To 4E or not to 4E
That really is the question…as posed by John K. in response to my first post.
I confess I don’t know a whole lot about the plans for 4E, I’ve spent a little time reading about it online, mainly here. There’s a lot for me to catch up on. From the little I do know there are pro’s and con’s to moving or staying with 3.5. Here’s my preliminary list:
Moving to 4E:
- New system claims to make it easier to prep and run a game
- Everyone’s on the same page with new rules
- Not as many “optional” rules and things to have to deal with (easier to limit to core books only…)
- Electronic support directly from Wizards (DnD Insider) (not sure how much we’ll have to pay for this though…)
- The excitement of playing a new system may suck us in again…
Staying with 3.5E:
- We already own the books – nothing new to buy
- No need to learn new rules, learn the new pitfalls
- Existing material for adventures, plenty of third-party stuff out there, etc. should make prep easier
- New rules may not support the kind of campaign I’m planning on running (magic rules in particular)
Hmmm…my sticking with 3.5 list isn’t quite as long (nor as convincing in my mind) as the Moving to 4E list. Wonder what that says. 
Add your thoughts in the comments…
February 13, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I suppose I should read more to have a preference but…
My first reaction would be to keep 3.5…
1 simply because we have all the rules already.
2 If TSR model holds true, there are going to be more source books that expand the character classes and then you are going to run into the same balance issues as with 3.5 . At least with 3.5 you already have an idea what classes you would look to limit or remove entirely.
3 If we do switch to 4.0, we will all have to unlearn everything that we have painstakenly learned over years of role playing experience!!
4 Im lazy
…and that’s about it.
Of course, when it comes down to it, the rule set is not the most important thing to playing the game. Is there something that you really like about 4.0?
February 13, 2008 at 9:20 pm
All of that is definitely true, Lou. I have to admit to being intrigued by some of the changes I’ve read about in 4E (and scared by some). The hope (and right now, it’s really a hope…) is that the overall change meets their stated goal of making things easier to prepare and easier to run at the table. Obviously that would be offset by our unfamiliarity with the new rules. I agree that Wizards will be publishing a lot of stuff for 4E so you’re right there will be stuff to choose from. My thought was that we’d be less likely to have purchased a lot of that crap already by the time I started the campaign and therefore I’d have less of it to deal with. Regardless however – I can easily impose limits on what 3.5 material we use as well (which is something I definitely plan to do…).
February 14, 2008 at 4:43 pm
There is a chance I might read a new handbook this time
I’m like a cat, I like the shiny new things.