So far, every post on this blog has been in strict reference to the ongoing campaign, Sundering Wrath. After two whole adventures and five gaming sessions, it’s time to take a look at what we’re doing.
I’d like to start by sharing my impression of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Before I say anything else, let me say this: I love it! The fourth generation of the oldest roleplaying game in the world is the best one yet.
When I started the game, none of us had ever played this edition of D&D. My first was the old red box version of the game, which I’d bought some time in the mid-1980s. And I had graduated to AD&D when the 2nd edition came out. And after a couple of years of that, I sort of out-grew Dungeons & Dragons.
After 15 years or so, having played a myriad of other games in the meantime, I got the urge to play D&D again. I bought the books and ran a single two-player session. But the game felt kind of slow, unbalanced and I constantly had to look up how to resolve this or that. All the things I had grown tired of in 2nd edition were either still there or had been replaced by something not necessarily better. I found it less enjoyable than I had hoped. However, that was the odd in-between edition 3.5. So when I heard that the 4th edition was radically different, I read reviews and blog posts about what those differences really were. Was is different enough to be worth spending my time and money on?
Yes, absolutely! I play with a full party (5 party members and me), two of whom had never played a pen and paper rpg before at all. The remaining players all had previous editions of the game as their frame of reference. To be honest, I think the hardest thing to learn in 4th edition, is to unlearn everything you know from previous editions, so in that respect the two newbies had the advantage. It really is a re-design of the basic game mechanism — and it works!
Combat is way more fun, especially for casters. You pretty much need some kind of board and miniatures to represent everyone’s location during the fights, which I for one had only done as a novelty in the past, but it adds that huddling-around-the-board-together feeling, which is fun.
After five sessions, everyone has adjusted and memorized the basics. The most important being of course the basic rule for everything: roll a d20 + modifiers. Once all the old school players (myself included) realized that gone were the days of THAC0 and negative armor class – and that everything is now based on this one basic rule – the game started flowing.
So by comparison, the 4th ed. game system itself is clearly easier and more streamlined. Sure, some detail is lost in certain areas, but it’s for the better if you ask me. There is a lot less stopping to look up some obscure rule, that’s for sure.
Powers are the one thing players may have to look up a lot at first, but that problem is easily solved using the available power cards. The time these cards save, plus added fun factor of having a card to toss across the room when you roll a 1, makes them well worth the $10 a pack.
Initial observations suggest that power in the game is still not entirely balanced. The player characters can get almost unbeatable if they work together in a well-balanced group. As a DM, I don’t mind that at all. It’s easier and much more fun to create alternative ways for characters to get hurt, than it is to try and save the entire campaign when a few unlucky dice rolls has wiped half the party.
So to all you old school gamers out there, googling away, trying to decide whether to make the jump: go for it. It’s faster, lighter in some respects, but most importantly: more fun than ever before. I’ve seen other blogs write about how Dungeon Masters also have less prep time now, compared to earlier editions. I still spend a ton of time prepping, but a lot less of it is spent on endless tables and math. Now I even have time to blog about my game!
All images used in this post are from the D&D Fan Site Kit, made available by Wizards of the Coast.
