I don't see either 4E or 3E as 'superior' than the other. They are different games attempting to model high fantasy adventuring with dice, minis, and paper & pencil.
With that said, I dislike 4E as feeling incomplete mainly because 4E so far lacks official versions of several staple 3E classes (bbn, bard, druid, monk, sor) and seems to gut the spell selections of the cleric & wizard. 4E also continued the split-personality Ranger. In other respects 4E seems far too "video-gamey".
Don't get me wrong; there are things about 4E I'm starting to warm up to: the method of reckoning skill bonuses (if not the actual trimmed-down list), the standardization of weapon traits, the encumbrance system, the reworking of saves/defenses (casters do need to be making attack rolls for everything as do the martial classes), the higher initial HP amounts. But 4E goes too far in other areas: the aforementioned minimalist skill set (and the equally austere selection of weapons & armor - not tomention the adventuring gear table!!), the retention of LG & CE alignment spaces, the replacement of the rich variety of spell geometries of 3E with square-shaped areas for everything...
4E's rules system seems well-suited for managing combat in a modern setting, where characters aren't to be expected to command eldritch magic or innate supernatural powers, but 4E D&D seems to be a round-peg fantasy world being pounded into a square-hole modern-day game system.
For all its flaws, 3.5E works, though slowly and with effort. I have plenty of books with plot ideas which would give me a variety of campaigns enough to last years and years. My gaming buddies all know the system and they have taken a wait-and-see-what-I-think approach to 4E. I had high hopes that 4E would give me that same thrill just from reading the rules as 3E had when we were still playing with 2E rules. It didn't. Maybe if the 4E PHB had been doubled in size, included the missing 5 classes, was more generous with its list of weapons & armor & adventuring gear, my verdict would be more positive, but I am going to have to tell my friends that for now, 4E is not worth switching to. PHB2 may reverse my opinion, but for now we are sticking with 3.5E. Sorry.
With that said, I dislike 4E as feeling incomplete mainly because 4E so far lacks official versions of several staple 3E classes (bbn, bard, druid, monk, sor) and seems to gut the spell selections of the cleric & wizard. 4E also continued the split-personality Ranger. In other respects 4E seems far too "video-gamey".
Don't get me wrong; there are things about 4E I'm starting to warm up to: the method of reckoning skill bonuses (if not the actual trimmed-down list), the standardization of weapon traits, the encumbrance system, the reworking of saves/defenses (casters do need to be making attack rolls for everything as do the martial classes), the higher initial HP amounts. But 4E goes too far in other areas: the aforementioned minimalist skill set (and the equally austere selection of weapons & armor - not tomention the adventuring gear table!!), the retention of LG & CE alignment spaces, the replacement of the rich variety of spell geometries of 3E with square-shaped areas for everything...
4E's rules system seems well-suited for managing combat in a modern setting, where characters aren't to be expected to command eldritch magic or innate supernatural powers, but 4E D&D seems to be a round-peg fantasy world being pounded into a square-hole modern-day game system.
For all its flaws, 3.5E works, though slowly and with effort. I have plenty of books with plot ideas which would give me a variety of campaigns enough to last years and years. My gaming buddies all know the system and they have taken a wait-and-see-what-I-think approach to 4E. I had high hopes that 4E would give me that same thrill just from reading the rules as 3E had when we were still playing with 2E rules. It didn't. Maybe if the 4E PHB had been doubled in size, included the missing 5 classes, was more generous with its list of weapons & armor & adventuring gear, my verdict would be more positive, but I am going to have to tell my friends that for now, 4E is not worth switching to. PHB2 may reverse my opinion, but for now we are sticking with 3.5E. Sorry.
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