Exclusive Bruce Cordell interview

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Too late. May I introduce you to my warforged warblade4/warmage3. Guess what his name is?

Ward? Warf? Am I getting warm?

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Too late. May I introduce you to my warforged warblade4/warmage3. Guess what his name is?

Warwhore?

 

[Jhaelen]

FWIW, I dislike all of the 'iconic' class names:

- Cleric: sounds like a 'bookish' type to me (note the similarity to 'clerk'), not someone actively pursuing adventures. 'Priest' is a lot better in almost every regard. Another option that fits an even wieder range of character concepts might be 'Mystic'.

- Fighter: doesn't sound at all like someone who's actually proficient at anything, has the same connotations for me as 'Brawler'. 'Warrior' sounds a lot better, imho.

- Rogue: Probably a bit better than the old 'Thief', but still too morally ambigious for my taste. The class should have a name that can describe someone of LG alignment just as well as someone with CE alignment. I don't know of an appropriate alternative, though. 'Expert' is a bit too weak to express the more combat-related abilities, like sneak attack. Maybe 'Specialist'?

- Wizard: Instant creates a mental image of the long-bearded, pointy-hatted variety. 'Magic-User' or 'Arcanist' would be infinitely better.

 

[hong]

It will actually be interesting to see what they do with the rogue in 4E. Right now, it's a mix of sneaky guy, finesse warrior, generic skill-monger and bomb disposal expert. I'd like to see them put a lot more emphasis on the first two bits, and not worry so much about the other two. Turn it into the IH executioner, basically, but more flexible.

 

[Zander]

I wonder how clearer the answers would have been if you had specified PHB1 rather than just PHB, or MM1, or DMG1.

Don't worry. I think Bruce knew that by "PHB", "DMG" and "Monster Manual", I was talking about the first set of books, i.e. those due out in spring/summer 2008.

 

[BryonD]

I'm betting (fairly wildly) that monks, barbarians, and paladins will all exist as forms of fighter builds.

As several people have already suggested, I am now pretty much officially wrong with respect to paladins. James Wyatt said in his blog that the paladin and fighter split up the knight's stuff. So, there you go.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While I like- no, love- the Monk, I think it and most of the other asian (and other) -themed portions of the game would be better suited to an OA type expansion. The Core PHB1 should be the Eurocentric stuff of a typical medieval fantasy, with, perhaps, a dash of the asian critters from the unmapped portions of the world.

Each subsequent PHB and MM for a while could then, in a sense, be region specific- an Asian analog, an African analog, etc., complete with new base classes and critters.

Heck, I'd be tempted to make the PHB be a generic rules source, and have classes & critters released in things like "D&D West" "D&D East" "D&D Lost Continent" or the like- sourcbooks of equal status under the umbrella term, "Core."

 

[RSKennan]

While I like- no, love- the Monk, I think it and most of the other asian (and other) -themed portions of the game would be better suited to an OA type expansion. The Core PHB1 should be the Eurocentric stuff of a typical medieval fantasy, with, perhaps, a dash of the asian critters from the unmapped portions of the world.

Each subsequent PHB and MM for a while could then, in a sense, be region specific- an Asian analog, an African analog, etc., complete with new base classes and critters.

Heck, I'd be tempted to make the PHB be a generic rules source, and have classes & critters released in things like "D&D West" "D&D East" "D&D Lost Continent" or the like- sourcbooks of equal status under the umbrella term, "Core."

Hmm, what a novel idea...

However, I'd like to say that my ideal D&D would encompass all cultures equally, not just Europe. Wouldn't it be awesome if each subsequent PHB/DMG focused on a different set of cultures? PHB2 might be Asia, PHB3 could be Africa, India, or the Americas etc.

Edit: I'm glad to see we agree, though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Its not a particularly novel one...look at RIFTS, for instance- Kevin Sembieda has been doing just that for more than a decade.

May I introduce you to my warforged warblade4/warmage3. Guess what his name is?

Warren Peace?
Warren Pieces?
War War Binks?