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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Joshua Randall" data-source="post: 7622245" data-attributes="member: 7737">Things 4e did better than any edition of D&D:* allowed any stat to be an attack stat (this alone opened up huge design space)* codified the nascent "cooldown" model already present in the game (e.g., Daily uses of barbarian's Rage or paladin's Smite Evil)* unified class mechanics so that picking up Class A vs. Class B wasn't like playing an entirely different game (this might not match your preferences, but it is unarguably true that less complex systems are easier to learn)* provided advice to the most important player at the table, the DM, on (1) how to actually run the damn game, (2) how to manage a group of humans* produced the best monster books ever produced for any D&D edition, bar none; even the in retrospect relatively lame MM1 was light years ahead of its 3e counterpart; and the Monster Vault and MV Threats to the Nentir Vale are in the top 10 of all gaming books ever -- and because monsters are the core component of what the DM needs, this was a hugely important accomplishment* produced dungeon tiles (started in 3e, true) and poster maps which are other important components for the DM* produced two sets (DM's Kit, Monster Vault) with high quality monster "pogs" as lower cost "minis" for the DM <-- hey 5e players, how's that going for you guys, you got any of these yet? no? hmm....* applied typographic and design principles to the conveyance of information to players (power layout) and DMs (monster, trap, etc. layout) such that comprehending the information was much much easier than ever before* produced a working character builder and monster builder, despite the tragic murder/suicide of two of their key developers -- we had been waiting 30 years for this holy grail of D&D and say what you want about the builders, THEY ACTUALLY F--KING DID IT* rapidly spun up an organized play community (Living Forgotten Realms, LFR) that grew faster than any organized play before it (I have this from multiple reliable sources at the RPGA) and, despite the... widely varying quality of the adventures (to put it kindly)... was a key marketing effort for the gameThat's off the top of my head. 4e may not be to your tastes, it may have been a financial failure (debatable), it may have died a premature death due to various factors -- but it was an excellently designed game.Now go play it. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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