WhatGravitas
Explorer
Well, usually, I DM. And I was stoked about DMing 4E, so I was on the positive side already - but then one of the players of my group wanted to DM.
And he did. So, I've seen 4E for 1-1/2 sessions from a player's seat, playing an Eladrin Fighter, and my impressions so far:
4E is good. We have a good time. The characters are fun to play - my fighter fey steps behind enemy lines, marks the enemies, preventing them from attacking effectively. The tiefling warlock lays down serious smacking - the extra 1d6 from the curse is doing serious damage over time. The human wizard is slinging scorching bursts like there's no tomorrow. Without a leader, we rely on healing potions for extra surge triggering, but it works.
In general, we have a good time, and the 2nd level (we started there since we have a small group) is fun - it feels like 5th-6th level in 3E, i.e. the sweet spot.
But more important is my impression of a newbie DM: He cannot avoind the usual trapfalls. Some NPCs are showboating, he wants to railroad, but it's not that bad. But his general grasp of staging encounters, the way he manages it out of the MM... is impressive. Combat is blazing fast, things keep moving, encounters are interesting. He throws out plot hooks, engages the players with thing that fit the player's playing style.
And it's not only the DMs merit, it's really the MM - the DM hasn't refereed a game before (only played in mine), had no clue how to wing... and decided just to use some (half-)random stats from the MM, trying to fit the XP values.
It worked out very cool, and we had over an hour more time than we thought - he judged the time needed by the time we previously needed... and hasn't planned far enough.
So, 4E in play is fast, people are resolving their turns quickly. More importantly, they aren't waiting for their turn, because watching other people's turn *is* interesting - simply because it's important for the team's overall strategy, but also because of the shiny factor of all the powers (though that may wear off).
And it's easy to DM out of the box. If nothing, 4E is a great way for jumpstarting into D&D, enough to get the DM to buy the entire core set on a spur the day after he DMed.
How it stacks up to higher-level D&D in 3E or more roleplaying-intensive campaigns? Hard to say - need more experience, with more play as well as the new, totally enthusiastic DM.
Cheers, LT.
And he did. So, I've seen 4E for 1-1/2 sessions from a player's seat, playing an Eladrin Fighter, and my impressions so far:
4E is good. We have a good time. The characters are fun to play - my fighter fey steps behind enemy lines, marks the enemies, preventing them from attacking effectively. The tiefling warlock lays down serious smacking - the extra 1d6 from the curse is doing serious damage over time. The human wizard is slinging scorching bursts like there's no tomorrow. Without a leader, we rely on healing potions for extra surge triggering, but it works.
In general, we have a good time, and the 2nd level (we started there since we have a small group) is fun - it feels like 5th-6th level in 3E, i.e. the sweet spot.
But more important is my impression of a newbie DM: He cannot avoind the usual trapfalls. Some NPCs are showboating, he wants to railroad, but it's not that bad. But his general grasp of staging encounters, the way he manages it out of the MM... is impressive. Combat is blazing fast, things keep moving, encounters are interesting. He throws out plot hooks, engages the players with thing that fit the player's playing style.
And it's not only the DMs merit, it's really the MM - the DM hasn't refereed a game before (only played in mine), had no clue how to wing... and decided just to use some (half-)random stats from the MM, trying to fit the XP values.
It worked out very cool, and we had over an hour more time than we thought - he judged the time needed by the time we previously needed... and hasn't planned far enough.
So, 4E in play is fast, people are resolving their turns quickly. More importantly, they aren't waiting for their turn, because watching other people's turn *is* interesting - simply because it's important for the team's overall strategy, but also because of the shiny factor of all the powers (though that may wear off).
And it's easy to DM out of the box. If nothing, 4E is a great way for jumpstarting into D&D, enough to get the DM to buy the entire core set on a spur the day after he DMed.
How it stacks up to higher-level D&D in 3E or more roleplaying-intensive campaigns? Hard to say - need more experience, with more play as well as the new, totally enthusiastic DM.
Cheers, LT.
