Editing Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition (section)

==Gameplay==
Nearly every roll consists of making a single d20 roll, plus a modifier, against a target number. Saving throws have been replaced with Defenses that work like AC; the term 'Saving Throw' now refers to a 55% (DC 10) roll every turn to recover from a persistent effect.

Gameplay is divided into encounters. The GM selects monsters and traps up to a total experience value as recommended for the size of the party, and the encounter plays out as a tactical miniatures game. Non-combat encounters consist of "skill challenges", where skill checks (sometimes of multiple types) are made in sequence. XP is awarded for non-combat challenges and quests, as well as for combat encounters.

Each character can take one standard action (such as an attack), one move action, one minor action, and any number of free actions per turn. Each character also gets one immediate interrupt or immediate reaction per round, which may be used outside of the regular turn order. Generally each character will use their standard action to make use of an attack power. Characters are highly specialized as noted above, and fit into combat roles of controller (status effect and mass-attack focused), defender (durability and counter-attack focused), leader (buffing and healing focused), and striker (single target damage focused).

Characters level up from level 1 to 30; with the scope of the game changing every ten levels. Levels 1 to 10 consist of battling localised threats eventually scaling to national threats. Levels 11 to 20 consist of battling national threats that eventually scale to world-wide threats. Levels 21 to 30 consist of battling world-wide threats that scale to multi-versal threats. At 30 characters are expected to undergo some form of apotheosis, effectively becoming demi-gods or equivalent in power.

All-in-all, 4e has been compared to vidya like ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' and all that shit, which ''shouldn't'' necessarily be a bad thing if it wasn't oddly stiffing in a mild way. [[Order of the Stick]] summed this up perfectly in their limited edition Dragon Magazine book; the 4e team relies on spacing and managing cooldowns and per-battle abilities, while the 3.5 team just blows all their gold and spell slots on as many game-breaking potions and spells as they want before standing atop a hill and [[Tucker's Kobolds|whoring the fuck out of arrows and magic traps]].

===4e vs. WoW===
Although comparing 4e to [[World of Warcraft]] was the most common thing to do back in the day, in actuality, most of its "WoWish" aspects were derived from unspoken assumptions and core mechanical aspects of D&D going back throughout its history. The sourcebook "Wizards Presents: Races & Classes", a teaser book that covers a lot of the design process leading up to 4e, talks quite extensively about the process - for example, roles have always been part of D&D, ever since we had the Fighting Man, Magic User and Thief, it's just that actually thinking about what makes their combat role ''work'' and using that to avoid the tiers system of past editions was new to 4e.

The major source of "4e=WoW" comments comes from this related meme: "All 4e classes are spellcasters!" That meme stems from the core of the combat system; the [[AEDU System]]. Each character gains access to a pool of distinctive combat options as they level up, which are categorized according to their use; at-will, once per battle, or once per day - Utility powers are non-offensive powers that provide a boosting effect in some way, such as healing, gaining defense bonuses, gaining a new movement rate, teleporting, etc. The big issue is that this system is ''universal''; all classes use these basic mechanics, in contrast to warriors using their own little pool of of subsystems for combat stunts (which were often dependent on "DM, May I?", and/or arbitrarily blocked by monster type - although so were many spells, due to higher-grade monsters typically having the "Immunity to X" trait) and everybody else using the [[Vancian Casting]] system.

This meme looks sensible on the surface, because martial exploits and caster spells do use the same basic terminology and system - a push is a push, whether you use it with a Howling Wall spell or a Body Slam attack. But it might not be that simple. Whilst martial classes having fantastical techniques that are limited by a cool down period is indeed a famous aspect of the [[Warcraft]] games, stemming all the way back to their RTS days, it has precedent in D&D even before then. Beyond the immediate comparison of the [[Barbarian]] and its Rage ability, it goes all the way back to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], where [[Ranger]]s, [[Paladin]]s and various [[Fighter]] [[kits]] all had special tricks they could only do so often. The main differences are that, one, even Mages (with high STR) ought to be able to do simple things such as a push, as opposed to it being a "magical" class-locked ability, and the fact that the "martial arts/stances/tricks" get '''very''' fantastical, bordering on outright magical, as opposed to the more grounded (if still not strictly realistic) stunts of the old editions. Another point on comparing martial exploits to magical spells is that their outcomes are intentionally designed to reflect different themes; you don't have fighters throwing lightning bolts (unless they have a magic weapon that lets them do that) or teleporting (unless they have a magic item that lets them do that), whilst you don't have wizards body-slamming people off of their feet, grabbing them as a human shield, or stabbing them deep and twisting so they start bleeding out (which is, as stated earlier, partially quite odd, as overtly simple things like a body-slam might be something that anyone can do). So, it's an understandable perception.

Part of the problem, of course, is that 4e has a very distinct "Action Fantasy" basic genre assumption, in comparison to the Low Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery/Realism assumption of earlier editions. Whereas the "presumed archetype" for an AD&D or 3e fighter was something like a grizzled but realistic man-at-arms, 4e's "presumed archetype" for a martial character is something more along the lines of Hercules, Cu Chulainn or, well, pretty much any Shonen anime hero. This was an an intentional part of the design for 4e, since the edition was crafted from the ground up to avoid the [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]] trope and the resultant placing of martials so low on the [[Tier System]]. When one guy's skill-set is "swing sword like a real-world trained warrior" and the other's skill-set is "fuck reality like a nympho slut", balance kind of falls apart.

Another element that invites comparison to WoW is the very unusual healing system. In past editions, healing magic was exclusively the province of the [[cleric]] and healing potions, although it broadened out in 3e with things like [[bard]]s having access to Cure spells and Wands or Scrolls of Cure Wounds being added to the game. In 4e, a system was ported over from [[Star Wars D20]] Saga Edition: '''Second Wind'''. Once per battle, a character could dig deep and find a reserve of vitality to keep soldiering on despite their wounds, action movie protagonist style. This was reflected as a boost of hit points and a +2 bonus to all defenses for a turn. But 4e didn'tstop there. It added a whole new subsystem: '''Healing Surges'''. In essence, these represented the "spare lifeforce" that a PC has available; the vast majority of healing type powers or effects in the game have the rider that they consume one or more Healing Surges as a side effect - if no Healing Surges are left to spend as fuel, then no healing takes place. Basically? A 4e character is limited in how many times per day it ''can'' have a healing effect applied to them, whereas in previous editions characters could be healed as often as there was healing magic free to spend. It also didn't help that aside from some specific circumstances, you would have to forgo a turn you could have spent actually hitting the enemy to get this healing.

Many anti-4e reports portray all 4e classes as being able to heal themselves as much as they like, at will, because of this Healing Surge system. Which is... not exactly true? Outside of the universal 2nd Wind system, there is a wide class-by-class variability in how much access a given character can tap into their Healing Surge stockpile. Generally speaking, only Defenders (whose core combat role is based around being the front-line warrior, so they are expected to have some level of action movie protag style "shake off the wounds and keep going" tankiness) or Leaders (whose core combat role is aiding other characters) have access to powers that key off of Healing Surges - the former spending Healing Surges to bolster themselves, the latter being able to consume their ally's Healing Surges to heal or otherwise augment them. In comparison, Strikers and Controllers generally have no ability to use their Healing Surges for healing and instead depend on the presence of Leaders or magic items to heal them if they need help.

Two examples of this from the first PHB are the "Iron Warrior" power for [[Fighter]]s and the "Death Ward" power for [[Paladin]]s - both are Defenders, but the latter has a dash of Leader in it, reflecting the traditional access to low-level [[cleric]] spells. "Iron Warrior" can be used once per day; the Fighter regains healing surge value (1/4th maximum HP, rounded down) Hit Points, plus a further 2d6 + Constitution modifier hit points, and gets to make a saving throw against a "save ends" type effect laid on them. It's flavored as the Fighter being just too tough and stubborn to die, despite the beating they've taken - which is playing on the Fighter's general "action hero" flavor that it has in 4e. "Death Ward", in comparison, can be used once per day on a dying companion; the Paladin burns a healing surge, but their companion regains 1/2 their maximum HP, plus bonus HP equal to the paladin's Charisma modifier. It's flavored as... well, a variant on the old Paladin ability to Lay on Hands. Both powers are Daily types - they can't be used again until the character completes a 6 hour rest. And neither is accessible until you reach level 16. Hardly the "at-will healing" that many anti-4e trolls will claim all classes have; but, it still means that all classes - just to varying degrees - have access to their own, "magical", healing. Not to mention that, even if that is played off as "it's not on all the time forever" (which is fair enough - it isn't), it's both still something that can be considered a problem (if a limited one), and also - if playing off of the "different classes use their healing surges for different things" - it goes ''right back'' to to all classes being spellcasters, as it then just becomes another word/function for "mana" or "power points". Now, all classes have "healing surges" that they can use for "special abilities", or; all classes have "mana" that they can use to "cast spells".

But this argument will probably never die, because it's an easy target to attack for anybody who doesn't like 4th edition. Even '''Art & Arcana''', a licensed WotC product covering the history of D&D up until 5th edition and providing samples of art from across its lifespan opens its chapter on 4th edition by describing elements of its design as being "influenced by MMOs".

===Roles===
Arguably one of the biggest class-based mechanical changes in 4e was the introduction of '''Roles'''. Whilst often compared to [[World of Warcraft]], this actually stems from the designer team asking themselves "Okay; the iconic D&D party is a Fighting Man, a Cleric, a Magic User and a Thief - now, why is this? What does each class give to the party?"

Roles were their answer; a simple "mission statement" of what a class aims to achieve ''in combat''. The most popular classes are always those that have a strong mission statement, and when that statement gets wobbly, then you end up with problems - hence the infamous Tier system of 3e. Roles became a defining outline for creating classes, both for the designers and the players; a clear shorthand as to what sort of stuff this class should do in order to meaningfully contribute to a battle.  Roles also allowed for a divorce of sorts between what a character did (role) and how they did it (power source), allowing for characters to engage in certain types of actions without being tied to a particular archetype.  This is especially notable with the Leader role, which allowed for skilled healers that weren't divine spellcasters (in core 3rd edition, the only non-divine healer was the Bard, who wasn't a full caster).  

'''Defenders''' are the "tanks" of the party. A defender's job is to keep the party alive by intercepting enemies and keeping them away from the squishier members of the group. To this end, WoTC decided that a proper defender should not just be capable of taking hits, but they should also be "sticky"; they needed some way to mechanically encourage enemies to not want to get away from the defender, and to punish them if they did - what good's a fighter if the enemy just shoves past them, taking a hit in the process, and proceeds to whomp the wizard? Each defender has their own unique way of pulling off this stickiness; the common [[Fighter]] is more focused on pouncing on enemies that try to back off, whilst the [[Swordmage]] is more of a hit-and-run character, since they can punish "fleeing" enemies from a range. All of them have some way to enforce "marks" on an enemy, a sort of means of catching the enemy's attention so that they have a harder time targeting anyone else.

'''Strikers''' are the "critical hitters" of the party. Opportunist attackers, strikers specialize in dealing out lots of damage to opportune targets. They usually can't take so much damage, but they can bring down big foes quick, which is their job. These are second-line warriors, working in tandem with defenders when done well; the defender's the anvil, the striker's the hammer. All strikers have some unique way to boost up their damage against an individual target, such as the iconic [[Rogue]] sneak attack.

'''Leaders''' are the "supporters" of the party. They focus on aiding the other party members, be it by healing, granting extra opportunities, buffing, etc. What makes them different to the "healbot" cleric of editions past is that WoTC noted a lot of people complained that whilst clerics were ''useful'', they were often ''boring''. So, leaders were designed to have "double-duty" powers; abilities that would help the rest of the party ''and'' still let them get stuck into the fray. Leaders tend to have at least one class feature that lets them provide a passive boost to their allies - for example, the [[Warlord]] has the Commanding Presence feature, a subclass-based boost to any ally who spends an action point.

'''Controllers''' are the "tacticals" of the party. They manipulate the overall flow of battle, specializing in winnowing out weaker foes (mowing down minions with Fireball, for example), impeding stronger foes, and in manipulating the battlefield to force enemies to make hard decisions that benefit the party. Controllers don't tend to have any unifying class features; their ability to alter the battlefield and blast large groups comes from their [[AEDU System]] powers more than anything.

It bears repeating that Roles do '''not''' apply outside of combat. They measure your tactical contributions/combat specialty in the party '''during''' a fight, and that's all. The player with a Leader type class does '''NOT''' have to be the party's meta-game leader unless the party wants them to be. It is perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged, to set up interesting contrasts between a character's Role and their personality. For example, the snooty, supremacist aristocratic [[elf]] [[warlord]] whose tactical genius can't be denied, but who is such an asshole that the party only keeps him around because he's useful in a fight, and certainly doesn't let him dictate what they should be doing outside of battle.

===Alignment===
As everyone knows, [[alignment]] is one of D&D's oldest [[skub|raging arguments for which no peace can be given]], right up there alongside "do [[dwarf]] women have beards?", and more virtual and literal ink has been spilled talking about the "proper" definition of alignment and how it interacts with classes that have mandated alignment requirements.  To this end, 4e made two rather deep cuts to the sacred cow:

First, classes would no longer have alignment restrictions of any kind.  [[Bard]]s, [[barbarian]]s, and [[skald|bardbarian]]s could be lawful, [[monk]]s could be chaotic, and [[paladin]]s could be whatever alignment they damn well pleased without losing all their class features.  This got some murmuring at first, but it eventually died down, hence its survival into [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_5th_Edition|next edition]].  After all, [[Eberron|at least one campaign setting]] had similarly relaxed many of these rules, and it didn't immediately collapse from there.

Second, and much more controversially, the design team stripped out more than half of the existing alignments, collapsing together "chaotic and neutral good" into just "good," "lawful and neutral evil" into just "evil," and all three neutral alignments into "unaligned."  Their arguments for these were, essentially, that the existing alignment system promoted debate and hurt feelings, and that a certain stratum of player saw these alignments as straitjackets restricting characterization rather than tools through which to understand it.  And it hearkened back to the very olden days, when alignment was a spectrum instead of a grid, thus: Law - Good - Neutral - Evil - Chaos.  

It should be added here that there was ''some'' justification for doing this, although it was done rather poorly. Chaotic good was always a slippery alignment to get right (you usually wound up with somebody who was much more chaotic than good, or much more good than chaotic) so collapsing it together with neutral good into a unified alignment of "cares about doing the right thing without necessarily following the rules slavishly" helps ease the problem, and if you're removing that, why not go for the poorly defined line between lawful evil and neutral evil as well, since both similarly often seemed to end up in the same pot of "evil, but has some personal rules about it"? Lawful good and chaotic evil, on the other hand, both had their own very well defined identities completely separate from generic "good" and "evil"; lawful good had specific definitions of what "good" was, which the other "good" alignments did not, while ordinary evil does evil for self-interest rather than pleasure, as chaotic evil supposedly did. On top of that it can charitably be seen as a return to the original Alignments before they where expanded into a system in AD&D back in the days were Gygax had the PC's be on the side of law and order against the evil chaos of monsters

Everything might have worked better if they left in the lawful neutral and chaotic neutral alignments as "lawful" and "chaotic" (both of which had much firmer identities than neutral good and neutral evil). But, there was a complication: "chaotic neutral" is one of the most famous problematic sacred cows in the alignment system, infamous for being abused by the same sort of "LULSORANDUMB" players who give [[Malkavian]]s a bad name, treated as "carte blanche" to do whatever the fuck the player wanted without actually writing "evil" on their character sheet, or otherwise used to enable anti-social, anti-group behavior behind alignment as a shield.  Indeed, many suspect that this whole process was initially kicked off by a desire to remove "chaotic neutral" from the alignment system altogether for exactly this reason.  

Unfortunately, this was very much a "trying to please everyone, and succeeding in pleasing no one" scenario.  People who liked the old alignment system hated the new one, seeing it, fairly or unfairly (and there are some eloquent defenses of it in the PHB) as a dumbed-down, stripped down version of the old one, tearing out more than half the options and leaving nothing to really replace them.  People who hated the old alignment system continued to be unhappy with this one, since it was, after all, ''still'' an alignment system, only with even fewer options.  And even the people who liked it (for indeed, the fractious nature of alignment-based discussions all-but guarantees there are people who see no difference between neutral and chaotic good, or lawful and chaotic neutral) got to get blasted by the heat of the raging flame war this choice unleashed.

Worse, [[Planescape| a setting that was somewhat-popular with the indie crowd that liked using the game to explore ideas more than actually playing it]] was pretty-tightly tied to the traditional alignment system, and completely-revamping the entire alignment grid from the ground up necessitated plucking it up by the roots after the last edition had instead been content to subject it to malign neglect. And a variety of traditionally-friendly monsters were revamped into evil-or-at-least-dickish ones under the internally-consistent-but-externally-dubious logic that everything in the Monster Manual should exist to get killed, and putting in monsters that don't was just wasting everyone's time, leading to accusations that the alignment system was drastically revamped primarily to justify putting "it's okay to kill this, really" alignments next to as many critters as possible. 

It was ultimately undone in the transition back to [[Dungeons_%26_Dragons_5th_Edition|5e]], along with several of the changes to the setting cosmology 4e made, and, as with many 4e design choices, leaves the impression that, perhaps, the design team's vision might have been better served by just abandoning the old ''D&D'' system of alignment altogether rather than trying to tie it to the property.

===Character Generation===
Chargen is simplified compared to 3rd Edition (although still time consuming). Skills are all-or-nothing, you either have training in them or you don't. The core of character generation for 4e, in many ways, is the [[AEDU System]], a universal mechanic for handling class combat options. This results in intimidating large lists of potential options that players need to check, but for newcomers, it is fairly easy to break things up into just the options they need to pick between.

Other unique aspects of Chargen for this edition was the system of the [[Paragon Path]] and the [[Epic Destiny]]. This was then supplemented by the optional system of the Theme (see below).

====Races====
[[File:Steve Argyle D&D 4e PHB2 Races.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The races of PHB 2. People were upset that the [[Gnome]] and [[Half-Orc]] were not in the core book.]]

[[Level Adjustment]], [[Favored Class]] and the concept of negative ability scores are all out the window in 4th edition. 4e goes for a "accentuate the positive" design methodology, and embraced what [[TVTropes]] calls the "Square Race, Round Class" trope - now you could experiment with unconventional race/class combos and you wouldn't be crippling yourself in the process. Your racial traits would align better with some classes than others, but still, you would never be outright ''terrible'' at a given class unless you deliberately made yourself crippled. Even the [[Monster Manual]] races, whilst maybe not AS powerful as a [[Player's Handbook]] race, would still be competitive, they just wouldn't have the bounty of racial feats and [[Paragon Path]]s that PHB races did.

Races in 4e followed a simple but robust formula:
* +2 to two different Ability Scores. Certain races play with this mechanic, and from the 3rd PHB onwards, it was retconned that all PC races without unique Ability Score modifiers instead used the formula of +2 to one ability score, +2 to one of two ability scores" - [[Tiefling]]s, for example, started out with a mandatory +2s in [[Charisma]] and [[Intelligence]], and then were erratated so they could choose to boost either Intelligence or [[Constitution]] instead.
* A racial speed, measured in "squares" (which amount to 5 foot per square, so a "Speed 6 squares" character can move 30 feet per round).
* Size, which is pretty much identical to 3e, but with fewer bonuses/penalties inherent to specific sizes, so Small PCs were no longer quite as handicapped.
* Vision - distinct vision ranges were dropped in this edition, so you simply had normal vision, low-light vision, or darkvision, and they tried to reduce the presence of darkvision as much as possible.
* +2 to two different skills
* At least one, and usually more, racial features; these are "ribbons", a vast array of passive traits, such as a bonus to one of your [[Non Armor Defenses]] or an attack bonus against Bloodied creatures.
* A racial Encounter power, using the AEDU system - this trait was particularly malleable, with many races putting their own unique spins on it; humans, for example, get a bonus at-will for their class instead, whilst half-elves can select an at-will power from a separate class and use it 1/encounter.

The race selection was hugely controversial; responding to letters and forum posts indicating a general lack of a fanbase for [[gnome]]s and [[half-orc]]s, WotC chose to leave those races out of the 4e PHB, instead replacing them with a new race, the [[Dragonborn]], and the [[Tiefling]]s, one of the most popular "monstrous" races in 3rd edition. This added to the shit-storm from the PHB's release, even though both races were soon released afterwards in the 2nd PHB - and were usually begrudgingly acknowledged as having fixed a lot of their traditional problems.

By the end of 4th edition, the race list had grown as vast as any other edition before it. For the full array, see [[List_of_D%26D_PC_Races#4th_Edition|here]].

====Classes====
4th edition's classes changed enormously, and were without a doubt the most controversial aspect of the edition. This is due to all classes prior to the release of Essentials being built around the [[AEDU System]].

A class has the following traits:
* Role: As described above, this covers your combat role; Defender, Leader, Striker or Controller.
* Power Source: Describes the origin of your class's power; Martial characters rely on physical training, Divine characters call upon godly might, Primal characters commune with the [[Primal Spirits]], [[Psionics]] use the power of their minds, Arcane characters perform general magic. This is mostly a flavor thing, although there are a rare few mechanical options locked behind power source, mostly the odd [[feat]], [[Paragon Path]] or [[Epic Destiny]].
* Key Abilities: Describes what [[Ability Score]]s your class most relies on.
* Armor Proficiencies
* Weapon Proficiencies
* Implement: Certain classes use special items to "focus" their powers, mostly casters. Implement describes just what that is, such as the [[Cleric]] and her Holy Symbol.
* Bonus to Defense: All classes increase one of their [[Non Armor Defenses]] by +2.
* Hit Points gained at 1st level
* Hit Points gained at level up
* Healing Surges per Day
* Trained Skills
* Class Features

Additionally, every class comes with "Build Options", which are basically little guidelines to the precise selection of features, powers, feats, races, etc to make a solid, functioning "archetypical" example of that character, such as the sword & board fighter.

Compared to classes in other editions, 4e classes are hugely front-loaded; whereas classes in other editions follow a paradigm of "gain X class feature at level Y", 4e classes gain all of their features at first level (although they do retain the aforementioned level-locked paradigm for Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies). The difference is that 4e classes have relatively few features, averaging about three or four. One of these features, and sometimes more, is always "modular", presenting a player with options to choose from that fundamentally affect the way the class plays. For example, the [[Fighter]] has the feature "Fighter Weapon Talent", which can either grant them a +1 attack bonus with either two-handed or one-handed weapons, or it can be traded for alternate features like Battlerager Vigor, Tempest Technique, or Brawler Style, each of which has a very different effect. The [[Wizard]], meanwhile, has the feature "Arcane Implement Mastery", where they can choose one specific kind of implement and gain special bonuses whilst using that specific implement.

Character versatility is predominantly carried out through the [[AEDU System]]. The vast array of different powers gives each PC their own specific set of tricks to use, so two members of the same race and class will play in very different manners. To try and avoid the problem of overwhelming players with options, similar to complaints about the book-keeping needed for casters in previous editions, PC characters have a very small set of powers, gaining new power "slots" as they level up, until they reach their maximum power set (ignoring the bonus powers granted by a [[Paragon Path]] and an [[Epic Destiny]]) at level 10, which consists of: 2 At-Will powers and 3 each for Encounter powers, Daily powers, and Utility powers. From the Paragon tier (11th level) onwards, leveling up allows a player to replace their weakest power with a power from their new level - for example, at level 13, you replace your now outdated and weak 1st level Encounter power with a 13th level one. This system of dropping powers as you level is controversial, but does keep the book keeping down, as it's a matter of replacing your powers and not just expanding the list.

At 11th level and 21st level, respectively, a player picks up a [[Paragon Path]] and an [[Epic Destiny]], which further cements the kind of character they want to play and grants bonus class features and powers to match that theme.

The (Power Source) Power [[splatbook]]s provided new powers, variant class features, paragon paths and epic destinies, and were essential to fleshing out the player's options array; it's telling that the weakest of the [[AEDU System]] classes were the [[Rune Priest]] and the [[Seeker]], who never had the chance to get options beyond their default 2 class feature variants and 3 paragon paths because they were released after their power splats and relied on [[Dragon Magazine]] for covering up holes.

...And then along came Essentials, and made things way more complicated! Based on the idea of [[Variant Class]]es, Essentials classes can be found and described [[Dungeons & Dragons Essentials|here]].


{| border=0  cellpadding=5  style="float:right"
|-
!style="background:#ccccff" | 4e Classes table
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4
|- valign=top
! &nbsp;       
! Leader  !! Defender !! Striker !! Controller
|- valign=top
! Martial 
| [[Warlord]] || [[Fighter]]  || [[Ranger]]<br/> [[Rogue]] || 
|- valign=top
! Divine  
| [[Cleric]]<br/> [[Runepriest]]  || [[Paladin]]  || [[Avenger]] || [[Invoker]]
|- valign=top
! Arcane  
| [[Bard]]<br/> [[Artificer]]   || [[Swordmage]]  || [[Warlock]]<br/> [[Sorcerer]] || [[Wizard]]
|- valign=top
! Primal
| [[Shaman]]  || [[Warden]]   || [[Barbarian]] || [[Druid]]<br/> [[Seeker]]
|- valign=top
! Psionic
| [[Ardent  ]]  ||  [[Battlemind]]  ||  [[Monk]]  || [[Psion]]
|- valign=top
! Shadow
|            ||              || [[Assassin]]<br/> [[Vampire]] ||
|}
|}

*[[Cleric]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: Divine)
*[[Fighter]] (Role: Defender, Power Source: [[Martial Power|Martial]])
*[[Paladin]] (Role: Defender, Power Source: Divine)
*[[Ranger]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: [[Martial Power|Martial]])
*[[Rogue]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: [[Martial Power|Martial]])
*[[Warlock]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Arcane)
*[[Warlord]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: [[Martial Power|Martial]])
*[[Wizard]] (Role: Controller, Power Source: Arcane)

Classes from the second PHB are:

*[[Avenger]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Divine)
*[[Barbarian]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Primal)
*[[Bard]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: Arcane)
*[[Druid]] (Role: Controller, Power Source: Primal)
*[[Invoker]] (Role: Controller, Power Source: Divine)
*[[Shaman]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: Primal)
*[[Sorcerer]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Arcane)
*[[Warden]] (Role: Defender, Power Source: Primal)

Classes added in the third PHB are:

*[[Ardent]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: Psionic)
*[[Battlemind]] (Role: Defender, Power Source: Psionic)
*[[Monk]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Psionic)
*[[Psion]] (Role: Controller, Power Source: Psionic)
*[[Runepriest]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: Divine)
*[[Seeker]] (Role: Controller, Power Source: Primal)

Classes in other books include:
*[[Artificer]] (Role: Leader, Power Source: Arcane) from the ''Eberron Campaign Guide''
*[[Assassin]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Shadow) from Dragon Magazine 379
*[[Swordmage]] (Role: Defender, Power Source: Arcane) from the ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide''
*[[Vampire]] (Role: Striker, Power Source: Shadow) from ''Heroes of Shadow''

Essentials added new, simplified "subclasses" for every every class in multiple different sourcebooks:
*[[Bladesinger]] (Base Class: [[Wizard]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Arcane) from the ''Neverwinter Campaign Setting''
*[[Binder]] (Base Class: [[Warlock]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Shadow) from ''Heroes of Shadow''
*[[Blackguard]] (Base Class: [[Paladin]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Divine) from ''Heroes of Shadow''
*[[Executioner]] (Base Class: [[Assassin]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of Shadow''
*[[Sha'ir]] (Base Class: [[Wizard]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Arcane) from ''Heroes of Elemental Chaos''
*[[Elementalist]] (Base Class: [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Arcane) from ''Heroes of Elemental Chaos''
*[[Mage]] (Base Class: [[Wizard]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Arcane) from ''Heroes of the Fallen Lands''
*[[Knight]] (Base Class: [[Fighter]], Role: Defender, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of the Fallen Lands''
*[[Warpriest]] (Base Class: [[Cleric]], Role: Leader, Power Source: Divine) from ''Heroes of the Fallen Lands''
*[[Thief]] (Base Class: [[Rogue]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of the Fallen Lands''
*[[Slayer]] (Base Class: [[Fighter]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of the Fallen Lands''
*[[Witch]] (Base Class: [[Wizard]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Arcane) from ''Heroes of the Feywild''
*[[Protector]] (Base Class: [[Druid]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Primal) from ''Heroes of the Feywild''
*[[Berserker]] (Base Class: [[Barbarian]], Role: Defender and Striker, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of the Feywild''
*[[Skald]] (Base Class: [[Bard]], Role: Leader, Power Source: Arcane) from ''Heroes of the Feywild''
*[[Hunter]] (Base Class: [[Ranger]], Role: Controller, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms''
*[[Cavalier]] (Base Class: [[Paladin]], Role: Defender, Power Source: Divine) from ''Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms''
*[[Sentinel]] (Base Class: [[Druid]], Role: Leader, Power Source: Prime) from ''Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms''
*[[Hexblade]] (Base Class: [[Warlock]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Arcane) from ''Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms''
*[[Scout]] (Base Class: [[Ranger]], Role: Striker, Power Source: Martial) from ''Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms''

<center>
<gallery>
Image:4theditionPHB.jpg|Player's Handbook 1
Image:4theditionPHB2.jpg|Player's Handbook 2
Image:4theditionMM.jpg|Monster Manual 1
Image:4theditionDMG.jpg|Dungeon Master's Guide 1
Image:4theditionOPHB.jpg|Original PHB cover, ended up being used for ''Dungeon Delve''
</gallery>
</center>

====Themes====
'''Themes''' are a mechanic added late in 4e's lifecycle with the release of the 4e version of [[Dark Sun]]. In basic concept, they can be likened to AD&D's [[kits]] or 5e's backgrounds; they're a defining character background element that is taken as an option at character creation, granting options based on the Theme chosen - sort of a Heroic tier version of the [[Paragon Path]] or [[Epic Destiny]]. The idea spun out of early experiments in "prestige classes" for D&D 4e, with things like the feat-based [[dhampyr]] race and the [[multiclassing]] based Spellscarred "motif".

In fact, themes underwent a revision, so there are two distinct mechanical styles. 

The first version debuted in the 4e Dark Sun Campaign Setting slatbook; this version provides the player with a bonus theme-based Encounter Attack power, and the option to take theme attack and utility powers, which contained built-in "upgraded" versions to replace them at higher tiers. Dark Sun "subclass themes" consist of the following:
* Athasian Minstrel
* Dune Trader
* Elemental Priest
* Gladiator
* Noble Adept
* Primal Guardian
* Templar
* Veiled Alliance
* Wasteland Nomad
* Wilder
* Escaped Slave (Dragon #390, the others appeared in the DSCS splatbook)

The second version debuted in the [[Neverwinter]] Campaign Setting, a post-Essentials "subsetting" for the [[Forgotten Realms]], and this is the version that became the default. "Neverwinter Style" themes grant the player a bonus Encounter Utility power, as well as new class features at levels 5 and 10, and an assortment of Heroic tier Encounter and Utility powers they can decide to take. This version of the theme appeared in both the aforementioned splatbook and in the subsequent Player's Option trilogy (or, at least, the [[Elemental Chaos]] and [[Feywild]] ones; they were absent from the Heroes of Shadow book), the Dungeon Survival Handbook, and the [[Book of Vile Darkness]]; it was the pages of [[Dragon Magazine]] that truly filled out the ranks of the themes.

'''Neverwinter Campaign Setting Themes:'''
* Neverwinter Noble
* Oghma's Faithful
* Harper Agent
* Dead Rat Deserter
* Iliyanbruen Guardian
* Pack Outcast
* Heir of Delzoun
* Renegade Red Wizard
* Scion of Shadow
* Devil's Pawn
* Spellscarred Harbinger
* Bregan D'aerthe Spy

'''Dungeon Survival Handbook Themes:'''
* Bloodsworn
* Deep Delver
* Escaped Thrall
* Trapsmith
* Treasure Hunter
* Underdark Envoy
* Underdark Outcast

'''Book of Vile Darkness Themes:'''
* Cultist
* Disgraced Noble
* Infernal Slave
* Reaver
* Vile Scholar

'''Players Option: Heroes of The Feywild Themes:'''
* Fey Beast Tamer
* Sidhe Lord
* Tuathan
* Unseelie Agent

'''Players Option: Heroes of The Elemental Chaos Themes:'''
* Demon Spawn
* Earthforger
* Elemental Initiate
* Friecrafter
* Ironwrought
* Jannissary
* Moteborn
* Primordial Adept
* Watershaper
* Windlord

'''Dragon Magazine Themes:'''
* Alchemist (#399)
* Animal Master (#399)
* Order Adept (#399)
* Wizard's Apprentice (#399)
* Ordained Priest (#399)
* Scholar (#399)
* Seer (#399)
* Chevalier (#399)
* Guardian (#399)
* Hospitaler (#399)
* Noble (#399)
* Explorer (#399)
* Guttersnipe (#399)
* Mercenary (#399)
* Outlaw (#399)
* Student of Evard (#400)
* Gloomwrought Emissary (#400)
* Iron Wolf Warrior (#400)
* Fatedancer (#401)
* Son of Alagondar (#402)
* Seeker of Illefarn (#402)
* Hordelands Nomad (#404)
* Sohei (#404)
* Samurai (#404)
* Yakuza (#404)
* Wild Hunt Rider (#405)
* Oracle of the Evil Eye (#405)
* Sariofal Feywarden (#405)
* Callidyrr Dragoon (#405)
* Black-Hearted Knave (#406)
* Infernal Prince (#406)
* White Horn Knight (#406)
* Moon Hunter (#406)
* Soaring Rake (#406)
* Purple Dragon (#407)
* Cormyrian Battle Mage (#407)
* Sentinel Marshal (#407)
* Brazen Ambassador (#408)
* Chaosmade (#408)
* Stormraider (#408)
* Blackstaff Apprentice (#409)
* Halaster's Clone (#409)
* Masked Lord (#409)
* Werebear (#410)
* Wererat (#410)
* Werewolf (#410)
* Mariner (#412)
* Bregan D'Aerthe Mercenary (#413)
* Elderboy (#413)
* Melee-Magthere Champion (#413)
* Sorcere Adept (#413)
* Drow House Priestess (#413)
* Widow of Arach-Tinilith (#413)
* Ooze Master (#413)
* Secret Apostate (#413)
* Skulker of Vhaeraun (#413)
* [[Transcendent Order|Cipher]] (#414)
* [[Society of Sensation|Sensate]] (#414)
* [[Xaositect]] (#414)
* Misshapen (#416)
* Haunted Blade (#416)
* Beguiler (#420)
* Occultist (#420)
* Ghost (#420)
* Inquisitive (#426)
* Courtier (#426)
* Spy (#426)
* Vigilante (#426)
* Ghost of the Past (#430)
* River Rat (#430)