D&D 3E/3.5 4E Ruined My Love For 3.5

[CleverNickName]

I will wait until I get the books before I make an assessment about 4E. But from my point of view, they feel like two very different games...the claim that 4E is killing one's love for 3.5 is like saying Clue killed one's love for Monopoly. (shrug) Which happens, I suppose.

Anyway, after seeing the Alpha 2 release for Pathfinder, I may never play 3.5 the same way again.

 

[Gothmog]

3.5 itself has done such a thorough job of making me hate it that 4e really isn't an issue at all.

This sums up my feelings perfectly as well. The announce of 4E was a welcome one for me- I've been ready for about 2.5 years. 3.x doesn't give me the kind of game I want, and doesn't fit my preferences for the way D&D should feel or run. Plus, 3.x is a royal pain to prep, the rules are so front-loaded into the system that they tend to dominate play- not the story or characters. No thanks, I'm done with 3.x forever.

So 4E can't be worse than 3.x for me and my group. And if it doesn't fit our tastes, we still have WHFRP2, Dark Heresy, and Savage Worlds, which scratch my gaming itch better than any other game systems ever have. Its a win-win situation for me.

 

[shadowguidex]

My group has been playing in epic levels since last year this time, and the adventure I've been crafting requires a fricken insane amount of time to create. I have long been making monsters and villains with the exceptions based design that 4E is using. I just don't bother with Hit Dice, Base Saving Throws, Accurate Spell Prep, etc. I choose the hit points, BAB, Saving throw values, feats, and spells prepared based on what the opponent needs to make it a good encounter. The fact that 4E is making this system its core way of monster creation will make epic games VASTLY easier to create...although ironically, my group is starting totally over at 1st level so we can once again build up to high levels.

As soon as the DNDXP information was released and I really started to understand the system, I and just counting the days till I can start all over again with a new and improved system. I barely have the energy left to complete my Epic Game, but I still want to bring it to an ultimate conclusion - and there is exactly 3 game sessions left until I can be rid of 3.5E forever!

 

[SaffroN]

4th edition killed my respect for 3.x

I can't bring myself to play in any 3rd edition games. I keep thinking about its flaws, like the 5 minute workday, or the horrible monster stat blocks.

I'll be in purgatory... call me when 4th edition comes out.

 

[Darth Cyric]

3.5 itself has done such a thorough job of making me hate it that 4e really isn't an issue at all.

Yup. Pretty much.

D&D 3.x is the only RPG system I have ever played or run for which I can safely estimate that I could make a nice 300-page book out of my own house rules. And very few of those would be tweaks of preference or flavor.

 

[vagabundo]

Me too. I was nearly done with 3e a year or two ago. I realised I had not been happy with the rules for a while. I started to fudge it and that worked for a while, but was not satisfying.

As soon as the DNDxp stuff came out, I ran it and have continued to run it since. No way anyone could go back. I'm converting keep on the borderlands today for tomorrows game. I've never enjoyed the prep work as much in 3e.

Fix the maths and everything else will follow. I'm focusing more on making decent characters and good story arcs...

 

[Hawke]

I convinced my group to give 4E a try... and a day after I spent time reworking all their characters into 1st level versions in 4E. Yes - they don't have the crazy damage, but they all have powers similar to the feats/spells/whatever they had in 3.5.

So far we're planning on finishing up the story arc with the pseudo 4E versions of their 3.5 characters and jumping into a new, fresh campaign in July.

After going to 4E I just couldn't imagine 3.5 any longer. Even running my SWSE game is almost getting there. I'm amazed at the ease of creating an encounter that functions cinematically the way I wanted so quickly and without a PHB or DMG.

 

[joela]

I don't get it

I choose the hit points, BAB, Saving throw values, feats, and spells prepared based on what the opponent needs to make it a good encounter.

I've been doing this since the days of AD&D 1st edition and I currently do it now for my 3.x games. Why does one have to switch to a new system to do so?

 

[brislove]

playing 4e made me realize just how much time it takes to figure out power attack, how hard it is to read a monsters stat block, how dumb it is to be only able to do like 3 things a day at first level as a caster. how attack bonus out stripes AC quickly, how not having wizard buffs makes most balanced encounters REALLY hard, how terrible the crit mechanics are (as a DM 90% of die rolls I fudge are confirmation.. ect.

I am in a 3.5 campaign that will be going until the PHB2 comes out (so that we have all our classes), I might have to quit until they switch over lol.

 

[joela]

and how's 4e going to change this?

The 3.5 ruleset has some merits, but the math is a huge issue. Not just bonuses, but also, how much damage is a PC expected to do? Shields, power attack, leap attack, polymorph and Lance charge multipliers all vary the damage of front line characters immensely. Arcanists have similar issues since Sudden Metamagic feats, Orb spells and Avoid energy resistance feats can also flux how much damage a caster does.

And of course then the Cleric / Druid issue rears it’s head. Taking them down to the level of the other classes is a chore that will cause some players to B&M like they were having teeth pulled, and if you try to bring the other classes up to the power level of CoDzilla, how much do they need added in?

I don't see how 4E's going to change this. From my read on the unofficial rules collection (thanks, Morrus!) here on Enworld and, more importantly, from some powergamers who tested the rules, folks will find ways to work the 4E rules to their advantage as they did in 3.x.

In fact, I'm already concerned that 3.x DMs may not be able to handle the "sudden" freedom of a less rule-intensive environment. I've already read posts from DMs declaring, for example, detailed information on how the rituals work, from time spent, costs, appropriate levels, powers used, etc., and...oh, yeah...be balanced to the encounters. And I'm just waiting for the first posts figuring out how to make 4e more -- groan -- "realistic".