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Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Latest News

Posted by kdawson on from the eye-of-the-beholder dept.

Lord Aramil of Dreadwood writes "Blogger and Dragon magazine writer Jonathan Drain is tracking the latest developments on the new D&D edition. Highlights include: Thirty levels instead of twenty, no more XP costs for magic items creation, flexible talent trees replacing feats and prestige classes, a new racial bonuses system that obsoletes ECL, and an end to rubbish skills like Forgery and Use Rope. A quote from the blog: 'Unlike 3.5, all the changes this time around sound like they're definitely for the better... If nothing else, at least they have the opportunity to get rid of Mialee.'"

2 of 350 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The real question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant
    Will it be a DX10/Vista only title?



    It's not a computer game. Google for it.

  2. WoW phenomenon? by Tom · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Until this article, I would've been sure that D&D is dead. I wouldn't even give much on AD&D, with d20 stealing the show and all. But maybe that's just because for the past 5 or 6 years I've been concentrating more on smaller RPGs and found what I had been missing all the time with the "mainstream" stuff: Innovation, creativity and an honest desire to create a good game, above all.

    I wonder how much of that's true for MMORPGs as well. I've never played WoW, but I've seen at least 20 MMORPGs and they are all more or less the same. Played one, played 'em all. Which, of course, explains why players concentrate on just a few really large ones - there's no compelling reason to go anywhere else, so you can stay where your friends are.

    But in pen-and-paper RPGs, you can be more flexible, can't you?

    Here are some of the games that I've enjoyed a lot, and where I would gladly exchange one evening of playing those for a full campaign of any (A)D&D, GURPS, Shadowrun, Vampire or any other mainstream game:

    Amber - though you absolutely have to have read the books
    Godlike - great setting, interesting and quick game mechanics
    The Riddle of Steel - has its shortcomings, but for some reason it was a great experience
    Fireborn - I'd kill for having a regular Fireborn group
    Sorcerer - consensus opinion of many, not just me: One of the best indie RPGs out there

    The problem, of course, is the same why WoW has millions of subscribers, and other (possibly better) games struggle: It's hard to find other players.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org