A Big Surprise??

[No Name]

The voices in my head say that WotC will announce in a few months that all of the 3.5 PHB classes will be in the first 4e PHB. Yes, it's pure speculation, but hear me out. If I remember correctly (can't find the post), the Races and Classes spoiler said that the monk was a martial striker and still being developed. That's martial striker, not ki or psi.

Second, they're going to have to convert a lot of minis to 4e. Again, memory fails me (and the voices are silent), but I'm fairly sure there were a few of the second string classes being converted before 4e hits the shelves. I know there are some in the Top 20 from each set (githzeri monk from Underdark and young master from GoL come to mind), but those don't get converted until July.

I'd guess that the appearance of 4e so soon after 3.5, without the full array of classes from the 3.5 PHB, would cost WotC more than a few $$ in sales. They may make up for it the following year with the PHB2, but that's a gamble.

So is all of this a reasonable assumption?

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

The voices in my head say that WotC will announce in a few months that all of the 3.5 PHB classes will be in the first 4e PHB. Yes, it's pure speculation, but hear me out. If I remember correctly (can't find the post), the Races and Classes spoiler said that the monk was a martial striker and still being developed. That's martial striker, not ki or psi.

The spoiler post on Gleemax says:

Monk: Still in the design stage, but it will be a mobile striker.

But from the other previews (ie Wizard's implements, 4 types of Warlocks vs the three we've been told about on Gleemax) Races and Classes already seems to be out of date.

I'm not sure the voices can be trusted.

 

[Voss]

Time and Space requirements suggest otherwise.
The printers want the final copy fairly soon.

Space- Every class has powers. They're trying to make the classes quite distinct, which means very little overlap in powers. So... 30 levels of powers for each class, squeezed in around class descriptions, races, equipment, general rules, combat rules, how to play the game, stat rules and everything else (even a few magic items, apparently)? Not a chance. 8 might fit. 11 certainly won't, not in 320 pages. Look at the space requirements for the barebones versions of the paladin smites- multiply that by at least 10 (more reasonably 15-20), and then by 8 again. Even in a double column format, thats a lot of space.

I'd say at least 4 pages of powers for each class, assuming a minimum of 30 powers each. Thats 10% of the book for 8 classes.

 

[No Name]

Oh well.


One can hope.

 

[Li Shenron]

Time and Space requirements suggest otherwise.
The printers want the final copy fairly soon.

Space- Every class has powers. They're trying to make the classes quite distinct, which means very little overlap in powers. So... 30 levels of powers for each class, squeezed in around class descriptions, races, equipment, general rules, combat rules, how to play the game, stat rules and everything else (even a few magic items, apparently)? Not a chance. 8 might fit. 11 certainly won't, not in 320 pages. Look at the space requirements for the barebones versions of the paladin smites- multiply that by at least 10 (more reasonably 15-20), and then by 8 again. Even in a double column format, thats a lot of space.

I'd say at least 4 pages of powers for each class, assuming a minimum of 30 powers each. Thats 10% of the book for 8 classes.

OTOH it is still totally unknown how spells will look like. It's possible they don't need nearly as 100 pages like in 3e.