New versions of D&D in the works

[Eerongal he/him]

So it's only been a few short years since D&D 4.0 was released, and it looks like wizard's of the cost is all ready working on a new version.

For this version, they apparently acknowledged some of the flack and criticisms and the fact that their sales have been waning, and are taking input from players to find out what they want for a new version of D&D

[Emeralis00 she/her]

I don't know. It seems too short of a time frame since 4e and pathfinder for a new edition and reminds me of microsoft and its constant new os'. I think I'll stick with pathfinder for a while.

[Eerongal he/him]

I don't know. It seems too short of a time frame since 4e and pathfinder for a new edition and reminds me of microsoft and its constant new os'. I think I'll stick with pathfinder for a while.

Well, on the bright side, Monte Cook (one of the guys pivotal to making 3rd ed) is supposedly working with them on it, so hopefully it will pull away from 4E and be more of a "return its roots" sort of thing.

Personally, i dont much care for 4E (which is why i prefer pathfinder over 4E), though wizards may be doing it right with this edition, since they plan on heavily using gamer feedback and a long open play testing period.

[Kuri Shardweaver he/him]

My only beef with 4e was the release module.

SO MANY EFFING BOOKS -.- We realize you're a business and need money, Wizards, but for Pete's sake there's no need to try bleeding us like that.

4e fixed what I did dislike about 3/3.5, in that mid to late-game the fighter-type classes were out-shined and next to useless once the Wizard/Sorc got access to Fireball, etc. The Tier system, Powers, and Roles really helped take away from "I swing my sword.." "I'm gonna drop a Quickened Fireball, follow up with a Lightning Bolt, aaaaaand everything's dead!" "I swing my.." "Meteor Swarm!" "-___-"

[Eerongal he/him]

My only beef with 4e was the release module.

SO MANY EFFING BOOKS -.- We realize you're a business and need money, Wizards, but for Pete's sake there's no need to try bleeding us like that.

4e fixed what I did dislike about 3/3.5, in that mid to late-game the fighter-type classes were out-shined and next to useless once the Wizard/Sorc got access to Fireball, etc. The Tier system, Powers, and Roles really helped take away from "I swing my sword.." "I'm gonna drop a Quickened Fireball, follow up with a Lightning Bolt, aaaaaand everything's dead!" "I swing my.." "Meteor Swarm!" "-___-"

yeah, 3.x was far from perfect, but at the same time, i personally feel it was a better system than 4e (this doesn't mean the system wasn't broken. It totally was). I feel this way because the system had so much more flexibility built into it compared to 4e. The subtraction of actual multiclassing was something that never should have happened, in my opinion. Also, i dont much care for the fact that every class' mechanic (the whole power system, essentially) is basically the same. It makes it feel too much like "generic class that fits role A, generic class that fits role B, generic class that fits role C, etc."

I was hoping that some of the stuff we saw near the end of 3.x was going to be more of how 4e was structured (Magic of Incarnum, Tome of battle, Tome of magic, etc.). Each class felt unique and new, and were balanced pretty well (granted, they didnt have a billion splat books with god knows how many new options).

However, I do like a lot of the rules that streamline the game in and of itself (a generic "save" mechanic, traditional saves converted to "defenses", some fairly rigid definitions about various things, etc.)

[Melia she/her]

I never got into 4E, because of the investments made in 3/3.5 books. Besides that, two friends in my group are also playing in a 4E group and they're still complaining xD

It makes it feel too much like "generic class that fits role A, generic class that fits role B, generic class that fits role C, etc."

This is exactly their problem with it and lack of flexibility.

Still, if the new system is going to be that much better than 4E and 3/3.5, we might just give it a go. Time will tell.

[Link Von Kelsier Harvey he/him]

I just read Monte Cook's newly posted article about the new system, and I have to say, if they can reach their ambitions this should be pretty dang awesome. What they're trying to do seems impossible, but if they can make it work...

[Eerongal he/him]

A nice collection of information about what has been said about this

On a personal note:

3E-style multiclassing.

Awwww, yeah! 4E multiclassing just didnt do it for me.

[Thor he/him]

My only beef with 4e was the release module.

SO MANY EFFING BOOKS -.- We realize you're a business and need money, Wizards, but for Pete's sake there's no need to try bleeding us like that.

4e fixed what I did dislike about 3/3.5, in that mid to late-game the fighter-type classes were out-shined and next to useless once the Wizard/Sorc got access to Fireball, etc. The Tier system, Powers, and Roles really helped take away from "I swing my sword.." "I'm gonna drop a Quickened Fireball, follow up with a Lightning Bolt, aaaaaand everything's dead!" "I swing my.." "Meteor Swarm!" "-___-"

The release module for WotC is always MOAR BOOKS!!!!!!!!111

I take heart in your innocence. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), I have been tainted by a horrible thing called "optimization," or even worse "total/theoretical optimization," which sucks the soul out of one's body. Alternatively, it causes one to start mubling "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu" at random times. Along that line, I hope they get some of the people from the optimizing community to keep completely ridiculous combos/abilities out of the game. I like being able to optimize my character to a certain extent, but being able to get arbitrarily high stats, invulnerability, and/or an army of angels at level one is a little too far. If I wanted those, I would play Exalted or BESM (anime-esqe game).

On multiclassing, I prefer SWSE (Star Wars Saga Edition) rules, where multiclassing is generally superior to going with a single class, over 3.X's multiclassing, penalties included (though they weren't too bad.)

I suppose I'll take a look at it when it comes out, though I really enjoy playing with SWSE and 3.5.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Thor