4th edition - rumours and discussion and so on

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I guess a Psionist would need a whole new system to be effective now ey? Arcane/Divine/Psionic power in the realms would be nice. I'm not sure how they would go about balancing it however...

 

After reviewing the material on 4th edition today it looks like WotC is aiming their new edition at video game developers more than the D&D fanbase.

If the new rules reduce game development by 1/3 or more that would equate to more D&D games on the shelves of retailers and more money for the publisher, developer and WotC. This doesn't seem like a bad idea; in fact I like this idea as I don't have any local D&D meetup groups in my area and the few that I have communicated with dispurse only after a session or two. So for a solo player like myself more PC or Console D&D games the better.

Yes it is not the same as playing with your friends; however, it is better than nothing at all.

 

Rawgrim: Because I like it. I like the idea that the Fighter does more than simply play his sword all the time. I like it because the wizzard no longer blows his wad early and takes orderd for a munchies run aftert eh third round of combat. I like it becasuse the Cleric is more than just a walking ambulance. I like the idea of the Warlock and Warlord. I like it that Paladins are no longer the goody two-shoes of the group. I like the fact that Rogues have more tricks up their sleeve than in previous editions. Even though the concept of the Ranger hasn't really changed, I like the way each style of combat gets their own cool abilities. Combat seems more interesting and more challenging than just playing with you sword...

I like the way the DMG gives more assistance in setting encounter difficulties. My first campaign of third that went more than a couple sessions, I just about killed off the party because I never got the feel for the difference between CL and ECL. In 8 years, I still never figured out the balancing of encounters, either creating a joke or a hopeless situation. Now that they plug numbers into it, it makes sense. Simply decide how tough you want the fight, figure how many characters you have and then go shopping...

I like the fact that Monsters are more defined than just a set of numbers. Reading the Monster's manual, you get a better feel for what they are supposed to do. The cards that you complain about actually make the delivery of the information much clearer than the old Monster's Manual style entries. I like the idea that you have multiple roles within the same type of monster.

I like the fact that Magic Items are no longer the be all and end all of a character. When I was in the RPGA, I would see characters that were so stacked with overpowered magic items that race and class (and feats in third edition) were largely irrelevent. You try playing a relative havenot in a campaign designed to give the haves a real scare and see how much fun it is. Now, the items are a nice boost, but they don't define the character. And there are better guidelines on how to give them out. I mean, in the older editions, you could see a lucky dice roll give a vorpal sword to a 3rd level characters. WTF?

I like the way the scope of the campaign escalates as the party goes up in level. First, you save a town, then save a kindgom, then save the world.

One more thing: You seem to think that the game is trying to emulate WoW or Tokemon. Maybe Blizzard, with Diablo II and WoW raised the bar for the industry, forcing WotC and grow adapt or dwindle into irrelevence? And maybe Magic and Tokemon gave WotC a better way to convey information than they had in previous editions.

The idea of a one week fad is not a good business model. They plan to keep popping out a couple books a month for the next 8 to 10 years, they have to be more than just a fad...

8: If you still have minis that you used with 3.5, then you could use them in 4th just as easily. The look of the characters (from the main races) hasn't really changed that much. And under armour, Dragonborn and Tieflings would not be distinguishable at that scale.

 

Just got a look at the players handbook 2, And some of the classes look cool.
Then i was looking over the new gnome writeup & noticed that they have now made gnomes smaller then halflings!
Halflings are now 3"10" - 4'2" tall while gnomes are now 3'4" - 3'8".
When did the gnomes shrink & when did the halflings grow taller?