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

[Aldarc]

What d20 products made by Wizards or other publishing companies during the time of 3rd Edition D&D do you think affected the design of the 4th Edition? And what did the responses to these products tell the 4E designers?

 

[hong]

Iron Heroes

 

[Zamkaizer]

What d20 products made by Wizards or other publishing companies during the time of 3rd Edition D&D do you think affected the design of the 4th Edition? And what did the responses to these products tell the 4E designers?

Besides from obvious answers like the Book of Nine Swords, and even more obvious answers like the 3.0 Core Rulebooks, I'd say Unearthed Arcana contains the most ideas that would be examined when making a new edition of D&D.

 

[Aldarc]

Yeah, Iron Heroes would definitely be on the list along with Arcana Unearthed/Evolved.

IH basically was about bringing the power back to the player that was not reliant upon cool magic items or spells as well as an empowerment to the somewhat ignored martial classes.

AU/AE was an excellent alternative PHB that brought some interesting concepts to the forefront: racial levels, the universal and non-Vancian magic system ("who knew so many players did not like the Vancian magic system?"), and I also think that the flavor of the races and classes spoke to players who wanted a change and after AU/AE were ready to kill some of D&D's sacred cows.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd also say Arcana Unearthed seems to have contributed a good share of ideas. Monster Manual V, Iron Heroes, the Book of 9 Swords and Star Wars Saga Edition are also clear contributors.

 

[Shroomy]

Is Bo9S, MMV, or SWSE seem to be early expressions of the 4e system, not direct influences.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Is Bo9S, MMV, or SWSE seem to be early expressions of the 4e system, not direct influences.

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.

 

[Aldarc]

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.

 

[Daztur]

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).

 

[WayneLigon]

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.

Incarnum didn't seem to do that well; at least I seldom hear it mentioned in a vastly positive tone.

d20 Modern, I think, probably was the testbed for a lot of 4E ideas as well, and I'm sorry to see that some of those didn't seem to go over very well. At the time, I figured that d20 Modern was the precusor to a 4E product that would have arrived much sooner had it been a runaway success. I love the idea of generic classes, but the 'fatal' downside of d20M is that it takes forever and a day until you get to do the really cool stuff - when you get to take an Advanced Class.

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.