I've played it a few times, and while I like it, there are also quite a few things I don't care about.
First of all, it relies heavily on stats; I was real lucky when we rolled our characters, and even at 1st level my warrior already had 3 in several stats (Strength, Dexterity, Perception and Constitution) and 2 in almost all the rest (except for Cunning). It felt like my guy was more competent than the rest of the PCs, but perhaps not as much as it did in AD&D when someone rolled several 18s. We did talk about using point-buy in the next campaign, though.
Secondly, combats are slugfests, and at least to me it feels like DA suffers from the same kind of grindiness as 4E. Combat is simple; it's 3d6 plus modifiers (STR and Focus) vs. 10 plus modifiers (DEX and shield, if any), so you can expect to hit and get hit pretty often. Unless you get lucky with your damage rolls, it takes three rounds to kill even a single "minion". Stunts help a bit, but the best "crit" you can get is +2d6 (or was it +3d6?) to damage (and HPs are at 1st level in the same range as in 4E). No wonder there haven't been any "instakills" so far in our game, even though I at first thought the stunts would make the combat more cinematic and dramatic (there are only a handful of them, and most are quite lame and ineffective, IMO). Shortly put, it all comes down to numbers; how many PCs vs. how many monsters/NPCs. For example, genlocks and hurlocks are pretty mean adversaries, and two per PC can be deadly if you miss even once in combat (again, each of them hit you pretty easily for 2d6+5 damage per round).
The focus system fits this game quite well and works in practise at low levels; I like that it's quite open and intuitive, even though Exploration Stunts feel a bit awkward and sort of like thrown in as an afterthought (but they are optional). I do miss skill ranks, though, because it's slowly started to bother me that once I've got the focus (+2), the only way my character can get better at a skill is by raising my stats. And it's more or less the same with combat; you might get some minor benefits from talents and traits, but at least for the first levels you benefit way more from bumping your STR, CON or DEX (after picking the relevant focuses, naturally).
All in all it's fun to play once in a while, but I still prefer D&D that IMO models heroic fantasy far better than DA. Is it as cinematic and fun to play as DA : Origins or DA II? No, I don't think so.
First of all, it relies heavily on stats; I was real lucky when we rolled our characters, and even at 1st level my warrior already had 3 in several stats (Strength, Dexterity, Perception and Constitution) and 2 in almost all the rest (except for Cunning). It felt like my guy was more competent than the rest of the PCs, but perhaps not as much as it did in AD&D when someone rolled several 18s. We did talk about using point-buy in the next campaign, though.
Secondly, combats are slugfests, and at least to me it feels like DA suffers from the same kind of grindiness as 4E. Combat is simple; it's 3d6 plus modifiers (STR and Focus) vs. 10 plus modifiers (DEX and shield, if any), so you can expect to hit and get hit pretty often. Unless you get lucky with your damage rolls, it takes three rounds to kill even a single "minion". Stunts help a bit, but the best "crit" you can get is +2d6 (or was it +3d6?) to damage (and HPs are at 1st level in the same range as in 4E). No wonder there haven't been any "instakills" so far in our game, even though I at first thought the stunts would make the combat more cinematic and dramatic (there are only a handful of them, and most are quite lame and ineffective, IMO). Shortly put, it all comes down to numbers; how many PCs vs. how many monsters/NPCs. For example, genlocks and hurlocks are pretty mean adversaries, and two per PC can be deadly if you miss even once in combat (again, each of them hit you pretty easily for 2d6+5 damage per round).
The focus system fits this game quite well and works in practise at low levels; I like that it's quite open and intuitive, even though Exploration Stunts feel a bit awkward and sort of like thrown in as an afterthought (but they are optional). I do miss skill ranks, though, because it's slowly started to bother me that once I've got the focus (+2), the only way my character can get better at a skill is by raising my stats. And it's more or less the same with combat; you might get some minor benefits from talents and traits, but at least for the first levels you benefit way more from bumping your STR, CON or DEX (after picking the relevant focuses, naturally).
All in all it's fun to play once in a while, but I still prefer D&D that IMO models heroic fantasy far better than DA. Is it as cinematic and fun to play as DA : Origins or DA II? No, I don't think so.
