You're Only in Trouble if You Get Caught
D&D is the "greatest roleplaying game of all time", and frankly I tend to agree. You can create any character with any background, really any class/subclass, and have a super interesting backstory. You can still converse with anyone and have some fantastic moments. Happy, sad, funny, you are not restricted by your class. But, being a caster helps. Now, most moments like backstory resolution truly do not care about class, anyone can have a super cool moment. What I mean when I say "roleplay", I'm more talking about shenanigans.
Party shenanigans are a huge part of D&D. People could fill books with moments and adventures that arose from someone just doing something random. I have seen some truly hilarious stuff come out of campaigns personally. It is great for group bonding and moments like these are what really make campaigns memorable. Here is the problem though, it is so much easier to initiate shenanigans as a caster. Trying con or embarrass someone? Cast a spell and charm them. Want to put a party member in the spotlight of a tavern after they just got drunk? Cast a spell to get everyone's attention. Not quite as funny as you thought? Cast a spell to add special effects. Need to get away after crashing a cart and horses into the front door of a major temple you don't like? Yes, that actually happened in a campaign I was a part of. Cast Disguise Self, then teleport away. It is just that simple.
Since most shenanigans are nowhere near as severe as that last one, many are just funny little scenes, they are usually written off and have no consequences. However, I have seen some rather questionable actions go without consequences, simply because they were shenanigans. A prime example: the player who initiated that whole cart crash thing, did not get punished for it until he kept slandering the temple and pulling similar stunts. It took several schemes for him to get caught and suffer the consequences. All because he had spells to get him out of sticky situations. Martial classes rarely ever have abilities that can help them outside of combat, and when they do, the abilities are very situational and rarely come into play. The only times I have seen a martial class get away with things of that caliber, are when they are super lucky and rolling natural 20's left and right, or when it is not really shenanigans, and more of genuine plans under the guise of such.
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