I've played 4e now for several games as both player and DM.
(feel free to skip next several paragraphs of back story to get to the meat of the review)
I've been a fan since 3.x. When I was young, I had tastes of 2e via CRPGs. I couldn't wrap my head around the wierd rules and what i thought of as silly race/class restrictions, THAC0, and things vancian. I wanted to cast fireballs and swing my sword and it be easy to figure out. I also loathed fatasy growing up.
3.x grabbed hold of my attention by saying "you can do just about anything and mix just about anything" and had lots of rules for all kinds of stuff. This grabbed onto the simulationist in me (programmer by trade). Eberron got me to take another look at fantasy as presented in the noir/cold war feel with lots of intrigue, which appeals to me as an adult that reads sci-fi and clancy. I now have a stack of Eberron novels and even some non Eberron stuff. With 4e, I plan to finally give in and try out Forgotten Realms.
As time went on, the simulationist in me found things such as PC creation as a player and DM stuff dragging on and on and on. Even with computer tools to aid me, it still took a good amount of time to plan things. In programming, especially interface design, you learn that, sure, having every option under the sun and the kitchen sink is cool, but you can easily overwhelm the user who does a few things, and does them well, maybe once in a plaid moon having to dig into deeper options. Make the interface simple, display the most common options, and re-evaluate if you REALLY need everything else.
It's this pearing down of stuff that just obscures what you REALLY want to do that 4e appears to have embraced.
Player:
Starting with WWGD, my wife (except for NWN, an rpg n00b) and I were players. She had lots of fun as a rogue and loved how easily it played, and even when being silly, she could do something in the game.
I loved having a choice of 4 different defenses to attack, rather than just AC alone. When later building PCs for home games, i took this to heart in selecting powers for different classes to make sure i have many different ways to try and hit my target.
The powers, such as feystep were all pretty cool in actual play. I managed to make significant use of Mage Hand in particular to grab and move the laterns after our dwarf set one of the sarcofogii traps on fire.
I love that I don't have to outright dread combat at first level. The extra hit points made my wizard a bit tougher, and now i could take a decent hit without death. I no longer had to hide in the rear of the formation, but could cautiosly venture in the middle lines of combat, and even take a quick visit to the front lines. At the same time, the damage was enough that I could tell that i wanted to be wary of the heavy hitters, so it balances nicely. My wizard did eventually get killed, in fact a TPK, but it was a great battle down to the last man who lasted way longer than he should have alone.
During home games, I make up several PCs and help my wife and baby brother make several. The process is very straight forward. Easy to make PCs of just about any level, quickly. I loved this. I was hesitent about a 22 point buy system, but after several characters of various race and class, I find it works extremely well. I think the removing of racial penalties has much to do with this. I also like that right off the bat, the classes tell you what ability stats are good for your class. On a lark, I ignored these recommendations and while I was able to make a really suboptimal build, it wasn't crippling (like a bad build in 3e) and could still be useful in combat.
One thing that has stood out as a nail to be pounded is powers during play. My wife and little brother, both n00bs, spend a fair amount of time at the table re-reading their powers trying to figure out which to use. I realize this is in large part to them being new, as well as a new rule system, and that experience will help them. I have managed to significantly speed this process up thanks to Ander00's Power Cards.
I think having power cards is absolutely essential to having combat move smoothly. All the info you need to know in the palm of your hand, and with a sleeve and wet/dry erase, you can pre-calculate the attacks and damage on the card.
Overall, as a player, I love 4e. You just need to make up some power cards.
DM:
I've been running the kobold hall in the back of the dmg and the beginning of KoTS.
I love the stat blocks. Easy to read, easy to figure out tactics. I absolutely loathed the original 3e stat blocks, and was VERY thankful for the DMG2 statblocks in 3e. In 4e, the stat blocks are a dream.
I love that the DMG is a good source of DM wisdom that any DM should know, and those that think they already know it, might give it another read.
I love that all the items are in the PHB. I don't have to have everyone going through the DMG to see what they want in the future.
I love that the mechanics for just about everything a player does is in the PHB, I don't have to pull out the DMG during the game.
I am absolutely in love with the DM toolset. Making monsters weaker/tougher, easy. Building traps, a snap. Building encounters, a breathe of fresh air. It's all very quick and very polished. I'd like to see some of the ad-hoc charts on the DM screen.
I like having different monster roles. Once thing i never liked about 3e was anything more than 2 monsters, and they were either all wimpy, or brutally tough. With 4e, I can build a squad, or even a couple squads and have the players worried about which front of the battle they want to focus on. The minion concept works very well for this.
Overall, as a DM, I couldn't be more happy with 4e unless it came with a box of Alan Brothers steaks.
(feel free to skip next several paragraphs of back story to get to the meat of the review)
I've been a fan since 3.x. When I was young, I had tastes of 2e via CRPGs. I couldn't wrap my head around the wierd rules and what i thought of as silly race/class restrictions, THAC0, and things vancian. I wanted to cast fireballs and swing my sword and it be easy to figure out. I also loathed fatasy growing up.
3.x grabbed hold of my attention by saying "you can do just about anything and mix just about anything" and had lots of rules for all kinds of stuff. This grabbed onto the simulationist in me (programmer by trade). Eberron got me to take another look at fantasy as presented in the noir/cold war feel with lots of intrigue, which appeals to me as an adult that reads sci-fi and clancy. I now have a stack of Eberron novels and even some non Eberron stuff. With 4e, I plan to finally give in and try out Forgotten Realms.
As time went on, the simulationist in me found things such as PC creation as a player and DM stuff dragging on and on and on. Even with computer tools to aid me, it still took a good amount of time to plan things. In programming, especially interface design, you learn that, sure, having every option under the sun and the kitchen sink is cool, but you can easily overwhelm the user who does a few things, and does them well, maybe once in a plaid moon having to dig into deeper options. Make the interface simple, display the most common options, and re-evaluate if you REALLY need everything else.
It's this pearing down of stuff that just obscures what you REALLY want to do that 4e appears to have embraced.
Player:
Starting with WWGD, my wife (except for NWN, an rpg n00b) and I were players. She had lots of fun as a rogue and loved how easily it played, and even when being silly, she could do something in the game.
I loved having a choice of 4 different defenses to attack, rather than just AC alone. When later building PCs for home games, i took this to heart in selecting powers for different classes to make sure i have many different ways to try and hit my target.
The powers, such as feystep were all pretty cool in actual play. I managed to make significant use of Mage Hand in particular to grab and move the laterns after our dwarf set one of the sarcofogii traps on fire.
I love that I don't have to outright dread combat at first level. The extra hit points made my wizard a bit tougher, and now i could take a decent hit without death. I no longer had to hide in the rear of the formation, but could cautiosly venture in the middle lines of combat, and even take a quick visit to the front lines. At the same time, the damage was enough that I could tell that i wanted to be wary of the heavy hitters, so it balances nicely. My wizard did eventually get killed, in fact a TPK, but it was a great battle down to the last man who lasted way longer than he should have alone.
During home games, I make up several PCs and help my wife and baby brother make several. The process is very straight forward. Easy to make PCs of just about any level, quickly. I loved this. I was hesitent about a 22 point buy system, but after several characters of various race and class, I find it works extremely well. I think the removing of racial penalties has much to do with this. I also like that right off the bat, the classes tell you what ability stats are good for your class. On a lark, I ignored these recommendations and while I was able to make a really suboptimal build, it wasn't crippling (like a bad build in 3e) and could still be useful in combat.
One thing that has stood out as a nail to be pounded is powers during play. My wife and little brother, both n00bs, spend a fair amount of time at the table re-reading their powers trying to figure out which to use. I realize this is in large part to them being new, as well as a new rule system, and that experience will help them. I have managed to significantly speed this process up thanks to Ander00's Power Cards.
I think having power cards is absolutely essential to having combat move smoothly. All the info you need to know in the palm of your hand, and with a sleeve and wet/dry erase, you can pre-calculate the attacks and damage on the card.
Overall, as a player, I love 4e. You just need to make up some power cards.
DM:
I've been running the kobold hall in the back of the dmg and the beginning of KoTS.
I love the stat blocks. Easy to read, easy to figure out tactics. I absolutely loathed the original 3e stat blocks, and was VERY thankful for the DMG2 statblocks in 3e. In 4e, the stat blocks are a dream.
I love that the DMG is a good source of DM wisdom that any DM should know, and those that think they already know it, might give it another read.
I love that all the items are in the PHB. I don't have to have everyone going through the DMG to see what they want in the future.
I love that the mechanics for just about everything a player does is in the PHB, I don't have to pull out the DMG during the game.
I am absolutely in love with the DM toolset. Making monsters weaker/tougher, easy. Building traps, a snap. Building encounters, a breathe of fresh air. It's all very quick and very polished. I'd like to see some of the ad-hoc charts on the DM screen.
I like having different monster roles. Once thing i never liked about 3e was anything more than 2 monsters, and they were either all wimpy, or brutally tough. With 4e, I can build a squad, or even a couple squads and have the players worried about which front of the battle they want to focus on. The minion concept works very well for this.
Overall, as a DM, I couldn't be more happy with 4e unless it came with a box of Alan Brothers steaks.
