Jason Bulmahn Speaks about DDXP(His take on the system)

[fafhrd]

Thanks. I was kind of looking more along the lines of "Why did they choose to retain basic attacks, rather than make everything at-Willable" though ,

Because it's absurd to suggest that a wizard can't try to stab someone with a dagger.

 

[Dausuul]

There is money to be made for third-party companies, both in switching to 4E and sticking with 3.X. But which is the right choice depends on the company.

The companies that switch to 4E get to compete in the bigger market. Realistically, the vast majority of players will eventually make the jump, or else drop out of the hobby and not be replaced. Whether or not you think 4E is better than 3.5, the fact remains that one of those editions will be fully supported by Wizards and one will not; one will be the most up-to-date edition and one will not; one will have a big marketing operation pushing it and one will not; most tellingly, one will be on bookstore shelves and one will not. The only way 4E doesn't end up dominating the market is if it sucks so badly that it drives most gamers away from D&D entirely.

For companies that stay with 3.X, though, there will still be a market, since there will always be some holdouts. That market will be a much smaller one, but intensely loyal. The company that supports it--and I don't think there will be room for more than one or two--will probably make its living by sticking to a tried-and-true formula, not innovating or experimenting much. This is not to say that 3.X enthusiasts don't want innovation or experimentation; but the market will be too small to support much of that.

The real question is, which companies will do best with which approach? I'm fairly sure most of the big names in third-party d20 will have to switch over. They're too big to sustain themselves exclusively off 3.X diehards. If they don't switch, they'll have to scale back considerably.

I think we may also see a small renaissance of alternative game systems. The much more restrictive new license does not look like encouraging the creation of games like Iron Heroes. At the same time, games created under the old OGL will wither and die as 3.X mechanics cease to be a well-known universal. Their death will create openings for new systems...

...or so I hope. The other possibility is that, with the OGL having killed off a lot of competing systems, and the OGL itself no longer being supported by WotC, the RPG market under 4E will be even more completely dominated by D&D than it is now.

 

[Ahglock]

Because it's absurd to suggest that a wizard can't try to stab someone with a dagger.

They seem to be suggesting things just as absurd under the per encounter mechanic.

 

[Monkey Boy]

Lets not kid ourselves PAIZO will go 4E. Erik has indicated this is his preference and what he sees the company doing. The only thing holding them back is the lack of GSL.

The big companies didn't really expect an OGL or a GSL and started taking steps a year or two ago to insulate themselves from 4E.

Green Ronin focused on Mutants and Masterminds and True 20.
FFG moved into board games and to all intents and purposes stopped publishing d20, they now have the warhammer license and don't need DnD anymore.
AEG stopped publishing d20 focusing on L5R.
Privateer Press have focused on mini's.
White Wolf have their story teller system.

The only company that needs 4e to survive is Paizo. Paizo don't have a fall back plan (beyond perhaps 3.75). It's 4e or bust. WOTC isn't making there life any easier but I don't see them having any other options but to play along.

 

[Simon Marks]

They seem to be suggesting things just as absurd under the per encounter mechanic.

This is D&D, nothing is absurd.

 

[Primal]

Well, 65% of all statistics are made up...

So, my made-up statistic: Our group (5 people) will certainly switch. That means 100 % of the guys I play with will play 4E.

That said, there are 2 persons I know that were part of the gaming part but can no longer game regularly. One of them was skeptic, but on a very general base ("It will be all the same as 3E - a new 3.5.") since at that time, nobody knew any details. The other has already said he wants to buy the new core book (or at least the PHB) if it comes up...

But I am certain that there are groups out there where this is reserved. Because people in most groups have similar likes and dis-likes, and when one of them dislike a game, most of them will...

While I agree that most people will likely switch to 4E by the end of the year, all my local D&D groups (around 20 people or so) will *not* switch. So that means that 0% of the guys who play D&D and who I personally game with will not switch. All of us have made up our minds individually, but definitely there has been discussions about whether we should switch or not. Frankly, everyone said that so far they haven't seen anything innovative or revolutionary about 4E so far.

I think Paizo *will* have a sizable and profitable share of the D&D community. Already they've announced that the sales have exceeded their expectations. And why not? They've really invested in top-notch quality in their art, maps and adventure design -- not to mention that they are really interested in communicating with their customers.

 

[Rauol_Duke]

Lets not kid ourselves PAIZO will go 4E. Erik has indicated this is his preference and what he sees the company doing.

Interesting... Gotta source for this statement?

 

[Just Another User]

Thank you for the review. It raises some interesting concerns. Granted that some of them may be due to the factors of this being a first level adventure run at a convention by people new to the game.

I'm surprised to hear that the people writing the scenarios weren't told which characters would be running through it. That seems like a significant oversight. The first thing a DM does when creating an adventure is take a look at his group and their skills, and balance the encounters around that. Knowing the 6 player group had no rogue and 2 defenders certainly would impact the challenges you throw at them. I guess it boils down to lack of communication.

My impression is that it is not true anymore, or at least it is to a lesser degree than before. Classes seems to be much more alike than they was in 3e. there are stil some differences but are minor if compared to before. In 3e you could have a situation when without the right class you would be screwed (clerici and undeads, rogue and traps) or where a certain class would be useless (wizard (core only) and golems or rogue and undead), in 4e those will be gone or much, much rarer, sure agaisnt undead a cleric would be better, as a rogue with traps, but even without them the other classes can work just fine, the rouge cna sneak attack the skeletons and the fighter just bash the traps, or something, I'm sure they had thought to something.

I'm not sure this is a totally good thing, mind you.

 

[Just Another User]

It never did make much sense to me why a god of death or entropy would grant healing...

How true, that is why I liked 2e spheres much more than 3e domains.

 

[Tharen the Damned]

The companies I see continuing on will be those who have already broken from the pack. -snip- Please realize the companies I've mentioned have found niche markets for themselves and are used as examples. Fantasy Flight Games have Midnight covering dark epic fantasy, Green Ronin has Mutants & Masterminds covering super heroes and True20 which has grown into its own game system but still based on 3.x for the most part, and Mongoose has Conan covering bloody epic fantasy. I almost forgot Sword & Sorcery has the World of Warcraft RPG put out through White Wolf.

Do not forget that FFG now will produce the Warhammer RPG and Warhammer 40k RPG products.

Green Ronin are currently developing the "A Song of Ice and Fire" Roleplaying Game, which has its own, non D20 engine (plug: and a damn good engine at that. I promise that bthis game will be a big success for GR)
Also GRs Freeport Hardcover products are Fluff only. They also release Crunch for D20 and True20 fo Freeport.

Mongoose also have Runequest and Traveller.

These companies are not dependent on the D20 system and may choose not to produce for 4th edition.
And I do think (from GR I know it) that all tehse companies make most of their cash from non D20 products nowadays.