OK, I'm in ...

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yeah, that description fits me too.

The kobold statblock looks great... and the 1st level PCs charsheets are so simple and clean. My first thought-- my current thought, actually-- is that if you added "roleplaying" to DDM, you've got D&D 4e.

Which is kind of interesting since D&D grew out of a miniatures game in the first place, although folks who should know better like to forget that inconvenient fact.

But I haven't yet put my finger on why such brilliantly clean mechanics are actually making me more hesitant. Until I do, I have to chalk it up to the same kind of grumpiness you're experiencing.

It's too good to be true. There must be a catch. Something awkward, terrible is looming in 4E, and nobody has found it yet... if you're lucky, the D&D designers just sold their souls to the devils to become succesful and good designers. If not, they sold our souls!

 

[LostSoul]

The power levels seem way too high; and we're talking 1st level here and it's way too high.

Do you mean the fluff around the abilities, or the numbers? Because the kobold now has 27 hit points.

I can see the fluff being too high powered, but being fluff, it should be easy to describe differently.

 

[mhensley]

 

[nutluck]

I am slowly become more interested in 4e again. But ... isn't there always a but? Anyways the difference is not I am seeing 4e as less and less DnD and seeing more along the lines of how I see say Exalted. A much higher powered game that can be fun to play from time to time but not something I enjoy playing long term.

 

[hossrex]

Charming.

My point was: the similarity of 4e play-styles seems to be intentional design, not unintended consequence.

And my point is that it doesn't matter what you call it ("bug" or "feature") if its a bad idea.

It doesn't matter whether it was intentional or not. Who cares?

What matters is whats in the final rule book. If they accidentally stumble upon a great game, everyone will be happy. If they purposely put together something that isn't fun to play, everyone will be unhappy.

You're playing semantics, and losing perspective.

 

[Wormwood]

If they purposely put together something that isn't fun to play, everyone will be unhappy.

Luckily, Wizard's has put together a system that *is* fun to play---if every single report to date can be trusted.

Feature.

You may now have the last word. Enjoy!

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Do you mean the fluff around the abilities, or the numbers? Because the kobold now has 27 hit points.

I can see the fluff being too high powered, but being fluff, it should be easy to describe differently.

It now appears that's a super-kobold. A standard kobold is a minion:

Kobold Minion Level 1 Minion
Small Natural Humanoid XP 25
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +1, darkvision
HP A minion dies when hit by an attack that deals damage.
AC 15; Fortitude 11, Reflex 13, Will 11; see also trap sense
Speed 6
m Spear (standard; at-will) • Weapon .
+5 vs. AC; 2 damage.
r Spear (standard; at-will) • Weapon .
Range 10/20; +5 vs. AC; 2 damage.
Shifty (minor, at will).
The kobold shifts 1 square as a minor action.
Trap Sense.
The kobold gains a +2 bonus to all defenses against traps.
Alignment Evil Languages Draconic.
Skills Stealth +5, Thievery +5.
Str 8 (-1) Dex 16 (+3) Wis 12 (+1).
Con 12 (+1) Int 9 (-1) Cha 10 (+0).
Equipment hide armor, light shield, 3 spears


That now makes a bit more sense. You have a bunch of mooks that die with ine hit, and in amongst them a couple of tough guys to stiffen things up.

 

[Vael]

After reviewing the char sheets, something similar occured to me. It was the Warlock abilities in particular, a couple of which said 'Affect the nearest enemy' or 'Do such and such as long as you're the nearest character to him..', or similar. This is a very tabletop-miniatures-game approach. I neither approve nor disapprove of these in particular, but it makes for an interesting observation that combat in the RPG is now more reminiscent of combat in DDM.

What I think is interesting is that the wording of those abilities supports the designers assertion that you do not have to use minis to play. Yes, having a grid and minis allows you to see where to specifically place yourself to target a given creature ... but you can also abstract it into narrative play. Nice.

 

[Wolfspider]

It now appears that's a super-kobold. A standard kobold is a minion:

Kobold Minion Level 1 Minion
Small Natural Humanoid XP 25
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +1, darkvision
HP A minion dies when hit by an attack that deals damage.
AC 15; Fortitude 11, Reflex 13, Will 11; see also trap sense
Speed 6
m Spear (standard; at-will) • Weapon .
+5 vs. AC; 2 damage.
r Spear (standard; at-will) • Weapon .
Range 10/20; +5 vs. AC; 2 damage.
Shifty (minor, at will).
The kobold shifts 1 square as a minor action.
Trap Sense.
The kobold gains a +2 bonus to all defenses against traps.
Alignment Evil Languages Draconic.
Skills Stealth +5, Thievery +5.
Str 8 (-1) Dex 16 (+3) Wis 12 (+1).
Con 12 (+1) Int 9 (-1) Cha 10 (+0).
Equipment hide armor, light shield, 3 spears


That now makes a bit more sense. You have a bunch of mooks that die with ine hit, and in amongst them a couple of tough guys to stiffen things up.

Cool.

What's the source for this?

It's interesting that the super-kobold is less intelligent than its minions....

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Cool.

What's the source for this?

It's interesting that the super-kobold is less intelligent than its minions....

Yeah, I caught that Int bit and laughed uproariously.

I'm not sure where the original kobold minion came from ... I copied it from here at EN World. Maybe from one of the DDM previews?