D&D 4E 4E PHB II & DMG II 1 year after release (and a new one every year after that)

[Charwoman Gene]

Honestly, I may look into Hasbro stock. This is looking better than the hey day of Games Workshop!

Or, you know, you could not buy the books.

 

[Branduil]

I was in the seminar where this was mentioned. There are some points that should be added.

One of the concepts they said was important to 4E was that of power sources--arcane and divine are two we are all familiar with... the PHB has a sub-heading of "Arcane, Divine, and Martial characters." So it will focus on these sources, with martial power being the source of abilities we find in the Book of Nine Swords. Character classes are made by combining the power source and the role; for example a fighter is a martial defender, while a paladin is a divine defender. Presumably this means we might see arcane healers or martial controlers and so on. I'm pretty sure there aren't 12 classes, so I am certain that there will not be a seperate class for every role/power source combo, but this may be achieved through talent selection.

They indicated that PHB2 would provide three new sources, one of which will be psionic. I have no idea what the other sources might be, but I would imagine we will see things like pacts and maybe even steam/technology in the future (making the gnomes more like the Krynn tinkers would fit well with that last idea).

Pure specualation on my part, but I wonder if this means that the DMG and MM sequels will be themed along the same lines as the PHB... with many psionic monsters in MM2 and the like.

What are the four roles? Defender, Controller, Healer, and ?

 

[Visceris]

That is just stupid.

More core books each year?

2008 4e
2009 4.1e
2010 4.2e
2011 4.3e
2012 4.4e

and so on and so on...

No thank you.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

That is just stupid.

More core books each year?

2008 4e
2009 4.1e
2010 4.2e
2011 4.3e
2012 4.4e

and so on and so on...

No thank you.

Were the PHB and DMG II 3.6e?

For that matter, what about all the Monster Manuals?

 

[Charwoman Gene]

What are the four roles? Defender, Controller, Healer, and ?

Defender, Controller, Leader, and Striker.

A Cleric is a Divine Leader.

 

[Khairn]

Or, you know, you could not buy the books.

Oh, I'm already not buying the books. That's a certainty. But now that I'm putting more of their plan together and seeing its money making potential, I want to profit from it.

I read it...and I can see the sticking point for you.

However, I'm seeing this more like a PHBII and DMGII thing that we got not too long ago. They aren't 'core', per se, but instead additional materials in the same vein of what are in the Core books themselves.

That's what I've seen this as. Essentially, more things like the PHB and DMG II, which were some of the absolute best books put out for 3e.

But these books aren't optional, they are core. They'll be core for the RPGA, supported and promoted by the DDI, and tied into the basic 4E game. New adventures provided in E-Dungeon and E-Dragon will introduce the new classes, PrC's, monsters and action zone rules. They'll introduce new rules for FR (in 2008) and Eberron (in 2009), and have them published in the new core PHB and DMG. Try to see it from WotC's point of view and you will see how these all tie in together and promote each other.

WotC is re-inventing the game, (not just the physical game but the buyers / sellers game as well) and doing so in a way that many of our paradigms as to what they are providing and what (and how) we will be playing the game are being challenged. Its not necessarily a bad thing and may result in some great adventures for many people, and that's great. But its also looking to be very costly.

Look, I've already made my decision, and will be playing 3.5 until I eventually move to one of a number of different games that I'm looking at like Exalted, Runequest and Artesia. I'm just really stunned at the depth of the changes WotC has brought in, and hope that everyone else can see them as well.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

But these books aren't optional, they are core.

You seem to have the ability to make posts from the future with knowledge of how 4e IS that we simply don't have yet.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Note that there is no Healer role, specifically. I imagine most classes will be able to self-heal (via "reserve hit points", or some other mechanism) in combat, and that out-of-combat healing will be likewise accessible to all classes.

Thank goodness.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Speculation time!

Arcane Controller: Wizard
Arcane Defender: ?
Arcane Leader: Bard?
Arcane Striker: Sorcerer

Divine Controller: Druid?
Divine Defender: Paladin
Divine Leader: Cleric
Divine Striker: Ranger?

Martial Controller: Ranger?
Martial Defender: Fighter?
Martial Leader: Warlord
Martial Striker: Rogue

Now, the ranger could be either way - they "killed the scout and took his stuff", so they could work as a striker, but then the scout was more of a martial class . . .

 

[Visceris]

You seem to have the ability to make posts from the future with knowledge of how 4e IS that we simply don't have yet.

We will see who is right and who is wrong soon enough.