What would you like to see 3rd parties produce for 4E?

[RefinedBean]

The Big Book 'O At-Will Powers.

Hundreds of At-Will powers. THOUSANDS of 'em. Far as the eye can see.

Also, something along the lines of Paizo's alternative crit rules, maybe. Replacing the extra damage from Implements/Weapons to something else. Although I have no clue how one would do this, so...yeah.

 

[Eridanis]

Keep the discussion calm and on-topic, please.

 

[Jack99]

All I have been able to find is his 4E "classic" project. While I would be interested to see what he comes up with, this is low on the list of what I want from Necromancer. I want more quality adventures and I want Tome of Horrors 4E!!

And that looks fairly dead. The forum was off to a great start, but lack of direction and word from Orcus & co made it die out quite fast (just IMO). Sadly. It was an interesting thought.

 

[Ariosto]

3) Book of Fluff. That's right. Pick a monster and fluff it up. Provide the stuff that many is missing from the MM. Either with a "Classic X Revisited" ten page spread, or just 2-3 pages per monster. Considering the amount of people that complain about this, it should sell like hot cakes.

This may have been mentioned already, but:

Per the GSL, every single entry would have to be clearly indicated as applicable only to an exotic subspecies or other population, to avoid confusion with any official WotC "fluff".

Considering the limited 4E-specific appeal, the 4E-specific limitations might be more a marketing hindrance than a help. There are already many bestiaries out there; a trip to the library (or online search) should offer plenty of inspiration for any fantasy game!

 

[Ariosto]

4) PDF How-to guide to My Prefered Gaming Style in 4e. You want Simulationism? What about an economy? You want the martial power source to make sense? You want magical items that aren't too watered down? Many out there like X of 4e, but hate Y. A game company can easily pick something that 4e doesn't deliver on, and run the system through the screws mechanically to balance out the material for those DMs who want to do X in 4e.

One thing to remember is that some such material, if it is fully to satisfy the target audience, might not be very compatible with standard 4E -- or with any other particular variant. It might have to be balanced on its own terms. (That's no surprise perhaps to those acquainted with the "splat books" of previous editions.)

 

[Ariosto]

Floating a balloon:

How about a book of "enchanted features"? This would include rituals, items, creatures and places. They would be intended not as dime-a-dozen additions to a campaign but as unique or at least very rare (although of course it's up to the DM). The idea is that each could serve as the focus of an adventure or several. The exemplary "fluff" would be significant, but as much as possible assume the setting implications of "baseline" 4E (first three books) for ease of adaptation to one's own campaign.

The DM would be provided options from which to choose the true nature of each "feature", so that even without "filing off the serial numbers" it should retain some mystery -- even to players who have themselves read the book or otherwise encountered it. Variations for level appropriateness would also be included.

 

[vagabundo]

This may have been mentioned already, but:

Per the GSL, every single entry would have to be clearly indicated as applicable only to an exotic subspecies or other population, to avoid confusion with any official WotC "fluff".

Considering the limited 4E-specific appeal, the 4E-specific limitations might be more a marketing hindrance than a help. There are already many bestiaries out there; a trip to the library (or online search) should offer plenty of inspiration for any fantasy game!

As long as you don't contradict what is already there I don't see a problem. It could be a problem if WotC decides to do a creature write up of their own, but expanding on the fluff entries and not replacing them - I believe - is allowed by the GSL.

 

[drothgery]

It's a somewhat interesting question to ask what I'd want to see third parties do with 4e, because the unstated corollary is that I either think WotC wouldn't make that product, or a 3rd party would do it a lot better. Because if you really want to see something, think WotC will do it, and WotC will do it well, it's a lot better for WotC to do it -- better distribution, probably better production values, and if it's character options, it'll get D&Di/Character Builder support. Which is why I'm kind of drawing a blank. Adventures are probably the thing that works best without a D&Di link, though.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

Adventures, adventures, adventures and more adventures. Rule books not so much so.

I'm working on it, I swear!

What I'd like to see:
Alternate options
Dungeon tiles
Maps
"you can use this stuff freely" material

 

[Ariosto]

As long as you don't contradict what is already there I don't see a problem.

Yeah, maybe. But considering how little is there relative to what's projected for the project, I would be wary of stepping on the toes of WotC by contradicting what they might want to define in the future. They can revoke the license at any time, if I understand correctly.