What do you love about 4e

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I haven't played much yet, but this are my preliminary results:

o 1-1-1 diagonals, square fireballs. Yes, they are stupid and unbelievable and stuff. But they just work so much better and faster. 4E combat might be more board-gamey then ever, but at least the board-game part is totally helpful instead of bean-counting. Everyone in my group loves this change. (Leave precise geometry to computers and video-games.)

o Powers. I just like them, especially for martial stuff. 3E supplements basically tried to implement them with "Tactical Feats" (not counting Book of Nine Swords), and they had their appeal - but in play, they were rarely (in my group: never) seen.
I also found it amazing how they managed to keep stuff like the Bigby' Hand spells in the game. I would have expected to lose some of the evocativeness of D&D spells, but it didn't happen.
Iron Heroes tried to get there (using Tokens), but the system didn't work out that well (though we had some fun with it...)

o New Duration system. Basically, the mix of "Save Ends" and "Sustain: <Action Type>", "Lasts until end of your next turn" and "lasts until the end of the encounter" is very interesting, and I prefer it to the typical "Fire & Count the Rounds/Minutes" of 3E.

o Feats Prerequisites: Way simpler. It is a lot easier to qualify for a feat now. At least, if you have the right ability scores.

o Tiers. One of the best ideas ever - clear distinctions on "what kind of adventure can I run with these characters". I really like that.

o Skill System. It is simple, yet very functional. I also like the Skill Challenge rules - except for the confusion and inconsistencies on "add +5 or not"? "Aid Another allowed or not? Aid Another expected?"

o Monster Design Guidelines. Never was creating the basic statistics of a monster easier (at least if you wanted to know if the monster might be "balanced" for its level). The hard - but also the fun - part is making up interesting powers that fit the theme of the monster. I already enjoyed this most in 3E, when I tried to create new NPCs and monsters.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

It makes for a good one shot.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

I can easier sum up things I don't like (but I don't dislike them enough to house rule them):
Wizard spells disappearing from their spellbooks.

And...things I'm just sorta meh on:
Multiclassing rules

And things that were missing but would be very easy to replace/fix:
Classic missing MM monsters (frost giant, rust monster, shadows..)

Pretty much everything that's left? Yeah, I love it.

 

[La Bete]

What I like as a player -

Quick and easy character creation, with the classes, multiclassing, skill system and powers giving me plenty of stuff to hang ideas off.

Hell, we had 7 players, 3 books, and we all had good characters ready to go in a couple of hours.

Quick and easy equipment - less flaffing around calculating armour vs dex vs speed. Part fo this is that I don't really enjoy calculating things to the last cp anymore.

Straightforward skill system - while it is less customisable in some ways (flat skill bonus), removing the "1 put 1 point in x, 2 in y, 3 in z - ooh I'd better put 2 in that to get synergy" actually feels more enjoyable. And the ability to use feats to change the skill selection is nice.

 

[Khairn]

I'm not planning on switching but I am planning on stealing a few idea's for my regular games.

Included in that list of stolen idea's is the Skill Challenge mechanic. Simple, portable and creative.

Another feature I like about 4E is the overall PoL setting paradigm. Again, its a simple, portable and creative element that will enhance my game. I'd love to be able to see it's impact on an actual campaign setting that was designed for 4E. Which probably means waiting for Eberron.

 

[Doug McCrae]

1. Better class balance, casters better balanced against non-casters.
2. Simpler rules.
3. Tactically interesting combat.
4. Alignment very easy to remove.
5. Everything about monsters - excellent presentation of statblock, flavourful powers, no requirement to look up PHB.
6. New material - races, classes, fluff.
7. Rules for chases and other extended skill challenges.
8. Broken powers - invisibility, flight, charm person - removed or made much higher level.
9. Easy to remove mystery thwarting rituals such as speak with dead.
10. Finally there's a skill for swinging from a chandelier and other swashbuckling moves.
11. Cleric/healer no longer essential.
12. Easy to modify to low magic - martial classes only, no magic items.
13. Excellent advice in DMG.
14. Death knight in MM.
15. The numbers work (in terms of level progression, expected to hit/AC, monster defences). It only took 35 years for D&D to get this right.

 

[PeelSeel2]

Ease of DM'ing, like in older editions.
Monsters.
Characters.
Magic Items.
Combat.

 

[SSquirrel]

Short of just saying "everything", I'll focus on a few of my faves.

Wizards no longer have to cast a couple of spells and rely on daggers or a crossbow all day long.

The new game has my wife, who has never DMed any game system, thinking up ideas for a campaign she wants to run.

Clerics aren't a must for groups, but when you do play one you aren't relegated to being a healing pez dispenser. That being said, my first game of 4E has me as a Cleric

I like that the classes actually focus on more ability scores than previous editions. Primary, secondary and tertiary stat importance being supported out of the gate is only a good thing as it can help focus people's characters if they're having trouble puzzling things out.

Multi-classing feels more balanced and less like just swinging by for a level for some front loaded abilities like in 3E or the pure greater effectiveness of multi-classing in 2E.

Alignment not a mechanical concern and very easy to completely ignore.

Better healing on more classes as well as healing surges and second wind are a different solution to the cleric healing issue of 3.5. Arcana Evolved had a different answer that I liked as well (no arcane/divine split so all casters could heal), but this works just as well.

Rituals give a very different feel and bring back some of the flavor you see in novels and movies where casters are drawing giant designs, painting runes on the wall etc to make their spell function properly and safely.

Fighters don't bore me to tears anymore. Heck, I like how the Ranger has turned out and I despised Rangers in 3E. I'll happily fill whatever role is needed by my group in 4E b/c they all look fun and different to play.

The books look gorgeous and the organization is far better in this edition. I love the usefulness of the DMG, I know my wife has been raving about it as she's been working on ideas. Orcus on the cover of the MM was a nice touch for the old school fans.

Math that looks ike it works equally well at level 1 and level 30.

 

[WingOver]

* Got my D&D group back together

* Unified attack mechanic... everyone now attacks a defense score rather than the defender having to save vs a spell

* Effect duration simplified.. no more counting rounds

* All classes have interesting powers

* No more "if you miss it's wasted" powers

* Combat's more tactically interesting... more incentive to move

* Encourages group tactics

* Level tier concept... DMG recommends thinking of your campaign as tiers... it helped me visualize the campaign's progression

* Adventure design... treasure parcels, quests. Haven't designed an adventure yet but this looks promising.

* Some really excellent high level powers available to players

* Lots of tactical variety in powers (fighter weapon choice, builds)

* Superfulous skills/feats removed from NPCs/monsters. I was on the fence about this. I liked 3e's precision but I'm seeing the benefits of 4e's streamlined approach.

 

[Gothmog]

* Everything really

* Short prep time!!!!!! I can prep a 4 hour session inside an hour- just like in 1E and 2E- this is how it should be.

* No more suck-a$$ dungeonpunk art! I also really like most of the art has the characters in an environment or in context to their world.

* No more need for magic item Christmas tree PCs. In fact, there are even guidelines in the DMG for low magic games!

* Reduction in magic item power level- now they are useful tools rather than necessities, and the character's skills and powers matter much more than items.

* Rules are streamlined and simplified- the game is much more rules-transparent

* Rules are simple and modular- can ignore or swap things out much more easily

* The game seems to scale much better and the power curve of PCs is linear rather than exponential

* No more feat trees or complicated character builds. This means characters can be allowed to develop and grow organically as the game progresses without worrying about prereqs, feat trees, prestige classes (I'm so glad those are gone), etc. Players building a character at creation from levels 1-20 and pre-selecting every feat, skill, spell, and magic item they gained along the way REALLY annoyed me.

* Much harder to make a one-trick pony character (trip monkey, etc) that uses the same tactics EVERY encounter to exploit a hole in the rules. Likewise, munchkinery seems to be harder to achieve.

* Combats are more dynamic and fun

* No sucky classes anymore- everyone has something interesting and fun to do

* No more domination of the game by casters

* Powers- pure genius

* Multiclassing is no longer broken and too powerful- characters in 3E would cherry-pick levels for tons of powers, skills, and proficiencies with little loss of power, and often huge power gains.

* Rituals- these are 100% pure awesome, and capture the flavor of myths and literature much better for a magic system

* Alignment is a secondary concern, instead a creature's type determines what magical powers can affect it

* Monster stat block and new monster design theory- much easier and simpler to run monsters, AND DMs are encouaged to add in their own seconday/non-combat powers for monsters

* Minions- didn't think I'd like them, but after seeing them in play, they are a credible threat and dangerous rather than throwaway mooks

* The new cosmology is awesome and a breath of fresh air to the stale old Great Wheel we've had for 20 years. I love primordials, Feywild, Astral Sea, Shadowfell, Elemental Chaos- all of it rocks!

* Asmodeus as a god- about time! And Tharizdun is back!

* Far Realm has a place in the cosmology now. Mmmmm....yummy Far Realm. Can't have enough Lovecraftian influences in my D&D.