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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="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7646520" data-attributes="member: 82106"><p>It is worth putting a codicil on this by saying that what D&D (classic D&D and 3.x at least) did WELL was to give you a pretty 'canned' character experience (you could make ONE choice, your class, and then just choose an equipment list and that was it in core 1e for example). Once that was established the game gave you a challenging but steep and pretty much pre-ordained power curve, you adventured your way up to name level (and maybe beyond). What you were expected to do, how your character related to the game, and the 'build' choices you could make, was all pretty highly circumscribed.</p><p></p><p>3e did open this up a lot (2e did too in later books if you used them) but it still left you with the option to just go with the defaults, in which case it works a lot like AD&D. You could go gonzo in 3e, and there was VERY much possible 'mastery', but it is really 4e that MAKES you pay attention, or else your concept may not really work (IE your axe dwarf will basically suck if you don't take DWT, Weapon Expertise - Mordenkrad, Weapon Specialization (axes), etc.). It just isn't optional at all.</p><p></p><p>5e doesn't go all the way back to 1e levels of straightforward character building, but it certainly is short of the wide-open later 3.x, and you CAN nail it down to closer to 1e.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7646520, member: 82106"] It is worth putting a codicil on this by saying that what D&D (classic D&D and 3.x at least) did WELL was to give you a pretty 'canned' character experience (you could make ONE choice, your class, and then just choose an equipment list and that was it in core 1e for example). Once that was established the game gave you a challenging but steep and pretty much pre-ordained power curve, you adventured your way up to name level (and maybe beyond). What you were expected to do, how your character related to the game, and the 'build' choices you could make, was all pretty highly circumscribed. 3e did open this up a lot (2e did too in later books if you used them) but it still left you with the option to just go with the defaults, in which case it works a lot like AD&D. You could go gonzo in 3e, and there was VERY much possible 'mastery', but it is really 4e that MAKES you pay attention, or else your concept may not really work (IE your axe dwarf will basically suck if you don't take DWT, Weapon Expertise - Mordenkrad, Weapon Specialization (axes), etc.). It just isn't optional at all. 5e doesn't go all the way back to 1e levels of straightforward character building, but it certainly is short of the wide-open later 3.x, and you CAN nail it down to closer to 1e. [/QUOTE]
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Where was 4e headed before it was canned?
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