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Message: <blockquote data-quote="M.L. Martin" data-source="post: 4561006" data-attributes="member: 4086">Indeed. This is what I was trying to get at--D&D is bipolar. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":-)" title="Smile    :-)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":-)" />    Part of the reason, of course, is that pre-3E, the game was so scattershot and crazy-quilt that modifications quickly became nearly essential, and the 'core experience' was a broad and nebulous thing. 3E tried to tighten things up, and refocus on the 'core experience' that many people felt had gotten lost (I think this, though probably secondary to financial concerns, was one of the reasons for the Massive Setting Purge). However, for a variety of reasons--including the fact that the core D&D experience was so nebulous--it didn't satisfy everyone, and the game's flexibility and quickly expanding options retained some of that duality.   4E looks to be the most transparent and coherent version of D&D yet, and thus is in theory the most modifiable--but so far, it's also been the most tightly focused. However, we're still very early in the system's lifespan, so it may grow to be expansive.  To lay my prejudices on the table, I came into the hobby and developed my tastes in 2E's hayday (although we started with a 2E DMG, 2E MC, and 1E PH), and the first systems I moved to after the D&D family were MERP/Rolemaster, which quickly becomes a 'generic fantasy toolkit' when you pick up a few Companions, and the HERO System, which veritably defines 'toolkit' systems. (While I don't have much interest left in Rolemaster, I'd gladly play HERO sometime, have a fair number of supplements for reading and looting material if nothing else, and am looking forward to seeing what they do with 6th Edition.) I freely admit, I'd like to see more of a 'toolkit' approach, since WotC has some of the best people in the business, and I'd be happy to see them devoting their resources to my favored type of game. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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