D&D 4E Classless D&D 4e: A game designer's ramblings

[helium3]

Oh fer crying outloud.

It's still D&D as long as there are Dungeons, Dragons and hot chicks in chainmail bikinis!!!!

 

[Campbell]

Classless D&D isn't what exactly, yes?

No.

 

[pukunui]

Pukunui: I'm not bothered at all by enthusiasm.

Whew!

I actually like 99% of the preview stuff you guys have put out so far, and I think it's really cool that you actually take the time to come and talk to us directly instead of having everything siphoned through the PR dept.

I just want to make sure that people who see the thread don't think that D&D is going classless or anything. It's important that people get an accurate picture of what we're doing.

Yeah, I realized I was overdoing things and went back and toned everything down in my original posts. You may notice that I changed the thread title to reflect that it's a thread about your ramblings rather than confirmation of what's going to be in 4e. I also took out all references to customization being "easy", since you never actually said that. Thanks to Umbran for calling me out on the whole "putting words in your mouth" thing. What would we do without moderators?

Cheers!

 

[SSquirrel]

Actually, at that point I think you could honestly say it's no longer D&D.

Dr Spunj took the magic system from Arcana Unearthed/Evolved and using it created a spreadsheet showing how to run classless D&D and AU/AE. Included templates for the Core classes as well as the ones from Monte's book and had modified versions of the classes as well.
It was pretty interesting and still felt like D&D to me, it just meant there was more freedom in character design, which I liked.

 

[Grazzt]

Oh fer crying outloud.

It's still D&D as long as there are Dungeons, Dragons and hot chicks in chainmail bikinis!!!!

Doesn't this also describe like a ton of other fantasy rpgs on the market as well?

 

[Engilbrand]

I'm currently playing in a game that uses only New World of Darkness books. The setting? Forgotten Realms. Specifically the Underdark. As far as I'm concerned, I'm playing D&D. It just happens to be a non-WotC rules system. When I tried Iron Kingdoms, I considered that to be D&D. Eberron? D&D. Exalted? Not D&D. It's more than just the name on the box. I play D&D different than I play Exalted different than I play Mage. It's the feel of the setting and the things I bring to the game that make it D&D. I really look forward to 4th edition. I hope that it's even more D&D than 3.5.

 

[Darkwolf71]

People say that all the time. There is no "certain point" to be reached to get somebody tell you "it´s not longer D&D". D&D has been so much in the past, that dropping anything will make it "stop D&D" for somebody out there.

Yes, they do. And most of the time it is over some trivial thing. However, D&D has always been, at it's core, a class based system. Change spell mechanics, change combat. Add/remove various sundry other options. But classes are the base of every single incarnation of D&D that has existed.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I'm currently playing in a game that uses only New World of Darkness books. The setting? Forgotten Realms. Specifically the Underdark. As far as I'm concerned, I'm playing D&D. It just happens to be a non-WotC rules system. When I tried Iron Kingdoms, I considered that to be D&D. Eberron? D&D. Exalted? Not D&D. It's more than just the name on the box. I play D&D different than I play Exalted different than I play Mage. It's the feel of the setting and the things I bring to the game that make it D&D. I really look forward to 4th edition. I hope that it's even more D&D than 3.5.

The D&D that can be named is not the eternal D&D.

 

[Jackelope King]

I would be so much happier with a classless D&D. Infinitely. Which means I'm even more excited about what WotC is going to do with their more generic stuff, like whatever the new edition of d20 Modern looks like.

And so long as D&D has humans and human-like creatures with funny-shaped ears of various heights getting together to kill things and take their stuff in a world with pseudo-Medieval window-dressing, get XP, and level up, it's D&D.

 

[Lizard]

Yes, they do. And most of the time it is over some trivial thing. However, D&D has always been, at it's core, a class based system. Change spell mechanics, change combat. Add/remove various sundry other options. But classes are the base of every single incarnation of D&D that has existed.

And yet, D&D has been moving towards a classless sytem. 3e multiclassing turned classes into 'lego blocks' for building custom characters. D20Modern introduced very generic classes (I liked them!) with Talent Trees for class abilities and no multiclassing restrictions. 4e unifies BAB/Save progression.

Really, the leap to a single 'class' (perhaps 3 classes: PC (also used for 'major' villains), Mundane NPC (bakers and blacksmiths), and Monsters) is the next logical step in this progression.