Timewaster's Guide Archive

The rules are a lot different than 3rd edition.  The changes between 3.0 and 3.5 are almost trivial comparing 3.5 to 4th edition.  Even comparing it to Star Wars Saga, SWS is a lot closer to 3.5/d20 Modern than 4th edition.  Speaking of Saga, that game has been a blast so far.

I played a couple pre-made adventures.  It's fun... but more fun?  No.  Faster combat?  No.  Faster character creation?  It took us over 3 hours to make a 9th level dwarf fighter... so no, not faster.  Some of the rules are also counter-intuitive.  AC/Reflex is the best of Dex or Int?  Um, okay.  Fortitude is best of Str or Con?  What??  Open Lock DCs, 20 "heroic", 30 "paragon", 35 "epic"... what the hell does that even mean?  I get I'm going against harder locks at epic level, but explain it the way you did in 3.5, show DCs for poor locks, average locks, good locks, etc.  Not some metagame "epic lock" DC.

So its a fun game, but so far I couldn't say its a better game.  Some things are better, but some things are worse.  Supposedly it was going to be more "balanced" too, but clerics and wizards can still be gods (literally) at high levels.  They always were more powerful than fighters, they still are.  Nuff said.

There are some previews of the rules from DDXP.  Some of the stuff I noticed, there are no more full-round actions (or the full attack).  You get a standard action, move action, and minor action.  Minor actions include stuff like drawing a weapon or opening a door.  There are also free actions, these can now be taken at any time, not just on your turn (ie you can talk in-game even if its not your turn).  There is also still immediate actions, but they seem incorporated a bit more (ie readied actions use immediate actions).  Charge uses a standard action now, rather than a full-round (as those apparently don't exist anymore), but you only move up to your normal speed (instead of double).  You can also charge through difficult terrain.  The charge gives only a +1 to hit, but I think there is no longer an AC penalty.

A 5-foot step is no longer 'free', it takes your whole move action to make the 5-foot "shift" (as its called now).  I think elves get a racial ability that lets them move 10 feet when making a shift instead of just 5 feet.

You only use your 'standard' attack for opportunity attacks (attacks of opportunity, guess they wanted to shorten the wording);  the attacks you make on your turn instead use your at-will abilities, ie the rogue has one that is a lot like spring attack/shot on the run, and another one that lets him ignore armor.

Reach no longer automatically gives you more threatened squares, you also need a second ability called 'threatening reach' (or something like that).

Hit points are figured a bit different too.  Rogues, for example, start with 12 + Constitution score in HP, and get 5 per lvl (no dice or Con mod).  You get so many healing surges per day, rogue gets 6+ Con mod, I think fighter gets 9+ Con mod.  A healing surge heals you 1/4 your normal max HP and takes a 5 minute rest to do.  You can also, once per encounter as a standard action, use Second Wind, that lets you use a healing surge in combat.  Clerics can make your healing surges cure more damage, and I think let you do them more than once inside combat.

Nynaeve, huh?  My favorite character has always been Rand, and then probably Lan.  All the people in the first book change alot over the series.  Only Moiraine seems the same, but she has also been out of it for over half the series, so obviously she wouldn't have changed as much.  If she comes back in book 12, she might have changed.

http://icv2.com/articles/home/11618.html

Wizards is killing the D20 STL for 4th but keeping the OGL, I get a little confused between OGL and D20 STL myself but my understanding is that with 4th people will not be able to refrence wizards books, use their core classes, spells or feats.

Too early to tell exactly what it will be like, but the OGL is what lets you do whatever you want with whats in the SRD.  The d20 STL is an extra license on top of that so you can put the d20 logo on the cover of your books.  Using the STL in 3e meant you couldn't detail player creation rules in your book and stuff like that, but basically anyone who plays dnd will know that logo means its supposed to work with 3e, so more people will probably buy your book (or that was the idea anyway).  Something like Mutants and Masterminds uses only the OGL, so it can detail character creation rules and what-not.  Also from what I know, the OGL/SRD for 4th edition will be completely seperate from the 3e one; the 4e OGL will no doubt have at least a few changes, so its still a bit early to say what it will or won't allow, but I guess it will be largely the same.

lol

I can see it now, zombie is clearly the best choice.  Plus, you could always end up with a voodoo zombie.  That way you can avoid the rotting flesh and brain-eatings, they look mostly human and do whatever you say (but they get that glassy-eyed, half-baked blank stare... but then again, how is that different then any other date, honestly?)  Of course, once their family learns that you've been drugging them with zombie powder, they will tear you limb-from-limb, cut out your heart, then burn it and feed the ashes to the zombie (the surefire folk cure for voodoo magic).

All this stuff would get you killed...

Werewolf: Its that time of month again... no, that other time, with the full moon.  *rip*shread*die*

Vampire: I never drink... wine.  She slowly drains the life out of you, then damns your soul.

Fairy: First night out at a club, you are suddenly 80 years old after the first dance.  And if you live through that, her dad sends out the dogs when you bring her home (Black Dogs/Cu Sidhe, then you'll wish you were never born).

Zombie: I love you for your brains, honey... Mmm, brains...

Superhero: If you're lucky, Archnemesis only kidnaps you as a hostage the first few times.  Then Stan Lee desides She-Hulk needs a dark period triggered by her boyfriend's death.  But you'd likely have some good times before that, making it the best option.

Where is 300?  Not count as a summer movie?

I liked Next too, but the list is also right that its not really his best movie...

I don't think Wizards will have conversion rules, they said it was too different to bother.  But fans will no doubt have conversions.  The OGL/SRD gives you a whole lot you can do with 3e, and 4e is supposed to be under the OGL too.  So in theory a fan could make a conversion document and even charge for it, but most likey someone will do up a good one for free.  But I doubt that someone will be WotC.