Imo 4e is far and away the most analogous edition to a video game and it’s not close. That’s why a lot of longtime dnd players found the shift so jarring. It forewent a lot of the more RP and theater-of-the-mind focused parts of combat in particular and integrated systems that were inspired by tabletop war and tactics games. From a pure mechanics perspective, it was awesome and there was a lot to grab on to and really strategize/min-max. Some people didn’t like the trade-offs though. I think it is the most video game like in its core systems.
I’ll have to look into 4e then, I’ve only really tried looking at 5e, 3.5e, and 2e (whatever that was called). Honestly now that I’m thinking about it I don’t know that I’ve heard people ever talk about 4e. Sounds interesting, though.
Pathfinder 2e has a lot of 4e DNA in it, and I routinely see people treating significant swaths of it as if it’s a video game. Which, as a PF2e GM and player, is bizarre to me. People talk about playing it as if they’re just exposing the mechanics to the air.
But if I was going to make a video game, 4e/PF2e are absolutely what I’d base the mechanics around. They’re pretty tight systems, mechanically.
Imo 4e is far and away the most analogous edition to a video game and it’s not close. That’s why a lot of longtime dnd players found the shift so jarring. It forewent a lot of the more RP and theater-of-the-mind focused parts of combat in particular and integrated systems that were inspired by tabletop war and tactics games. From a pure mechanics perspective, it was awesome and there was a lot to grab on to and really strategize/min-max. Some people didn’t like the trade-offs though. I think it is the most video game like in its core systems.
I’ll have to look into 4e then, I’ve only really tried looking at 5e, 3.5e, and 2e (whatever that was called). Honestly now that I’m thinking about it I don’t know that I’ve heard people ever talk about 4e. Sounds interesting, though.
Yeah it’s a bit of red-headed step child. There’s some pretty cool mechanical stuff in there though.
Pathfinder 2e has a lot of 4e DNA in it, and I routinely see people treating significant swaths of it as if it’s a video game. Which, as a PF2e GM and player, is bizarre to me. People talk about playing it as if they’re just exposing the mechanics to the air.
But if I was going to make a video game, 4e/PF2e are absolutely what I’d base the mechanics around. They’re pretty tight systems, mechanically.
Pf is my vote. Love it.