D&D 4E The Great d20 Books that shaped 4E

[PeterWeller]

I'm seeing some d20 Conan influence as well, especially the divide between not getting hit by ranged weapons (dodge/reflex) and not getting hit in melee (parry/AC).

I would hope WoTC took a look at some of the combat maneuvers in Conan. Let's just hope they don't get inspired by that book's awful proofing.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Definitely, definitely Iron Heroes. Probably the first time we saw lots of encounter-based powers(albeit powered by tokens).

True20 also had an influence, with steadily rising Defense scores, "per scene" abilities, and streamlined maneuvers.

I suppose it's no coincidence that I've tried and enjoyed both of those systems, and that I like 4e's mechanics quite a lot.

 

[curupira]

Midnight

EDIT: Oops, I misread the thread. I thought it was about just the great books of 3ed era.

 

[Shroomy]

Maybe, but where does one draw the line, especially as there are likely 3E products that were 4E trial runs that didn't work out that well.

That's a good question, I would likely look to books produced by outside companies, as well as books that pre-date the beginning of 4e development, like the Miniatures Handbook, whose monster rules seem to be a big influence on 4e monster rules.

To me SWSE is essentially the game engine beta, which is why the seeming lack of playtesting of the core mechanics does not bother me too much, while Bo9S and MMV were mechanical tests integrated into the existing system.

 

[Nebulous]

I was surprised to see 'Epic' play integrated directly into 4E, or so it seems. I didn't think Epic did all that well, or was received all that well.

I really don't like the ELH, and i'm also somewhat surprised that they're integrating it into core. But if they can pull if off and improve on the 3.0 book then it might be cool. In general, i just don't like high level play and i'll probably use a drastically slower leveling mechanic than what the core books suggest.

 

[TerraDave]

And then I would say that SWSE seemed to have its fair share of influence from True20 or at least the clear desire to completely rework the system from the ground-up and try and simplify as much of the d20 system as possible. Blue Rose and True20 I think were the surprise hit systems of d20.

I have seen a lot of little (maybe not so little) Green Roninesque stuff in the previews. Of course, I am now forgetting some of them, but some things I can remember:

--skills consolidation (of skills which where consolidated later in SAGA)
--cutting back on AoO, which leads to
--somewhat simpler takes on attacks like grapling (though not simple enough from what I recall)
--not using skill points in some products, and having a concpet very similar to "trained/untrained".

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I suspect the 3e Epic Level Handbook's only effect on 4e's 21-30 levels will be on how not to do them.

 

[Darkwolf71]

I would hope WoTC took a look at some of the combat maneuvers in Conan. Let's just hope they don't get inspired by that book's awful proofing.

Right, we wouldn't want them to tarnish their superb record in that area, now would we?

 

[DandD]

D20 Modern sure was one of the D20 books to shape the upcoming 4E.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

I would suggest that Book of Iron Might, as a precursor to Iron Heroes, shows Mearls thinking headed down the 4E path.

That said, Book of Nine Swords appears to be the clearest Wizards product example of the line of development. That and I think the D&D Minis game itself spurred a lot of changes.