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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8634890" data-attributes="member: 71699">I'm endeavouring to find a better path to disagreeing, so perhaps I will simply layout some connections that I see, and you will of course have your view too.Tome of Battle (ToB aka Bo9S) 2006 put martials on an even footing with casters, by framing martial actions in a way similar to spells. Packages of tightly defined effects that characters could use, called Maneuvers. Unlike spells, recovery of maneuvers was done in two ways: through a special action to recover it mid-encounter, or at the end of the encounter you recover all expended uses. ToB also introduced stances, which are not expended.  Like spells, Maneuvers have a name (like Bolstering Voice) and level (1-9), action type, target, and range. They each have flavor text. Each of the three classes had different approaches to managing mid-encounter recoveries, for example Crusader doesn't fully control which Maneuvers become avilable each turn, while Swordsage does, but at the cost of a full-round action. Warblade started with far fewer Maneuvers, but could recover them essentially at-will (a swift action.) Contributors included Collins, Mearls and Schubert, who would go on to work on 4e.So here was a prototype of martial abilities as spell-like powers, complete with stances, encounter and at-will power use. Another book came out near the end of 3e/3.5e's run that I also found revealing - the 3.5 Rules Compendium 2007. Here was crisply articulated the 3.5e system, with a few interludes by designers, such as Mearls' "Why Rules Die". Action types were neatly listed. More types than 4e, but (if you were playing 3.5e) you would have by now been familiar with Standard, Move, Swift (became Minor), Free and Immediate. 3.5e also had the rather clunky full-round action. When I read the Compendium I felt a strong sense that the design team was rounding out, tidying up, making their final statement on 3rd and ready to move on. Mearls wroteMearls at least had an eye to the future. Another book from about the same period to mention is Iron Heroes 2005 (by Mearls), in which Skill Challenges are seen.Complaints thatHad becoming deafening, and as a community we had a ton of analysis of options to solve them. As another enworlder put itToB did more than that, it also prototyped the solutions to the 5MWD that were refined in 4e. Obviously 4e is not solely powers, recoveries, and action types, but I genuinely feel that to the observant, in 2005-2008 we felt a sea change. 4e was a breath of fresh air, but one that we could sense coming as the day waned on 3.5e. That is what I sensed at the time when I read ToB and the RC in the light of the (justified) complaints of CoDzillas et al. 4e was unsurprising to those looking closely. I remember how excited I felt that they were willing to double-down on what they had prototyped (in Bo9S) and learned as designers!Design is overwhelmingly iterative. Professional designers thrive on opportunities to test their ideas. It is right to say that the opportunity to test in Bo9S resulted in the inspiration and confidence to publish 4e. Far from faint, the roots were fat and thirsty.</blockquote>

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