Opinions on DnD 4th Edition

Well, we gots a blog started, I should start with my position on a very relevant subject: Dungeons and Dragons. I am going to say that I greatly enjoy fourth edition, and it is here to stay. Sorry 3.5, you we’re fun while you were in your prime, but it’s time for us to move on. I know many of my friends still love 3.5, and they may play it to their heart’s content, however, I’m staying over here. I tried 4th ed, and my 3.5 material is now considered background material.

I know, you’re all ready to flame me. However, I realize it is only due to your reliance on a clunky system that has WAY too many rules. Have you tried initiating somebody to 3.5? Well, it’s incredibly difficult to explain. Now we have 4th ed, and everything may be a bit easier to swallow.

“But now it’s too mainstream!”

Hey, guess what guys? You’re playing Dungeons and Dragons. Last time I checked it isn’t mainstream. It still has room for complexity. You can still roleplay. Now there are fewer restrictions on it. All right, I was a bit skeptical at first. I was concerned about some of the rules getting out of balance, but then I tried it. It’s actually quite fun. Everything works nicely, and is much better than it looks on paper.

THE CLASSES: After looking at my minty fresh source books, I was a little concerned. All of the classes follow the same structure now. You create a character, and select a bunch of bells and whistles. Every character is point buy, so all party members are equal in terms of raw stats. All of the races have things that make them good, so we no longer have deal with half-elves that can’t do anything. Heck, half-elves are actually GOOD this time around. There are a large variety of races, from the short and resilient Halflings, to the *sigh* dark and mysterious Tieflings.. After you’ve picked out a race and class you get to pick some “at-will” powers, which essentially become your basic attack actions. After this you select “encounter powers” which are pretty cool things that you can do only once per fight. Finally you get to select “daily powers,” which are stupid awesome things you only get to do once per day. Think of these as your character’s finishing move, or their signature attack. The possibilities are endless, and they allow for tons of variation, even among characters of the same class. A Dwarven Fighter will wear heavy armor gear that takes advantage of how tough Dwarves are, while an Elf will probably wear less armor and focus on fancy maneuvers. And they both work!

The beauty of this is that wizards don’t need crossbows, as they get an INFINITE amount of magic missile or ray of frost. Imagine that, Wizards fighting like Wizards! Fighters get all kinds of fancy melee tricks that make them draw attention towards them instead of the caster, and can punish enemies for not paying attention to them.

Clerics get to attack while casting buffs, which although it sounds silly makes people want to be a healer! That’s right, EVERYBODY GETS TO HAVE FUN! They can still heal people, but they also can call down fire from the heavens to mark targets for execution. Rogues and Rangers get to have some fun too, by going up and attacking weak points for MASSIVE DAMAGE. A properly played rogue is will make hell for a DM, since he’ll slit the throats of whoever the fighter is distracting. Y’know what’s great about this system? Combat gives everybody something to do!

DUNGEON MASTERS: This is actually a bit of a challenge. You see, the entire party gets all kinds of goodies, and if they work together, they will curbstomp everything you send after them. Yeah…. But wait, the rest of the stuff is easy. The Dungeon Masters guide and the monster manual contain all of the information you’ll ever need to ensure that the entire party does not end up dying, or getting easy wins. Just trust the books. Send opponents of their level after them, and watch them wreak havoc. There are rules to customize monsters quickly and easily, and to make fights with all kinds of weird stuff. Vampire Robots? Done! Go nuts, as your players will be trying to stay one step ahead of you. As a Dungeon Master, it’s your job to entertain them, so think on your feet. It even states this in the Dungeon Master’s guide! Thankfully, there are less numbers around, so you can focus more on being creative.

Role Playing: Okay, there aren’t many rules on this. This seems to be a problem for some people, but seriously guys, do you need a book to tell you everything? If you’re going to talk to the count, talk to him! Making a weapon? Tell your DM, and if he’s worthy of the title of DM, he’ll tell you something. Seriously, just let them spend some gold and say they built the weapon themselves. This is a cooperative storytelling game, so creativity is a must! Heck, when I DM, I ENCOURAGE coming up with ideas. If there is no rule for it, usually it’s so obvious you shouldn’t need one. Seriously, in 3.5 you needed ranks in profession to be a decent janitor. Anyway, some of these skills were mostly ridiculous, and I’m glad they used the space to make the fighter as fun to play as the Wizard.

Complaints: Alright, Alright, I have a few complaints. I sort of like the flavor of 3.5 more. This edition makes being part dragon or part demon seem less… significant. That, and some of my favorite classes are missing. Bard, Monk, Druid, and Barbarian are missing (actually Barbarian has been released, and I heard it is good.) Some races are missing, (gnomes got demoted to an entry in the monster manual, half-orcs are never mentioned) There are no good (aligned) monsters in the monster manual. The new alignment system is stupid, and as far as I’m concerned, we’re still using 3.5’s alignment system. They simplified it to Lawful Good, Good, unaligned, evil, and chaotic evil. Where is the mafia and where is Robin Hood? Good and evil. I find this much less descriptive. However, this system is still relatively new, and we can expect the old stuff to be released. The fans DEMAND it.

Buy it?: Well, try it first. Seriously, don’t just read the books, find a group and try it. Some of it looks incredible silly, and all of the classes look the same, until you actually play the game. With a competent group, this is the best roleplaying experience you are going to find.

(I may add to or edit this later but I really wanna get this blog on the road)