IS The 3.5 or 4th edition of dungeons and dragons better? 3.5 or 4? ?

Question

i got the 3.5 books just before the 4th ed. ones came out ( i was just to excited to play). Was that a good choice or should have i waited for the 4th.

Answer 1

Personally I prefer 4th. That being said, most people who enjoyed 3.0/3.5 usually get defensive when someone says that 4e is better because it implies that the system they have used for so long is inferior. It's not inferior really. Both systems do the same thing, just in different ways. 4e is more "newbie" friendly in my opinion because it simplifies things without dumbing it down to the point of uselessness.

The number one complaint I see about 4e (not counting the ones who just hate it because it's different) is that it doesn't offer as many options for customizing your character as 3.5 does... well yeah that's true considering it only has a handful of books so far and 3.5 has a LOT more.

Ultimately the rules mean nothing in an RPG. They are there just to make things fair and as long as they are agreed upon by all participants you can use any system and achieve the same results. Seriously. Try running a game without dice, just flip a coin for every action that has a fail/success conclusion (such as attack rolls, skill checks, actions, etc). The game should theoretically work just as well. It's not as interesting since it removes a good bit of the individuality of the characters, but functionally it works.

If a written rule bothers you, talk with your GM and fellow players and see about changing it. The rules in any of the books are not written in stone or hardwired into the game.

Answer 2

Unfortunately there is no true answer for your questions. The third answer was very accurate. Alot depends on certain variables:

*What does the group you are playing with use.

*What kind of game do you want to play?

*How much rules lawyering do you want to put up with?

3.5/Pathfinder (3.5 rules system kept alive under new name by Piazo)

Tons of support, details out the wazoo, goes against itself in a number of places. Too many rules to keep track of. Very popular. Rules lawyers. If you want to do something, someone, somewhere has rules for it. Birthing living campaign setting. A number of settings based on rules or very similar to rules. D20 modern, Mutants and Masterminds, BESM d20, Legend of the 5 rings, and who knows how may others.

4th

New, lots of open space to customize game as you wish without rules to counter you, little support for placing new stuff at right levels, very combat oriented, fairly easy to pick up, New living campaign setting that already has support and members.

I will state that if you are or do get into gaming holding onto different rules, settings, and other various sundry is really useful, especially if you run games.

I currently am holding onto:

*L5R first edition

*Exalted, and Exalted:The Lunars  first ed.

*Dragonmech

*D20 modern and Urban Arcana

*Eberron and Forgotten Realms books

*BESM

*Marvel Universe Roleplaying game (dice-less and fun)

*previous generation of several White wolf games, still playing them

*3.5  and 4th edition core books, plus keeping an eye on Pathfinder

*and a whole schlew of Monster books from different settings..

8 to 10ish years RPGing exp

Herald level RPGA judge (barely used until recently, due to me disliking Living Greyhawk)

Answer 3

I just made the switch to 4th. I have one campaign winding down in 3.5 and two new groups starting the 4th. From a DM's stand point... 4th rocks!

Answer 4

I think 3.5E is way better then 4E mew.

As for the first answerer.

I am a girl and I usually prefer s******g my fellow gamers mew.

Answer 5

Probably the most important criteria is what your fellow gamers are planning to do. If they intend to stick with 3.5 for the time being, you should be just fine. If they are all migrating to 4E, then you'll either have to move to 4E yourself or find another group. Playwise, both versions have their good and bad points but ultimately are equally playable, which is the only real issue.

Answer 6

What you "should" have done is ultimately going to be up to you. Do I advise you to give 4e (4th Edition) a try? Absolutely. What I and others have discovered is that the game is a lot better in play than it looks on paper. It has been a lot of fun for our gaming group so far. It's simpler and easier in many ways than 3e, but perhaps not as customizable or "realistic" in some ways--which always happens when you simplify. But make no mistake; this is not just a kids' game. It's a well-thought-out ruleset. If you're interested, I suggest you buy the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure, which has introductory rules, and give 4e a try. You may find that you want both sets of rulebooks, just so you have the flexibility to run or play in either edition.

Answer 7

No simple answer. I think 2ed was the best, personally...