D&D 4E Your plans for 4e

[Kid Charlemagne]

Thanks for giving us what information you can - I know I appreciate it, and it gives me hope. Thank you!

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

They're going to be running both a dungeon delve style (20-30 minute sample) and a regular 4-hour sample adventure at D&D Experience in Arlington at the end of February. I'll be there as a judge, running something crazy like 7 slots for the sake of a free place to shower and sleep.

I know you're probably not back from DDXP, but I thought I'd ask how its going/went anyway!

 

[el-remmen]

As I posted in another thread:

Hrm. . . Well. . .

I think I officially don't like it.

I was trying to keep an open mind and will likely pick up at least the new PHB at some point, but it really doesn't seem for me or for my group. . . Though I might grab some stuff that does appeal to me for use in my house-ruled 3.x game. (We already have a rule we call 'second wind' but it is only after combat is over, required 10 minutes of rest and gives you a small percentage of your hit points back).

It might be fun to play some one-shots with it though.

But who knows, I could play it or read the book and change my mind. It just doesn't seem likely to me right now.

 

[Radiating Gnome]

I have a few minutes off right now. I played the delve a bit yesterday -- got killed once by Mike Mearls and a Gelatinous Cube with action points (yay!). Today I've run my one of the two preview mods twice, and the score is 1-1 (one TPK, one finished mod). This one has a brutal final encounter, and only the best groups will finish.

At the same time, it's highlighted a few weak spots in the rules that we have right now -- which doesn't mean that these are weak points in the final rules, since we're playing with a version that is at least a few weeks old, perhaps more, and we're playing with only a few parts of the rules, so some cases we don't have clear rules for.

I'm having a blast, though, and so are the tables I've played with. Here are the things I wish were different:
1. I wish the third guy they put in our room didn't snore so damn loud.
2. I wish there were a rogue in the batch of preview characters.
3. I can't think of much else.

More info will be coming, I'm sure -- this is my first chance to really check the boards for info . . .

-rg

 

[(contact)]

Gelatinous Cube with action points

OK, I'm in. Where do I buy the stuff?

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What I'm hearing from DnDex sounds pretty good. I think that 4e comes off like a fun game that fixes some of the holes and ruts in 3e while (naturellement) establishing new ones.

However, I've been playing inside the 3e-ruts for eight years now, so I'm ready for some new ruts.

When 3e launched, the ensuing creative re-think of my games sort of re-kindled my love for D&D, and made for some memorable campaigns* (some of which were chronicled on this website, next to those of the friends I made while trying to learn about 3e.)

I don't think I'm as disenchanted with the game right now as I was in 1999, nor do I expect the same level of creative rush that the 3e launch inspired. That said, the best parts of D&D don't have anything to do with the ruleset at all; if the rules can be interesting and fun enough to add value to the storytelling and companionship that my games already have without annoying everyone in the room (coughclericsintheouterplanesin2ecough) it's a win.

And as I don't spend my substantial fortune on whores or coke, I'm always up to buy a few gaming books a month. They might as well be D&D.



- Optimistic Spikey

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*As a side-note, when we were playing the Liberation of Tenh and the Risen Goddess games, the little baby who used to sleep on daddy when he was killing our characters? She just called me this afternoon and told me (with all the gravity a 6-year old can muster), "I'm ready to learn D&D now."

And the torch is passed. Her dad says he will teach her 4e when it comes out.

 

[el-remmen]

If I could play in cntxt's 4E game I might actually be excited about it. . .

 

[Plane Sailing]

What I'm hearing from DnDex sounds pretty good. I think that 4e comes off like a fun game that fixes some of the holes and ruts in 3e while (naturellement) establishing new ones.

However, I've been playing inside the 3e-ruts for eight years now, so I'm ready for some new ruts.

When 3e launched, the ensuing creative re-think of my games sort of re-kindled my love for D&D, and made for some memorable campaigns* (some of which were chronicled on this website, next to those of the friends I made while trying to learn about 3e.)

I don't think I'm as disenchanted with the game right now as I was in 1999, nor do I expect the same level of creative rush that the 3e launch inspired. That said, the best parts of D&D don't have anything to do with the ruleset at all; if the rules can be interesting and fun enough to add value to the storytelling and companionship that my games already have without annoying everyone in the room (coughclericsintheouterplanesin2ecough) it's a win.

I'm afraid I just had to quote almost your entire post, as my feelings are so similar here.

- Optimistic Spikey

Was SpikeyFreak an alt of yours by any chance? If so, you had me completely fooled

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Here are my thoughts right now - I tend to be a slow adapter to new things, and want to know as much as I can before jumping in. The DDXP information has made me much more informed, but hasn't really gotten me off the fence any further than I already was. Some of the more gamist elements (like the Paladin's marking) have made me a little leery. On the other hand, I really like what they've done with the monsters I've seen. On the other other hand, I worry about things like PC's trying to use monster's weapons and things of that sort.

Some things are just a matter of recalibrating my expectations. Certain things - like gnolls with 40+ HP - just need time to percolate into my tiny reptile brain, somewhat like I had to when 3E came out ("Dragons with 500+ HP! Gods in 1E max'ed out at 400! OMG! Only 3 people in my entire campaign world have over 100 HP and now that's average for a 12th level fighter!"). I adjusted my thinking then, I can adjust it now. My bigger concern is the powers.

Ultimately, I'm not going to make any decisions until I see the entire core book set. I also think I'm going to do a lot more house-ruling early on in this edition - and in fact I may end up either house-ruling 3E to adopt the good things about 4E, or vice versa. I won't know which for a while yet.

 

[(contact)]

If I could play in cntxt's 4E game I might actually be excited about it. . .

One of these days, we'll all live in one of those tax-shelter islands somewhere and play D&D for a living while monitoring the activity of our shady holding company.

 

[(contact)]

Was SpikeyFreak an alt of yours by any chance? If so, you had me completely fooled

No, I never had any .alts to speak of, aside from the occasional gag post. I just still think that sign-off was funny, especially when he got crazy annoyed about everyone using it.