This Memorial Day weekend, I attended Strategicon in Los Angeles, California. There, I participated in no less than nine Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition sessions. I played three demo games and four delvs run by Wizard of the Coast. I also participated in two adventures based off the collected rules over at ENworld.
I confirmed my view that 4E is a different game than 3.x. Interestingly, this is not based on the new rules so much as the reaction of the various players, including myself. I saw far greater interactivity when PCs were in combat, both in melee as well as the new skill challenge system. The main example was in the use of healing. Because various PCs could heal from a distance without losing their combat effectiveness, players were constantly keeping tabs of who was hurt, who needed healing, and who needed protection. Other examples include the ability to give increased protection to allies, extra attacks, movement, etc., all without taking precious actions and resources from one's PC.
On the other hand, the game's emphasis on active cooperation from players and their PCs could prove to be a detriment to spotlight hogs, optimizers, and non-tactically inclined players. I saw this twice in game: my warlord, whose role as leader provided powers maximizing other PCs movement, strengths, etc., was a simple "I go up and try to hit him" PC when asked to corral NPCs to safety while the rest of the party fought the bad guys. And in another game, the party's striker/warlock took on undead by herself and was quickly killed in close combat.
I have more thoughts on specific game mechanics which I'll post later this week. Again, the experience validated my opinion the two are different games much in the same manner as True20's damage roll and Powers are to the D20 SRD's hit point and spell system, respectively.
I confirmed my view that 4E is a different game than 3.x. Interestingly, this is not based on the new rules so much as the reaction of the various players, including myself. I saw far greater interactivity when PCs were in combat, both in melee as well as the new skill challenge system. The main example was in the use of healing. Because various PCs could heal from a distance without losing their combat effectiveness, players were constantly keeping tabs of who was hurt, who needed healing, and who needed protection. Other examples include the ability to give increased protection to allies, extra attacks, movement, etc., all without taking precious actions and resources from one's PC.
On the other hand, the game's emphasis on active cooperation from players and their PCs could prove to be a detriment to spotlight hogs, optimizers, and non-tactically inclined players. I saw this twice in game: my warlord, whose role as leader provided powers maximizing other PCs movement, strengths, etc., was a simple "I go up and try to hit him" PC when asked to corral NPCs to safety while the rest of the party fought the bad guys. And in another game, the party's striker/warlock took on undead by herself and was quickly killed in close combat.
I have more thoughts on specific game mechanics which I'll post later this week. Again, the experience validated my opinion the two are different games much in the same manner as True20's damage roll and Powers are to the D20 SRD's hit point and spell system, respectively.
