'Build' Madness.

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Originally Posted by Lizard
(And I think spelling out 'builds', instead of players discovering them organically, is a Really Bad Idea, but not one which remotely surprises me. But it has no real rules impact, and, since the fluff in 4e tends to give me migraines if I think too hard about it, I'm just going to ignore anything that doesn't have a mechanical effect.

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I don't think I'm going to get in trouble for posting this, but back about a year ago the rules didn't have suggested builds. Each class' powers were just laid out for them. While players might have discovered builds "organically," it actually ended up being extremely overwhelming when creating a character. Not just for new players, but for veteran game designers and editors. I remember sitting down to create a rogue and thinking, "Man, what powers should I pick?"

One thing I had discovered with Saga Edition's design is that grouping abilities in some way helps make choices more obvious when a player is creating the character. That's why Saga Edition's talent trees are more like talent bushes--they don't necessarily have a progression, but they do have a cohesive theme, and grouping them together makes it easier to figure out what you want to do. Players will still find builds, given the number of options sitting in talents (and, in D&D, powers), that are not spelled out in cleanly sliced groups. Skip on over to the non-D&D character optimization boards if you don't believe me. Players will still be able to make all kinds of discoveries.

Now, granted, D&D doesn't bunch things together in quite as small of groups as Saga Edition's talent trees...but you get the idea. It's one of those subtle bits of player psychology that doesn't become immediately obvious until playtesting comes around.
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themes that you can use to guide you as you select powers and other abilities. You can follow the advice of a build, or you can ignore it. It’s not a constraint, but instead provides information to help you make informed choices as you create your character. Using a class build isn’t required; builds exist to help guide your decisions through the process of character creation and each time you level up.

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In 3e we only had the feats and prc's to worry about, now its feats, powers, builds, paragon paths, heroic paths, etc.[/quote}

actually builds sound like just a way to choose your powers so you don't have to worry about them. and i'm betting if you choose a build, your paths become more obvious.

so in 4e you have to worry about feats and your build (which will make choosing powers and paths simple and worry free)

Or you can ignore builds and just worry about feats and powers, and take the paths one at a time as they come.

I doubt this will ever cause too much sweat.

My thoughts: Potentially, builds are useful advice for people new to 4e (or D&D) that can be ignored completely by anyone capable of making their own choices. *shrug*

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Sitara said:

First of all let mesay I am not happy with them actually using the word 'build' officialy. In the core rulebooks. I still can'tbelieve they did that.

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Sitara said:

Obviously its inevitable, anbd they do havemouths to feed and all, but just thought I would point it out. I mean, did we really need builds? WHy not just give simple powers and let the player figure out the type of char he wants? Some powers oucld inherently focuson a certain stat, allowing for specialization.

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