D&D 4E InQuest 4e article

[GreatLemur]

"The same thing will happen to the races covered in the core books, where the half-demon tieflings will claim a place at the expense of an undisclosed race—we’re guessing a half-elf, gnome and halfling were shut up in a dark cave with some paring knives, and no questions were asked of whoever came out…heck, there might even be three new races in the new edition! "

Ha! Called it! (Although, actually, I hadn't really been serious...) Kind of odd if they aren't bringing in the Aasimars, too. As for who gets the axe, my money is on the Gnome, just like everyone else's.

Man, can't you just hear the moaning about how 4E if for anime kiddies who want to play as wuxia demons and blast stuff all day with unlimited magic?

 

[jasin]

As for who gets the axe, my money is on the Gnome, just like everyone else's.

I'd hope for halflings, if it weren't for that halfling cleric pic in one of the articles.

As it is, I guess half-elves, half-orcs, gnomes probably have an even shot at it. Half-orcs I'd miss the least, but I think half-elves or gnomes are more likely, depending on whether they go with "nobody plays this anyway" (half-elf) or "PCs need to be cool rather than whimsical" (gnome).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I take any analysis by Wizard/InQuest with a huge grain of salt. If it's D20, it's more than remotely compatible.

And we'll see about conversions. I already have a big cosmology tweaking event planned for my campaign to ease this transition. I suspect that leaving the BBEG and some other guys mostly undefined until 4E hits will let me make the transition pretty easily.

 

[MadMaxim]

It all sounds very interesting, but are the planetouched going to be presented as the "lesser" versions found i Player's Guide to Faerûn, or is level adjustment a thing of the past? I think they'd be too powerful even if their native outsider race was turned into humanoid. It'll be interesting to hear more about, though I hope they don't axe the gnomes. Why axe anything, really? Can't we all just get along...?

 

[GreatLemur]

Wait, am I the only one who thinks this guy looks a whole hell of a lot more like a Half-Dragon than a Tiefling?

 

[Razz]

Something else from that article:

And yes, Wizards does recommend you begin new campaigns with Fourth Edition. “It’s not going to be as huge a jump,” as from Second Edition to Third Edition, said Slavicsek, “but there’s enough changing in the core system of how we are doing classes and races and characters that we’re not even gonna attempt it—we’re just telling you it’s better to start over.”

Total crap. I can't stand it anymore.

Someone shoot me and give me amnesia so that I don't remember that I even cared or liked anything about D&D anymore. Ugh.....

Not as huge a jump yet he's saying to start over?

You're giving us MIXED MESSAGES Bill...what gives!?

 

[BadMojo]

If they do this one thing well, they'll have a lot of slack from me in other areas.

I was getting optimistic up to the point that mentioned the Bo9S stuff. I also think a large variety of maneuvers will bog down a game where combat is already slow.

I do like the idea that spellcasters won't be relegated to "duck and cover" or "pull out the light crossbow" once they run out of spells. The reserve feats were, IMO, implemented well.

 

[Plane Sailing]

"And the mage and barbarian might get along a little better thanks to revamped spell recovery rules that won’t do away with the need to rest to replenish spells, but will give players more options to recover spells and in-game incentives to do something other than call nappy-time every two encounters."

From my experience, from about 6th level onwards the barbarians are running out of hit points and looking for 'nappy time' much more frequently than the wizards

 

[jasin]

I was getting optimistic up to the point that mentioned the Bo9S stuff. I also think a large variety of maneuvers will bog down a game where combat is already slow.

That's a good point. But I love me some Bo9S, and I'm willing to suffer a little slowing down for it, especially if they speed up other areas to compensate.

And if 4E warrior-types use maneuvers as a default, they might not need as many or as complex ones as 3.5 Bo9S classes. The Bo9S classes lots to be different enough to distinguish them from the core warriors. 4E warriors could be half way: simpler than Bo9S classes, more interesting than 3E core warriors.

 

[Riley]

"And the mage and barbarian might get along a little better thanks to revamped spell recovery rules that won’t do away with the need to rest to replenish spells, but will give players more options to recover spells and in-game incentives to do something other than call nappy-time every two encounters."

This i the one thing I need 4e to fix. I absolutely hate it when the wizard's player declares that it's time to rest... 15 minutes (game time) into the day's adventuring. Every frigging day.

I hope the solution for this is clever and good, but I'm worried about the "per encounter" concept. I mean, what's an encounter anyway? There's little that's more heroic (and fun) than fighting a pitched battle that flows from room to room, with new enemies entering the fray as others flee.

I'm a little worried that "per encounter" and the Delve Format will turn adventures into nothing more than a series of similar-sized combat vignettes of "kick open the door, and fight the monsters within," with little dynamic pacing.