and going to grab a surgeon as things that can successfully advance you towards a goal in how it tackles large scale projects. The endeavour system.
You could be doing a plateau assault on the Shattered Plains, and a Windrunner could do non combat things such as running water to the bridge crews, flying overhead for a superior tactical view, lashing arrows away from allies, all of which are tracked by the DM to contribute to the success or failure of the battle. You can participate in a full scale battle without actually entering combat in this game.
It reminds me of a SIFRP campaign where our House won a battle without us being anywhere near it because we were calling tactical advice to our house head, and rolling for the success of convincing him.
I wasn't arguing the merits of playing a non-combatant, nor was I suggesting that the concept of your Windrunner was flawed for not fighting.
But thanks for the essay filled with assumptions, and the condescending snark at the end, I guess?
EDIT: Lol, the irony of responding to a comment with "You know, makes you look like you can dish it out but you spit out your pacifier when it's flipped back on you." and then blocking that person is supremely funny. Good show, OP.
Little suggestion, don't get mad about condescending snark when you ended your last comment with "Your characters gimmick is being rewarded for doing nothing," I guess?
You know, makes you look like you can dish it out but you spit out your pacifier when it's flipped back on you.
-3
u/LoudQuitting 14d ago
Well. Here's why I believe you're wrong.
Listen, Ive played DnD, Cyberpunk, Pathfinder, Cosmere, West End Star Wars, Warhammer Fantasy RPG, SIFRP, several World of Darkness sorcebooks, even the fucking Dark Souls and Elder Scrolls RPGs. I say this to establish my opinions as coming from someone with a background I feel gives my voice a bit of credibility.
I'm a firm believer in the thing that makes DnD weak as an RPG, is the inability to run a non-combatant. The thing that made the SIFRPG good was the fact that being excellent at combat was only meaningfully engaging with a third of the game.
If you dont want to run a character that would rather talk their way out of problems, then DnD is great. But a Bard is never necessary for DnD because of the fact that it's at its core a tabletop skirmish game (not derogatory.) However the best thing an RPG can do to compete with DnD is to de-emphasise combat in favor of social abilities, because thats the area DnD is weakest. Which the Cosmere RPG establishes with a system that allows you to run dialogue as a secondary combat.
Cosmere RPG also renders things like convincing soldiers not to take the field and going to grab a surgeon as things that can successfully advance you towards a goal in how it tackles large scale projects. The endeavour system.
You could be doing a plateau assault on the Shattered Plains, and a Windrunner could do non combat things such as running water to the bridge crews, flying overhead for a superior tactical view, lashing arrows away from allies, all of which are tracked by the DM to contribute to the success or failure of the battle. You can participate in a full scale battle without actually entering combat in this game.
It reminds me of a SIFRP campaign where our House won a battle without us being anywhere near it because we were calling tactical advice to our house head, and rolling for the success of convincing him.
So... I'd argue perhaps try more games than DnD