Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Question: how much extra effort would it really take to write modules supporting multiple systems?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 8437823" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>The differences between editions of D&D go far deeper than whether an ogre is CR 2 or CR 3.</p><p></p><p>When 4E was released, the first adventures Wizards put out (e.g., Keep on the Shadowfell) were absolutely godawful. They were designed like adventures in previous editions, with lots of small encounters spaced out through the dungeon. And if you're playing BD&D, that model works great. You kick down the door, whack a couple orcs, and in five minutes of real time you're ready to loot the room and move on.</p><p></p><p>But 4E is tailored for big, elaborate set-piece battles. There's no such thing as a five-minute encounter in 4E. Each initiative roll means 30 minutes of combat, minimum--even if it's a pushover and the party's victory is never in doubt. So all these little "attrition encounters" became a huge, pointless time sink; and thanks to 4E's encounter-centric resource model, they also didn't cause attrition. Nobody's going to burn a daily power on an Easy fight.</p><p></p><p>To sum up: KotS was exactly what would happen if you took a BD&D adventure and tried to do what you propose. And it was excruciating.</p><p></p><p>For another example, teleportation can bypass loads of obstacles and has a huge impact on adventure design. In older editions, low-level teleportation is pretty much nonexistent, but in 4E and 5E it's common (e.g., <em>misty step</em> or an eladrin's Fey Step power). On the other hand, <em>long-range</em> teleportation comes online much earlier in previous editions.</p><p></p><p>And I can only imagine how much bigger the gap would be with a whole different system. I would not try this unless you were working with systems that were deliberately designed to be compatible (e.g., 1E/2E, or 3E/Pathfinder).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 8437823, member: 58197"] The differences between editions of D&D go far deeper than whether an ogre is CR 2 or CR 3. When 4E was released, the first adventures Wizards put out (e.g., Keep on the Shadowfell) were absolutely godawful. They were designed like adventures in previous editions, with lots of small encounters spaced out through the dungeon. And if you're playing BD&D, that model works great. You kick down the door, whack a couple orcs, and in five minutes of real time you're ready to loot the room and move on. But 4E is tailored for big, elaborate set-piece battles. There's no such thing as a five-minute encounter in 4E. Each initiative roll means 30 minutes of combat, minimum--even if it's a pushover and the party's victory is never in doubt. So all these little "attrition encounters" became a huge, pointless time sink; and thanks to 4E's encounter-centric resource model, they also didn't cause attrition. Nobody's going to burn a daily power on an Easy fight. To sum up: KotS was exactly what would happen if you took a BD&D adventure and tried to do what you propose. And it was excruciating. For another example, teleportation can bypass loads of obstacles and has a huge impact on adventure design. In older editions, low-level teleportation is pretty much nonexistent, but in 4E and 5E it's common (e.g., [I]misty step[/I] or an eladrin's Fey Step power). On the other hand, [I]long-range[/I] teleportation comes online much earlier in previous editions. And I can only imagine how much bigger the gap would be with a whole different system. I would not try this unless you were working with systems that were deliberately designed to be compatible (e.g., 1E/2E, or 3E/Pathfinder). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Question: how much extra effort would it really take to write modules supporting multiple systems?
Top