History BoringButPractical / DungeonsAndDragons

* As far as weapons go, it's hard to go wrong with the Quarterstaff. It has a surprising amount of wallop for a simple weapon, it's cheap and widely available, and any class has the proficiency to use it. But it also has a number of useful non-combat uses: It can be used as a walking stick, to carry heavy loads over your back, transport buckets of water, as a lever, as a tent pole, to trigger traps from a safe distance, to write messages in sand, and countless other uses.

* A mule as a Beast of Burden. In 5e, a mule costs 8 gold, and has a Carrying Capacity of 420 pounds, averaging out to 1 gold per 52.5 pounds, making it rather affordable to buy for most low-level, and cash-strapped, parties -- in fact, most parties could get at least two mules, possibly more, depending on cost of feed of course. Also, with the release of Tasha's, it's possible to apply the Warrior Sidekick class to the mules, or any other CR 1/2 or lower mount, and make them decently effective tanks for the party, which is useful for a party full of spellcasters and others with low health and armor class and no dedicated tanks. In short, that mule can become one heck of a Bad Ass.

* For a 3rd Edition wizard, many of the most powerful spells are not flashy direct-damage spells like ''Fireball'' or ''Lightning Bolt'', but spells that weaken the enemy, like ''Ray of Enfeeblement'' or ''Web'', and spells with power up the whole party like ''Haste'', which can turn a potentially deadly fight into a cakewalk.

* For a 3rd Edition wizard, many of the most powerful spells are not flashy direct-damage spells like ''Fireball'' or ''Lightning Bolt'', but spells that weaken the enemy, like ''Ray of Enfeeblement'' or ''Web'', which can turn a potentially deadly fight into a cakewalk.

* ''Magic Missile'' is one of the most basic arcane offensive spells, as well as one of the most practical...starting from 3rd edition. The damage it deals is sub-par -- at its basic level, the spell is three darts of [=1d4 + 1=] force damage each. As a tradeoff, Magic Missile ''[[AlwaysAccurateAttack always hits]]''. It ignores damage resistances and elemental resistances, ignores incorporeality, and [[NoSavingThrow does not allow a saving throw to reduce or negate its effects]]. The only things that can stop Magic Missile are spell resistance/immunity (uncommon at low-mid levels), a specific spell (''Shield'') or a specific consumable item (Brooch of Shielding). And as a 1st level spell, you'll always have plenty of spell slots available for it, and it becomes prime material for metamagic feats later in the game. In 4th Edition, Magic Missile is one of the few wizard powers that count as a ranged basic attack, meaning it gets bonuses from a lot of equipment and can be used for extra attacks granted by certain leader classes. In 5e, it retains much of its 3e strength.
** In earlier editions -- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and [=BECMI=], specifically -- it's actually AwesomeButImpractical. Yes, it has the punching power outlined above... but wizards in these editions have a ''much smaller'' pool of spells, and have to individually memorize each spell the number of times they want to be able to use it, in contrast to the more flexible casting system seen in 4th or 5th edition. As a result, at low levels, Magic Missile essentially becomes a one-use, slightly stronger crossbow attack. Fans of the [=OSR=] movement instead advise players to take non-damaging utility spells like ''Grease'', ''Sleep'' or ''Charm Person'' instead, which can affect a wider area and have much more potent effects in those editions.

* The Human race. [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass "Why play a human in a fantasy game?"]] is a question you will hear a lot, but depending on what version you play, you can get a +1 to every core stat (standard human) or a +1 to any two core stats, a free skill proficiency, and a free feat (variant human). Variant human is considered a top tier race pick for any class, one of the rare occassions that the JackOfAllStats is high on a game's tier list.

* The Human race. [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass "Why play a human in a fantasy game?"]] is a question you will hear a lot, but depending on what version you play, you can get a +1 to every core stat (standard human) or a +1 to any two core stats, a free skill proficiency, and a free feat (variant human). Variant human is considered a top tier race pick for any class, one of the rare occassions that the JackOfAllStats is high on a game's tier list.

* Speaking of Tome of Battle, the Warblade's exclusive Martial Discipline, Iron Heart. There is nothing extremely flashy about it, just simply normal basics of sword fighting and will-power trained UpToEleven until it hits BadassNormal levels. Why worry about what a foe may or may not be immune to, when you can just simply hit'em really hard with one attack, or wipe out a horde of enemies with maneuvers that are flat out better than a similar Feat which requires other feats to even use. Or even just simply parry the enemy's attack.

* A mule as a Beast of Burdon. In 5e, a mule costs 8 gold, and has a Carrying Capacity of 420 pounds, averaging out to 1 gold per 52.5 pounds, making it rather affordable to buy for most low-level, and cash-strapped, parties -- in fact, most parties could get at least two mules, possibly more, depending on cost of feed of course. Also, with the release of Tasha's, it's possible to apply the Warrior Sidekick class to the mules, or any other CR 1/2 or lower mount, and make them decently effective tanks for the party, which is useful for a party full of spellcasters and others with low health and armor class and no dedicated tanks. In short, that mule can become one heck of a Bad Ass.

* ''Magic Missile'' is one of the most basic arcane spells, as well as one of the most practical. The damage it deals is sub-par -- at its basic level, the spell is three darts of [=1d4 + 1=] force damage each. As a tradeoff, Magic Missile ''[[AlwaysAccurateAttack always hits]]''. It ignores damage resistances and elemental resistances, ignores incorporeality, and [[NoSavingThrow does not allow a saving throw to reduce or negate its effects]]. The only things that can stop Magic Missile are spell resistance/immunity (uncommon at low-mid levels), a specific spell (''Shield'') or a specific consumable item (Brooch of Shielding). And as a 1st level spell, you'll always have plenty of spell slots available for it, and it becomes prime material for metamagic feats later in the game. In 4th Edition, Magic Missile is one of the few wizard powers that count as a ranged basic attack, meaning it gets bonuses from a lot of equipment and can be used for extra attacks granted by certain leader classes.
* The humble ''Grease'' spell covers a 10-foot-by-10-foot section of the floor with slippery liquid. It's much less flashy than other 1st-level spells and harmless in and of itself, but the ability to make your enemies trip over themselves is invaluable in combat situations. And in 5th edition it doesn't require concentration, allowing you to set down a grease slick (or three) while maintaining concentration on other spells.

* The 3rd Edition cleric lacks the finesse of the Rogue, the combat prowess of the Fighter, and the impressive offensive magic light show of the Wizard. Furthermore, it is expected to fill the thankless, inglorious task of healing and supporting the party. Most of the glory is vicarious, by allowing the party members to survive and do better at their respective jobs, but a party without a cleric is virtually hamstrung.

* The most important magic items in 3.5 are the ones that increases your stats. They take precedence over anything else that uses the same slot. Also, items that do cool or unusual things are often priced too high to be useful by the time you can get them.
* In 3.X edition, playing as an ordinary human rather than an exotic fantasy race might sound boring, but it provides the best all-around game benefits: a bonus feat (giving you a jump-start on later, powerful feats), an extra skill point each level (which has more of an effect on skills than a one-time stat bonus) and allows more freedom from penalties while multiclassing (freeing up the player to create a more impressive character build).
* Also in 3.X, the Improved Initiative feat is valuable to almost every CharacterClass for the simple reason that it boosts your chances of acting before your enemy in combat. The Alert feat in 5th Edition performs the same function, with the added bonus that you also cannot be surprised.

* There are a few Feats in 5E that definitely qualify. Alert gives a big boost to your Initiative and so you always have a good chance to go first when combat starts, it helps protect you from sneak attacks, and you can't be surprised. Observant gives you a big boost to passive Perception and Investigation, so you'll hardly ever miss any loot, traps, hidden enemies, or important clues. Tough gives you +2 HP with every level up. None of them do anything really flashy, but they ''definitely'' will save your bacon when it matters, especially early on when player characters are quite easily killed, ''especially'' the SquishyWizard. Even more boring but even more practical? Foregoing Feats at all and just taking the Ability Score Increase. Two permanent, non-situational +1's to the core stats isn't as flashy as a new toy to play with, but increasing the number of successful ability checks over dozens (if not hundreds) of die rolls? Nothing beats it mathematically.
* The Human race. [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass "Why play a human in a fantasy game?"]] is a question you will hear a lot, but depending on what version you play, you can get a +1 to every core stat (standard human) or a +1 to any two core stats, a free skill proficiency, and a free feat (variant human). Variant human is considered a top tier race pick for any class, one of the rare occassions that the JackOfAllStats is high on a game's tier list.
* From 3.X, the Feat ''Power Attack''. Take a -X Attack penalty, to get +X Damage bonus to melee attacks. However, with two-handed weapons, the damage bonus is ''doubled''. This stacks on top of the x1.5 Strength bonus damage already given for wielding a non-light weapon with two hands. Practically, the most important feat any serious two-handed melee weapon user can pick up, as that damage quickly adds up, regardless if you're a very basic, core standard Fighter, or a Tome of Battle Warblade. It's also a gateway feat to a number of other important and useful combat feats, and a number of Prestige Classes. And it is almost always one of the very first feats anyone picks up on any melee specialist classes.

* In general, having a character carry an EmergencyWeapon, for those times when a wizard's magic spells do nothing, or can't be used, or when that sneaky rogue finds out that skeletons don't die easily to being backstabbed. In such cases, a wizard might want to use a crossbow, or perhaps some other RangedEmergencyWeapon, and rogues might want to grab a club to break that skeleton's bones. Even if a character lacks proficiency, having any backup weapon is better than relying upon their fists alone, unless they are a monk, have an inborn unarmed attack, picked up the Tavern Brawler feat, or took on the Unarmed Fighting Style.
* A mule as a Beast of Burdon. In 5e, a mule costs 8 gold, and has a Carrying Capacity of 420 pounds, averaging out to 1 gold per 52.5 pounds, making it rather affordable to buy for most low-level, and cash-strapped, parties -- in fact, most parties could get at least two mules, possibly more, depending on cost of feed of course. Also, with the release of Tasha's, it's possible to apply the Warrior Sidekick class to the mules, or any other CR 1/2 or lower mount, and make them decently effective tanks for the party, which is useful for a party full of spellcasters and others with low health and armor class and no dedicated tanks. In short, that mule can become one heck of a Bad Ass.

* Sidekick Classes as printed in Tasha's. They are a simple way to beef up a lower CR creature, so that it can either be a better ally for a higher-leveled party to help them fight a dragon, or conversly, be a more dangerous threat when the setting dictates that a dragon wouldn't go after a thief that robbed a store in a city, but a well-trained guard would.