Stacking extra attack

[Psyren]

Ok allow me to clarify.

When I say someone has to lead/defend/inspire/etc. I do not mean it has to be PCs. I meant this is generally the role that martials play. When someone suggests that this can be an option for high level martials, I don't agree with the retort of "well then it has to be open to spellcasters as well" because generally that's not the trope for spellcasters. And we can bake that into the system by simply not letting it be an option for them.

Thanks, that does help. If you were talking about NPCs in the world, then sure I agree, they can do anything (leading armies, founding organizations etc) regardless of class, or such activities can be as restricted to a specific class or group of classes as the DM thinks makes sense for their world. So long as those activities are not being positioned as expected PC retirement plans, the DM can go nuts with it.

But it's less of a headache if they don't have to.

I still don't see how it's any more of a "headache" to stick a portal somewhere in your campaign when that subplot pops up and point at it, than it is to write said campaign from the beginning around someone in the party needing a specific class capable of learning and casting a specific 7th-level spell at the specific moment the campaign requires it, or else the whole thing screeches to a halt. The former seems a lot easier to me.

Not all DMs are up to the task of going 'off book', much less boosting PCs via magic item procurement... heck, I've played under DMs who were adamant magic items should be rare and cherished to the point they don't even consider providing them until T2 at a minimum! Granting class abilities outside of spells that assist with the supernatural nature of the game would be a boon.

You don't need specific magic items to facilitate such a campaign either. Blessings exist in the DMG (pg 227), explicitly can mimic the properties of any wondrous item (e.g. Ring of Resistance from the very same book), and they last for as long as the bestowing deity or other entity wants them to. If, say, Silvanus or Lathander or Helm or whomever trusts the party of Fighters to go deal with this proposed Plane of Fire Invasion Thing - they can Bless them with Fire Resistance for as long as that portion of the campaign lasts, have a priest tell them how to get down there, and the rules describe how that might work. Then you can take it away from them when that plot arc is over.