D&D 4E A player's perspective on 4e

[EATherrian]

You mean like when you go from sitting around the table, chatting and roleplaying to hovering over the miniatures for tactical combat?

Oh my god, Gygax ripped off Final Fantasy!

Maybe X-Com. We can all have action points per round which determine movement and actions. Plus it was just an observation. I'm mostly a 4th Edition supporter, but when I notice something I will mention it, usually in jest.

 

[cdrcjsn]

Wait, your group is compose of late 20s people, and they played all versions?

Does not compute.

Why not? I've played BECMI, AD&D, 2e, 3e, 3.5 by the time I was in my mid 20s. I even played a one-off session of the old brown cover D&D.

 

[cr0m]

I don't think that whole idea behind the mechanic makes any sense at all. Why would the paladin's God punish an enemy for not attacking the paladin? Shouldn't they be punsihed for attacking the paladin if at all? Can anyone else see how ludicrous this is? Either blast the enemy with divine power or smite him.

I think it's a really cool power. It's to simulate all the times in stories where a hero challenges his attackers and they take him on! It's just an in-game incentive to put the power in the hands of the player, instead of the DM. They could just as easily have said "enemies take a -2 to all rolls until they attack him" or something else.

Hit points is a very elegant solution: there's less chance of forgetting the penalty since you deduct it every round, and it forces the DM to put up or shut up: want to stop the hit point loss? Kill the bastard! Want to attack someone else? Pay the piper.

 

[Deimodius]

Off topic @ Mistwell: Just because you weren't alive (or old enough) when the red box debuted doesn't mean you can't have played it. I'm 34, I've played every edition. I think the youngest person in our group is 28? NEway...

On topic: I'm still hoping I'll get the chance to play-test 4e. I DON'T want an RPG like a video game, so I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised, but from what I'm reading about it, and looking at the "powers" and shifting, etc I'm not hopeful.

I think, however, that even if my group doesn't like 4e, there might be things we would incorporate.

How many groups will stay with 3.5 but add 4e-isms?

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I believe that I'll just house-rule away marks. They seem to be excessively gamist and complex. They are only there to make defenders "more sticky" or strikers "more accurate" which is very lame.

I've always thought defender needed to be more sticky than what was found in the base rules of any edition. I've always used house rules to make it happen. AFAIAC this is a positive step. If a defender is trying to keep an opponent from moving, say toward the wizard, or toward an escape route, he really ought to be able to at least try to do it, based on the material I use to think about games, which includes books, movies, and my own experience.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Off topic @ Mistwell: Just because you weren't alive (or old enough) when the red box debuted doesn't mean you can't have played it. I'm 34, I've played every edition. I think the youngest person in our group is 28? NEway...

On topic: I'm still hoping I'll get the chance to play-test 4e. I DON'T want an RPG like a video game, so I'm hoping I will be pleasantly surprised, but from what I'm reading about it, and looking at the "powers" and shifting, etc I'm not hopeful.

I think, however, that even if my group doesn't like 4e, there might be things we would incorporate.

How many groups will stay with 3.5 but add 4e-isms?

I think a lot of those people that don't want to switch (for various reasons) probably plan to "steal the good stuff". (What good stuff is, again, depends on the group.)

Personally, I believe that a lot of those that plan on stealing will end up playing 4E - but I am a f4nboy, and so I am not objective enough to make a fair guess here, how ever much I'd like to pretend to.

 

[parvatiquinta]

Wait, your group is compose of late 20s people, and they played all versions?

Does not compute.

I'm in my late 20s as well and I've started playing with the Red Box, touched briefly AD&D2, then played some of 3.0 and 3.5 (the latter mostly through OGL games though).
I've also played several other RPGs.

 

[IanB]

Wait, your group is compose of late 20s people, and they played all versions?

Does not compute.

Starting with the Red Box doesn't mean they started the year it came out - it was the 'current' version for several years. Also maybe you're confusing it with the Red Book.

I'm 33 and started in 1982 (on my 8th birthday) with the basic set BEFORE the Red Box - the one with the Red Book and Keep on the Borderlands, not the one with Bargle - so if they're a few years younger than me, and started a few years later, the statement still makes perfect sense.

 

[Betote]

Wait, your group is compose of late 20s people, and they played all versions?

Does not compute.

My groups is also composed of late 20s, and we've played almost all versions (the 1974 rules escaped from our claws ).

Starting with BECM/RC to AD&D, then 3.0, then HackMaster/AD&D1 (you just have to ignore some wules to make HM equal AD&D1), then 3.5, and finally alterning 3.5 in our Friday Game Night and Classic D&D/Labyrinth Lord as an not-so-afterschool activity at the centre where I'm teaching. If you think about it, most of the gaming happens during the teens (12-23 or so, I'd say), when you're in highschool or college.

 

[cincinnati reds]

Wait, your group is compose of late 20s people, and they played all versions?

Does not compute.

I'm 30 and have played every edition through Red Box.

My aunt, who worked for Ral Partha, started me at the tender age of 9.

It's not impossible.