D&D 4.0 - What the?

[francisca]

So, what is 3.5 + the upcoming Unearthed Arcana? 3.51 -- 3.75 depending on how much you adopt? Is UA a massive playtest for elements of 4.0, or stuff from the cutting room floor from 3.5? (a little of both I'd wager).

My guess is that UA is going to be a testing ground for new concepts for 4.0. Dunno whether it has been planned that way, but I think it will be the end result.

My big prediction for 4.0: 2 sets of rules will be provided for major portions of the game.

You'll see options for either HP or WP/VP style systems.

You'll see a spell point and vancian system presented side-by-side, with the option of doing either or both, etc.. Oh wait, that is the current version of magic with Psionics thrown in. But since many object to psi in the core rules, you'll see a "spell point" system which smells very familiar.

The net effect is that the rules will be simplified/reduced, as they will need the space for 2 sets.

Wow. What an incoherent pile of prattle. Sorry. I'm going to get some coffee now.

 

[johnsemlak]

Your numbers are a bit off.

OD&D lasted 3 years, 1974-1977
AD&D lasted 10 years, 1979-1989
AD&D 2nd Edition lasted 11 years, 1989-2000 (with hiatus, I guess)
D&D 3rd Edition is ongoing: 2000-

Cheers!

Weren't the OD&D books and supplements sold (and printed) after 1977? When AD&D was launched, they didn't cancel the D&D line. Of course the D&D line eventually became Basic/Expert D&D.

 

[CleverName]

My 4.0 wish list

• Not released before Aug. 2007
• Simplified and streamlined rules -- kill some sacred cows.
• More skill points initially with some kind of diminishing return for ranks above, say, 10. Get rid of cross-class skills.
• "Core" classes become much more broad, with a system for picking and choosing "Class" abilities - much like d20M's talent trees.
• Alignment rules become optional
• Completely drop any non-d20 resolution (i.e. the % for concealment, etc.).
• maintain and strenghten OGL and d20 licences - bring the top d20 publishers into the playtesting and design. Begin this process next year, '05.

 

[diaglo]

Weren't the OD&D books and supplements sold (and printed) after 1977? When AD&D was launched, they didn't cancel the D&D line. Of course the D&D line eventually became Basic/Expert D&D.

yes. i think they were in production until 1979.

basic D&D aka...2edD&D J. Holmes was released in 1978. but in production in 1977.

 

[Nighthawk]

1) A serious effort to rework the magic spells (this would require magic items be looked at again). I think the spell lists have become a cumbersome monster over the years.

2) Please include more examples of how specific combat actions work.

My concern is that the three core books are already lengthy and my wishes would only add to that. So, it's another catch-22 situation. Na ja.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

...I favor the latter type of advice, but any way you slice it, how more experienced players give advice is a more personal sort of thing that won't be changed no matter what the mechanic for casting your spells is.

No argument from me. I've had better luck with newbie spellcasters playing sorcerers than any other class, so that's what I recommend, but YMMV.

...In my opinion, having to select which spells you're going to be able to cast that day is a fine trade off for a more powerful and varied selection of spells.

Agreed, and if a player wants to run a wizard to get these advantages, I support them wholeheartedly. But I still think the magic system needs to be toned down considerably, especially at higher levels, which would also make a non-vancian system less unbalanced.

BTW, this discussion is why my preference for 4.0 is a much more simplified rules-set, with numerous optional plug-ins ("Options, not restictions").
Don't want to use alignment? Use this plug-in.
Don't like vancian magic? Here, try these other ways of running magic.
Don't like the complex rules for grapples and such? Stick with the basic combat rules and don't add the other options.
And so on. As someone else mentioned, UA seems to be written along these lines and I'll be interested to see how it goes over in the market.

 

[KingOfChaos]

I don't want another edition. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not rich and I can't afford to keep buying a new set of core rulebooks every 4 years. I think the rules are fine the way they are and should be left the hell alone for a while.

 

[diaglo]

I don't want another edition. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am not rich and I can't afford to keep buying a new set of core rulebooks every 4 years. I think the rules are fine the way they are and should be left the hell alone for a while.

i said the same thing over 24 years ago.

 

[RangerWickett]

So, judging by what we've been presented with here, let's write D&D 4th Edition, and then when they announce it, we pre-empt them with an OGL release! Bwahahahahaha!

Ability Scores.
We could move from a scale of 1 to infinity, with the bonuses changing every even number, to a scale of -5 to +infinity. But that would screw up with the fun of rolling stats, so we're going to keep the default scores of 3 to 18. We keep the 4d6, drop the lowest, divide as you choose, and then we let characters increase a stat at every even level. (This will help reduce the reliance on magical stat-boost items).

Charisma is the weakest of the ability scores, generally. We have three options here.

Okay, I just have to post a quick tangent here. I just saw a woman who was an Indian version of this dark Elf character in my game. She looked exactly right, even down to the eyebrows (okay, not the eartips or the skintone, but everything else). I wish I'd had a camera.

Anyway, back to Charisma. We can a) tie it in to the DCs on all spellcasting, so that all good mages will have high Charismas, b) use it as the modifying ability score for Will saves, though this might weaken Wisdom, or c) involve it somehow in the new action points system. Not quite sure how, though. We'll get back to it.

Next segment, races!

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Oh I want to add one more... Paladins (divine warriors) for all deities "scripted" out and not some footnote in the DMG (correct?) often forgotten.