Red Box: Some Constructive Criticism

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I just had a copy to browse through and my hopes for an attractive 4th Edition starter set went out the window.

. . .

Some folks have and will argue that looks don't matter, that presentation doesn't matter, only the content.

I'm completely a presentation-matters guy. Presentation and organization in the 4e PHB so bothered me I put it on the shelf and never gave it a chance. Your critique is a very different perspective I hadn't seen articulated well before. Thanks!

Gives me a sense there was some part of this that was either rushed out from a critical stage of production where this could have been caught and corrected, or WotC just didn't have someone with great sense for this on the project.

I had already determined through this thread I was going to skip right over this Starter Set. Having been burned by every WotC starter set since they owned D&D, I'm grateful I waited for others to try it out.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

Well, I picked this up.

At least the box was nice and sturdy.

 

[Cergorach]

Well, I picked this up.

At least the box was nice and sturdy.

At least you can smack smart ass players upside the head with it during a game if it is that sturdy ;-)

 

[Planetourist]

I've run Essentials (more precisely: the Red Box) a few days ago and I find it terribly unbalanced. It seems to me that all the monsters got better while the PCs are much, much weaker than in the core rules. Skirmishers of first two encounters have insane mobility and a great damage output, while our heroes simply can't counter their abilities - with a warrior that can't mark anyone and nearly no ranged attacks. A party of four classic adventurers - an elf mage, a dwarf warrior, a halfing rogue and a human cleric - was slaugthered during the Purification encounter.

Only the wizard seems stronger. It's very nice to see that he's got at-will mass control powers, they perfectly capture the feel of being a mage. However, it makes no sense when the other party members can't shield him from enemies.

There's nothing bad in giving PCs less abilities than normal - it's a game for beginners - but to compensate this, monsters should be weaker. Otherwise this mechanics will be deadly.

BTW, Are the characters in HotFL stronger than in the Red Box?

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Are the characters in HotFL stronger than in Essentials?

Wait . . . what?

HotFL is Essentials.

 

[Nikosandros]

Wait . . . what?

HotFL is Essentials.

Well, it seems rather obvious that the meaning of the question was whether HotFL characters are stronger than those in the Red Box.

 

[Planetourist]

Yes, by saying Essentials I meant the Red Box. Now my last reply should be clear.