Would I enjoy D&D?

[Hungry Like The Wolf]

I'd have honestly said that this looks more like the Old School Rennaisance to me than 4e. Challenge the player not the character. Thinking your way through a dungeon rather than Epic Battles. Still, it looks as if this is probably the wrong group for the player.

And throw Descent onto the boardgame list.

Well, I guess I'm doing it wrong because one of my 4E games is exactly what the OP is describing. *shrug*

 

[Doug McCrae]

I'd have honestly said that this looks more like the Old School Rennaisance to me than 4e. Challenge the player not the character.

Both old school D&D and 4e but a strong emphasis on challenging the player, though the nature of the challenge is somewhat different. And ofc D&D has also always featured lots of problems that can be solved thru character power alone. If that wasn't the case there'd be no point in going up levels and gaining magic items.

 

[nedjer]

The doubts seem to mainly be about 100% narrative v's 100% battle. It's a false distinction as the two are intertwined. Most battle-focused games are going to have roleplaying episodes between adventures and leading into adventures; while most 'story' games are going to have episodes of conflict and combat.

The entertainment largely arises out of the combination, as playing fluffy bunnies all the time, or berserker barbarian death kill, all the time gets a bit one-dimensional.

That said, if you're purely interested in combat mechanics and defeating opponents the world of Napoleonic Wargaming awaits - go get your Marshall Ney uniform on and good luck to you.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Well, I guess I'm doing it wrong because one of my 4E games is exactly what the OP is describing. *shrug*

4e has multiple possible styles OSR preaches the one style.

Edit: that wasn't meant to be a slam. OSR preaches the one style as the way they want to play rather than The One True Way.