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D&D 4E 4E is coming!
- Thread starter MerricB
- Start date
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
That would be nice. Druids are about even with Bards with information in the Complete series. Nobody loves Druids...*sigh*Nightfall said:
scottdunphy
First Post
What would it be?
I had stopped playing D&D for about a decade. I started again in 1999. I bought all the 2nd Edition books again and quickly discovered how messsed up it was (How long did round last in 2ed?). I had been playing several other systems over those years and thought most of them superior to 2ed in at least some aspects. The RPG world had evolved and left D&D behind.
When I learned about 3E in mid 2000, I was really excited. When it came out it was readily apparent what a tremendous improvement it was.
Then in 2003 Dragon started to tell us about 3.5. I was not at all excited. But then when I learned more about it and actually read it, I felt it was worth switching. The changes to CR alone were worth it. But this was a fix to some issues with new mechanics - mechanics that had been thoroughly playtested for 3E, but you can't catch everything.
So what would 4E be? I'm not saying 3.5 is perfection, but I'm not seeing the massive problems that 2ed had or the obvious improvements 3.5 brought.
There are some RPGs that are charting new directions - "narrative" games where the players have as much control of the story as the GM (if there is one). But these are still pretty obscure (and therefore still in developmental infancy) and even if they become more widespread they may not be everyone's cup of tea. Even if WotC wanted to explore this direction, they wouldn't need to change the core mechanic to add some player plot contol elements.
Could they leave classes behind and go with a character builder system? Sure, but would that necessitate a major change to the core mechanic? I don't think so (in fact, I'm suprised there isn't a D20 leveless book out - or maybe there is?).
So if 4E is closer to the incremental change of 3.5 than the sea change of 3E then what is there to worry about?
And what if there isn't a 4E planned because the developers haven't thought it up yet? It seems everyone is assuming a profit motive but it seems to me the developers actually had something to say with 3.5 (even if you don't appreciate it). What if they are actually out of major changes to make? I don't think it would suprise me too much.
I had stopped playing D&D for about a decade. I started again in 1999. I bought all the 2nd Edition books again and quickly discovered how messsed up it was (How long did round last in 2ed?). I had been playing several other systems over those years and thought most of them superior to 2ed in at least some aspects. The RPG world had evolved and left D&D behind.
When I learned about 3E in mid 2000, I was really excited. When it came out it was readily apparent what a tremendous improvement it was.
Then in 2003 Dragon started to tell us about 3.5. I was not at all excited. But then when I learned more about it and actually read it, I felt it was worth switching. The changes to CR alone were worth it. But this was a fix to some issues with new mechanics - mechanics that had been thoroughly playtested for 3E, but you can't catch everything.
So what would 4E be? I'm not saying 3.5 is perfection, but I'm not seeing the massive problems that 2ed had or the obvious improvements 3.5 brought.
There are some RPGs that are charting new directions - "narrative" games where the players have as much control of the story as the GM (if there is one). But these are still pretty obscure (and therefore still in developmental infancy) and even if they become more widespread they may not be everyone's cup of tea. Even if WotC wanted to explore this direction, they wouldn't need to change the core mechanic to add some player plot contol elements.
Could they leave classes behind and go with a character builder system? Sure, but would that necessitate a major change to the core mechanic? I don't think so (in fact, I'm suprised there isn't a D20 leveless book out - or maybe there is?).
So if 4E is closer to the incremental change of 3.5 than the sea change of 3E then what is there to worry about?
And what if there isn't a 4E planned because the developers haven't thought it up yet? It seems everyone is assuming a profit motive but it seems to me the developers actually had something to say with 3.5 (even if you don't appreciate it). What if they are actually out of major changes to make? I don't think it would suprise me too much.
Ankh-Morpork Guard
First Post
Again, I agree.Nightfall said:
Though it would be nice to see some WotC support to add to that! The more the better, really.I don't see the point of a 4th edition. 3.5e does everything that is needed. It is a solid rules system without any glaring mistakes. Making a 4e would be a waste of time and money. Hell, I don't even run baseline DnD. I use a hell of a lot of OGL material from Malhavoc to Mongoose, from Green Ronin to the Game Mechanics.
A'koss
Explorer
Oh, there's quite a bit they can do to improve the game yet. I think core mechanics themselves are good but they can certainly re-gear the entire game for better balanced high level play. Pull back some of that power/ability bloat. Compress the disparities between the classes (HP, Saves, Skills, Combat Ability) at higher levels and eliminate the oft-maligned "one hit wonders" - the Save or Die / Nerf effects. Make the characters harder to kill, but then make it harder to come back. I personally feel the skill system could use an overhaul too...
<rant>
I'd really, really like to see some people from WotC scouring these boards (and other boards) for maybe two years, and asking some probing questions, and getting some feedback.
There are some really brilliant people on these boards, people who've made excellent catches on rules problems, people who've noticed contradictions that are subtle, people who've contributed excellent class modification ideas, people who've contributed excellent house-rules that would fit within almost any near-core campaign model. It would be nice if all of this got noticed.
Oh, and it would be really great if there weren't cut-and-paste errors all over the 4th edition, and even better if there were basically no editing mistakes in the core books (I really hate it when the books come out, and then, a few months later, a second printing comes out with fixes--sheesh).
</rant>
Dave
I'd really, really like to see some people from WotC scouring these boards (and other boards) for maybe two years, and asking some probing questions, and getting some feedback.
There are some really brilliant people on these boards, people who've made excellent catches on rules problems, people who've noticed contradictions that are subtle, people who've contributed excellent class modification ideas, people who've contributed excellent house-rules that would fit within almost any near-core campaign model. It would be nice if all of this got noticed.
Oh, and it would be really great if there weren't cut-and-paste errors all over the 4th edition, and even better if there were basically no editing mistakes in the core books (I really hate it when the books come out, and then, a few months later, a second printing comes out with fixes--sheesh).
</rant>
Dave
Vrecknidj said:
If you want to get noticed by Wizards, submit material to Dragon and Dungeon magazine. Seriously. (Or participate in their setting search).
A lot of people who work or have worked at Wizards got their start in those magazines.
It's one thing to contribute good ideas to a message board, it's another thing entirely to be constant enough at it when it must be published.
Cheers!
