Virel said:
...
The current edition is badly flawed in required prep time, load on the DM, excessive rules, the system is unfriendly to new players, and the books are so poorly written and uninteresting to read they can cure insomnia. I view 3e as failed game. It's ok to play but it sucks to DM compared to the early editions. I think they are really, really, really going to try and fix this flaw. My play group has some would be 3e players, they play AD&D with me because no one will step up to DM 3e due to the prep time. I probably would have DM'd some 3e for them if the system wasn't so time intensive because they are my friends despite my personal dislike of the 3e system.
A blessing would be if they threw everything out and start over from the ground up. Clean sheet of paper design. They probably won't do that, because it would be too risky. The magic system will probably get revamped. My guess is Vancian is gone as that is unpopular with many and will be the most fundamental change. If that changes, then almost all of the spells and their power levels have to be addressed in some manner. Epic will be at level 30 instead of 20. Characters will level more often, sort of mini-steps between the current levels. The core d20 concept will remain which is a shame given the chance to redefine the game. It will be possible to convert form 3/3.5 to 4th but it won't be as clean as 1e to 2e, or 3e to 4e, I think it will similar to 2e to 3e due to the magic system changes.
They'll probably try to address the lack of flavor that goes with the 3e product line and at least make the materials interesting to read and inspiring like the older books. They'll probably, go more old school feel and less cyber-punk D&D.
Yep, the prep time and rules bloat in 3E is the nail in the coffin, and the fatal flaw in its design. Pretty much every D20 game out there suffers from this flaw, with the exception of True 20 and SWSE. Me and my group came to this same conclusion about 3 years ago, and haven't touched D&D since- its just too much hassle for our fun.
Other things I'd like to see in 4E include:
Losing the bazillions of feats- combine feats into more useful abilities and stop the feat proliferation! Maybe combine a bunch of current feats into one larger Feat like Mobile Fighter, that combines Dodge, Mobility and Spring Attack, each activating once the character reaches a certain level. This would cut down on a lot of the paperwork and complexity, and help streamine the system.
The whole CR/EL thing- its wonky because it assumes a certain party makeup in the first place. I'd go back to an XP value per critter, based on its abilities.
No assumed level of wealth & magic per level guidelines. Instead offer advice for high magic, moderate magic, and low magic campaigns, and how to make the ruleset work with these.
Use talent trees for class special abilities, and the HP kicker like in SWSE.
Defense (Reflex, Fort, Will) ala SWSE.
A general streamlinging of the system to be MUCH faster to play and run.
Ways to handle non-combat encounters better. Borrow a page from Savage Worlds and allow for combat tricks, bluffs, demoralization, etc. Also, incorporate some of the excellent material from Dynasties and Demagogues from Atlas Games- they really had some good political ideas.
3E/3.5 was fatally flawed in a lot of ways for me (and apparently a lot of other people from comments I've read and heard at the table), and couldn't handle many varieties of playstyles. So in that regard, I hope 4E isn't very compatible with 3E- it would be basing the game design on some seriously flawed rules and assumptions. Make 4E more open, with fewer assumptions about the setting and magic level, and MUCH easier to prep and play, and I'll gladly buy into it!
