D&D 4E I'm here 4e and left wondering....

[someguyfromohio]

After swearing that I would have nothing to do with 4E, from the very moment I heard of its imminent release, and staying true to my word, I purchased a new Players Handbook today (I couldn’t pass up half price and I had a gift card). My first impression is WTF! Now granted, I have not read the book in detail and perhaps my initial reaction will change, but this looks like a completely different animal with little in common with its predecessors. I am no D&D spring chicken, I have played since somewhere around 1982, and I may have had the same reaction with the coming of 3.0 (I honestly don’t remember), but now I have mostly fond things to say about that edition. I have returned to Enworld after many a year absent wondering if 4E has been greeted with enthusiasm and are the feelings positive or do the masses tend to agree with my initial reaction?

 

[Rechan]

Opinions differ.

Some who loved 1e feel 4e encompasses the feel of 1e. Others do not. Some who loved 3e love 4e. Some do not. Some love 4e. Others do not. Edition wars continue.

Be aware the system reads vastly different than it plays. It reads awful.

 

[ourchair]

Opinions differ.

Some who loved 1e feel 4e encompasses the feel of 1e. Others do not. Some who loved 3e love 4e. Some do not. Some love 4e. Others do not. Edition wars continue.

Be aware the system reads vastly different than it plays. It reads awful.

I concur.

And that's even without taking into consideration that the PHB is organized badly.

Still, I'm addicted to it.

 

[the Jester]

Opinions differ.

Some who loved 1e feel 4e encompasses the feel of 1e. Others do not. Some who loved 3e love 4e. Some do not. Some love 4e. Others do not. Edition wars continue.

Be aware the system reads vastly different than it plays. It reads awful.

This, a thousand times this.

Speaking as an old-skool gamer whose DnD roots go back to about 1980 or '81, I have to say that I like 4e but I see its flaws. Judge for yourself- but do it by playing, not reading the books. Let me requote what Rechan said: the system reads vastly different than it plays. It reads awful. This in itself is a huge change from older editions, especially the Gygaxian prose of the 1e days. Now, most of the DM books (Plane Above, Manual of the Planes, etc) drop with flavor and have a lot of awesome in them, but the player stuff tends to read like an instruction manual.

 

[someguyfromohio]

I believe you may have struck on something with the “Gygaxian prose”. This book does feel like it has a more simplistic tone, as if aimed at a much younger crowd, but I’m sure that was the point. I suppose I have to accept the fact that we old guys are not the core demographic. I have an 8 year old boy who I am sure will want to follow in dads footsteps and enter the D&D world in the next few years, and I suppose I’ll have to try 4e and hope that your are correct in that it plays better than it reads. With a quick glance, I haven’t seen any actual “haters”, so I’ll try to accept this positively.

 

[Rechan]

, but the player stuff tends to read like an instruction manual.

The later splat books (Divine and Primal power) had some really nice fluff in them, but yes.

I haven’t seen any actual “haters”, so I’ll try to accept this positively.

The General forum is full of it. In fact, there's practically a maxim these days that the longer a thread goes, the more likely an edition war is to occur.

 

[Garthanos]

The spell casters are no longer over shadowed by others at low levels they are now very magical and competant starting out... but they no longer make fighters and thieves marginal at high levels. And the martial classes now have interesting moves and tactical choices. But 4e is very easy to DM. The best tool if you have somebody who wants to make a character and you dont want to spend a ton but have all the nice options... is Character Builder (download the demo from WOTC website) - though the full version rocks even better.

Hmmm maybe I should have said mostly easy to DM if some elements like skill challenges only work well with DM craftsmanship .. there are some greatly improved guidelines for them in the DMG2.

Character design is far more versatile than when it came out too.... I would be seriously annoyed using just phb1.

 

[Stalker0]

I can say that the boards at least feel more divided about 4e than 3e, and there's a number of reasons why that is. Other than that, each has his own opinion, some would agree with your reaction, others would aggressively oppose it.

 

[Dice4Hire]

The best thing i can say about 4E is you will probably like it if it changed the things you did not like about previous editions. If it changed things you like about peviouos editions, you will probably not like it.

As for the basic book, it is a slog, a real slog to get through. One you get through it, it is well written and does a good job s\describing what you need to know, but checklists, and summaries would help a lot.

 

[Journeymanmage]

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