So how is 4th edition?

[Zaran]

I chose 4th ediition. 4th edition is good for gamemasters. I do feel that it was simplified too much in many aspects. It is alot better balanced but in so doing it feels like your options are limited.

I think they should have used something like talent trees in Star Wars Saga and made it so each class can choose their role instead of having it defined for them. Of course, this would be hard to balance and in my opinion would be more difficult to expand on like they can with 4e.

 

[MadLordOfMilk]

This may sound like a troll, but I'd really like some helpful thoughts, not trash talk.

I haven't played D&D for a couple of years (My group disbanded a month after 4th released), and I have been wondering how 4th edition has stood up. At the release, I investigated, studied, and even ran a few adventures in 4th, but I was not really excited about it. i found the 3.5 system a better system at the time because I loved the interconnected rules, and easy tables. I have heard 4th is more simplified/easier to run, but I have always liked flexible and open to simplified. Since I didn't use the system very long, I was wondering if 4th has merit, as I am hoping to start a new group soon, and am debating 3.5 or 4th. Since I own both rule sets/books, and support material, the choice actually comes down to which would be more viable and fun for me as a GM. My players have no preference, as they are more interested in just playing, period, not the specifics of the rules. Their only requirement is it allows them to develop fun and viable characters without massive work (ie not huge weighty rules like Champions).

Please don't flame. I want real opinions. I have been reading other posts, but I am putting this out as an easy place to look.

These two make me lean heavily toward "play 4e" for your particular needs. As a DM, 4th edition is a lot less work (with a HUGE part of that being that monsters are independent from PC creation), at least IMO. I find it a lot easier to wing it when it comes to encounter stuff.

As far as creating characters without massive work: the character builder, honestly, blows away anything else in that regard. Making everything by hand is also quicker for me with 4e, but with 3e it depends on a lot of factors on how much bookkeeping you need to do.

 

[jbear]

'Almost entirely lacking in fluff' is perhaps a bit too harsh. Certainly I disagree with this. It was definitely a complaint during the early books released but I think this is something that WotC is working to correct.

Open Grave, Manual of the Planes and Draconicom have some fantastic and inspiring fluff. Adventurer's Vault 2 has added adventure hooks to lots of magic items and DMG2 has some of the best advice on how to DM that I've ever read. Even Primal Power is an example of the change. There is some fantastic stuff in there on the spirit worlds. And many of the recent race and class articles released by ddi have some great fluff to go with the mechanics.

It's not a massive overdose of fluff in any case but certainly enough to get one's own creative juices flowing. I guess that's the idea: 'kick-start fluff', read and then you take it from here to wherever you want to go.