The D&D 3rd edition balance blunder

This is not my usual topic, so if you were expecting some electoral analysis, click on.

In 2000, Wizards of the Coast published their first edition of the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons — known as 3rd edition. They made numerous changes, many of them intended to simplify and regularize the game. They also made spellcasters too powerful, and warriors too weak.

It did not take long before players recognized that combat-oriented “Codzilla” characters (“Cod” was short for “cleric or druid”) could handle the front lines of combat just as capably as a fighter while also having useful magical abilities that a fighter lacked. Often overlooked is that this balance issue was introduced in 3rd edition.

Many of the changes of 3rd edition clearly provided an advantage to spellcasters or a disadvantage to warrior classes. The limitations on spellcasting, the restriction of effective combat training to warriors, and the limited effect of ability scores only slightly above or below average were numbered among the more irritating and quirky 2nd edition rules.

Everybody is a warrior

2nd edition had four major categories of character classes: Priests, rogues, warriors, and wizards. Each of these categories included one core character class — respectively cleric, thief…