D&D 4.0

[claidheamhmor]

I ordered D&D 4th Edition from Amazon last night, the gift set with three core books in the slip cover. Hope they arrive soon!

4th Ed. sounds interesting, and I look forward to going through it. Judging from the changes I've read about, there won't be any possibility of converting existing characters to the new version; they'll have to be started anew. Integration into existing campaigns should be feasible - as a continuation, at least - but obviously some changes may need to be made.

Comments

[openmindedmale.livejournal.com]

I think it'll be a lot of fun.. I can't wait to play :)

I think it's D&D in name only, however.. there's a LOT of differences from 3.x

[claidheamhmor]

It certainly sounds like it; I hope the changes work well.

[mighty-jo.livejournal.com]

Plays totally differently. Lots of the classes and character races are gone. No druids, monks or gnomes at the mo. Everyone and everything has lots more hitpoints. You also do less damage so battles take longer.

[claidheamhmor]

Yay for the druids, monks or gnomes! Did you get it early, or did you have one of the scanned copies that has been floating around?

[gsl.livejournal.com]

I have preordered a ton of 4th ed. stuff from Amazon, have gotten the first adventure (but not browsed it yet, apart from the quick start guide to 4th ed), got a couple of Players Handbooks which I will pick up tomorrow or wednesday *crosses fingers*, and I just got an email saying the 2 gift sets I ordered have been shipped.
Looking forward to switching to the new system, but I don't think it'll happen until this winter so that I can collect a few extra adventures and sourcebooks.

[claidheamhmor]

I suspect it will take a while to get used to it...

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Ordered the "gift set" myself. Nearly 50% off? Sign me up.

Hoping that they realized the 3.0/3.5 quickly turned into a morass of special case rules (I blame the explosion of Feats and Prestige Classes) and follow the KISS principle.

[claidheamhmor]

I'm with you on that. I liked 3.0 in that many things were simplified over 2, but then, as you say, it all got complex again. I like simple rules - it makes it easier to focus on the story and role-playing.

[iskender.livejournal.com]

As a DM, I'm heavily invested in the 3.5 system. But I know its flaws.

I'll wait until the SRD comes out. Then I'll check if it's balanced and consider whether I want to run a game on it. Then I'll buy the things.

[claidheamhmor]

I wonder when the SRD will be out? One hassle I may have is that all computer-based utilities will be instantly outdated; we use PCGen extensively, so that'll be a loss.

[iskender.livejournal.com]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080606a

This week, they say.

Of course, there are rumors that this SRD will be little more than a list of page numbers provided as a reference, making it all but useless. Who knows.

[arthwollipot.livejournal.com]

I've read one review (http://www.gnomestew.com/specific-rpgs/dd-4e-answers-to-gnome-stew-readers-questions) which suggests that the game will be a "giant pain in the ass without a battlemat". This is pretty much a deal-breaker for me, since I've never played with battlemats or miniatures/counters of any kind, and the few times I've tried it has been a major impediment to the gameplay.

If I can't play D&D without a battlemat, then I guess I just won't be playing D&D.

[claidheamhmor]

Yeah, that's something that's been worrying me a little. I hope battlemats are not mandatory.

[secret-stuff.livejournal.com]

I've picked up the core rules and I would say that while not /mandatory/ eschewing battlemats will seriously detract from the 4E experience.

Basically, combat has shifted from a Resource Management scenario to one of Tactical Management.

Expect both PCs and Monsters to move around. A lot. And they will be moving on other people's turns as well. There are a lot of "reactive" effects for Monsters, especially the low level ones. Kobolds get to make 5' shifts a lot, and certain kinds of Goblins can move if you miss them with a melee attack, etc.

Even on the PC side, a lot of abilities involve spontaneous movement. The Warlord class, which is a tactician by design, can impart move actions and even attack actions to other PCs. The Warrior class also has movement control abilities, and frankly every class can do it at least a little bit. It really is more about tactical control of space in this edition.

Combat in this system does not appear to be stable or predictable. Gone are the days of being able to wander off to refresh your snacks after your turn, knowing that you would not have to provide any input for the next 10 minutes or so.

It looks like you will be seeing larger battles in terms of sheer size, so more enemies on the board, which will make it really difficult to keep track of how these tactical effects work if you are relying solely on abstract memory. If you are facing 10 kobolds and they are potentially moving (even small differences) on every PCs turn? Either you use a map of some sort, or their ability really doesn't get used.

[ubet-cha.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I'll have to wait until it makes it to the PC games to play. I will be reading the new rule set though.