Will Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 books be useless for 4.0?

Question

I currently have over 7 books for dungeons and dragons V 3.5, after I saw that version 4.0 will come will software I didn't know whether I would have to buy new books

so are my books similar enough that I can still use them?

Answer 1

NO! Your 3. books will not be compatible with the new 4th edition rule books. I have over 25 3.5 books and have been running a 3.5 campaign for several months now, and we are about to try out the new edition. From what I have read of the new core books, the game is more or less a role-playing miniatures game now. Fast paced, not a lot of rules to remember, and as far as I am concerned, not as good as it will be once they write some new books to expand the new rules. From a longtime D+D gamer point of view, I guess the new edition is a easier set of rules, but It looses the complexity and wide variation of choices the older editions had. I will make the switch, but I have yet to try it out. But NO, your 3.5 books can not be used with the new edition.

Answer 2

Other than ideas for your own in-house rules, they're pretty much incompatible I'm afraid - just like 1E->2E->3E->3.5E were. Of course, if your group doesn't want to move up to 4E, nothing's forcing you to...

Answer 3

Nope. While you may still take ideas and things like that, the 3.5 system is incompatible with the new 4.0 system, as it features an entirely new set of rules. Bummer, eh?