D&D 4E Ron Edwards on D&D 4e

[Campbell]

I think a lot of 4e's value is in the way it integrates its cosmic conflicts into the broader game. I have not always used the Nentir Vale with 4e, but I always used the Dawn War.

The best game I ran doubled down on those things. I set it at the height of the Nerath Empire with Bane and Kord as basic stand ins for Romulus and Remus.

 

[S'mon]

FWIW, I have found Justin Alexander's thoughts on scenario design to be really helpful, but I understand that he doesn't like 4e at all, and people here who like 4e in turn do not like him. But, for 4e fans, I would be curious for your thoughts. For example, I find his article on dissociated mechanics to be very clarifying and a useful way of thinking about how mechanics relates to the fiction (and incidentally one that (seems to) fit within the "gameist" critique of 4e)

Dissociated Mechanics – A Brief Primer

Four years ago, in an effort to understand why I found so many of the design decisions in the 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons antithetical to what I wanted from a roleplaying game, I wrote an es

thealexandrian.net

I'm a 4e fan and I agree with Alexander that the dissociated mechanics is an issue. An issue which takes work to address - but is doable. Even just reading the power fluff text when you use it helps a lot.

 

[S'mon]

Where is this 4e D&D UK convention happening?! I might even be persuaded to stay overnight back in sunny glamorous Sheffield (where I did my PhD)...

 

[darjr]

Where is this 4e D&D UK convention happening?! I might even be persuaded to stay overnight back in sunny glamorous Sheffield (where I did my PhD)...

We’ll expect a full report

 

[S'mon]

Thanks for the reply. This is kind of how I feel things go for all editions -some naturally stir up more conflict (Cleric, Paladin, Warlock, Tiefling, Aasimar) compared to others (Barbarian, Fighter, Rogue, Human, Halfling).

4e Humans though have a ton of thematic conflict, thanks to the whole Fallen Nerath thing. I made a 4e human Fighter Sirondar Altur, 5th son of a minor aristocrat, who dreams of restoring Nerath. It's working brilliantly in the Nentir Vale campaign I'm playing. Erathis is my goddess, but while Lord Warden Markelhay has been ignoring me, the Fell Court has been enticing (seducing?) me with promises of aid and cool magic items... of course the empire they want to restore is Bael Turath not Nerath, but isn't Order better than Chaos?

 

[JamesonCourage]

4e Humans though have a ton of thematic conflict, thanks to the whole Fallen Nerath thing. I made a 4e human Fighter Sirondar Altur, 5th son of a minor aristocrat, who dreams of restoring Nerath. It's working brilliantly in the Nentir Vale campaign I'm playing. Erathis is my goddess, but while Lord Warden Markelhay has been ignoring me, the Fell Court has been enticing (seducing?) me with promises of aid and cool magic items... of course the empire they want to restore is Bael Turath not Nerath, but isn't Order better than Chaos?

Yeah, I'm not going to lie, some of this went over my head due to lack of lore knowledge, ha. But, I basically agree that all the races have thematic hooks in 4e if you follow the lore they provide (which is why I said "I think the story they brought with it incorporated a lot of the heavy lifting for the other races and classes").

Heck, in my 4e campaign, I even asked questions of the people here to make sure I was getting the lore right. I technically homebrewed, but I wanted to keep the thematic bits because I thought I should do that to be true to the 4e experience.

It's also cool you're still playing 4e. I think I'd prefer it for 5e, honestly, though I'm a lot less likely to slam either one these days. I'm still running on my RPG for my two groups.. People should play what they like

 

[Garthanos]

Can't believe I missed this thread, Edwards liked skill challenges

 

[Garthanos]

How on earth did I miss this thread?

You I missed it massively

 

[Garthanos]

Considering how many times his name gets evoked in these discussions, I had never actually heard Ron Edwards speak; I was pleasantly surprised at just how personable he came across.

Me too very much so

 

[S'mon]

It's also cool you're still playing 4e. I think I'd prefer it for 5e, honestly, though I'm a lot less likely to slam either one these days. I'm still running on my RPG for my two groups.. People should play what they like

I had a break from 4e 2018-21, whereas I've been running 5e since 2015. Currently I run a couple 5e campaigns and play or GM in a couple 4e campaigns. They definitely scratch different itches, but I think I prefer 4e as a player.