Smaller Core books

[Nikosandros]

According to the release schedule, 4th edition core books are going to be smaller: The PHB and the MM will lose 32 pages (10% of the total) and the DMG will lose 96 pages (a whopping 30% of the total).

Was this ever discussed by WotC people?

What do other people think about it?

 

[Greg K]

According to the release schedule, 4th edition core books are going to be smaller: The PHB and the MM will lose 32 pages (10% of the total) and the DMG will lose 96 pages (a whopping 30% of the total).

Was this ever discussed by WotC people?

What do other people think about it?

PHB: depending on what they remove, it may not be bad.- personally, I despise alchemical items, riding dogs, stupid weapons (e.g., urgosh's, dire flails), the racial names and wouldn't mind seeing some spells go.

MM: If they remove all the new monsters introduced to the game in the 3e book, I'd be happy!

DMG: Not happy.

 

[Roman]

I am not amused that the books will be smaller. I would prefer a 320 page PHB and a 320 page Monster Manual with more content even if they were slightly more expensive, though I don't really care too much about the size of the DMG. I guess the smaller PHB might work depending on how they deal with spells that took up a huge portion of the book hitherto. Still, with each class getting its own version of 'spells' (or maneuvers or whatever) this does not give me much ground for optimism in this regard.

 

[whydirt]

Honestly, I like it. I think that the PHB has gotten too a bit too large through the editions. Even a small trim should help newer players feel less overwhelmed when they start.

 

[Jer]

According to the release schedule, 4th edition core books are going to be smaller: The PHB and the MM will lose 32 pages (10% of the total) and the DMG will lose 96 pages (a whopping 30% of the total).

Was this ever discussed by WotC people?

What do other people think about it?

Depends. The "3.0" core rulebooks were smaller than the "3.5" core. They were also $10 cheaper at release.

If this means a lower price point (say, $25 per book), then I'm all for it - it'll make justifying the purchase a lot easier.

If the page count is cut without a lower initial price point then I'll be a little annoyed, but the content might allay that annoyance. I know the price of paper and shipping have both gone up quite a bit since the price point on 3.5e was set a few years ago - it may be that cutting back on pages is the best solution if they even want to keep the books at the same price point. (Increasing the price point on the new edition is a sure-fire way to both tick people off a lot and cause people to pass it over instead of buying, decreasing page count and keeping the price point the same stands a better chance of getting people to buy it, even if they're still ticking people off).

(Also, most of the DMG from every edition of the game is less-than-useful on a game-to-game basis than either the PHB or the MM. I'm not at all surprised that if they were looking to reduce pagecount across the three core books, the reduction would come from the DMG. If it weren't for the magic items and the CR/XP tables in the book, I'd rarely crack mine open at all anymore.)

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

For the price, I'd prefer the same size as the 3.5 core books ... more options to be included at the start that way.

 

[Wormwood]

What do other people think about it?

Optimally, the entire game would fit in one large book.

If that ain't happening, I'd prefer smaller core books.

PHB: Streamline the combat section and GUT the ridiculous spell section.

DMG: I wouldn't know where to cut, aside from some of the magic items and smaller NPC stats.

MM: Smaller, clearer stat blocks. A clear monster creation system (similar to Buffy/Angel RPGs, perhaps?).

edit: I perceive a book's value not by it's weight, but by the entertainment it provides.

 

[Jupp]

edit: I perceive a book's value not by it's weight, but by the entertainment it provides.

Quoted for absolute truth.

I personally like that the books will become smaller. It could mean that 4e will loose some of those bloating rules that made the 3.0 and 3.5 books such heavyweights. Those monsters did scare away a number of potentials players: "Ugh, I have to know all THAT? No thanks, why don't we choose a simpler system".

 

[JoeGKushner]

Will all three core books cost the same? Sounds like a 64 page difference between the PHB/MM and DMG.

 

[Atlatl Jones]

I have a lot of faith in the Wizards editors and layout people. Star Wars Saga is physically tiny compared to the previous edition, and yet contains almost everything that it did. It was just written more clearly and sussinctly, without padding.