Suggest Your "Rule of Three" Questions for Next Week (4/17)
Pour
First Post
As a followup to my previous question, given the nix on anything related to future 4e releases (should they exist), I guess I'd like to know from a design standpoint what you guys identify as the holes in 4e product development and supplemental lines, ie what the edition could still use that you're probably not getting to. Please be honest.
Here are my three questions. Apologies if they've been asked before by someone else.
1. What will be the maximum character level supported by the rules?
2. Will there be any ability for characters to act simultaneously in combat encounters? (For example, two fighters charging each other on horseback to meet in the middle instead of one crossing the entire distance to meet the other)
3. What core PC races will there be, if any, besides humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, and gnomes?
1. What will be the maximum character level supported by the rules?
2. Will there be any ability for characters to act simultaneously in combat encounters? (For example, two fighters charging each other on horseback to meet in the middle instead of one crossing the entire distance to meet the other)
3. What core PC races will there be, if any, besides humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, and gnomes?
Will Doyle
Explorer
Will the core rules have a default setting (e.g. a default pantheon, a default cosmology, or even a sample realm in the DMG)?
Can we expect any new official campaign settings, or are we to expect a cycle of retreading old classics first?
There's been talk of keeping rituals, but at the same time, there's been talk of bringing back more utility spells. Under present thinking, what actually defines a 5E ritual?
Can we expect any new official campaign settings, or are we to expect a cycle of retreading old classics first?
There's been talk of keeping rituals, but at the same time, there's been talk of bringing back more utility spells. Under present thinking, what actually defines a 5E ritual?
Second Edition & Statistics
First, a lot of the suggested improvements for the game, whether coming from designers or fans online, were already implemented in second edition. Classes, for example, could be used as-is, with a kit to modify some aspects, or extremely customized with the Skills and Powers rules. Sounds relatively modular to me. To what extent is second edition being mined for character options?
Second, we know you've been gathering information from polls, forums, and playests, but also from the usage of the current online tools (stats on which classes are most popular, which articles are most downloaded and redownloaded). Can you give us any insight into how these are being analysed? Are you defining fighters and wizards as popular because there are lots in the online builder, for example, or because you see those characters being slowly modified the most? Do you have a statistician doing this analysis?
First, a lot of the suggested improvements for the game, whether coming from designers or fans online, were already implemented in second edition. Classes, for example, could be used as-is, with a kit to modify some aspects, or extremely customized with the Skills and Powers rules. Sounds relatively modular to me. To what extent is second edition being mined for character options?
Second, we know you've been gathering information from polls, forums, and playests, but also from the usage of the current online tools (stats on which classes are most popular, which articles are most downloaded and redownloaded). Can you give us any insight into how these are being analysed? Are you defining fighters and wizards as popular because there are lots in the online builder, for example, or because you see those characters being slowly modified the most? Do you have a statistician doing this analysis?
4E Question about Spellbook Design
Q. In 4E if an Arcane Spellcaster has a Spellbook he cannot adventure to add extra spells to it, like in the older editions. Why was this changed? Retraining is nice, but I always felt the acquisition of spells was a motivation for Arcane Spellcasters to adventure. Were rituals supposed to pick up this function, or was the ability to have more than two powers to choose from at a given level to unbalancing.
Q. In 4E if an Arcane Spellcaster has a Spellbook he cannot adventure to add extra spells to it, like in the older editions. Why was this changed? Retraining is nice, but I always felt the acquisition of spells was a motivation for Arcane Spellcasters to adventure. Were rituals supposed to pick up this function, or was the ability to have more than two powers to choose from at a given level to unbalancing.
scowyn1269
First Post
A Valid Question
"For those of us who signed up for the playtest when can we expect to participate in said playtest?"
I like many others signed up the first day the press release happened (December?) and at that time a spring playtest was spoke of. Everyday i check here and DDI for any news on "Next" and am very excited. I will be at gencon and will play through the scripted playtest like may others.
However, to get a true and valid test we need to test it at the table, at home. I like many others have no gamestore to speak of, so for the last 15+ years we have played D&D the way it was meant to be played, in the basement
Im sure it may not want to be heard but Pathfinder did release PDF Alpha and Beta versions online, well before the printed material was ready to be sold. And well, they do ok; more then ok actually.
I love D&D, my players love D&D and we would like a chance to playtest and give valid feedback to aid in making "Next" The best possible game it can be.
THank you,
"For those of us who signed up for the playtest when can we expect to participate in said playtest?"
I like many others signed up the first day the press release happened (December?) and at that time a spring playtest was spoke of. Everyday i check here and DDI for any news on "Next" and am very excited. I will be at gencon and will play through the scripted playtest like may others.
However, to get a true and valid test we need to test it at the table, at home. I like many others have no gamestore to speak of, so for the last 15+ years we have played D&D the way it was meant to be played, in the basement
Im sure it may not want to be heard but Pathfinder did release PDF Alpha and Beta versions online, well before the printed material was ready to be sold. And well, they do ok; more then ok actually.
I love D&D, my players love D&D and we would like a chance to playtest and give valid feedback to aid in making "Next" The best possible game it can be.
THank you,
Appendices O, P, Q ...
As Mike Mearls indicated on the recent panel discussion, different generations of players have different background assumptions about the nature of heroic fantasy. (When I started DMing for my 8 year-old son I think it was Power Rangers in his mind's eye) Recently, there has been activity to re-envision Appendix N fantasy in a modern game. However, Appendix N fantasy is 40 year old snapshot of the genre.
Q Moving beyond Appendix N, will you make suggestions (Appendices O, P, Q and R) on how to set the dials in the new rules kernel to emulate particular fantasy genres(/appendices!).
As Mike Mearls indicated on the recent panel discussion, different generations of players have different background assumptions about the nature of heroic fantasy. (When I started DMing for my 8 year-old son I think it was Power Rangers in his mind's eye) Recently, there has been activity to re-envision Appendix N fantasy in a modern game. However, Appendix N fantasy is 40 year old snapshot of the genre.
Q Moving beyond Appendix N, will you make suggestions (Appendices O, P, Q and R) on how to set the dials in the new rules kernel to emulate particular fantasy genres(/appendices!).
3e seemed to move from "here are a very few custom prestige classes. You should consider making a few for your own campaign setting, customizing them to bring out the unique flavour of that very specific setting" to "here are several splatbooks with dozens of prestige classes. You don't have to take one, but many classes* will lose very little and be depowered without one", pretty fast all things considered.
* Wizards, in particular, had an abundance of choices where they sacrificed only an extra feat every 5 levels to gain prestige class bonuses.
(How) Will 5e balance core classes (sticking to a single class throughout the character's career), multiclassing (within the core classes) and prestige classes?
Assuming the existence of prestige classes, will they be customized to specific settings, and tailored to specific aspects of those sessions, or designed to be usable out of the box in pretty much any setting?
* Wizards, in particular, had an abundance of choices where they sacrificed only an extra feat every 5 levels to gain prestige class bonuses.
(How) Will 5e balance core classes (sticking to a single class throughout the character's career), multiclassing (within the core classes) and prestige classes?
Assuming the existence of prestige classes, will they be customized to specific settings, and tailored to specific aspects of those sessions, or designed to be usable out of the box in pretty much any setting?
