What 4e does right
- Thread starter McTreble
- Start date
dontmazemebro
First Post
I love basically everything about 4E. Here are some highlights for me:
- The classes are balanced quite nicely.
- Combat is a team effort where everyone contributes.
- I love the streamlined Cosmology. The whole Gods v. Primordial shtick just works for me.
- Oh, and the Shaman class is amazing.
- The classes are balanced quite nicely.
- Combat is a team effort where everyone contributes.
- I love the streamlined Cosmology. The whole Gods v. Primordial shtick just works for me.
- Oh, and the Shaman class is amazing.
Wormwood
Adventurer
1. Healing Surges: a suitably cinematic resource.
2. Every class gets interesting and cool powers, not just spell-casters.
3. Easy DM prep.
4. Encourages team play, instead of each player reaching for the "I win" button.
5. Treasure Parcels: empowering players is one of my primary goals as a DM, and this simple mechanic (novel, in my 30 years of play) facilitates this beautifully.
6. De-emphasizing of alignment: finally, mechanics and alignment are sufficiently divorced from each other so that I can ignore alignment without resorting to house rules.
7. Death/dying system: elegance.
8. Reskinning: I don't know what it is about 4e, but I've never had an easier time (as DM or player) completely changing fluff to match my concept as I can now.
2. Every class gets interesting and cool powers, not just spell-casters.
3. Easy DM prep.
4. Encourages team play, instead of each player reaching for the "I win" button.
5. Treasure Parcels: empowering players is one of my primary goals as a DM, and this simple mechanic (novel, in my 30 years of play) facilitates this beautifully.
6. De-emphasizing of alignment: finally, mechanics and alignment are sufficiently divorced from each other so that I can ignore alignment without resorting to house rules.
7. Death/dying system: elegance.
8. Reskinning: I don't know what it is about 4e, but I've never had an easier time (as DM or player) completely changing fluff to match my concept as I can now.
Jack99
Adventurer
I probably forgot a few, but there are just so many things I like about this game.
Skill Challenges: I love it as a framework because it has helped me decide if the players "made it" or not. Pre-SC's, my decisions were sometimes a bit too arbitrary.
Rituals: I like that utility spells are no longer the province of the wizard, all while he remains of of the best to cast them. I love how many spells have been removed from combat, to avoid certain issues from prior editions. There is still room for improvement I feel. Rituals should probably have been tied to surges instead of money and instead maybe the casting time should have been taken down to 1-2 minutes.
Fixed HP progression: Freaking hell, I love this, simply because it removes all the whining from players that constantly complain about their sucky hitpoints. Also it removes an additional randomness factor
DM Tools: While the CB is nice and all, the MB is just an amazing tool for any DM.
The DM/player division, book-wise
Monsters and players not made from the same set of rules
A fraction of the prep-time
I love the split between at-will, encounter and daily powers and the focus on class balance. I would still have preferred if the classes had been more diverse.
Minions - because how else do you make a fun fight against 45+ enemies?
Solos and elites - because the game nees awesome monsters without having to do a gazillion damage.
Monster roles - because they help DMs analyze the dynamics of his encounter andimprove them
The flattened power-curve - because spikes are never good
Attack vs Defenses and One "BAB" progression - so much easier and consistent
PoL - because it's quickly becoming one of my favorite official campaign settings, bypassing old friends like Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms.
The use of other stats than str to determine melee attacks
Healing surges! - best thing since sliced bread
(Save ends) system, makes tracking durations and effects much easier. And recharge mechanic for monsters.
And last but not least:
I am having the most fun as a DM since I started DM'ing, almost 20 years ago.
Skill Challenges: I love it as a framework because it has helped me decide if the players "made it" or not. Pre-SC's, my decisions were sometimes a bit too arbitrary.
Rituals: I like that utility spells are no longer the province of the wizard, all while he remains of of the best to cast them. I love how many spells have been removed from combat, to avoid certain issues from prior editions. There is still room for improvement I feel. Rituals should probably have been tied to surges instead of money and instead maybe the casting time should have been taken down to 1-2 minutes.
Fixed HP progression: Freaking hell, I love this, simply because it removes all the whining from players that constantly complain about their sucky hitpoints. Also it removes an additional randomness factor
DM Tools: While the CB is nice and all, the MB is just an amazing tool for any DM.
The DM/player division, book-wise
Monsters and players not made from the same set of rules
A fraction of the prep-time
I love the split between at-will, encounter and daily powers and the focus on class balance. I would still have preferred if the classes had been more diverse.
Minions - because how else do you make a fun fight against 45+ enemies?
Solos and elites - because the game nees awesome monsters without having to do a gazillion damage.
Monster roles - because they help DMs analyze the dynamics of his encounter andimprove them
The flattened power-curve - because spikes are never good
Attack vs Defenses and One "BAB" progression - so much easier and consistent
PoL - because it's quickly becoming one of my favorite official campaign settings, bypassing old friends like Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms.
The use of other stats than str to determine melee attacks
Healing surges! - best thing since sliced bread
(Save ends) system, makes tracking durations and effects much easier. And recharge mechanic for monsters.
And last but not least:
I am having the most fun as a DM since I started DM'ing, almost 20 years ago.
Freakohollik
First Post
The adventurer's kit item in the PHB. Convenient way to bundle everything mundane I'd normally buy.
The book covers now have actual artwork on them, rather than those stupid 3e tome looks.
Multiple role versions of monsters. Artillery goblins, skirmisher goblins, controller goblins, etc.
Reign of Steel.
The book covers now have actual artwork on them, rather than those stupid 3e tome looks.
Multiple role versions of monsters. Artillery goblins, skirmisher goblins, controller goblins, etc.
Reign of Steel.
Mr. Wilson
Explorer
I'm not adding anything new, but here are my favorites:
1.) No dedicated healers needed. Sure, it helps to have a leader, but he doesn't have to spend all his actions healing the group.
2.) DM Prep is so much easier than 3.X.
3.) No wands of healing needed to help lengthen the adventuring day.
4.) Classes are fairly balanced. CoDzilla and Batman Wizards are much harder to pull off.
5.) Teamwork is encouraged.
6.) The idea of Skill challenges. As others have noted, I pretty much only sketch out the barest ideas for them, to foster player input.
7.) NPCs are made differently than PCs.
8.) NPC roles of all kinds (brute/artillery/skirmisher and elite/solo/minions).
9.) The idea of rituals. Time required may be a bit on the long side for most of them.
1.) No dedicated healers needed. Sure, it helps to have a leader, but he doesn't have to spend all his actions healing the group.
2.) DM Prep is so much easier than 3.X.
3.) No wands of healing needed to help lengthen the adventuring day.
4.) Classes are fairly balanced. CoDzilla and Batman Wizards are much harder to pull off.
5.) Teamwork is encouraged.
6.) The idea of Skill challenges. As others have noted, I pretty much only sketch out the barest ideas for them, to foster player input.
7.) NPCs are made differently than PCs.
8.) NPC roles of all kinds (brute/artillery/skirmisher and elite/solo/minions).
9.) The idea of rituals. Time required may be a bit on the long side for most of them.
AverageCitizen
Explorer
-4e says yes more than it says no.
Player: Can I do something awesome?
4e: Yes you can!
3.5: Not so much.
-4e monsters/monster design are way cool.
I used to never buy monster manuals, because they were essentially stat blocks with spell-like ability lists. I used primarily humanoid enemies and just winged it when I needed a monster.
These days I absolutely love writing up powers and monsters and all that stuff. Gold.
Player: Can I do something awesome?
4e: Yes you can!
3.5: Not so much.
-4e monsters/monster design are way cool.
I used to never buy monster manuals, because they were essentially stat blocks with spell-like ability lists. I used primarily humanoid enemies and just winged it when I needed a monster.
These days I absolutely love writing up powers and monsters and all that stuff. Gold.
delericho
Legend
Oh, yes. This too.
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