Gygax, D&D 3rd Edition, 4th Edition (Part I)

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/welcome

I see the passing of Gary Gygax just months before the release of the 4^th Edition of D&D as nothing more than coincidence – but certainly a strange, curious coincidence. This isn’t the first edition made without his involvement, and he wasn’t particularly fond of the 3^rd Edition. I think he would’ve liked Wizards of the Coast’s plans for 4^th Edition even less.

I have no wish to bag on Wizards. These people resurrected D&D with the 3^rd Edition. Faithful in spirit to the original game, it fixed dozens of counter-intuitive rules and ridiculous race/class restrictions. And putting the d20 rule-set in the public domain is pretty righteous, since this is the same company that created Magic: The Gathering, a card game that robbed many of our young of both their money and their eternal souls.

I’m excited about the 4^th Edition. Granted, I think it’s a bit too soon, since an edition a decade is about right to me, and it’s only been five years since 3.5. And there’s certainly some avarice in their 4^th Edition plans – or there wouldn't be things like this. But there are some problems with 3.5 which become apparent at later levels that need fixing in the 4^th Edition.

Pick it up from there tomorrow.