I kept myself out of the anti-4e hysteria, until I got the books 3 days ago. I have to say that they did make some good changes (simplyfying some rules), but got carried away and oversimplified. At least for the wizard part (the only section I got deep into), it is now just a blasting sorcerer. Also, there are almost no options. I realize that this is just the corebooks and they will add other options, characters and classes, but the previous corebooks (the 3.0 ones) still had double or triple the options....almost all of the spells are gone now.
So, as far as it matters, I put my vote against 4e. Maybe, maybe, in 2 or 3 years, when more books are out, I could reconsider the idea.
I do not believe many of our PCs are easily converted to 4E; I don't have the books, but that is just my impression from what I've read on these forums.
I certainly hope these Four Lands games remain 3.5, as I'm particularly fond of my PCs.
__________________ -Rhun
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum
I agree with Nightbreeze that the options are very limited. They went too far in that direction. As Rhun suggested, I think it would be fairly challenging to create my current ranger/rogue using the 4e rules. My vote would be be to stay with 3.5 for the time being.
That being said, it might be interesting to try creating 4e versions of our characters and running them through a fight as a design experiment. I have the books.
I was holding my breath when the first post about converting to 4e hit, waiting to see the responses and hoping against hope that the consensus was to stay with 3.5. This isn't an anti-4e rant. I don't have the credibilty to do that, as I have not played it. But I have no interest in playing 4e. I have good friends in my gaming group that have tried it and reported back to me, friends whose opinions I value because they have a similar play style and likes and dislikes as mine. The comments were generally negative from my point of view, with the exception of a few things others have mentioned here.
Additionally, I don't own any of the books and don't feel the urge to spend money on a game system that seems obviously targeted and marketed to make you have to buy new books to get the breadth what the system has to offer. I've already done that once with 3x and I'm not going to do it again ... lol!
Anyway, as for a battle where we try to convert our characters to 4e, I vote no. Besides the fact that I am not really willing to try 4e, I do not want to spend the time required to convert Jaroth for one battle.
That being said, if everyone else would like to try it, I won't get in the way. Perhaps Jaroth can get knocked unconscious or kidnapped for that battle and everyone else can try to save him or something. That way, I don't have to convert him
laters.
__________________ This is the story hour of the campaign I run: Tales of Turgos
Sounds like everyone is leaning towards 3.5 (which is just fine with me). So we play on without a second thought! I'm neutral on the suggestion to play a single-combat dip into 4e (if I have to vote then I vote no).
Don't bash it until you've played it at a tabletop session. It's fun.
That being said, I'm ambivalent about switching the Southern Operatives game over. I'd be happy to, but I see little reason to re-tool an in-progress game.
Don't bash it until you've played it at a tabletop session. It's fun.
That being said, I'm ambivalent about switching the Southern Operatives game over. I'd be happy to, but I see little reason to re-tool an in-progress game.
To say nothing of the fact that there is no 4e Warlock yet, Aidan!!
Oh! Thanks, bro! hehehehe, gee, I woulda sworn that...... nevermind. As you might expect, I haven't spent just a whole bunch of time with my 4e PH. I was kinda nonplussed by my initial perusal of it, and haven't really seen any need to go back to it much since that first weekend my order came in.
I know that 4e is better when played than it looks on the book (fights are funny, many possible maneauvres (err..sp?), but still 3.5 is far better in my mind. I don't see why should we switch, unless there are clear and overwhelming advantages, and there are not.
I know that 4e is better when played than it looks on the book (fights are funny, many possible maneauvres (err..sp?), but still 3.5 is far better in my mind. I don't see why should we switch, unless there are clear and overwhelming advantages, and there are not.
Obviously, I'm not part of this decision, but I thought I'd throw out some observations. I've now played 4E a few times, and I have seen a few big benefits. First of all, nobody ever feels useless, and the cleric doesn't have to spend his whole action healing. Abilities are set up so that everyone can be productive and even exciting every round.
More importantly, at least to me, is the fact that 4E is all about teamwork. Gone are the days of the players doing their own thing once the battle starts (my fighter always stayed near the casters long enough to get buffed, then charged into battle.) Now the buffing happens throughout combat, as an effect of many powers, and the more effectively you use teamwork, the more powerful the party is. You really benefit from paying attention to what everyone else is doing and drawing on it. It makes the whole experience much more interactive and rewarding.
Anyway, as I said, that's just a quick set of observations about how the new combat tends to work. Take it for what it's worth.
First of all, nobody ever feels useless, and the cleric doesn't have to spend his whole action healing. Abilities are set up so that everyone can be productive and even exciting every round.
Keep in mind, this all depends on the player, the game, and PC design in 3E. I can assure, my 12th level cleric in JA's Great North very rarely ever spends time during combat healing folk...he is usually too busy smacking them down.
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Also, Happy Birthday JA!
__________________ -Rhun
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum
Keep in mind, this all depends on the player, the game, and PC design in 3E. I can assure, my 12th level cleric in JA's Great North very rarely ever spends time during combat healing folk...he is usually too busy smacking them down.
Your PC may not spend a lot of time healing, but, in general, 3.5 encounter design pretty much assumes a healbot cleric. An assumption which 4E kicks to the curb.
That way, I don't have to convert him 
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