Majoru Oakheart said:
I just want a ruleset that gives me the advantages of 3e (codified rules, more balance, not having to make up constant house rules) without the above disadvantages. 4e appears to provide that.
*Nod* I'd like this too, I just don't know that I'm sold on this being true. My next set of campaigns are going to start before this summer, and I dont relish the idea of switching to a radically different rule set mid campaign.
Najo said:
I have it on good word from within the company that DMing 4e is going to be amazing. They wanted to make it easy to do, fun and still challenge the players. In this realm alone, the game sounds worth trying.
With that said, as long as the character creation is satisifying and we can still get the same degree of gaming (or better) as with previous editions, you can always change story elements your not wild about back to 3.5 D&D easy enough.
I currently run 3 different games. Reduction of prep time does indeed sound like a wonderful thing. DDM has been a WONDERFUL aid in reducing prep time for me - flip sides of the stat cards have been very useful. As for Story Elements, I've been running my own home brew campaign world for a long time - so I'm perfectly fine with bending story and flavor elements to suit my purposes, this is not a barrier to me.
I really feel like this is a new version of a piece of software that is comming out. One where the manufacturer has decided to make radical changes in the appearance and function. All the tool sets are changing, and it wont open your old files.
TerraDave said:
Lorax, I wonder if we are the same age? Your first 6 paragraphs or so are deja-vu all over again.
But, (also) like the Basterd, I am ready to finish my current campaign and move on. 3.0 was a big improvement (3.5 a tiny one), but it turns out it is not perfect.
One other difference: I see the shear volume of 3/3.5 stuff as a liability, not an asset. I like the idea of refocusing on the core, not being concerned about what of the many books I do or do not want to use, and everybody being on the same page again. At least for a while.
Dave, I do feel where you're comming from - I have one player in particular who is constantly trying to find "new and cool" combination of classes from all over. I DO feel like I'm in the "Skills and Powers" era all over again, and would like this mess cleaned up. I wish WoTC would realize that massive amounts of Crunch are not what I needed, this does NOT make it easier for me to run my game, it makes it more difficult. Dungeon. Dungeon makes it easier to run my game. The huge adventure library that I have makes finding an appropriate adventure to fill my story needs easy. I'm a numbers kind of guy - makeing a new monster or designing a new PrC to fit an element in my campaign is easy stuff. Creating a new adventure with maps and NPCs, Detailing a town with interesting shops and political events, thats the kind of thing that becomes a huge time sink for me.
I *AM* looking forward to 4e, and I DO want to give it a try, I just dont see it happening any time soon. I do feel that, for me, its still too early to make the change.