Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 6227157" data-attributes="member: 3586">There was a time during the hey-day of 3E that someone came up with a rather nice idea of the defining characteristics of each edition.AD&D 1E - adventuresAD&D 2E - settingsD&D 3E - rulesLooking back on that now, and with 4E in the mix, I'd probably change 3E's defining characteristic. Although the rules were a big deal in 3E, for me the defining characteristic of 3E is this: character customisation. (And, it's evil twin, character optimisation, which could cause grown DMs to break down and cry).It's not the only thing 3E does. Yes, the rules are still a big deal. And you could also put in an argument for "Adventure Paths" as being an important part of the 3E legacy. But, for me, character customisation trumps that: 3E, especially as it developed, gave great freedom for players to build characters.So, what is the defining characteristic of 4E? There's possibly an argument for its character class structure (though that was relaxed in later books), and "simpler rules" isn't really that great a characteristic. (Simpler, elegant rules? Closer, but still not what I really consider of 4E. Rather, the one thing that I think D&D 4E did really well and rather defines the edition is this: set-piece battles. Yeah, it's not as broad as those for the other editions. It's still an important reason why I've enjoyed my time with 4E: having a boss fight where it doesn't boil down to just having the right spells prepared. I've had a few too many 3E-style combats where it was "who had the right buffs" or "who could dispell the right buffs" or "who failed a save-or-die spell". These end-adventure fights haven't been as consistently interesting as the ones I've had in 4E.This isn't to say that it executes it flawlessly - none of these characteristics are flawless.It's just a thought game - what is the positive attribute that, for you, defines the edition. And does a consensus build from that point?Cheers!</blockquote>

Verification