A Rant about a Review on Youtube

After watching a review of D&D 4th Edition vs. 3.5 Edition (which the reviewer said -- hey, we all know its better anyway), I was kind of perturbed that he said that all rogues are the same.  Blah, blah.  It's like he glossed over the feat selections.

Well, I'm going to prove him wrong. :D

There is something in the d20 SRD called Unearthed Arcana which provided you with all the variants one could use.  In my world, rogues are defined either by being criminals, or government agents (you know, James Bond types).  So you have to your typical thief type rogue, and then the rogues who operate under the Shattered Hand (orcs) or the Impossible Mission Force (The Republic of Devonshire) for example.  Rogues who work in Caithness are part of MI6 and are trained assassins and their code numbers usually start with . . . well . . . 00. :)  In Al-Caria, they are training as Assassins, in Northumberland - your typical spy.  In the Elvish nations, they are trained as quick and stealthy melee fighters who happened to be able to disarm traps.  If they are trained at court (no matter what kind of court), they are courtiers and diplomatic attaches.

Righteousness aside, and Miles Gloriosi aside; it is possible for a 3.5 Edition Rogue to be different and still be classed as a rogue.  So, what can be so wierd about that?  Huh?  In D&D 3.5, you can sell 4th by saying that character customizability was a weakness.  Or you can ignore it and say that it is possible to customize characters in 3.5 every bit as much as you can in 4th Edition.  So, why sell it up that a 3.5 rogue is the same as the next rogue?

Perhaps it is because we are losing a vital part of our play experience and its called imagination? The most important strength of playing RPGs is an exercise in imagination.  Break the rules, do creative things with the game . . . You don't have to play by the RAW (rules as Written).  Greywulf (Robin Stacey) doesn't play by the rules in 4th Edition.  He's a good example of taking a game like 4th Edition and doing creative things with it.  Sorry, who ever said that a 3.5 rogue is the same every time, but you just didn't look at the bigger picture.  4th has blinded you, made you forget what was capable of doing with 3.5 .

Oh and by golly, watch a movie or T.V. series that gives you D&D moments and forget which Edition is better.  Just get some friends together, get some dice, and play (Wizards of the Coast may have a bias, but their commercial is about encouraging people to have fun with RPGs). :)