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I didn't mention 3E but if they weren't called skill challenges nor were they described in detail it doesn't sound like it's "not strictly true" - it sounds like they didn't exist in 3E either as a concept presented in the rules. That matters. I'm not disagreeing that you can make them work...

That's great if you started playing Basic D&D in 1990. For those of us who started 10 or 12 years earlier there was no skill system.

Skill challenges are a mechanical construct of 4E. BECMI and 1E had no skill system for anyone but the thief, so mechanically you aren't going to run traps as skill challenges approaching anything like 4E. Back when it was usually a 1-shot skill roll for the thief on the simple stuff like poison...

Is this really new information? I think most of us that were playing back then were aware of it. I imagine people who hated it in TSR game lines mention it because they hated it in TSR game lines, regardless of the existence of other products doing the same thing. I don't know that I would say...

This is what I was trying to say. The powerful stuff was Fighters-only, at least for a while. I don't know, Champions has been around for almost 30 years and has been beaten on by stat-geeks probably more than D&D and most players seem to think it works just fine. Point-systems are abusable...

I can't remember the exact quote, but Gary Gygax said in a thread over on Dragonsfoot that the reason clerics were only given blunt weapon proficiencies was a balance issue. The idea may have eventually been altered in order to become a balancing tool, but one can say with absolute certainty...

I've written some stuff about this on my blog recently and roles have changed somewhat over the years. Short version: One of the biggest is that in 1E and 2E there was no Striker/Defender split - Fighters were the combat monsters for both offense and defense and "Tanking" as a concept really...

Um, no. Some of the details have changed but the systems have not. There is nothing systematically different between a PHB1 Fighter and an Essentials Fighter. Combat uses the same rules, they choose skills from the same list, their hit points and healing surges work the same way, and no races or...

I've read the whole thread and I've killed plenty of characters over the years in various editions and other RPG's so some quick thoughts: 1) No, you didn't target the player in the first death - she got up during combat and apparently did not try to escape but instead tried to continue the...

...aaand during the 3E era much publishing moved to China for full-color hardbacks that pretty much were the same price as a black & white hardback (or even a softback) 10-20 years ago. Producers faced rising costs, Consumers balked at price increases, the producers found another way ->...

Yes, M-U's in our 1E parties were expected to be fire support even if it wasn't usig a spell - daggers & darts at low levels and eventually a staff of striking is a pretty effective weapon if you can find one. People may also forget that in Basic D&D everyone had the same to-hit numbers at...

If it's your first time to play don't get too wrapped up in researching the setting - you will learn more about it as you play. None of the setting books have any critical mechanical bits so you won't suffer for it. You mentioned core so get a PHB, see if they use the character builder and if...

Well the production values were amazing for the time - the boxed set came with nice rulebooks, a full color poster map or 3, army cards,, and a nice DM Screen with that full-color painting on the outside - it probably did lose money but it was a very striking set and made a strong impression...

""Successfully haggle the weapon away from the monster using a combination of Diplomacy and Monster Knowledge. Essentially, you are buying the weapon from the beast."" -Awesome Given my limited 4E experience (first party is now up to 2nd level) I have been fortunate in that no one has tried to...

The red box set is not a bad idea if you can wait a bit. There was also an earlier 4E starter set as well here. Besides all of the boxed set talk you might look in a used book store and see if they have a 3rd edition or 4th edition player's handbook. Get that, make some characters, see if you...

"Dragonborn Eagle Knights" - now you're trying to get your Warhammer in my D&D!

"Next thing you know, you'll be sitting there with a glass of Mountain Dew in your hand and blubbering about the good old times." My kids hate it when I do this, but they are enjoying their basic Set D&D... After this thread I'm actually thinking Mystara could work - the "Age of Exploration"...

Still seems a little strange that we didn't really get a solid announcement on a campaign setting for 2011. We have the separate Ravenloft game - OK. We have the Nentir Vale book which I guess will still be "generic" as far as not being specifically tied to Eberron or the Realms or Greyhawk. I...

If the OP is using the beasties for Pathfinder, I'm not sure that the mechanical innovations for 4E really matter that much, so I'll say this - most of them have already appeared in one of the 5 3rd edition MM's or the Feind Folio, or Monsters of Faerun, or the Draconomicon/Lords of...

It sounds to mel like the Heroes books will look like a Power book - Class, Builds, Powers, Feats, and maybe some magic items or some RP type material. The Rules Compendium will have the rules and that's it. So conceivably new players might end up with a Heroes Book and a Rules compendium and...