Learning Twine and Harlowe - The Road to Adventure

    This is a great little story if you're learning Twine and Harlowe, it has a ton of comments and while it's short there is a decent variety in the story to copy and paste to build on; and lots of comments to learn how things work.  I tip my hat to the writer.  If you're new to Twine/ Harlowe check it out at the link below:

The Road To Adventure

Wallpaper - Nature

The Elemental Empire - part 1 - The Grand Sweep of History

    Okay, enough world-building theory, let's start writing something and throwing out ideas.  No doubt some (or even all :) of these ideas will get re-named, revised and quite possibly thrown out altogether - but I feel like it's time to start brainstorming.  First off, I do have to say that the world of 13th Age struck a chord with me when I first read it, so I'm going to take some loose inspiration from it; though I'm also going to significantly shake things up.  I don't want or intend to step on anyone's copyright, I just mention it first to say to any 13th Age players out there that yes, I really liked the game's setting, and second to remind myself to watch my thinking so I don't cross that line.  Thus, let's start building the Elemental Empire.
    I like the idea of Ages, or periods of history that are clearly defined.  Now, in real life things are not so neat, and one culture's Age is another's inconsequential period.  So for my new world I'm going to force "ages" - which I'm currently calling "Conjunctions."  In the night sky there are several lights, colored so they stand out from the basically white stars, that move at erratic and unpredictable intervals.  Eventually they align, say there are 5 or 7 of them (enough to form a distinctive pattern), and with each alignment (called a conjunction) something terrible happens.  A magical catastrophe, plague, mass death, famine/ drought - something really bad.  No one has been able to predict exactly when it will happen, but it does get more obvious as time passes (and the lights draw closer together, I'm thinking they don't line up but rather make a shape of some kind) (I'm also debating making them disappear instead - in this initial idea they are symbols of disaster, but maybe they should be symbols of hope/ good and as they disappear they signal oncoming disaster?  I think I'm going to switch it to that, not sure yet though).  I like this idea as "something to fear" events, a powerful force that is not understood and unstoppable - the only hope is to mitigate it.  I want to leave the interval open (hence it's being a random number of years/ amount of time) so that GMs who don't want to use this can just set their stories in-between the conjunctions and not worry about it.  And while they cannot be stopped, let's say they can be mitigated, that either people have been able to divine the oncoming doom and take steps to lessen it, or that the player's have the potential to be the first to do so.
    So, this is going to be a fantasy setting, vaguely medieval, and I also want it to be big.  I've been watching a lot of Crash Course's World History on YouTube (for fun and in preparation to write this) and it's struck my by just how many different empires and kingdoms have all been active and interacting at the same time.  There seem to have been few periods of history that did not have a lot of different civilizations that all had some degree of contact.  So I want this to be a big world, with several different societies.  We've got to have magic of course, and I'm still up in the air about gunpowder and steampunk/magitech - I'm not sure just how advanced I want tech to be - though I am leaning towards having at least one society be more technologically advanced that the rest (both to give the option of tech to players/GMs and because it does sound cool to have a gun-slinging wizard [though I was not impressed by Pathfinder's archetype in Ultimate Combat]).
    My main society, one of if not the biggest, is going to be Roman Empire-esque, though also split into Western and Eastern halves that are fairly different.  It needs some "barbarians" to fight, which are going to be in the East.  Demons and Devils are in the West.  And South of it are the remains of the old empire.  Okay, let's shift gears before I go into more history - lets talk races.  I want to use the available races, but I also want to really mix them up.  The stereotypical elves, dwarves and humans have been done to death since Tolkien and while creating new versions of them means loosing out on the collective culture built around them, I just want something different.  I'm thinking that I'm not going to make completely new races (though that's tempting, another one of my favorite settings is Talislanta, who's tag line was "no elves" because it made it's own races - which creates a kind of steep learning curve, but also makes a fresh, new world to explore), but I am going to change them from some of the stereotypes that I've read.
    So first we have the Dwarvin, Nomin, Elvin, and Giatin: these are the oldest races.  Dwarves become Dwarvin, they are still shorter, extremely durable, and craftsmen.  They are physically related to stone, I'm not sure if I want to say they're essentially living stone, which sounds kinda cool but is going to little too far I think, rather maybe they are stone-like, which stone bones and tough skin (maybe even with stone plates as a kind of exoskeleton).  They are family and clan focused.  They are amazing singers, because they don't have darkvision, instead they have echolocation like bats (or "blindsight" in Pathfinder terms), and their mouths are formed in a way that gives them that ability and also makes them incredible singers (maybe magically enhanced).  They are also consummate liars, exaggerators, hagglers, and braggarts.  Gnomes become the Nomin, they are the shortest race (or one of the shortest races) and while Dwarvin are craftsmen like blacksmiths, Nomin are craftsmen in engraving and fine detail.  They are secretive, quite and taciturn among outsiders - they like to listen and watch.  They are nimble and intelligent, natural scientists, researchers, inventors and detectives.  Not cartoon-ish buffoons like in the Dragonlance series (which other settings seem to emulate as well), but rather smart, clever and crafty.  Elves become the Elvin, who are tied to the land and nature.  Like the Dwarvin I'm debating having the Elvin be living plants (maybe like the Sylvari in Guild Wars 2).  Elvin are master herbalists, weavers, astronomers.  They were the first Druids.  They are very serious, and hold oaths to be sacred and unbreakable.  Last of the oldest or original races are the Giants, or Giatin.  I'm thinking they're 10-15 feet tall, which is around the 12-20 they seem to be in most editions of D&D.  I don't really want to go with the "large, slow and stupid" trope, but I'm not sure what kind of unique identity to hang onto these guys.  I think they're the architects and city-builders of the setting (maybe also administrators and bureaucrats).
    These are the oldest races, the first in the world, and the first few Conjunctions/ages had them fighting with each other, which culminated in a magical war and disaster that created the Humin.  Humans, err... Humin are creatures of magic.  They take to spellcasting like breathing, and all have some minor aptitude with magic at least.  They have the shortest lives, living to just 50 years or so compared to the hundreds of the first races, but Humin also live the most with what they've got.  They grow and reproduce the fastest, which over time has led them to become the dominate species on the planet because their population can bounce back the quickest from the periodic disasters of the Conjunctions.  Physically Humin are weakest of the races, they have no special innate abilities like the First Races, but the Humin gift for magic (or magick ?  I do kind of like spelling it with the "k" for some reason) - the Humin gift for magick means they can be very powerful.  The First Races broke the laws of magick in the disaster that created the Humin.  A side effect of being so tied to magick is that Humin are highly unique.  There is no "DNA inheritance" like we Humans have, a Humin child can have nothing in common with it's parents physically.  This "wild magick" also means that Humin can breed with virtually any other living beings, creating the "crossbreeds." (there has to be some damn explanation for why the only half-whatever races are human-based :)
    So the earliest Conjunctions/ ages were ruled by the First Races, until they nearly wiped themselves out in magickal warfare and created the Humin.  The next several ages saw the Humin rise to power, culminating the the Wizard Kingdom - which then caused another magickal disaster that almost destroyed everybody.  After two near-extinction events based on magick, the Humin and First Races grew closer and began to restrict and control magick (outlawing it was not an option, Humin are innately magickal after all) and together (for the first time) formed the Elemental Empire, which would seek to create and maintain balance in the magick of the world, and between all the races (which had mostly been warring with each other so far).
    The same Conjunction that created the Humin (or shortly thereafter) also created the "Barbarian Races."  These are generally split into the Bestial Races, hybrid animal creatures like the Pegasi and Gryphons, and the Elemental Races, humanoid elementals (not cross-breeds, but rather advanced elementals with sentience).  The disaster that destroyed the Wizard Kingdom also created the undead, minions of the Silent King.  The Elemental Empire would spend the next few Conjunctions fighting these three forces.  After a few conjunctions the Prismatic Dragons would rise (so named because they were multi-colored), leading to the conjunction that ended with the Draconic Sundering (a dragon civil war that nearly wiped out the Empire).  The following conjunctions would see the invasion of the Demons and the intervention of the Pantheon (the general term for all the gods of light/ goodness), which would split the expanding Empire into two halves, each technically the same Empire but with significantly different customs and development.  The Western Empire, the closest to the Demonic Invasion, began to develop and rely on technology - the first major culture to do so - because the Demons are able to twist and warp magick (the Infernal are incapable of directly using magick, they can only manipulate it).
    Which is about where I want the setting to start.  This is all focused on one continent, the northern half of the map, and I'm working on filling out the rest of the world (since I want a variety of cultures and civilizations).  I've rambled on for quite a while (well, this is feeling kind of long to me at least :), so I'm going to wrap it up here and be back next week with some more broad brush-strokes of the world, then I'll start writing some specific details.  Until then, if you have any thoughts or comments feel free to make them below - you can find my email address in my Google Profile on the right and I'm @d100mechanic on Twitter.

Delayed but not Forgotten

    My life got thrown a bit of a loop last week so I'm still not on my desired schedule, but while posts may be coming out a day or two late, I am going to keep getting things out - so please bear with me.

Educational YouTube Channels - RainingChain

    This guy is awesome, he pretty much walks you start-to-finish through creating your own game in HTML/ CSS/ JavaScript - by watching him make his.  Here's his channel, and here's the game itself (you can play it in the browser).

Here are the first few vids...

Using Impossible Target Numbers?

    In Pathfinder there is the "aid another" action, which lets you give an ally a +2 on a roll.  This is not a huge benefit, though under the right circumstances it might be a critical difference.  Still, on average there is not much use to this action.  In the 5th Edition SRD I've been going over, the Bard has the ability to give a bonus d6 to an ally's roll.  This can potentially be a little better than the option in Pathfinder, but on average it's still not a world shaking option.

    My thought is this: why not set impossible target numbers, like a 32 AC at 1st level, and then let the players add their rolls together?

    This feels like an option worth thinking about for a few reasons.  First, if you tell the players (maybe after the first person tries something) that the target number is so high, then they will know (without a doubt and hopefully with a little fear) that this is a special "boss" monster/ circumstance.  Using such over-the-top numbers says that this is a group challenge, something impossible for a single player to accomplish.  Heck, you could even say the monster has an impossible to-hit, like they have a +20 to-hit, and so a player standing alone will be hit every turn without fail (now that's a dragon).
    Second, you can stretch the rules with this to encourage outside the box thinking.  Okay, let's take that dragon above, with the +20 to hit the 1st level players.  Well, we'll let any assisting player add his roll, so if the thief jumps on the dragon's back and starts climbing it, we'll reduce the dragon's to-hit by the thief's climb check - since the thief is distracting the dragon by climbing it.  Or maybe we'll let the bard make a perform check to create a distraction, and subtract that from the dragon's attack, also giving the fighter a, well, fighting chance to survive.
    Third, mechanically this is really easy.  Straight addition with clear target numbers should be pretty easy for the players or GM to work out the odds.  A simple mechanic can hopefully make it easier to focus on the narrative and planning.  You can tweak it lots of ways too, like letting all the PCs in a group divide the damage among themselves from a big attack like a dragon or giant - even a fireball (did one PC "jump in front" of it to shield the others?).  All you have to do is take a number that would be the total of however many players you have (or are involved) - you make the PCs figure out how to divide that.

    Sadly, I have no party to test out this idea, but it's been hovering around the back of my head for a while; so I thought I'd throw it out there for anybody brave enough (or crazy?) to give it a try in their game.  If you do, drop a comment below (or on Twitter) and let me know.

Looking at the 5th Edition SRD - part 5 - Starting Class Abilities

    Okay, having looked at the core elements of classes that they all share, let's start looking at the individual class abilities and see how powerful they are and how the classes compare to each other.  I'm going to start at the beginning and just look at the 1st level abilities for each class...

Barbarian
Rage - you can Rage as a bonus action, a number of times = your proficiency mod; it lasts for 1 min at most (10 rounds of combat), but ends early if you: are unconscious, do not attack an opponent or take damage for a turn, or if you choose to end it.  While raging you: have Advantage on Str checks and saving throws, add damage to melee weapons that use Str, are resistant to Bludgeoning/ Piercing/ Slashing weapons, and you cannot cast spells or wear heavy armor.

    I have never really liked the idea that "rage" can be controlled, that you start and end it at will.  That seems too tame, too domesticated for an ability that should be wild and primal.  Rage is quite the combat ability, it lasts for the whole fight and you can use it twice (to start), and it gives both offensive and defensive bonuses.  The drawbacks are minimal, in fact basically non-existent.  You don't gain any bonuses to Dex-related actions or weapons, not a big deal.  You can't wear heavy armor, which kind of matters when not raging (or would if not for your other ability below), but when raging your damage resistance is quite a nice benefit.  And you can't cast spells, which you shouldn't really need since you can hew foes limb-from-limb.  It seems like a very powerful ability.

Unarmored Defense - when you're not wearing any armor (but shield ok) add your Con mod to your AC.

    This reinforces the "lightly armored" fighter motif, adding your Con on top of you Dex mod.  Light armor is 11 or 12 base AC, and you should easily have a +2 Con mod if you're going to be a Barbarian, so you'll have at least the same AC as wearing light armor [if you have a 0 Con mod you picked the wrong class].  Medium armor goes from 12 - 15 base AC but limits your Dex mod to +2 (14 to 17 max with mod then); so if you went high-Dex and high-Con you should be able to get to Medium armor AC.  Heavy armor goes from 14 to 18 with no mods, and you should be able to hit 14 easy enough, maybe even 16.  Plus you can still use a shield for the extra +2 from that.  So even without armor you should have about as good an AC as being armored.

Bard
Spellcasting - can cast spells, but is limited in the number of spells known.  Every level (except for 3 of them) you gain more spells, and every 2 levels you access a higher tier of spells (which also have "levels," confusingly), but you are limited in the number of spells you can choose from and know.

    Spells are weird, there are 8 (of the 12) classes that can cast spells to some degree, and they vary by weird, hard-to-understand degrees.  It's complicated enough that I'm going to go over it in another post.

Bardic Inspiration - you can give one ally a bonus d6 to add to a roll (within 10 min of recieving it, only one at a time) your Cha mod times between longs rests (basically "per day").  The die increases over time.

    This ability is the worst ever for a class that tends to have marginal abilities.  One person, really, just one person gets inspired by your music - everybody else is bored and wishes you'd shut up?  This ability sucks, both because it doesn't make any logical sense and because it's so under-powered.
    Also, why have Bards always had both spellcasting and "bardic inspiration"?  Shouldn't they just have spells that duplicate the inspiration abilities?  That seems like it would make more sense.

Cleric
Spellcasting - again, I'll cover spells next post.
Divine Domain - again the sparse nature of the SRD creates a headache, as there is only 1 domain described, so trying to ascertain what power level would be appropriate is difficult.  But, from what little we see, the domain gives 2 spells prepared (not more to cast, just more to choose from), proficiency with heavy armor (for a healer?  I kind of see it and I kind of don't), and increases the effectiveness of all healing spells.
    In all, the domain does seem to do some useful stuff, and has an effect throughout the character's career.  Unlike previous versions, you only get one domain, which does seem to reduce your deity to a stereotype instead of a nuanced story element.  that might be a good thing for players who want the simple "heal and fight" cleric, but those who would like some more role-playing depth to the class might be disappointed (or, at least there is little mechanical depth to go with whatever RP elements you make up yourself).

Druid
Druidic Language - you can speak and write a secret language.

    Okay, what the hell?  Yeah, having a secret language can be a benefit (if the GM puts the right NPCs around, or if multiple players take the same class), but is it really enough of one to qualify as a class ability?  This is why I'm listing and comparing the abilities, I want to understand what kind of powers the designers consider appropriate for each level, and this one baffles me.  It seems way too weak to be a class ability and more like a Background element.  Also, what the hell is the purpose of putting a DC to detect a secret druidic message even if you can't read the language?  How the hell would you know it's a message if you can't understand it?  Not very secret if literally anybody can go "oh, that?  yeah, that's a druidic message, don't know what it says though."  The additional stupidity on top of the questionable ability is maddening.

Spellcasting - you know, if spells (and by extension magic) are going to be so common why not go the Earthdawn route and say that every class uses magic, just in a different way?

    I have to admit, I am also wondering about the difference between a Druid and nature Cleric and if they really need to be different classes?  It seems the Druid should be more like a shaman, talking to spirits, but they don't really have that feel.  I dunno... maybe it's just me.

Fighter
Fighting Style - choose from a list of bonuses with certain weapons or ways of fighting.  Generally a small bonus to hit, or damage, or defense/AC.

    This feels like the meat-and-potatoes of the fighter, being the best with weapons and situations, but by default you can only choose one.  Again, previous editions are messing with me here, generally the fighter was the one who had a whole lot of combat options so seeing them reduced to just one feels weird.  Also, I'm detecting a general trend throughout the classes that each gets one main ability that grows over time and one minor ability that provides a relatively small and static bonus.  In which case, this is baffling for the fighter.  If you gained a new style every 2 levels you would parallel all the spellcasters who gain a new tier of spells every 2 levels - but you don't.  Why not?  Even the Barbarian's Rage increases over time/levels.

Second Wind - you can heal once in-between any rest (short or long)

    This works, as the minor backup ability it is not super strong, and it fits the archetype, you can stay in the fight longer than anyone else (before resorting to magic).

Monk
Unarmored Defense - with no armor or shield add your Wis mod to AC.

    This is like the Barbarian, basically you've got the same AC without armor as most other classes do with it.  It makes me wonder though, how much of a benefit is that?  What downsides are there to wearing armor?  It takes time to put on or take off, that might be bad in some limited circumstances.  It costs money, but most classes who can wear it get it for free, and in most every game on earth money is only a short-term problem (since making a balanced RPG economy appears to be impossible).  Some types do give a penalty to stealth, which only matters if that's what you're doing - and the Barbarian does not seem like a stealth class, the Monk a little more-so, but really the Rogue is going to be the sneaky one.  Armor does have a weight, again though, how much of problem is that really?  Assuming you even track it, since most games I've ever played ignored encumbrance (honestly, just how much dramatic potential is there in encumbrance?).  Anyways, this is a useful ability in it's way, I'm just starting to wonder what it really means if non-armored characters have about the same ACs as armored characters - what's the point then?  They are not really different in any meaningful way I can detect.  Again, maybe this just bugs me and not anybody else.

Martial Arts - you gain special abilities with any "monk weapon" which are all simple melee weapons that don't have the heavy or two-handed properties - and shortswords.  With these monk weapons you can: use Dex instead of Str for hit and damage, change the damage die type according to a table (which increases over time), and make an unarmed strike as a bonus action.

    Okay, umm... what to say about this one.  This is the "main" ability, the one that's going to grow over time, and it's pretty weak in a lot of ways.  First, the definition of "monk weapons" is passable - but falls short of any actual martial arts style (well, okay, given how badly generalized the weapons are, I guess it's that terrible - but the dojo fight in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is playing in my mind, though you could argue that was between two Fighters or a Monk and Fighter).  Also, the little note that nunchaku are just re-named clubs and use the club stats - uh... wow.... no.  Big no there.  Here's the easiest way to dispel that one, what are the odds of hitting yourself when swinging a club?  Now compare that to the odds of hitting yourself with nunchaku.  Seriously, that's one of those comments that tells you the person has never done the thing they're talking about (while not a nunchaku expert by a light-year, I have swung the damn things and discovered how tricky they are to use properly).  This goes with the whip and blowgun as lumping weapons together for simplicity in a bad way.
    The damage is a joke.  There are 9 weapons that qualify as "monk," 5 of them do more damage (d6) than the starting d4 - the others do the same damage.  So you literally cannot notice this ability at first level.  It takes until 5th level to see the difference (somewhat), and until 11th level (half your entire career, the chart stops at 20 after all) for an across-the-board benefit.
    The free "finesse" (use Dex instead of Str) is okay, there is only 1 monk weapon that already has it, so you add it to most of them.
    The bonus unarmed strike is also okay, but just feels a little weird.  Even if using a weapon, you don't make an extra weapon attack, it's an unarmed attack.  So instead of hitting somebody again with your enchanted dagger you're going to punch them?  It's another one of those things that I can see the reason for, and at the same time I kind of question the reason for.  If that unarmed attack can be changed to a maneuver (trip, disarm, etc) I'd see it a lot more (not sure if there's an ability to do that though).
    I'm not very fond of this ability.  It's one of the cornerstones of the Monk's definition, and it is okay but not great - and I'm picturing it next to the Barbarian's Rage and the Fighter's Fighting Style.  The Barb has a lot higher modifiers, but is limited to just 2 fights (at first, that goes up though), while the Monk and Ftr are small but constant - that seems balancing, but still, I don't know.  I almost feel like this is better than the Fighter's Styles, and actually, it is - while the Monk starts a little weak, they do at least grow over time while the Fighter is a one-and-done.

Paladin
Divine Sense - you can detect and celestial, fiend or undead within 60 feet and not behind total cover.  You know the type (broadly, literally just "celestial," "fiend," or "undead") but not the specific identity.  You can also detect any area that has been consecrated or desecrated via spell.  Usable 1 + Cha mod per day (long rest).

    Okay, every part of this bugs me.  60 feet is a semi-decent range, kinda close, but only if the creature isn't in total cover?  Why?  What are you doing to sense this then?  So a zombie behind you, got it, but one behind a door, nope... ?  Again, why not if your sight doesn't enter into it (again, behind you is not forbidden) ?  And I'm reading this as they wrote it, that you can only detect "undead" and not "vampire."  That may be bad writing in the rules, since "Lestat" is forbidden (granted, they use "Strahd").  So what you ask- well different types of undead have different types of abilities, so knowing "zombie" or "vampire" is actually helpful (heck, even just "weak" undead or "strong" undead).  The spell is fine, though you should also be able to detect the deity the area has been devoted to, IMHO.  And lastly, why the per-day usage?  First, it's not like the ability is so powerful, it can only detect 3 kinds of monsters (arguably 2, since celestials should be friendly to the presumably good character).  Second, again what exactly are you doing that is so stressful that you can't maintain it?  All of the other "minor" abilities so far have been passive, or "always on."

Lay On Hands - you can heal your level x5 HP per day, for 5 HP you can heal one poison or disease effect.

    As the "main" ability this seems a little limited, but it is helpful.  Free healing is not a bad thing, and being able to use it on poison or disease at first level is not bad (though, either would take your whole healing allotment, so you'd have to debate not healing anyone if you though you might need to heal poison or disease).  It does level up, being able to heal more points each level.  Still, it doesn't grow in having any new or expanded options over time.

Ranger
Favored Enemy - choose 1 type of creature, or 2 types of humanoids: you have Advantage on Wis/ Survival to track and Int to recall information about them, and can speak their language.  Choose another at 6th and 14th levels.

    Okay, this is hands-down the crappiest "favored enemy" in any RPG I can think of.  This ability is total garbage, and it's insulting that the designers though this was actually worthwhile.  Call this "Creature Lore" since there is actually nothing offensive or combative in the ability (which kinda sucks if that's the type of character you're trying to make).

Natural Explorer - choose one terrain type, double your proficiency mod and gain several bonuses in that terrain.

    This one is not bad, the mechanical bonus is nothing to sneeze at, and the various abilities are all useful to some degree.  Half the abilities apply to the whole group, so one Ranger makes quite a difference to how the party travels.

Rogue
Expertise - choose 2 skill proficiencies, or 1 skill and thieves' tools - double your proficiency bonus with those.  Choose two more at 6th level.

    Okay, not terrible.  I would prefer gaining 1 extra expertise every 2 levels (so you'd have 2 at 5th level, one of those at 3rd, and would keep growing after 5th) to be more in line with the spell progression - but this is not too bad.

Sneak Attack - do extra damage, starting at d6 and increasing to distracted foes.  A foe is distracted if you: have advantage to hit them with a finess or ranged weapon, or there is an ally threatening the enemy and you don't have disadvantage on the attack.

    Rogues have always back-stabbed, and they always will.  I'm not sure that's right for the class in some ways, but it doesn't hurt.  The qualifiers get a little long, and the wording is tortured.  The document talks about "the enemy isn't incapacitated" but it's referring to the enemy of your enemy, hence my using the word "ally." (hey, enemy of my enemy... right?)

Theives' Cant - you can pass secret messages face-to-face (takes 4 times longer) with others who speak this, and write short messages.

    Rogues are the only class to get 3 abilities at first level, and I'm cool with that since one is their secret language, which works better as a bonus ability then the Druid's minor ability.  Also, why do secret messages take 4 times longer and why do I care as GM or PC?

Sorcerer
Spellcasting - bet you thought I forgot about spellcasting?  Nope, the Ranger and Paladin can also cast spells, just not until 2nd level, so the spellcasters have been hiding among us :)
Sorcerous Origin - like the Cleric the SRD only has 1 choice, and the ability gives multiple benefits which also level up over time.  I do really like the idea that Sorcerers have a tie to some otherworldly origin, it just sounds cool.  It seems to be a decent ability, perhaps even a little over-powered for being the "minor" ability.

Warlock
Otherworldly Patron - again, like the Cleric and Sorcerer you get multiple benefits that level up.
Pact Magic - Warlock magic is even weirder than the other spellcasters, which I'll cover next post.

Wizard
Spellcasting - the final, and quintessential spellcaster.
Arcane Recovery - you can recover half you level (rounded up) in spells between short rests.  This is actually a pretty good ability, it is not too powerful and it helps bolster one of the weakness of the class (which is totally reliant/ dependent on casting spells).


    Okay, so with the general pattern of Major and Minor ability there is a lot of variation in the classes.  I think non-spellcasters seem to get the shorter end of the stick, since their abilities do not tend to upgrade as fast or expand as regularly as the casters.  But it's not a huge difference overall, though I think it's noticeable enough that it could stand to get fixed.  I'll have to think about that.
    Not done yet, with the prevalence of spellcasters we'll look at them next before we can say we've covered the basics of the class abilities.  Until next week :)