Mournblade94
Hero
If a DM wants to kill a PC, it is the easiest thing to do. A DM intentionally killing a player is no indication of skill.
New player asking for some advice/help, please. 3e vs 4e. Which one is for me?
- Thread starter ZombieMaster
- Start date
If a DM wants to kill a PC, it is the easiest thing to do. A DM intentionally killing a player is no indication of skill.
Kask said:
Wow.
Just wow.
After I stopped laughing, 'Wow' was really all I could come up with.
Are you seriously E-Thugging about your D&D skills on -ENWorld- of all places? How far we have fallen.
Mournblade94 said:
This. A thousand times this. A DM doesn't have to exert any real degree of effort to kill a PC if they want them dead, and suggesting your own 'mad skills' will somehow prevent this is tantamount to a tribe of Cro-Magnons shaking clubs at Galactus.
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Particle_Man
Explorer
Careful... he can pretend to be an elf better than you.
qstor
Adventurer
I'm not trying to troll but I respectuflly disgree. I've played 1e, 2e a little bit, 3.0,3,5 and 4e. One of the things I enjoy about DMing 3e is its relatively simple to convert classic adventures that I enjoy to 3e.
There's tons of materials out there like publish adventures. Frankly I don't understand people saying it takes less time to prep 4e for the DM. There's online NPC and town generators and with random encounter tables there's easy adventures for the PCs.
One thing as far as monsters in 4e that I can't understand and don't particularly like is the concept of minions. You have a creature ready to fight 15th level PCs in 4e yet ONLY has one hit point. Is there challenge in fightning him? Very little that I can see. As a player and DM I'd rather have a fight against a very challenging head "quy" and his "semi challenging: guards than a tough guy and 10 minions with one hit point each. Maybe that's just me.
If you're interesting in DMing 3e or 4e you almost might consider taking a look at the Dungeon Master's guide for each edition. And see if the hints and DM mechanics are what you're looking for. And there's always Pathfinder. I think the Paizo products are well put together and edited plys there's the fantastic artwork.
Mike
BryonD
Hero
But that isn't going to be true for everyone. Remember, 4E was specifically designed with "easy to DM" as high on its priority list. In the give and take, this item is very key.
It stands to reason that if being too hard to DM was a deterrent to 3E for someone, then that person is going to find converting anything to or within that system to be undesirable. Thus, 4E will automatically be better.
However, if you find them both easy, then 3E gives that many more buttons and fiddle bits to get things exactly as you want them. So if 3E gives you more knobs (more degrees of freedom) for the same ease, then it will be better for providing exactly what you want. It is easier to get precisely what you are going for.
Starbuck_II
Explorer
Please, Squirrel Girl kicked Galactus's butt. I mean, fraking SG did it. It can't be that hard. She is like the Aqua Man of squirrels!
Squirrel Girl's entire purpose is to comically kick the butt of much more powerful figures. She's taken down Dr. Doom, Terrax and the Mandarin, too!
SteveC
Doing the best imitation of myself
If the original poster hasn't run screaming off into the night, I'd suggest he pick up the latest edition and run with it. Pick up the core three books, a DDI subscription and you've got everything you'll need to play this edition available to you.
Now that advice is coming from someone who started with OD&D, and I give it because the latest edition of the game is always going to be the one you're most likely to find players, products, and help when you need them.
Which is better? That's a pretty subjective question, but I'd say the best game is the one you can most easily find people who want to play, and can get the books at your local bookstore or FLGS.
So you can copy and paste this same message when 5E, 6E and so on come out, since they'll be what the majority of gamers will be playing, and so you'll have a ready made support system.
--Steve
Now that advice is coming from someone who started with OD&D, and I give it because the latest edition of the game is always going to be the one you're most likely to find players, products, and help when you need them.
Which is better? That's a pretty subjective question, but I'd say the best game is the one you can most easily find people who want to play, and can get the books at your local bookstore or FLGS.
So you can copy and paste this same message when 5E, 6E and so on come out, since they'll be what the majority of gamers will be playing, and so you'll have a ready made support system.
--Steve
4E is easier to DM for many folks, but that does not look like a priority to the OP. Coming to it with only a little experience of play, I found it surprisingly easy in a technical sense. That has not (for me) translated into finding much fun in the exercise, which as a practical matter may be the more decisive measure of "easy to DM". YMMV, of course.
Mechanically, original and Advanced (basically original with key additions from the supplements and magazine articles) D&D seem to me simpler. Mastering the mechanical bits, though, is just the beginning of the art of Dungeon Mastering.
The 4E DMG has a lot of good advice of general applicability, being perhaps the best ever in terms of the aspects it treats. The countless things it does not address are what make previous DMGs cornucopias of inspiration, in particular the thoroughly Gygaxian First Edition.
Mechanically, original and Advanced (basically original with key additions from the supplements and magazine articles) D&D seem to me simpler. Mastering the mechanical bits, though, is just the beginning of the art of Dungeon Mastering.
The 4E DMG has a lot of good advice of general applicability, being perhaps the best ever in terms of the aspects it treats. The countless things it does not address are what make previous DMGs cornucopias of inspiration, in particular the thoroughly Gygaxian First Edition.
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