D&D 4th edition

[bgjyd834]

So... I finally went and bought the new fourth edition of D&D. There's plenty of stuff that irritate me quite a bit in it but the manuals are more user friendly from what I can tell now. I hate the layout though. It looks so kiddy and childish. I much prefer the style they chose for 3rd edition manuals.
In the end I'll most likely make some pretty heavy handed modifications towards the 3.5 rules that I liked. Any experiences from any of you yet?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

It is a good game. What do you want to know about it?

 

[mneme]

Try it first. It works well on its own terms.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I have had tons of experience over the past 2 1/2 years, and people have done dozens of threads and thousands of posts on 4E and 3.5

I would advise playing 4E for 4E's sake and not spending all your tie worrying about minor layout issues or comparing 4E to anything else. Take a look at it on its own merits.

And if you do not like it, steal what you like for a game you do like or just play the one you like.

But walking into 4E with the attitude you showed in the first post is a waste of your time. Just play 3.5

 

[wedgeski]

As mneme says, try it straight up before you make any changes. It's a fantastic game in its own right, and many have said that it plays far better than they expected when they read the books.

 

[Tony Vargas]

4e is pretty good, for what it is. It puts balance and playability first, and doesn't reward 'system mastery,' the way 3e did. It makes the DM's job /much/ easier.

It's really doesn't lend itself to being munged back into some sort of 3.5-like shape, though. If you want the 3.5 feel, but simply must play a game that's in print, try Pathfinder. Ultimately, what makes 3.5 unique is it's 'flaws.' 4e did away with too many of them, Pathfinder did away with fewer.

 

[jbear]

I had to check the time this thread was made. 7am this morning my time. You do realise 4e has been out for nearly 3 years right? So, yeah, it's newer than 3.5 but it's not exactly the 'new' you seem to be talking about.

Or are you talking about the Essentials books for new players?

You like that the manuals are more " user-friendly " but you don't like the lay out ... which makes the manuals ... more user friendly?

And you just read through the manuals and decided to change it with a heavy hand? Maybe you should try playing it first?

My experiences, me being 'one who spends a large amount of my free time on th 4e forums because I like 4e', well, in a nut shell: over two years of fantastic gaming.

 

[delericho]

4e reads a lot better than I expected (based on the marketing). It plays much better than it reads. Ultimately, though, I decided that it's not the game for me. (I'm happy to play, and actually get to play 4e more than anything else. But I won't run it.)

As others have said: you should probably try running 4e as written before you try modifying the system. You may like it, or you may not - but if not, you're probably better off just playing a different game entirely, rather than trying to 'fix' 4e.

 

[jimmifett]

Since i've started flirting with pathfinder, I've gone back to re-reading my 3.x books. Being a few years older, it's harder on the eyes than 4e as far as actually being able to read the text. Next thing you know, i'll be sitting on the porch yelling at them darned kids to get off my lawn and complaining about how kids have it easy and things were better back in my day...

damn, too late

GET OFF MY LAWN!

 

[Insight]