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<blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5771785" data-attributes="member: 54877"><p>On a more abstract note, there is one thing that I more or less believed before 4E, but 4E has convinced me finally: Vestigal design elements are always a sign of a bigger problem. That bigger problem needs to be ferreted out fearlessly, where ever this takes you.</p><p> </p><p>For example, power source is such an element in 4E. It really doesn't mean anything, except as a nod towards flavor and a few vestigal ideas that the designers had that didn't show up in the final edition. So when 4E first came out, I thought, "Ah, no big deal; something didn't work exactly as planned but was retained for classification/guideline purposes." Yet, now I think those power sources were supposed to partly handle the huge list of powers. Perhaps the concept of power sources was not the answer, but the problem of huge list of powers remained. </p><p> </p><p>To a lesser extent, roles in 4E, prestige classes in 3E, and even some feats in both editions show this characteristic, too. It isn't as obvious with those, because they have real meaning, albeit slighter than was probably first conceived.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Crazy Jerome, post: 5771785, member: 54877"] On a more abstract note, there is one thing that I more or less believed before 4E, but 4E has convinced me finally: Vestigal design elements are always a sign of a bigger problem. That bigger problem needs to be ferreted out fearlessly, where ever this takes you. For example, power source is such an element in 4E. It really doesn't mean anything, except as a nod towards flavor and a few vestigal ideas that the designers had that didn't show up in the final edition. So when 4E first came out, I thought, "Ah, no big deal; something didn't work exactly as planned but was retained for classification/guideline purposes." Yet, now I think those power sources were supposed to partly handle the huge list of powers. Perhaps the concept of power sources was not the answer, but the problem of huge list of powers remained. To a lesser extent, roles in 4E, prestige classes in 3E, and even some feats in both editions show this characteristic, too. It isn't as obvious with those, because they have real meaning, albeit slighter than was probably first conceived. [/QUOTE]
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