Smaller Core books

[Creamsteak]

Shrinking the PHB is a yes/no/maybe for me. The current PHBs are a little too spell heavy, and I can definitley see how the overall content might shrink down. However, there's also always room for another race or another class or five more pages of feats from my perspective.

Shrinking the MM seems odd. That's one book that I can appreciate every page.

Shrinking the DMG doesn't strike me too badly. If they simplified a lot of the DM mechanics, great. But 96 pages is once again striking me as more than I would have expected.

 

[Nikosandros]

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".

Hmmm.... but we are going to pay the same price for less content. The number of classes will be reduced, for example.

 

[Gentlegamer]

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.

I think they are trying to build in more options into the core rules that don't need extra text space.

 

[Victim]

They already said they wanted more of a magazine feel for the corebooks instead of textbook. Shrinking seems pretty natural.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

What do other people think about it?

I think it stinks.

 

[Cadfan]

I'm fine with it. I am assuming that a lot of the lost weight will be in the spell section. That's always been much too bloated for a player's handbook. Such a disproportionate percentage of the book shouldn't be devoted to just a few classes.

 

[MadMaxim]

As it stands right now, I'm not too keen about paying the same for 4th edition PHB as for 3.5 edition PHB if the new one has less content. I'm not too keen on the whole "magazine style" either, because I don't want a rules magazine, I want a rulebook. It's the basis for the entire game and therefore has to be filled to the breaking point with information concerning the rules. I had no problem with the spells section of the 3.5 PHB, because spellcasters just need more managing than martial characters, so it's only natural that the spells take up a large amount of space.

 

[Alnag]

Remember that they will move magical items to PHB (and my wild guess they might move Prestige Classes there as well...). That definitiely shrinks the book a bit. Now PHB really can be cut to half on spells without some serious lost (that's 60 pages) but with magic items (that's 70 pages). Not bad.

What I am really not that much happy is the monster manual. 300+ monsters on 288 pages means - no 1 monster per page. That is bad. I think that monster should have 1 or 2 or 4 pages if needed but never less. And always whole page. It helps.

 

[Samnell]

As it stands right now, I'm not too keen about paying the same for 4th edition PHB as for 3.5 edition PHB if the new one has less content. I'm not too keen on the whole "magazine style" either, because I don't want a rules magazine, I want a rulebook.

Amen. I want it to read like a textbook too.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

It was just written more clearly and sussinctly, without padding.

That would be excellent. As long as it doesn't have the 3.0 Attacks of Opportunity boondoggle, which clear writing would obviously avoid.

I'll wait to see what happens. Less weight, better writing = good stuff. Less well laid out monsters = me grumbly.