NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 4447349" data-attributes="member: 467">I disagree.  The traditional inclusion of rules for followers and the building of keeps (or guilds or temples), for example, indicates that D&D is also about being a leader and doing more than simply going into holes and stabbing things.  The intentional exclusion of these things limits the core baseline of D&D significantly.  In some cases it isn't ommission that limits the playstyle, it's the inclusion of certain things.  let's take magic items and rituals: in a complete reversal of anything resembling a real world economy, player characters cannot produce and then sell items or rituals at a profit.  one more style of play that, from my experience, was relatively common is gone: no more building a business or acting as peddlars (obviously in addition to adventuring).  This is also an example of an anti-simulationist bias in the rules set, but that's probably an issue for another thread.The point is, D&D has never been Hero or GURPS, but it has always had an open, toll kit quality to it, often due to the random cramming of half baked rules and setting elements into the core.  I understand the perspective that these kinds of subsystems should be given full shrift -- I don't agree; giving people a taste a) sells supplements on the subject and b) opens the door for players and GMs.  4E's playstyle is certainly a D&D playstyle (and, I assume, the most popular one at the moment) but it is still only one playstyle, one way to engage the game.  and because it is a well, tightly designed game, anything that moves off that playstyle is going to take a lot of development time.  Look at the complete lack of summoning rules in the core: the "economy of action" element to 4E's intended playstyle limits the possibilities presented by the game.</blockquote>

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