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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dm4hire" data-source="post: 5058720" data-attributes="member: 14848">I jumped whole heartedly into 4e and own just about every book through DMG II.  I played it for about a year, including a home campaign that lasted about six months.  I have several LFR characters including a 5th level Drow Shadow Pact warlock.  My disparity came from the way the classes felt the same no matter what I played and I think that is largely due to the way the classes are balanced using the A/E/D/U format.  I still like 4e, but I’ve taken on the attitude that it’s a great pickup game when I don’t have the time to really invest in character development or encounter design.I picked up Pathfinder during the beta and followed it from start to release of the final.  I volunteered for GenCon last year so also got an early start on the final rules.  I really like the majority of changes Paizo did.  CMB/CMD is a big step up as mentioned over the previous rules surrounding combat maneuvers.  Could it be better, I’m sure it could but it’s going to take time to figure it out.  The classes are definitely more balanced and designed to really persuade the players to sticking with the same class in order to maintain effectiveness.  Pathfinder’s shortcoming is that it doesn’t really help multi-classing as much, but I think that’s because now as I mentioned the focus is more on staying in a given class.  Most of the spells have been balanced, but there are some that still could be improved.I’m with Remathilis on wanting more of a cross breed.  I really like how 4e handles defenses and hit points along with a couple other points.  As for other fixes well there’s a big trend right now of products popping up offering alternative rules to improve 3.5 OGL rules.  If you haven’t looked at Trailblazer I recommend it as there are some interesting ideas inside for improving 3.5/Pathfinder.  Another product you might want to take a look at is Fencing & Firearms from <a href="http://spesmagna.com/" target="_blank">Spes Magna Games </a>which is a free download when you sign up for their newsletter.  Then there’s variant systems that already exist and are popping up, i.e. Conan and e20.  I’m hopeful that down the road the best rules from all the variant OGL products will get incorporated so that we’ll eventually see it all in one product meeting the majority’s desire.  The problem is no matter how fine tuned the system might get there will always be players who will condescend, making the quest for a perfect game a losing battle of revisions.  Some point along the way we have to decide which system best fits “our individual” needs and house rule the rest, calling it good and stop buying every book that comes out.  I just don’t know if I’m at that point yet.</blockquote>

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