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To say that I'm surprised by this would be an overstatement, as this is a combination of surprise and non-surprise.
GenCon's taking place this weekend, and as per usual, Wizards of the Coast has a major announcement...
New is located here...
In case the link isn't working, here's the lowdown...
In may 2008, WotC is launching... D&D 4th Edition.
Come on here, folks, it's only been seven years since the birth of 3e, and 3.5e came out, what... three, four years ago?
The 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons game includes elements familiar to current D&D players, including illustrated rulebooks and pre-painted plastic miniatures. Also releasing next year will be new web-based tools and online community forums through the brand-new Dungeons & Dragons Insider (D&D Insider) digital offering. D&D Insider lowers the barriers of entry for new players while simultaneously offering the depth of play that appeal to veteran players.
The 4th Edition rules emphasize faster game play, offer exciting new character options, and reduce the amount of "prep time" needed to run the game. D&D Insider includes a character creator that lets players design and equip their D&D characters, dungeon- and adventure-building tools for Dungeon Masters, online magazine content, and a digital game table that lets you play 24/7 on the internet — the perfect option for anyone who can't find time to get together.
"We've been gathering player feedback for eight years," said Bill Slavicsek, R&D Director of Roleplaying and Miniatures Games at Wizards of the Coast. "Fourth Edition streamlines parts of the D&D game that are too complex, while enhancing the overall play experience. At its heart, it's still a tabletop game experience. However, D&D Insider makes it easier for players to create characters, run their games, and interact with the rest of the D&D community."
Wizards of the Coast will release two 4th Edition preview books in December and January - Wizards Presents: Classes and Races and Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters. The full scope of 4th Edition books, miniatures, and adventures will be available in the spring and summer of 2008.
Too complex? This isn't 1e or 2e, where some things didn't make sense, like decreasing AC levels are better. Both 3e and 3.5e are great updates for the game. What else can they do with 4e? Make it so that you only use one die? (I can do that with HARP in its optional d20 rules...)
I'll wait to see what the conversion rules are and the actual game mechanics to see if I'm actually going to bite.
GenCon's taking place this weekend, and as per usual, Wizards of the Coast has a major announcement...
New is located here...
In case the link isn't working, here's the lowdown...
In may 2008, WotC is launching... D&D 4th Edition.
Come on here, folks, it's only been seven years since the birth of 3e, and 3.5e came out, what... three, four years ago?
The 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons game includes elements familiar to current D&D players, including illustrated rulebooks and pre-painted plastic miniatures. Also releasing next year will be new web-based tools and online community forums through the brand-new Dungeons & Dragons Insider (D&D Insider) digital offering. D&D Insider lowers the barriers of entry for new players while simultaneously offering the depth of play that appeal to veteran players.
The 4th Edition rules emphasize faster game play, offer exciting new character options, and reduce the amount of "prep time" needed to run the game. D&D Insider includes a character creator that lets players design and equip their D&D characters, dungeon- and adventure-building tools for Dungeon Masters, online magazine content, and a digital game table that lets you play 24/7 on the internet — the perfect option for anyone who can't find time to get together.
"We've been gathering player feedback for eight years," said Bill Slavicsek, R&D Director of Roleplaying and Miniatures Games at Wizards of the Coast. "Fourth Edition streamlines parts of the D&D game that are too complex, while enhancing the overall play experience. At its heart, it's still a tabletop game experience. However, D&D Insider makes it easier for players to create characters, run their games, and interact with the rest of the D&D community."
Wizards of the Coast will release two 4th Edition preview books in December and January - Wizards Presents: Classes and Races and Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters. The full scope of 4th Edition books, miniatures, and adventures will be available in the spring and summer of 2008.
Too complex? This isn't 1e or 2e, where some things didn't make sense, like decreasing AC levels are better. Both 3e and 3.5e are great updates for the game. What else can they do with 4e? Make it so that you only use one die? (I can do that with HARP in its optional d20 rules...)
I'll wait to see what the conversion rules are and the actual game mechanics to see if I'm actually going to bite.
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From:
4th ed -- nah, take a deeper look
this isn't about "too complex" so much as "too many old vance/gygax mechanics holdovers" -- there has been a proto-4th-ed (call it "3.9" for lack of a better label) movement within the last ~12 months of supplements, e.g., the warlock class (disassembles traditional spell slots in favor of X-memorized/Y-limited-powers/Z-unlimited-per-day) and/or pretty much the entire feats section of complete mage (convert memorized-spell-slot to ABC energy blasts per day, or PDQ summon elementals per day, etc).
i'm not particularly fond of this rules shift, but it *will* (theoretically) equalize the character classes once and for all -- they will all be 'dilute' classes, like the warlock, and though i don't really like the warlock, if they're all the same maybe that will balance out.
i actually believe star wars saga edition is the best 4th-ed preview, and if you haven't seen it, the book of nine swords is another representative source: characters will get a limited sort of special-power menu selection, like "okay, give me the fighter's weapon choices and special combat maneuvers, but drop the heavy armor and give me a small amount of weak-powered healing per day," either specializing or diversifying their big-power-X/medium-power-Y/weak-unlimited-power-Z choices to suit.
the example given in saga edition is obi-wan disabling an imperial security system, then projecting a fake-noise to distract guards, then walking a tightrope or some such... a sidelong point is made that, using traditional skill-point or dice-pool systems, this scene basically wouldn't be possible, but using the big/medium/weak power pyramid, dramatic opportunities emerge. i'm dubious, but willing to be open-minded.
-- sven
From:
Re: 4th ed -- nah, take a deeper look
as a post-script: the gen con announcement made two special notes (related to my game-design scribblings above) that i find promising.
#1 -- fighters and other characters will have "choices" not dissimilar from spellcasters (i.e., a book of nine swords "use preparation X, perform maneuver Y, launch attack Z" system, kinda like m:tg come to think of it)
#2 -- spellcaster-characters "will never need to pull out their crossbows" because they will never fully run out of tricks, they will always have at least some weak-powers left (i.e., a non-spell-slot system)