D&D 4E What would you want to see in 4E?

[Kaffis]

Mostly D&D 4: Saga Edition

Albeit, not everything from SW:SE but much of it. Some of the rules as is do not reflect the flavor of D&D in general, but the basic mechanics and philosophies are teh roxor.

Yeah. Give me the skill list consolidation; the movement rules (withdraw is awesome!); the de-emphasis on iterative attacks (you mean, I can move around in combat? OMG!), or at least elimination of the five-foot-step; the condition track; saves-as-defense; the abundance of feats and feat-like class features; the pick-and-choose class features from broader classes; the first level HP boost and higher weapon damages to effectively reduce the ballooning HP totals at higher levels; encounter-based spells that function off skill rolls vs. defenses.

I'm not sure I'd go with the straight elimination of skill points in D&D. It works for Star Wars because Star Wars heroes work well as generalists with a few edges in their specialties. D&D feels like classes ought to define themselves a bit more by being specialists skill-wise. The consolidation of skills ought to make spreading into some cross-class areas more effective, though.

 

[FreeXenon]

I'm not sure I'd go with the straight elimination of skill points in D&D. It works for Star Wars because Star Wars heroes work well as generalists with a few edges in their specialties. D&D feels like classes ought to define themselves a bit more by being specialists skill-wise. The consolidation of skills ought to make spreading into some cross-class areas more effective, though.

I'm with ya on that. I enjoy having some skills that are not maxed out but that I have shown some work in especially for background reasons.

 

[Szatany]

- design the game so I don't have to, at any point in time, roll more than 5 dice at once (save situation when 8 creatures attack, of course), for example, make falling damage something like 1 per meter, up to 200.
- no negative hit points, when you have 0 hit points from now on you make Fortitude checks to stay alive
- add some new descriptors, most importantly Astral, Ethereal, Pain, Curse, Body-Affecting.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

More:

At some level of woundedness, have penalties:

75-99% of max HP:
Slightly wounded -1 penalty to initiative

50-74%:
Moderately wounded -2 penalty to initiative, -1 to attack rolls

25-50%:
Severely wounded -3 init, -2 attack rolls, -1 skill checks

0-24%:
Critically wounded -4 init, -3 attack, -2 skill checks, -25% movement speed.

Nonlethal damage would only penalize initiative and skill checks in this manner.

Feats and spells can be used to waive these (easily. In some cases, new spells wouldn't even have to enter the fray)

 

[Nepenthe]

Mostly D&D 4: Saga Edition

Albeit, not everything from SW:SE but much of it. Some of the rules as is do not reflect the flavor of D&D in general, but the basic mechanics and philosophies are teh roxor.

Pretty much same here. I am especially fond of the simplified skill mechanic and the more flexible base classes. Haven't playtested it yet (got the book yesterday), but the defences+condition track system seems interesting.

Wouldn't really consider it unless adapted so that 3(.5)e material can be used as much as possible, or that conversion is trivial. I can probably live with 3.5e for my fantasy gaming, if I'm looking at all non-fluff becoming "obsolete".

 

[FreeXenon]

Level of Woundedness ~ SWSE: Condition Track

SWSE has something like that it is not based on % of HP which I am kind of partial to, but on a Damage Threshold. Once you take damage the exceeds the threshold you suffer penalties. There are 5 levels on the condition track as well as the normal HP mechanic.

 

[Fifth Element]

A definite date as to the release of 5e, to preempt the inevitable, interminable speculation.

"Play 4e today! It'll be gone by December, 2017!"

 

[Razz]

Hasn't this thread topic been done to death already?

This must've been the umpteenth time I've seen a thread like this.

I'll add to the topic at hand, however.

What I'd like to see in 4E is for WotC to screw it up so bad that not only will they lose the angry 3E players that have to spend their money all over again on an edition and game that won't update the 3.5E material they own, but also to peeve the 4E players cause they realize 4E really wasn't much better or different. That they wasted their money on something they could've done simply by using house rules, 3rd party products, and Unearthed Arcana

 

[Eldragon]

Yes, these have been done to death, but I like reading other people insights and pet peeves.

-- No more Divination as the Red Headed Stepchild of spell schools. Its equal to all others. Seriously, if you can see into the future, why arn't there dozens of really cool combat spells?

-- No More Cross Class Skills. The lack of skill points/level more than balances it out.

-- Consolidation of skills (As mentioned by others)

-- Point Buy and static HP/Level is standard.

The Next two things are the only things that would get me excited about a 4e:

-- A Classless system where characters pick Saves, feats, HP, feats, skills, abilities, spellcasting progression each level (By spending build points). Prestiege Classes and Core Classes become progression templates, and can be modified at will.

-- Change the combat mechanic where doing things costs "action points". Get rid of Move Action, Standard, Full Round, Swift, Free actions. If you do something, it costs a set value of action points. Each round your action points refresh.

Edit: Forgot to add my opening statement.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

What I'd like to see in 4E is for WotC to screw it up so bad that not only will they lose the angry 3E players that have to spend their money all over again on an edition and game that won't update the 3.5E material they own, but also to peeve the 4E players cause they realize 4E really wasn't much better or different. That they wasted their money on something they could've done simply by using house rules, 3rd party products, and Unearthed Arcana

It was worth me bringing this idea into -50 hp just to see this, even if I don't agree 100% (wanting WotC to fail that hard? Hmmm...). I've not had to spend any more than $100 (lifetime) on RPG stuff, and $50 of that was to buy the 3.5e rulebook for my sister as a birthday gift. The truth is it's not hard to save money on this stuff if you -really- want to.