D&D 4E Where was 4e headed before it was canned?

[Umbran]

Phrased that way, how is 5E, or 1E, any different? There is a consistent system of rules, with room for a shared understanding of the odds and impact.

I don't think 5e and 1e are all that different, in that respect. They both have areas where the rules are solid, and you play "GM ad hoc ruling" outside those areas.

There may be a small difference in overall tone - 1e already has lots of "save or die" type things, so failure cold be understood to mean rocks fall and everyone dies.

 

[Garthanos]

(before that whole "5e nerfs martials" Tony Vargas channeling)

Tony is better at it than me cause he actually has a lot of 5e experience

 

[lowkey13]

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[Garthanos]

5e uses a universal system for most checks.

We can generally thank 3e for bringing that to the park!

 

[lowkey13]

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[Ratskinner]

Is thank the right term?

It's interesting, to me, that so many people I know who grew up playing 1e and 2e became computer programmers, scientists, and attorneys ... not just because of the whole "nerd" thing, but also because the complexity of the ruleset and understanding the interactions of various rules.

I wonder if anyone has ever looked at this, you know, to validate my opinion.

I suspect it works the other way. People who were attracted to complicated systems were attracted to both the game and those careers.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Umbran]

I disagree.

We'll see if you continue to do so, in a moment....

1e had a number of specialized subsystems.

5e uses a universal system for most checks.

But those aren't what we are talking about, at all. We are talking about what you do when the proposed action does not clearly fit into what the game lists as normal actions.

"I throw sand in the gnoll's face," Is a fine example of an entirely plausible action (and even a trope of action fiction) that isn't cleanly covered by either 1e or 5e rules, in how to accomplish it, or what its effects would be.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Garthanos]

Now, some players are fine with the "blue sky" approach, willing to push for anything in the hopes of it working out. Others, one may dare to say many, are not interested in investing effort when they don't know what the result is likely to be, and so will not engage with such gaps.

And even just character time is one bit of effort