D&D The Next Generation
Well, Hell.
I just read through the two page look at changes to 4th edition on the WotC website: This way lies madness.
Yes, the four "categories" of character classes make it clear that the advent of MMORPGs has not gone overlooked. They didn't actually call them Tank, DPS, Healbot and Nuke, but they might as well have. (All right, technically they're eliminating the "healbot" as a role in the new edition, but the category is still the main province of clerics so it seems appropriate for comparative purposes.
Still, the whole thing looks, dare I say it, streamlined. They're eliminating a lot of the bookkeeping in movement, spell casting and combat. That should take a lot of the work out of the game and leave more room for playing. That appears to have potential.
On the other hand, there are many unanswered questions yet, and not all of the changes will make for a smooth transition. I wonder a bit what conversion will look like and how useful older material will be. For example, how much effort would it be to translate, say, the third-party 3rd Edition Assassin's Handbook?
::sigh::
There's no help for it. I'm going to have to pick it up and see for myself. The preview has given my imagination too many possibilities to ignore.
I just read through the two page look at changes to 4th edition on the WotC website: This way lies madness.
Yes, the four "categories" of character classes make it clear that the advent of MMORPGs has not gone overlooked. They didn't actually call them Tank, DPS, Healbot and Nuke, but they might as well have. (All right, technically they're eliminating the "healbot" as a role in the new edition, but the category is still the main province of clerics so it seems appropriate for comparative purposes.
Still, the whole thing looks, dare I say it, streamlined. They're eliminating a lot of the bookkeeping in movement, spell casting and combat. That should take a lot of the work out of the game and leave more room for playing. That appears to have potential.
On the other hand, there are many unanswered questions yet, and not all of the changes will make for a smooth transition. I wonder a bit what conversion will look like and how useful older material will be. For example, how much effort would it be to translate, say, the third-party 3rd Edition Assassin's Handbook?
::sigh::
There's no help for it. I'm going to have to pick it up and see for myself. The preview has given my imagination too many possibilities to ignore.