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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alaxk Knight of Galt" data-source="post: 6076310" data-attributes="member: 4129">Our group played a long 4th edition game when it first came out in 2008.  While we initially enjoyed it, most of the group soured on the 4th Edition experience.  Personally, I could take it or leave it.  I enjoy the character creation mini-game and the balanced combat.  I missed the non-combat options with spellcasting in earlier editions and dislike the overwhelming focus on combat in 4th.  Now, in 2013, we are revisiting the edition.  (We've dabbled with the edition from time to time (notably Revenge of the Iron Lich (which I ran) and Temple of the Sky God (which the current DM ran)).  Here's the party and my thoughts.Genasi Swordmage | Barbarian (my character)Genasi Wizard (Mage)Halfling ThiefHalf-Elf ArdentDwarven WarlordHalf-Orc MonkWe've completed Born by Fiends and we are two sessions into Reavers of Harkenwold.Random Thoughts1.  Combats are much quicker and a lot more deadly then what we experienced in 2008.  Fights tend to be over in the 3rd round and are super intense.  The damage output on the mobs feels like it's been cranked to 11 (in a good way).  DM just told me he is making the fights in Harkenwold more difficult for our group, so perhaps the encounters RAW would have been too easy...2.  Skill challenges are still wonky.  The skill challenge in Born by Fiends was simply glossed over by the DM after he read it and the group laughed out loud.3.  There's lots of role-playing opportunities.  Last night, in a 5 hour session, we did 3 combats and 5 pure RP encounters.  Two of the combats were back to back (with a promised 3rd battle in a row coming up).4.  Harkenwold is fun.  This adventure has a real nice feel to it.  The combat and RP elements, thus far, are well done.  Personally, I miss seeing exploration and time management stuff.  Traveling between the several villages has been entirely glossed over.  If I was writing / running this adventure, I'd have random encounters and a greater focus on travel / exploration.5.  Characters are too bloated with options.  Our Warlord, Monk, and Ardent have way too many options right now.  We've played three sessions and I still don't feel like they have a firm grip on what their characters do.  The Mage and Thief both have excellent grasp on their characters.  In the case of the Thief, I think this is a result of him playing an essentials character.  In the case of the Mage, I think this is a result of him taking time to thoroughly learn his PC.  I have no problems running my Hybrid character (though, I probably spend the most time away from the table building / tinkering with it).6.  Character Builder is a blessing and curse.  It's great to have a tool that allows you to build a character and have all the math right.  It's a curse as the math in the game has so many moving parts that failing to use it will most likely result in mistakes.  Additionally, it makes creating house rules agonizingly difficult (our monk is using a home brewed Theme, which can not be translated in any way into character builder).</blockquote>

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