D&D 4E What's in 5e for 4e fans?

[adamc]

Is there a case to be made for why fans of 4e will want to adopt 5e? So far, I'm not seeing the benefit to switching. Given that we already own a bunch of 4e materials, the onus is pretty much on Wizards of the Coast.

Eventually, lack of support might be an issue, but I'm still not seeing much urgency about moving. So far, 5e seems aimed more at players of prior editions to me.

 

[renau1g]

Well, this is a question for every edition as all players have had materials from the edition that is being "replaced". I have tons of 2e and 3.xe stuff and I switched over to 4e. So far every new edition has been better than the one before it (for me, I don't care about others opinions), so I'm willing to give it a try.

If I don't like it, I can break back out the 4e or older materials and still play. I don't think 5e is aimed more at older editions specifically, it's goal seems to be trying to cherry pick the best of each edition. Whether it will be successful..... well I'll wait until the final rules for that.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

Almost nothing.

There is an interesting thread going on over at WotC where 4E fans are being asked about what they like about 4E:

Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible.!

It's downright depressing how little of what is being discussed in that thread is present in 5E at the moment.

 

[Ahnehnois]

More than there is for fans of 3e or PF.

 

[TwoSix]

Almost nothing.

There is an interesting thread going on over at WotC where 4E fans are being asked about what they like about 4E:

Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible.!

It's downright depressing how little of what is being discussed in that thread is present in 5E at the moment.

More than there is for fans of 3e or PF.

This can only go well.

 

[Ahnehnois]

This can only go well.

The two points aren't mutually exclusive; quite the contrary.

 

[adamc]

Almost nothing.

There is an interesting thread going on over at WotC where 4E fans are being asked about what they like about 4E:

Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible.!

It's downright depressing how little of what is being discussed in that thread is present in 5E at the moment.

Thanks, that's a great link, although the link title seems odd.

For me, 4e delivers the following things:

• balanced classes -- all contribute, feel viable, no sense that only wizards matter at higher levels
• relatively resilient PCs, even at low levels (key for running story-driven games where PC-deaths really mess with the sense of individual significance -- what another thread called "Dragon" style campaigns)
• easy to create monsters,with interesting mechanics, that work
• relatively predictable results that make GMing easy
• variety (perhaps too much) of races, classes, options
• working multiclass system
• reasonably fun tactical aspect (and we enjoy using miniatures to visualize the game)

There are certainly many places where 4e could be improved (I don't particularly like the cosmology or the changes to alignment, and combat against solos can drag on, for example). And there are other places where it works for us but which seem problematic -- e.g., the mini-oriented grid mechanics. And I miss the Vancian wizards, but the overall class balance seems worth it, to me.

But I'm not seeing what 5e would offer me, as yet.

 

[TwoSix]

The two points aren't mutually exclusive; quite the contrary.

Oh, absolutely. I was more making a point about who I was quoting than the content of the quotes.

 

[CAFRedblade]

And keep in mind that while the Core rules for 5e is pulling and merging hopefully the best assets, from previous versions into a coherent whole, there will be a Tactical Module developed that will (should) skew a little closer to the framework that 4th does for it's combat system.

Personally, I'm liking the Core 5e, as it skews closer to my preferred nostalgic (and houseruled) 2nd ed. I played, with some of the better ideas merged from later editions. I'm not familiar enough with pre-2nd to compare things or notice ideas pulled from 1st ed. yet.. I have the reprints and plan on finding time to read through em soon.

 

[CleverNickName]

Switching? Why on earth would you do that?

This is my advice for anyone who is happily playing an older edition of the game:

If you are having a great time playing 4th Edition*, you should continue to do so. WotC might discontinue support for it, but I can guarantee that hundreds of people here at ENWorld will continue to develop stuff for it. You won't be the only person who keeps playing 4th Edition.

Besides: if 5th Edition keeps its promise of "embracing all editions," you should be able to convert all of the new 5th Edition stuff to your existing game without too much trouble. You can help with this, actually...as you play test the material, ask yourself "how easily will this fit into my 4E game" and then give feedback accordingly.

But switching? Nah.

*Or 3.5E, or Pathfinder, or 2E, or whatever.