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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Where was 4e headed before it was canned?
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7645767" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>They were more a thing back in the day, when classes were even more like straightjackets, you had to get them custom-tailored. I played a Bandit out of The Dragon, I saw more than a couple Archer-Rangers, and, come 2e, the class-creation guidelines did get used, now and then. </p><p>More often, though, you'd just tweak a class, or bend the MCing rules to accommodate a concept that didn't fit neatly into the existing options.</p><p></p><p>3e really changed all that, even though it added tons of classes, not to mention PrCs, it's version of MCing really opened things up. It's classes could've been designed to work a /lot/ better with that kind of MCing, the way saves & caster levels were handled were problematic for instance (5e solved those, while, ironically, messing up Extra Attack very much the way Caster levels were in 3e), and the same goes for 5e where it's an option. 3e also explicitly let players re-skin their PCs appearance (thus, essentially, race) & gear, which also made it easier to accommodate some concepts, and the Fighter and Sorcerer were particularly amenable to build-to-concept.</p><p></p><p>The impression I get from folks who don't see an issue with classes as an impediment, or at least, less functional than could be desired tools, for building to concept, is that they get concept ideas from looking at classes. Which is a legit & convenient way to get an idea for a character - and one of the strengths of having classes in the first place.</p><p>It's just the game needn't sacrifice potential for customization to avail itself of that strength. And, no, I don't think it's mainly the hardcore forumites who step up to a table with a character concept in mind that the classes in the game might not cover - I just think we're the ones who stuck around in spite of that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7645767, member: 996"] They were more a thing back in the day, when classes were even more like straightjackets, you had to get them custom-tailored. I played a Bandit out of The Dragon, I saw more than a couple Archer-Rangers, and, come 2e, the class-creation guidelines did get used, now and then. More often, though, you'd just tweak a class, or bend the MCing rules to accommodate a concept that didn't fit neatly into the existing options. 3e really changed all that, even though it added tons of classes, not to mention PrCs, it's version of MCing really opened things up. It's classes could've been designed to work a /lot/ better with that kind of MCing, the way saves & caster levels were handled were problematic for instance (5e solved those, while, ironically, messing up Extra Attack very much the way Caster levels were in 3e), and the same goes for 5e where it's an option. 3e also explicitly let players re-skin their PCs appearance (thus, essentially, race) & gear, which also made it easier to accommodate some concepts, and the Fighter and Sorcerer were particularly amenable to build-to-concept. The impression I get from folks who don't see an issue with classes as an impediment, or at least, less functional than could be desired tools, for building to concept, is that they get concept ideas from looking at classes. Which is a legit & convenient way to get an idea for a character - and one of the strengths of having classes in the first place. It's just the game needn't sacrifice potential for customization to avail itself of that strength. And, no, I don't think it's mainly the hardcore forumites who step up to a table with a character concept in mind that the classes in the game might not cover - I just think we're the ones who stuck around in spite of that. [/QUOTE]
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