As the saying goes, almost every problem people have with 5.5E D&D was solved by 4th Edition. Just take a look.
No edition of D&D is more maligned than 4th Edition. Out of all of them, it’s the one that gets decried as “an amusement park ride” or “Disney-fied D&D” or worse. Ironic, because many of the problems that seem to be a common refrain in D&D online spaces today were solved by 4th Edition years ago.
What kinds of problems? Well.
Fighters vs. Wizards
One of the most enduring “problems” that people in D&D online spaces, be they forums or subreddits or Discord servers, love to talk about is the “martial/caster divide.” Which essentially boils down to: Fighters can swing a sword a lot, but Wizards can solve whole encounters with a single spell. Not to mention also solve adventures outside of combat.
4th Edition solved this by giving Fighters more things that they could do in and out of combat. Instead of being relegated to making the same basic attack again and again (sometimes as much as three times in a round), they could carve a path through enemies, or strike out in a whirlwind that would hit any surrounding them. And still have out-of-combat functionality too. Because in 4th Edition everyone was basically a Wizard.
Everyone Had Interesting Choices
One of the other big refrains you’ll see is that there’s only so much customization you can do. 5.5E fixed the “problem” by making more Feats give a stat bonus as well as an ability. But if there isn’t a subclass that does what you want you basically have to multiclass.
4th Edition gave every class a selection of powers. Basically everyone had the “spell selection” of a Wizard or a Cleric, and could pick out powers that gave them a variety of options with which to build a character that suited their needs. There were even whole new classes that fit niches as-yet-unexplored in 5.5E. Just look at the Warden, and the Avenger, and the Marshal. Any of which would delight a player today.
Combats Were Meant To Be Complicated
Combats ran long in 4E. Now this isn’t inheretly better – short fights can be a lot of fun. But a common complaint is that fights are too simple in 5.5E. In 4th Edition, fights were meant to feel mechanically complex. Especially at higher tiers of play.
Monsters had auras, multiple actions they could take (if they were solo monsters); the designers took a lot of inspiration from MMORPGs and it played out in the way fights could become more involved. You weren’t just fighting a big monster, you were mitigating its aura effect, working to remove the status effects it could put on your party, trying to fight around any minions it might summon, or any marks it might place upon you. It’s not inherently better to be more complicated, sometimes quite the opposite, but if that’s the kind of fight you are looking for, 4th Edition had you.
There Was An Endgame To Build Your Character Towards
While most games of D&D 5.5E tend to end at around the middling levels. 4th Edition solved this problem by pushing things all the way to level 30. But also by giving player characters a concrete sort of ‘endgame’ to aim towards. You didn’t just pick a class, you also picked a Paragon Path and an Epic Destiny, all of which would unlock more abilities and new ways to play your character.
But you needed those things, because high level foes were designed to be apocalyptic. You’d fight against Demogorgon and Orcus and these were expected endpoints. Adventures went all the way.
Skill Challenges
Finally, for those who complain that 5.5E doesn’t have that much depth outside of combat, I would draw your attention to the Skill Challenges of 4E. These are the classic “accumulate X successes before 3 failures” challenges you see, which expected every character to contribute something. It wasn’t the perfect challenge, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was an innovation other games have taken and run with.
No edition of D&D is perfect. But if you’re feeling the bite of 5.5E and wanting to improve it, once place you might look? 4th Edition.
Have you dabbled in the mechanics of editions past?
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
