D&D 4E Should I play 4e?

Charlaquin · Jun 4, 2019

Fanaelialae said:
If we're talking the 4e PHB fighter I would agree. However, if it's the Essentials fighters, then I'd say they're not any more complex than the 5e fighter. In fact, I'd consider them significantly less complex than something like an Eldritch Knight.

Oh, for sure. I loved Essentials, and if I went back to 4e I’d probably want to run post-Essentials options only. Maybe post PHB3, if I had players who really wanted to play psionicists.

pogre · Jun 4, 2019

MrDM69 said:
I've heard that 4e is pretty good, but I want some more opinions before I start playing.

Depends.
If someone else is DMing yes. I have pretty low bar for trying a game as a player.

If you are planning to run the game - then, probably not - based on preferences you stated in this thread.

Manbearcat · Jun 4, 2019

MrDM69 said:
I've heard that 4e is pretty good, but I want some more opinions before I start playing.

If you're looking for a scene-based, action adventure game with fantastic thematic richness/genre coherency and a Magic the Gathering sort of tactical depth...D&D 4e is quite literally the_best_game in the TTRPG market for that experience.

Strike(!), Mouse Guard, Cortex+ are all fantastic scene-based, action-adventure games, but they don't offer the overall tactical depth that 4e has (though each offers something a little different).

Lapasta · Jun 4, 2019

Just this last week I was thinking that maybe I should give 4e a chance, after listening to “Edition Wars” on the Tome Show Podcast. From what I could read, the Essentials line is a good place to start (even though some of the books are now very rare). But is it too dumbed down? Or just streamlined? Is having just one Epic Destiny for all characters too same-y? Or they can still fell different because of the base classes?

TwoSix said:
Plus, it's the game that gives you abilities like "Steal the color of a target's eyes" or "Pick a spot in the multiverse. Any spot. A few days later, you show up there." or "When you die, your legend is so powerful that your trusted lieutenant takes up your mantle and becomes you." as special powers. That's just awesome, and I'll always love 4e for it.

I loved this quote from user TwoSix. Which exactly are these powers mentioned?

HJFudge · Jun 4, 2019

Lapasta said:
Just this last week I was thinking that maybe I should give 4e a chance, after listening to “Edition Wars” on the Tome Show Podcast. From what I could read, the Essentials line is a good place to start (even though some of the books are now very rare). But is it too dumbed down? Or just streamlined? Is having just one Epic Destiny for all characters too same-y? Or they can still fell different because of the base classes?

I loved this quote from user TwoSix. Which exactly are these powers mentioned?

Personally I was not a fan of Essentials at all, and kinda stopped purchasing 4E related material when they switched to that. It, in my opinion, really turned away from what I enjoyed about 4E: Depth of meaningful choice in character creation. Essentials to me was 4E: Lack of options.

However, it did provide much more simplified choices both in game and during character creation if Original 4E (OS4E? heh) was too much for you or turned you off with overwhelming options. I did like that you could have a player with a OS4E character and an Essentials character play at the same table with 0 issues.

TwoSix · Jun 4, 2019

Lapasta said:
I loved this quote from user TwoSix. Which exactly are these powers mentioned?

I'm not exactly sure the source books, but those are abilities from the Thief of Legend epic destiny, the Dark Wanderer epic destiny, and the Hordemaster epic destiny (this one is from Dark Sun, that I remember).

Charlaquin · Jun 4, 2019

Lapasta said:
Just this last week I was thinking that maybe I should give 4e a chance, after listening to “Edition Wars” on the Tome Show Podcast. From what I could read, the Essentials line is a good place to start (even though some of the books are now very rare). But is it too dumbed down? Or just streamlined? Is having just one Epic Destiny for all characters too same-y? Or they can still fell different because of the base classes?

Essentials really dialed back on a lot of things that many 4e fans liked most about the edition. The Essentials classes weren’t as well balanced against each other as the pre-Essentials versions (though it was still pretty reasonably balanced). Essentials classes offered fewer decision points, both in terms of level-by-level build options and turn-by-turn action options. And I think there was a fair bit of animosity towards the line because it felt like an attempt to water down the things that made 4e what it was, in a misguided attempt to appeal to 3e/PF fans. Personally, I loved Essentials, but I understand why many 4e fans didn’t. The nice thing is, Essentials and pre-Essentials play just fine together at the same table, so it’s easy for players to just pick what appeals to them on an individual basis.

Lapasta said:
I loved this quote from user TwoSix. Which exactly are these powers mentioned?

Most of them are from Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies.

Joshua Randall · Jun 4, 2019

I know cross-forum linkage is kind of lame, but I'm not about to summarize this when someone already did over at RPG.net

Behold, a giant thread of strengths-and-weaknesses-of-4e that mostly avoid edition warring.

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/4e-retrospective-on-4-5-years-of-4e.686088/

Bawylie · Jun 4, 2019

I’d advise you not to play it, since you’re asking.

jayoungr · Jun 4, 2019

It seems to be a pretty polarizing edition/system. Some people hate it and others love it. The only way to find out for yourself is to try it. So yes, you should definitely play!