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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tuxgeo" data-source="post: 6368785" data-attributes="member: 61026">I'll skip commenting about 2E and 3E because I think you have covered those. (However, I won't try to say how well you covered them, because I'm only partly familiar with them.) About 4E: I'm still trying to figure out what the "best of 4E" is. Here are some candidates: (1) Roles: More than one class could play the healer, more than one class could play the skill monkey, more than one class could play the enemy-debuffer. I think 4E systematized that well, and the introduction of the healing Bard, healing Warlord, etc. was an improvement that D&D should never reverse in the future. (2) Durations: "Until the end of your next turn" carried over intact from 4E to 5E, and I think it's great. Getting a new saving throw every round until you save is also great, and I think 4E may have pioneered that, too. (3) Inherent bonuses: Those did not transfer intact from 4E to 5E, but the effect of them did: now it is no longer assumed in the design of the game that each PC will end up with sufficient magical power that there develops a requirement for the DM to compensate for that power with improved monsters. (4) Formalized Backgrounds. This 4E innovation gave PCs the ability to gain skills separately from their classes, and I think it is a vast improvement. (5) Specific spells: "Healing Word" and "Thunderwave" come readily to mind. The niches of "1st-level-ranged-healing" and "1st-level-close-blast-push" were not filled before 4E as far as I know. Other spells carried over as well. None are now as iconic as the famous "Magic Missile" -- but give them a few decades and they might become so.(6) Self-healing either during or immediately after a short rest. It changes the game, but in an interesting way. (7) Death saving throws. You're on a track to oblivion and could use some help. Great pacing mechanic. (8) Rituals in a book. You don't need to be a wizard to cast rituals. You do need a book, but that book doesn't need to contain any regular spells. That's from 4E. Innovations from 4E that are still missing: (1) "Page 42" -- the default list of DCs and monster strength for actions the rules don't (explicitly) cover. That would be coming in the 5E DMG, I guess, but we haven't seen it yet, so it's too early to say it didn't carry over. (2) Gridded combat: Promised for the DMG. (3) Swarm rules: some scary stuff in 4E. We shall see about 5E.</blockquote>

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