I've come to the conclusion that 4Ed could have been bigger than it is if it were not released under the D&D badge.* My rationale is as follows:
I think those 2 factors alone could have boosted the game's sales- it would have stood on its own merits more than relying on comparisons to what had gone before (for good or ill).
Just off the top of my head, if I were to do this, I'd ditch the D&D races and rigid class structure. Race building would basically be handled by deciding which 2 stats they get boosted, and choosing a power from a menu of racial abilities.
Class building would basically be handled the same way.
Powers would be divided by power source and not much else, so a PC who had access to the Psionic power source would have a HUGE list of powers to choose from. This would let players design PCs who could be effective at all ranges of combat if they so chose; they could tightly silo their abilities, so they only had lightning powers, etc.
Multiclassing would be a bit different- I'm not sure it makes sense to retain the MC feats, given the changes listed above. Paragon classes would probably just have prereqs of access to a given power source.
How would YOU do a non-D&D version of 4Ed?
* Disclaimer: this is an opinion derived from observations made of the market and the Edition Wars through the lens of an MBA in Sports & Entertainment marketing. It is pure conjecture; not provable or disprovable.
- Were it not called D&D, it would not have alienated 3.5Ed players who didn't want a substitute for their favored system.
- Without legacy issues, the game's mechanics could have been "unshackled" and made a more flexible game.
I think those 2 factors alone could have boosted the game's sales- it would have stood on its own merits more than relying on comparisons to what had gone before (for good or ill).
Just off the top of my head, if I were to do this, I'd ditch the D&D races and rigid class structure. Race building would basically be handled by deciding which 2 stats they get boosted, and choosing a power from a menu of racial abilities.
Class building would basically be handled the same way.
Powers would be divided by power source and not much else, so a PC who had access to the Psionic power source would have a HUGE list of powers to choose from. This would let players design PCs who could be effective at all ranges of combat if they so chose; they could tightly silo their abilities, so they only had lightning powers, etc.
Multiclassing would be a bit different- I'm not sure it makes sense to retain the MC feats, given the changes listed above. Paragon classes would probably just have prereqs of access to a given power source.
How would YOU do a non-D&D version of 4Ed?
* Disclaimer: this is an opinion derived from observations made of the market and the Edition Wars through the lens of an MBA in Sports & Entertainment marketing. It is pure conjecture; not provable or disprovable.
Last edited: