@Background Pony  
@Brass_Robo  
Huh… interesting.
 
I think IWD is based on 2 or 3, so that might explain why a lot of what’s listed in the image doesn’t make sense. Making characters never mentioned anything about cantrips and I certainly never had my fighter pick powers.

@SBF1  
Basically Dungeons and Dragons has four or so editions. First edition was the original and had a very particular feel to it. Second edition fixed a lot of the math and expanded on many concepts. Third edition tried to keep the same feel as the others but was a complete re write with a new system for skills and multiclassing.
 
Fourth edition is the newest and the one this homebrew is written for. It tried to solve the balance problems D&D is known for and make combat more interesting by giving everyone abilities to use in combat. A lot of people felt it made all the classes too similar and made the game feel more like a video game.
 
Characters could recover from battles too quickly, combat was based too much on a grid and was too focused on, and even the nonmagic characters felt like they were using magic.

@SBF1  
(Warning: very TLDR)
 
The criticism is that Wizards of the Coast (which Hasbro also owns) made 4th Edition D&D feel similar to a video game with the way some of its mechanics work. This may have been intentional as they viewed MMO games like World of Warcraft as either competition or a model they could learn from.
 
Let’s use the “Fighter” class for an example. In older editions a Fighter’s actions were essentially attacking with a weapon and occasionally moving so they can keep attacking with a weapon. If you wanted to “tank” something like in an MMO, you’d have be creative in finding some way of keeping that enemy from simply ignoring you and going after your powerful spellcaster buddies. It didn’t help in 3rd Edition that it was usually in a monster’s best interest to keep a Fighter moving since that limited the Fighter to a single attack rather than, say, four or more attacks (for a high level Fighter).
 
In 4th edition, the Fighter suddenly has a much wider array of tools:  
• They got two (or three) “At-Will Powers” instead of just a basic attack that could apply useful effects on top of doing damage.  
• They got the ability to “mark” a monster by simply attacking it which not only made the monster’s attacks on other party members less accurate, but also allowed the Fighter to get a free attack on the monster if it attacked anyone else while standing next to the Fighter.  
• They got a passive ability that allowed them to stop a monster in its tracks with an accurate “opportunity attack” if the monster didn’t give the Fighter a wide berth.  
• They gained additional “Powers” that function like spells of old in that they have a wide array of additional effects (like higher damage, self-healing, debilitating effects, etc.) but are only usable once every five minutes or once a day.
 
Thus, with “cooldowns” and “tanking mechanics”, the D&D Fighter begins to act more like something out of Everquest or World of Warcraft.
 
The “Utility Powers” follow the same vein, where instead of some passive benefit to or synergy with your existing skills, you get a “Power” (almost always with a cooldown) that allows for a feat of strength, reduced damage, extra mobility, etc. for a short duration. It’s like something on an MMO’s toolbar/castbar/what-have-you.
 
P.S. If the changes made to the Fighter class in 4th Ed. seem like an improvement, the changes made to Wizard class in 4th Ed. are a hindrance (but going into that would make this post a little too long).

@Background Pony  
Sorry to butt in, but could you clarify? I’ve always had a passing interest in DnD (even picked up Icewind Dale because of it, though I never got very far) and I’m not sure what you mean.

@Background Pony  
>so it doesn’t look like it’s from a video game
 
One of the criticisms of 4th Edition in general.

Someone should make a non D&D edit to this. Keep the descriptions but rewrite the traits so it doesn’t look like it’s from a video game.

Huh. Interesting solution to the quadraped-holding-weapon thing.