D&D 4E 4E: More "Wing it" Friendly, perhaps?

[Stormtalon]

I like to wing it. There, I said it. It's rare that I show up to DM with much more than a general idea of what options to present the party, and what overall plotlines I have in mind. From there, I dangle bait in front of the players and hope they bite.

Still, in 3.5, it can get really ugly at times, especially since my group is 6 players -- a good ways off from the "perfect balance" of the 4-man group 3.5 is hard-built around. Setting up monsters that are a good challenge (but not overwhelming) becomes a razor-edge balancing act, especially when trying to set up multi-critter battles. I nearly had a TPK with a fight that was actually a CR BELOW the party, simply because it was 4 Blood Hulks that hit freakishly hard for their CR. They're a classic case of a monster that's balanced around the idea that there's only gonna be one or two of 'em TOPS vs. 4 characters TOPS.

So the way 4e is going and what I'm seeing is leading me to believe it's going to make DMing by the seat of my pants a much better and easier and more fun thing than has been going on so far.

 

[hazel monday]

I hope it does turn out that way. Seat of your pants DMing can be pretty fun. If the next edition turns out to support that style of DMing more, it could only be for the good. I guess we'll see come next May.

 

[Shroomy]

They are definitely touting it as such.

 

[Pygon]

I certainly hope so, I have trouble winging it with 3.5 with all the details I need to keep track of.

 

[Stormtalon]

Ahh, and now, having read the Podcast thread about Monsters, Monsters, Monsters -- I'm REALLY stoked. That has "wing it" written all over it, and as a bonus, my players' characters won't have to suffer.... as much. (they'll still suffer, oh yes, they'll still suffer....)

No more having to go into denial and retcon a TPK to Shocker Lizards as "Blue dragons, man. It was blue dragons that wiped us out!!"

 

[Orcus]

I strongly agree that one thing that should change in a new edition is to return the ability to play more easily without so much prep. 3e is a BEAST for prep--monsters, significant NPCs. It is brutal. My prep time to run a session went through the roof for 3e and that just flat makes it hard to play. D&D is a game. You want to encourage people to be able to play easily. Reducing prep time would really help.

Heck, the PHB should include FULLY FLESHED OUT pregenerated characters in my opinion. Or if not in the PHB, they should be in short form and then available in full form on the net.

Clark

 

[DaveMage]

I strongly agree that one thing that should change in a new edition is to return the ability to play more easily without so much prep. 3e is a BEAST for prep--monsters, significant NPCs. It is brutal. My prep time to run a session went through the roof for 3e and that just flat makes it hard to play. D&D is a game. You want to encourage people to be able to play easily. Reducing prep time would really help.

Heck, the PHB should include FULLY FLESHED OUT pregenerated characters in my opinion. Or if not in the PHB, they should be in short form and then available in full form on the net.

Clark

On the other hand - this is where a company such as Necro can (and does) really shine. When you've done all the prep work for us, you're worth your weight in gold....

 

[Rystil Arden]

I like to wing it. There, I said it. It's rare that I show up to DM with much more than a general idea of what options to present the party, and what overall plotlines I have in mind. From there, I dangle bait in front of the players and hope they bite.

Still, in 3.5, it can get really ugly at times, especially since my group is 6 players -- a good ways off from the "perfect balance" of the 4-man group 3.5 is hard-built around. Setting up monsters that are a good challenge (but not overwhelming) becomes a razor-edge balancing act, especially when trying to set up multi-critter battles. I nearly had a TPK with a fight that was actually a CR BELOW the party, simply because it was 4 Blood Hulks that hit freakishly hard for their CR. They're a classic case of a monster that's balanced around the idea that there's only gonna be one or two of 'em TOPS vs. 4 characters TOPS.

So the way 4e is going and what I'm seeing is leading me to believe it's going to make DMing by the seat of my pants a much better and easier and more fun thing than has been going on so far.

I like to wing it too. My ability to do so well (which includes many subabilities including the ability to make usable high level NPCs in my head as needed) is my main GMing strength.

Interestingly, that means that I'm best off using a system that is harder to wing but makes gains in other areas by sacrificing being super-easy to wing because I'm good enough at winging that I can do it anyway and then the system helps fill in for me where I'm not as strong. In that sense, 3e is a very good system for me. A system that makes winging it very easy for anyone and causes sacrifices that make my life harder in areas where I'm already weak (like the inverse of winging it, which includes set prep, props, being super-organised, etc) or taking away customisation will dilute my strength while emphasising my weaknesses.

In that sense, to give a good example, the way that 4e seems to be going with monsters is "We have this range of numbers that we think is right for a certain monster archetype, like Brute. Every Brute of that CR will be in that range in all of its attributes. There, we've done the monster design for you for any monster." As far as allowing winging to be easy and reducing prep, that would actually be great! But I don't need that to reduce my prep, so I feel like I'm losing something huge from what I had in 3e because I loved the 3.X monster design process and how all the moving parts worked together like some sort of marvelous Rube-Goldberg machine, and you just don't have that anymore in 4e because of the way they streamlined it--you just have a finished monster with numbers from their ranges.

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

Just about everything I've seen suggests 4e will be easier to run on the fly, and I'm really looking forward to that. I do some of my best work letting the PCs run wild in a setting.