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I think a strong understanding of what characters can do, and a flexible system for choosing a balanced set of what characters can do, is the best way to produce compelling adventures. I want to engage with the world, and approach problems with well defined tools. Not play "DM may I" every...

But we're not talking about 3E or 4E. We're talking about a system that is designed to be modular. It's a lot easier to design a module that adds stuff, than one that removes stuff. And if they can't manage to design a balanced "alignment mechanics" module to add onto a balanced core, to...

Nothing wrong with a starter set that's more fluff than mechanics. There's still the actual rulebooks for actual rules resolution. This is about the core rules, not the other products. Setting books, too, should be highly evocative, because in that case, the "fiction" is the product. Well, to...

It is absolutely guaranteed that skilled cherry-picking will produce something at least as good as the Themes, because cherry-picking can exactly duplicate the Themes. There is no absolute guarantee that Themes will be inferior to custom feat selection, but it is very close to guaranteed...

The problem is that there's a huge difference between "choose two themes, each comes with a set progression of 5 feats" and "choose whatever 10 feats you want, in whatever order you want". Sure, it's 10 feats either way, but the greater freedom of choice in the latter case caries a lot of value...

And 4E Slayer vs. PHB fighter is exactly what I'm advocating for here, and precisely what we are not getting based on this Ro3. A 4E Slayer is not a prepackaged version of the PHB Fighter. He gets many things a PHB Fighter cannot. A PHB Fighter cannot duplicate the Slayer by chosing feats or...

One issue I have with that is I want a lot of freedom to mix-and-match how my character approaches each pillar. If every Theme has stuff in every pillar, that's a pretty big limitation. I don't think it's helpful to have such strong ties between fighting-style, exploration abilities, and...

I guess part of the reason for my preferences is that I usually jettison the "fiction" of published RPGs in favor of my own. So I prefer there be a clear separation between the two, so I know what I can get rid of and substitute, without messing up the balance of the game mechanics. I basically...

I'm still not seeing the incompatibility. Character A takes the Slayer Theme, gets a bunch of features, some of them similar to feats, but not constrained to be feats. Character B takes a bunch of different feats, instead, because the player likes what they offer better than what Slayer has...

Well, arguments over RAW vs. RAI happen because of insufficiently clear and precise language. Mistakes happen. I think the big change is that there used to be a much bigger acceptance of the DM being the absolute arbiter of the game, and that it was OK for the DM to pretty much make up the...

I think you have it backwards. Option 1 is a "rules-lawyer and munchkin" dream. The more ambiguity and contradictions, the more grounds there is to gain advantage by arguing with the DM. Whereas in 4E, the DM's answer to such shenanigans is generally: "the rules very clearly state how it...

By different levels, do you mean interleaved together? Like, 1, 4, 7, 10, etc, for Combat, 2, 5, 8, 11, etc, for Exploration, and 3, 6, 9, 12, etc, for Roleplaying? That would be OK, I guess. But putting them in chunks of levels (which is what we've been told themes are, currently) would be...

Precise concrete language all the way. I don't need to buy a "sense of wonder". I can provide my own. What I can't (easily) provide on my own is high-quality game mechanics. I have no interest in buying something that fails to precisely and concisely describe the game mechanics. Now, the tone...

What's incompatible about having developer-made Themes available (that aren't just feats), and freely-chosen feats as an alternative? Sounds quite "modular" to me. Use the Themes, use the Feats, up to the player/DM. And characters choosing either can co-exist at the same table. Or having the...

Yeah, I definitely developed a very negative perception of this place in those days. I've been very pleasantly surprised since I started coming back here again once the 5E talk started, and now it's my preferred 5E discussion forum. So thank you, and job well done!

I think that Themes, as simply pre-gen lists of feats, are really lame. They're just going to end up being a trap option in any game that permits hand-picking feats. What I'd like to see is a slight tweak, to give the Themes a bit of a boost, and make them viable options in and of themselves...

I dislike alignment, and hate any alignment-based mechanics, especially alignment restrictions. If we must have alignment, it should be a thing people write on their character sheet, next to "Height", "Weight" and "Hair Color". Nothing more. If people really want rules to tell them what...

What boards are you reading? There's tons of criticism of 4E here. Most of it is constructive.

Funny. I tend to think of "partially clothed female" pictures as geared squarely towards teenagers. "Adult" material doesn't make something "grown up". That's not to say that I don't appreciate them, but I'm fully aware that they're tickling a part of my brain that hasn't changed much since I...

Probably so there was something easy to point to when someone wanted to play Conan. Even though Conan actually acts almost nothing like a D&D Barbarian...