Tag Archives: DnD 4e

A (Draft) Warlord Class for Lords & Wizards (and Other Old School Games)

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The Warlord is a popular class with D&D 4e players. Due to many requests, I include an “old school” version of the class as an optional class in Microlite74 Extended. It’s not that popular with 4e fans because it does not have the warlord ability to heal by shouting at his allies. There are two reasons why my Microlite74 Extended version of the Warlord does not heal hit points. First, when you talk to fans of the 4e Warlord and say that the idea of someone shouting encouragement (even if the “encouragement” like that given by a drill instructor in … Continue reading →

Design Theory and D&D: Why a Poor Design (According to Theory) May Sell Well

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One the major complaints I hear about D&D Next from many 4e fans (at least on the Internet) over and over again is that D&D Next has completely abandoned 4e’s stress on tight design and balanced math — what people making this complaint call “good design”. I’ll admit that 4e was the best designed version of D&D ever produced if tight, focused rules and balanced math are considered necessary for a RPG to be well-designed. However, well-designed according to these principles does not mean an RPG so designed will automatically be adopted. It still has to meet the needs of … Continue reading →

No D&D Next (If I was in Charge of D&D at WOTC)

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I’ve made no secret of the fact that the new “D&D Next” isn’t doing much for me. I’ve been asked what I would do if I were in charge of D&D at WOTC several times over the past year. Here’s my answer. First, I’d hire a couple of D&D 4e experts to go over the 4e material and finalize the system (between the original 4e material, the later 4e material and the Essentials), and write a definitive Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and GM Guide. I’ll call this line “D&D Tactics” and publish new material for it through the current online … Continue reading →

It’s not an “I Win” Button, It’s a “We Win” Button

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I notice a lot of people who do not like the fact that casters have spells that can end a combat encounter (or other encounter that matter) call these spells “I win” buttons/spells/etc. For example this statement from a thread on RPGnet: A lot of fans of 4e lament the Vancian Wizard’s access to “I Win” button spells. Regardless of how the exact spell loadout if “balanced” vs expected encounters per day (and whether or not there are adequate mechanisms in the system for enforcing those expectations), the very fact that the wizard has access to unique tools which can … Continue reading →

Teamwork and Tactics Baked in to the System — Why?

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In a post on RPGnet in a thread he started entitled D&D Next – Making 4th Edition players consider 5th Edition, neonchameleon says the following about an aspect of 4e he thinks 5e/Next lacks (and needs): Teamwork and Tactics baked in to the system In 4e the team is stronger than the group as individuals. Defenders can do much more damage if they have allies. Leaders, especially Warlords, revolve around teamwork, and controllers are masters of setting people up for someone else to bash – but can rarely win a fight on their own. The combat portion of the game … Continue reading →

Who really needs D&D 5e?

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In a comment to my Why D&D 4e "Failed" — My Theory post a few days ago, Argent said: I fear for 5e. Many of the people who loved 4e, me included, are concerned right now. I think it may just further fracture the base. The 3.5 and legacy players have got on fine without 4e so why do they need 5e? Us 4e players have tons of material and a game we broadly enjoy so why do we need 5e? In my opinion, the only people who really need 5e are WOTC. Every D&D player I know or know … Continue reading →

Why D&D 4e “Failed” — My Theory

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There are many theories as to why the 4th edition of WOTC failed to interest many D&D players and apparently failed to meet the sales goals WOTC set for the game. My theory is simple, 4e’s lead designer Rob Heinsoo wasn’t really designing a new edition of D&D, but a game that played the way he thought D&D was going to work back in 1974 when he was ten years old and had read about the game in Military Modeler magazine, but had not yet seen — let alone understood — the rules to D&D. Rob starts off a “Spotlight … Continue reading →

An Open Note to 4e Fans Upset at the Direction WOTC Appears to be Heading with 5e

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I’ve seen a good number of D&D 4e fans on forums like RPG.net complain that WOTC is ignoring 4e fans (and the design features of D&D 4e they like) in their rush to make 5e popular with fans of pre-4e D&D. I have no idea whether they really are throwing 4e fans under the bus as I haven’t even seen a playtest draft of the rules. However, I wonder why 4e fans seem so surprised that WOTC might do this, given that WOTC basically threw a large number of fans of 0e-3.5e under the bus when they came out with … Continue reading →

Download and Play D&D4e for Free — Legally!

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According this a post on the RPGSite from Windjammer, there is an amazing amount of free 4e material on the WOTC web site — and not behind their paywall. Enough material to play 4e for quite a while — and without most of the limitations of their basic set. While I’m not a fan of 4e and have little interest in playing it again, I thought the info in Windjammer’s post should get wider attention. With 4E on its way out, I thought it may be helpful to alert people to the sheer amount of free material WotC released for … Continue reading →

Wizards Ruin Encounters in D&D!

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If you’ve read many forums or blogs where D&D is discussed over that past 8-10 years, you have probably heard many players complaining about wizards ruining encounters with spells like sleep or fire ball that take out large numbers of the opposition. While I expect to hear GMs (especially GMs who run more linear and/or more pre-plotted adventures) complaining about players who manage to quickly defeat or defuse a situation they have set up and planned out in detail using some power or ability (or just a good idea) they had not “planned for”, the idea that players would object … Continue reading →