Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Older Editions
How could 4E be more elegant?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="maddman75" data-source="post: 1969835" data-attributes="member: 2673"><p>Drop the spell list altogether, in favor of some kind of dynamic sorcery. Make it skill based, and you can do anything you want, so long as you make your skill check. So a skill check in Evocation magic could do so much damage, energy type and AoE, 3 of targets, etc. are irrelevent. Enchantment could be used to improve attributes, AC, attacks, and so on temporarily, or force others to your will. And so on.</p><p></p><p>Collapse the skill list - Climb, Swim, Balance, Tumble, and Jumping all become acrobatics. Hide, move silently, and sleight of hand all become stealth. Spot, Search, and Listen all become Notice. Divorce the skill from a fixed stat, and use a skill+stat determination for each bonus. So for instance, climbing a wall is Acrobatics + STR, while tightrope walking is Acrobatics + DEX.</p><p></p><p>Make turning undead make sense. Use an already existing mechanic, like oh say *A WILL SAVE* instead of the convoluted tack-on that they now have.</p><p></p><p>Change the grapple rules dramatically. Get rid of an AoO for grappling or punching, just resolve it as another attack. I doubt the d3 damage will render weapons irrelevent.</p><p></p><p>AoOs have to be simplified. Maybe get rid of movement AoOs altogether. Other games do just fine without them. Sure you can run right past the guards up to the BBEG - and now you're surrounded.</p><p></p><p>Change the way hit points/ healing works so that Clerics are not required for a party. Also, making the game less lethal at higher levels would help too.</p><p></p><p>That would be a heckuva start.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="maddman75, post: 1969835, member: 2673"] Drop the spell list altogether, in favor of some kind of dynamic sorcery. Make it skill based, and you can do anything you want, so long as you make your skill check. So a skill check in Evocation magic could do so much damage, energy type and AoE, 3 of targets, etc. are irrelevent. Enchantment could be used to improve attributes, AC, attacks, and so on temporarily, or force others to your will. And so on. Collapse the skill list - Climb, Swim, Balance, Tumble, and Jumping all become acrobatics. Hide, move silently, and sleight of hand all become stealth. Spot, Search, and Listen all become Notice. Divorce the skill from a fixed stat, and use a skill+stat determination for each bonus. So for instance, climbing a wall is Acrobatics + STR, while tightrope walking is Acrobatics + DEX. Make turning undead make sense. Use an already existing mechanic, like oh say *A WILL SAVE* instead of the convoluted tack-on that they now have. Change the grapple rules dramatically. Get rid of an AoO for grappling or punching, just resolve it as another attack. I doubt the d3 damage will render weapons irrelevent. AoOs have to be simplified. Maybe get rid of movement AoOs altogether. Other games do just fine without them. Sure you can run right past the guards up to the BBEG - and now you're surrounded. Change the way hit points/ healing works so that Clerics are not required for a party. Also, making the game less lethal at higher levels would help too. That would be a heckuva start. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Older Editions
How could 4E be more elegant?
Top