Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 7653001" data-attributes="member: 58416">I know I mention the game a lot, but -serious- take a look at GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy.&nbsp; I think it's a very good example of how you can have something like classes, but still be flexible and allow player choice.&nbsp; While I'd never expect D&amp;D to take a path which was quite that flexible, it did seem as though early 5th Edition playtest packets may have gone a few steps in that direction.&nbsp; I had hoped they did, but the last few seem to have gone a different way.&nbsp; If nothing else, it's interesting to look at how somebody else did it, and compare notes to what D&amp;D has done over the various editions.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasy/" target="_blank">http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasy/</a><a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasymonsters1/" target="_blank">http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasymonsters1/</a>Another game I've played a lot recently (and another one I've been mentioning) is Star Wars: Edge of The Empire.&nbsp; The game has classes, but abilities are gained through talent trees.&nbsp; It occured to me yesterday (while playing) that talent trees weren't too radically different from feat chains.&nbsp; The main difference is that talent trees allow for multiple paths to reach an ability.&nbsp; With the huge amount of feats in D&amp;D, it might be more difficult to pull off multiple paths, but I think it's an interesting idea.&nbsp; What if I could pick up feat Z by one of two ways?&nbsp; Maybe one player progresses through X, Y, and then Z.&nbsp; Maybe a different player progresses through A, B, X, and then Z without needing Y.&nbsp; One of the interesting things about this is that two players can be playing the same class, but have characters who feel very different in play.&nbsp; In theory, D&amp;D allows for this too; unfortunately, in the past two editions, there have been too many choices which were &quot;no-brainer&quot; choices or seen as &quot;the one true way.&quot;&nbsp; I believe part of the reason isn't due to the classes per se, but is tied to how D&amp;D level progression works, but that's a different topic.&nbsp; Either way, I view EoTE to be another game which D&amp;D could take some cues from, and it's also a game which handles things far different than GURPS, so the juxtaposition of styles is interesting.&nbsp; Looking at both and seeing the two ways of doing things when it comes to handling, class, characters, and character abilities is enlightening as well as being pretty good food for thought.<a href="http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=232" target="_blank">http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=232</a>edit: Links provided for references</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Argyle King, post: 7653001, member: 58416"] I know I mention the game a lot, but -serious- take a look at GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy. I think it's a very good example of how you can have something like classes, but still be flexible and allow player choice. While I'd never expect D&D to take a path which was quite that flexible, it did seem as though early 5th Edition playtest packets may have gone a few steps in that direction. I had hoped they did, but the last few seem to have gone a different way. If nothing else, it's interesting to look at how somebody else did it, and compare notes to what D&D has done over the various editions. [url]http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasy/[/url] [url]http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/dungeonfantasymonsters1/[/url] Another game I've played a lot recently (and another one I've been mentioning) is Star Wars: Edge of The Empire. The game has classes, but abilities are gained through talent trees. It occured to me yesterday (while playing) that talent trees weren't too radically different from feat chains. The main difference is that talent trees allow for multiple paths to reach an ability. With the huge amount of feats in D&D, it might be more difficult to pull off multiple paths, but I think it's an interesting idea. What if I could pick up feat Z by one of two ways? Maybe one player progresses through X, Y, and then Z. Maybe a different player progresses through A, B, X, and then Z without needing Y. One of the interesting things about this is that two players can be playing the same class, but have characters who feel very different in play. In theory, D&D allows for this too; unfortunately, in the past two editions, there have been too many choices which were "no-brainer" choices or seen as "the one true way." I believe part of the reason isn't due to the classes per se, but is tied to how D&D level progression works, but that's a different topic. Either way, I view EoTE to be another game which D&D could take some cues from, and it's also a game which handles things far different than GURPS, so the juxtaposition of styles is interesting. Looking at both and seeing the two ways of doing things when it comes to handling, class, characters, and character abilities is enlightening as well as being pretty good food for thought. [url]http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=232[/url] edit: Links provided for references [/QUOTE]

Verification