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A Veteran GM's First Impressions of D&D 4th Edition
Martin Ralya writes "I spent several hours with the three core D&D 4th Edition books on launch day, and wrote a detailed look at all of them based on my first impressions. Two big takeaways: Yes, the World of Warcraft comparisons are fair (and a good thing), and the way character powers work now will make the game more fun for everyone."
Reading it only says so much. I had my first session today, and I must say that I found it less MMO:ish once you actually started playing it. Sure, some fundamental rules use the same ideas, but, that is in no way an issue when actually playing. I must say I liked DM:ing it, but it will be a while before I learn the mechanics, they are far less intuitive past a certain level since every power is an exception to the very bare core. So, a lot more "studying" is necessary than previous editions if you want to learn it all, but there is a shorter span until you can start playing your first game and understand what you are doing.
I posted my review at here. It seems to be unapologetic in imitating many aspects of MMORPGs. So you can like that or not, but its there. The good news is that unlike previous editions, when 3.5 goes out of print, there will still be many ways to get the rules. 3.5 is open-sourced (kinda). See d20srd.org. Also Pathfinder will provide new 3.6-ish books for new players wanting to try the old edition. Overall it's going to be a better time for all RPGers, even if you don't like 4th edition.
My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &
Sorry I don't care about your revenue streams generated by D&D v4.0. It doesn't make the game more playable to me. 4.0 D&D is targeting the computer gamers not the 25 year "ONGOING" campaign running DM and Gamers of the past. It's not the same game it was 25 years ago and they're just capitalizing on the old TRS Trade Mark and branding. Just call it something else and leave the Classics alone, instead of improving it to the point that it evolves in to something entirely else at the lowest of standards of mediocrity. You could have named it something more fitting like - "War Craft", "Everquest" or something, but I guess those are taken.
If I wanted to run D&D on the computer with my friends I have lots of options with a hugh variety of choices, and there has been lots of software over the years to do just that. If I want to run a fast moving pen and paper well balanced D&D type game the options tend to get poorer the farther I seem to move farther from AD&D v2.0.
BTW, WTF is wrong with GNOMES? Who was the genius that thought that one up? What's next Orcs? (What a bunch of Stereotypical team of writers and computer jockeys.)
This "article" is sad in its unapologetic sycophanty. It says that everything in hte book is good.
- Spells are called "powers" (goodbye psionics?) and are detailed in the class section; there is no other"magic" area in the book. Great for a person only playing a wizard, ever, but wtf for people making classes. Horrible.
- No confirm criticals, criticals are just max damage on a 20. Goodbye dramatic tension as you bunch over the faded die, figuring out if you got a 7 or 17 on that confirm roll. Goodbye variability. Goodbye fight-ending strike.
- Most rolls 1d20+1/2 character level+other. Wow, that means that high level people will be able to do everything better than 1st level players! Horrible.
- They increased type size AND whitespace in the books. Yep, less content.
- The PHB tells players how to play AND the GM how to gm. No dice.
- They still didn't simplifiy combat. Good god, I thought that was the reason they made another edition.
- No ranks in skills. So much for making a detailed and unique character, huh? Cookie-cutter it is then.
- Attackers roll saves instead of defenders. Stupid. It takes the fate out of your hands and into mine, not to mention I have to look up the bonus a cliff gets to its reflex attack. wtf?
- No strategy. Instead of having to rest and pray (or study) to gain spells back, they have the equivalent of "cooldown" (which I can forgive in an MMO, but makes no real-world sense). Basically your players can use their best spells every fight. No strategy, no need for lower-level spells at all. Why do they even exist once you pass 5th level (or whatever level it is you get fireball now)?
-On that subject, he makes a big deal of how there is only ONE CHART!!!!! LOL for all classes, and says it is simplifying. Then he says you slip to the section on your class to get, essentially, your unique "key" to help you read the chart. GG.
-"There are fewer types of action, standard, move, minor and free." Given that that's about the same as 3.5 core (full-round, standard, move and free), I wonder about this guy's mental health exclaiming its virtues.
-Diagonal movement works the same as lateral movement". I assume this means they moved to hexes? no? Then I guess you can move faster by moving diagonally in about ANY circumstance. Once again, way to break the world.
-Every class has two suggested "builds". What did I say before about telling us how to play? Honestly, at least leave WHO we play up to us. Similarly, each class has a "role". Not that they are customizable or anything. Nope, it's just like "Do you want a DD or a tank?" all over again.
-Retraining is now not only core, but really basic. So in other words, feel free not to put thought into what skills and feats you take, just get the shiniest ones and clean up later.
- His section on the DMG made me just a little bit nauseous. He was all, "saying that people have to cooperate?! Not only is this idea foreign to the other Dungeon Master's Guides, but nobody but those savants at WotC would've thought of it! I thank them for imparting this knowledge into my undeserving hands."
-Treasure parcels. It's where you get 4 magic items and some money. Before I decided treasure by what the villain would have; how foolish! Now I have learned to make sure everyone gets a magical item every encounter!
-MM has 1 monster per page. In other words, say goodbye to all of the lesser-used guys: lantern archons, rasts, all them things my players would always scratch their heads about when they first appeared. Say hello to there being monsters someone with any time could easily memorize all the weak points to, and just plain not enough to make dungeons flarvorfully unique.
-In the MM section he makes deals over things that ALREADY existed, like a picture for each monster.
-Replaced DR with something that means the same. This guy loves it.
- Everything is just to explain to newbies how to play. No advanced mechanics. No strategy. No fun.
I think you can tell about everything you need about this reviewer when
However, a big part of what I believe is going to push D&D 4e is the D&D Insider Online Tabletop with the voicechat and the rule handling and all that.
We are at a point where tabletopping is ready to evolve, and Steve's reluctance to step in that direction could ultimately doom our beloved GURPS.
I really hope that doesn't happen, but he has a pretty strict rule against anybody else creating online tabletopping software that does combat calculations... yet we really don't see his folks doing it either.
No, that simply makes him someone who's been gaming for a while. Me, I started around '83. Traveller. AD&D. Good times. Yes, girls were playing back then. There just weren't a hell of a lot of us. Stopped playing back in '87 or so. Got reintroduced with BESM. Too bad Tri-Stat is pretty much dead...thanks a lot White Wolf. Very cool system of gameplay for "storyteller" kind of FRP campaigns, not so much for "dice weenie" kind of FRP campaigns.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
My friend's wife is GM-ing for the first time, having only played two roleplaying games previous to this one. It happens, and it's getting more frequent as nerds are becoming more mainstream.
Not really... the tool they're releasing for D&D isn't an MMO, nor anything like it. It's more like having a digital tabletop that you can draw maps on, but you're still moving around miniatures on it, and the DM still makes the adventure and actually tells a story.
That last bit is what I find to make it completely unlike WoW or any other MMO. The human element of somebody actively running the game you're playing. It is a vastly different experience.
I personally would love to be able to play that way with my friends that are no longer local to me.
I'm not disputing your litany of complaints, but in true /. pedantic mode, I'm about to call you out on your 1e rules magic resistance comment :-). IIRC, if something was magic resistant, the percentage listed was for an 11th level magic user and you added 5% per level below that and subtracted 5% for every level above. E.g. if you had 50% MR, a first level MU couldn't touch you with spells at all, but a 21st level MU would go through it like an acetylene torch through warm butter.
You should check out gametable.
Pros:
- It's FOSS
- Written in java, so it runs on almost any computer
- Can be used for almost any table-top game. (Square or hexagonal grids of any size available, and it doesn't enforce any rule set, though it does handle dice rolls)
Cons:
- 2d graphics (Though this might be better for people with finicky/slow graphics cards)
- No built in VOIP (Does have text chat though)
- DnD rules not built in (Though, as mentioned above, this lets it be used for other games)
If a new GM was actually a "her", I'd be shocked.
For what it's worth, my wife had been DMing at gaming conventions for years before I met her.
Strangely, she has a (I say deserved, she disagrees) reputation as a killer DM. I think she can get away with it more than a guy can because of the boobs. Even most socially retarded geeks manage to not throw a tantrum when a cute girl kills them.
I find it rather strange that in a community so bent on not being mainstream, only the prime mainstream RPG is discussed.
Having played well over 20 RPG systems myself, I can safely say that D&D (no matter which edition) is one of the worst I've ever played. But that's just my impression. From a passionate RPG player, here are some alternatives to D&D Fantasy Roleplay:
Palladium & Rifts
Exalted
Runequest
Harnmaster
GURPS
Torg
If you haven't played at least one of the above besides D&D, you should do it ASAP.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca