Today is the release of yet another version of D&D. Why? I have no idea. I can only guess that Fourth Edition, aka Tabletop World of Warcraft, isn’t going over very well. Small wonder. The hard-cover books got thinner and more expensive in addition to this edition being a complete overhaul on how the game works. I did try out 4E back in the beta stages and what was previewed through the now defunct Star Wars RPG by WOTC. There just wasn’t anything very positive to say. The people behind these games decided to just emphasize fighting and cater to the socially retarded powergamer; D&D meets TSR’s craptacular Marvel Superheroes RPG. In the long run it will fail, computer-based button-mashing systems do it better. For all their flaws, they solve the biggest problems killing the hobby: finding people to play, keeping things moving and juggling the rules, which can get cumbersome. To survive, WOTC has to present a game capable of delivering an experience the computer versions cannot emulate. I doubt it will happen though. Gamers are like any other little cult audience (comic book fans, Beatles worshippers, Trekkies, etc.): petty, divided and their own worst enemy.
It wasn’t so negative 10 years ago. The long awaited (and overdue) third edition hit the streets around this time in 2000. Third (3E) was the first true, major revision of the game. I’ve never considered Second to be anything more than a collection of half-baked changes to appease the Christo-Fascists who claimed D&D was a “gateway drug” into devil worship. I also learned from my time at GDW that it had to have the phrase “Second Edition” in all the books for copyright purposes. TSR’s owners recycled a tactic Gygax used to screw Arneson out of the money made in the heyday Eighties. It certainly explained the dorky “Advanced” element.
With TSR being acquired through WOTC’s deep pockets, the new regime could really overcome the inertia holding D&D back. They eliminated all those lame, esoteric rules which made the modifiers for the stats different (18/00 STR was dumb). They brought back classes TSR ditched because they were too weak (Monk), campaign busters (Barbarian) or controversial (Assassin). They ditched THAC0 and reversed the direction on how defensive scores worked, thus it no longer had a ceiling (really a basement of -10). Magic items could be created by the players! Before, it was just easier to go dungeon crawling for them.
The list is long but in short, WOTC brought back the excitement, fun and thrill I first remembered in 1981. Maybe Second had this in 1989 yet I didn’t sense it at GenCon, I was more into RoleMaster for fantasy and I recall Champions (fourth edition) getting more of the good press and vibe. Receiving all the core books for free from my friend Lazz certainly helped. I bought a set to give Somara too. I wanted to contribute my money toward Lazz’s salary; his bitchin’ maps are worth every penny.
Third Edition wasn’t without its shortcomings. Polymorph (shape-changing) magic proved to be thorny. Certain classes remained unbalanced (Paladin lost its effectiveness after eighth level). Optional races had barriers which fueled incessant bitching.
Despite these things, I felt WOTC got 90 percent of it right. Unlike TSR, they weren’t afraid to implement concepts introduced by rival systems like RoleMaster (heavier armor lowers agility), Champions (monsters and equipment are built the same way as characters) and Chaosium (a house system which gave rise to Star Wars and d20 Modern).
The other major innovation was a philosophical shift. Before WOTC, material came exclusively from TSR. Third parties had been allowed to publish adventures and supplements in the late Seventies/early Eighties. Then it stopped being permitted. Mayfair was the only company I remembered carrying on and this resulted in them being sued. However, it extended to fan-based materials being distributed through pre-modern Internet means, BBS usually. It earned TSR the moniker of “They Sue Regularly.” Truthfully, TSR only bothered with anything which threatened their copyrights and fan-based stuff was fine as long as they never saw it. (I can explain this point better if anyone cares.) With 3E, WOTC posted an OGL (Open Game License) which emulated the terms and conditions of open-sourced software. In short, D&D’s new owner was cool with other publishers making modules, sourcebooks, etc; as long as the guidelines were followed. This made D&D flourish even more because WOTC didn’t have to print as much material to help the game progress, namely money-losing adventures. It’s a good thing they did this too. Outside of Dungeon magazine, WOTC had ready for two months and Fiery Dragon filled the gap with NeMoren’s Vault which was well written; its terrible art work probably detracted prospective buyers. Other than Fiery Dragon, the Sword & Sorcery alliance did great work and Goodman contributed some (their stuff usually needed tweaking). Malhavoc, Game Mechanics and Paizo would appear in later years. There were also some atrocious things. To this day Mongoose just cranks it out and Green Ronin bores me to tears. Again, the good overcame the awful.
Hasbro Toys quickly entered the picture. They gobbled up WOTC for Magic and Pokemon, not D&D. This didn’t stop them from treating the hobby like their derivative, uninteresting toy lines: they used to be called Has-Been in the Eighties because Mattel and Kenner were more successful. I suspect 3.5 and 4E were fueled by the suits at HQ as revenue ploys which they’re entitled to do, it’s their property. The bigger deal breaker for me was the game drowning in supplemental books. Too many options hurt Apple, it made buying a Mac confusing due to all the confusing model numbers; something close to a dozen before the G3. The same went for D&D. All those Complete and Races rules were nice but they didn’t fix anything, they tended to do the opposite especially the Warlock which is now a core element of 4E (keeps the button-mashers happy when their thumbs are sore from Gauntlet or Baldur’s Gate). It’s a small wonder why the mantra from the 4E designers was simplicity, they just went overboard and covered it up with cheap artwork. I’m guilty of buying them too. I doubt my refusal would’ve done anything other than hurt Dragon’s Lair/Rogues Gallery.
Nowadays, I’m back on the outside of D&D by being in the Pathfinder camp; great game, weak name. Somehow the Paizo people got to re-package the 3.5 rules under their banner while adjusting what was still broken. They got the majority right but more importantly, the game’s base was retained. I think they know their audience better too. They’re catering to DMs/players who don’t need everything spoon-fed and can handle “complicated” rule sets. Truthfully, the core is simpler than most table games in Vegas.
Of course, I haven’t really played in a couple years due to work and my free time being devoured by more worthwhile pursuits. I readily admit to having a falling out with the group I started in 2000 (or remade in 2003?) being a factor. Some was my fault, some others. It doesn’t matter anymore, I was voted off the island since the majority decided they were gamers first, my friends last; it’s like the song by Bowling For Soup, “High School Never Ends.” I’m in the on-again/off-again process of building a newer, smaller group which may get off the ground, time permitting. One thing I’m certain about the new team, it will stay simple and flexible like Third Edition set out to do.