Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
4e - Too much change?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ivocaliban" data-source="post: 3917768" data-attributes="member: 17596"><p>I agree with the general premise of the original post. </p><p></p><p>This idea of merging a system and a setting (an idea that 4e seems to be promoting) may be a successful one, however. At least from a marketing point of view. When you provide this much setting with the rules, they inevitably become one and the same. It makes selling the sourcebooks that follow that much easier. It has certainly worked for White Wolf.</p><p></p><p>Say what you will about 3e, but apart from the names of the deities and a handful of spells, they were not setting specific. They provided the basic tools for creating, running and playing in a fantasy world. They didn't tell you that that this world was going to focus on "points of light," although that style of play was (is) certainly possible with the core 3e books. They left this sort of thing up to the individual settings, which, in my opinion, is how it should be.</p><p></p><p>With 4e we appear to be losing the foundation upon which so many of us have built our worlds. It's not that "points of light" or dragonborn or what have you are intrinsically bad. It's that they're being presented to us as the norm, not as an option. We're not being given the tools to build our own settings, instead we're presented with a setting that appears to have a very specific tone--a "World of Darkness" if you will. </p><p></p><p>The big point I'm trying to make is that I prefer a little room between my system and my setting when it comes to D&D. I prefer a toolbox approach to the core books, so that I'm given what I need to make the world I want. If I want a setting that feels a certain way, then I'll either create it myself or buy a setting that reflects the themes I want for my game. It appears that the 4e core books are going to be rather thematically specific, which may make using those books to create other kinds of worlds more difficult.</p><p></p><p>While many have said not to worry about all the changes, they do add up. And what they add up to is a system that is married to a distinct theme. My complaint is not with the system, nor with the theme itself, but with the fact that they're both being served together. This is not what I want from D&D.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ivocaliban, post: 3917768, member: 17596"] I agree with the general premise of the original post. This idea of merging a system and a setting (an idea that 4e seems to be promoting) may be a successful one, however. At least from a marketing point of view. When you provide this much setting with the rules, they inevitably become one and the same. It makes selling the sourcebooks that follow that much easier. It has certainly worked for White Wolf. Say what you will about 3e, but apart from the names of the deities and a handful of spells, they were not setting specific. They provided the basic tools for creating, running and playing in a fantasy world. They didn't tell you that that this world was going to focus on "points of light," although that style of play was (is) certainly possible with the core 3e books. They left this sort of thing up to the individual settings, which, in my opinion, is how it should be. With 4e we appear to be losing the foundation upon which so many of us have built our worlds. It's not that "points of light" or dragonborn or what have you are intrinsically bad. It's that they're being presented to us as the norm, not as an option. We're not being given the tools to build our own settings, instead we're presented with a setting that appears to have a very specific tone--a "World of Darkness" if you will. The big point I'm trying to make is that I prefer a little room between my system and my setting when it comes to D&D. I prefer a toolbox approach to the core books, so that I'm given what I need to make the world I want. If I want a setting that feels a certain way, then I'll either create it myself or buy a setting that reflects the themes I want for my game. It appears that the 4e core books are going to be rather thematically specific, which may make using those books to create other kinds of worlds more difficult. While many have said not to worry about all the changes, they do add up. And what they add up to is a system that is married to a distinct theme. My complaint is not with the system, nor with the theme itself, but with the fact that they're both being served together. This is not what I want from D&D. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
4e - Too much change?
Top