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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7751809" data-attributes="member: 996">I think fundamental changes, the kind you use to fix up a system or get it to evoke (force) a specific style, feel, or theme.&nbsp;&nbsp; IMHO, you can generally get what you want out of 4e that way without hacking the system, per se, just being selective about what you allow in and what you use when you design adventures.Low-/no- magic is the example I like to use because it's so problematic in all other editions even if you do take a machete to them, but in 4e you just allow only martial classes, turn on Inherent bonuses, and off you go.It was easy to cut things from 4e:&nbsp; you could ban a class or a whole source - or allow only one source - and things'd still work, because niche protection had died with the other sacred cows, for instance.&nbsp; It was easy to add certain things, especially monsters, but also items (or even artifacts) if they were one-off...&nbsp; But there wasn't much call to tear the system down and rebuild the engine.&nbsp;Nod, monsters were pretty easy to create, and even easier to re-skin &amp; tweak.&nbsp; Magic items could be harder to design if you tried to stay inside the lines.&nbsp; 4e magic items were designed as relatively minor character build resources, you weren't meant to be defined by an item, they weren't meant to too significantly power you up. When they would appear key in some OP build, they'd get errata'd (until Essentials, of course).&nbsp; Trying to stick to that was a PitA and did not result in the most interesting items (all the good, mediocre, and marginal ideas were taken, it seemed).&nbsp; But, a unique item (not as complicated as an artifact, but more substantial than a regular 4e item), one the players couldn't just make/buy, that could be fun (and, with not restrictions beyond not wanting to torpedo your campaign), comparatively easy.&nbsp;Templates weren't a big deal in 3.x/4e, IMHO.&nbsp; They're a minor convenience that create themed monsters that the players might notice (or not).&nbsp; With or without them you, you could always just create monsters with certain commonalities, anyway.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7751809, member: 996"] I think fundamental changes, the kind you use to fix up a system or get it to evoke (force) a specific style, feel, or theme. IMHO, you can generally get what you want out of 4e that way without hacking the system, per se, just being selective about what you allow in and what you use when you design adventures. Low-/no- magic is the example I like to use because it's so problematic in all other editions even if you do take a machete to them, but in 4e you just allow only martial classes, turn on Inherent bonuses, and off you go. It was easy to cut things from 4e: you could ban a class or a whole source - or allow only one source - and things'd still work, because niche protection had died with the other sacred cows, for instance. It was easy to add certain things, especially monsters, but also items (or even artifacts) if they were one-off... But there wasn't much call to tear the system down and rebuild the engine. Nod, monsters were pretty easy to create, and even easier to re-skin & tweak. Magic items could be harder to design if you tried to stay inside the lines. 4e magic items were designed as relatively minor character build resources, you weren't meant to be defined by an item, they weren't meant to too significantly power you up. When they would appear key in some OP build, they'd get errata'd (until Essentials, of course). Trying to stick to that was a PitA and did not result in the most interesting items (all the good, mediocre, and marginal ideas were taken, it seemed). But, a unique item (not as complicated as an artifact, but more substantial than a regular 4e item), one the players couldn't just make/buy, that could be fun (and, with not restrictions beyond not wanting to torpedo your campaign), comparatively easy. Templates weren't a big deal in 3.x/4e, IMHO. They're a minor convenience that create themed monsters that the players might notice (or not). With or without them you, you could always just create monsters with certain commonalities, anyway. [/QUOTE]

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