Brush with D&D 4e
My son and I went to an event for the D&D Game Day 2008 yesterday. There we played a canned adventure for 4e and sampled the new system. I was also able to procure the core rulebooks also, which is something of a surprise given they are supposedly sold out nation wide.
The scenario was straightforward and vanilla; save two abducted boys from evil forces who want to use them for some nefarious purpose. However, I liked this as it allowed us to focus on the system more than the adventure, which was the purpose of the event.
You’ve probably heard tons of rumors about it, so I’ll just go down some of the ones I had heard and give you my impressions:
- The game is simplified. True. In many ways it is simplified. First of all, the number of skills and feats is drastically reduced and combined. For example, the Jump, Climb, and other skills are coalesced into a single Athletics skill.
- The game moves faster. Seems true. Each individual round played faster it seemed, though it’s hard to know since I was new to the system.
- The game emulates MMORPGs. True, but not in the way you think. It’s been a few years since I played WoW, but the idea of roles is definitely there. There is the defender, striker, leader and controller. And monsters have more varied roles (brutes, swarms, etc.). Also, powers are the new “spells”, and everyone has them, as they do in MMORPGs. But then again, it’s different for several reasons, if nothing more than you’re not sitting at a computer screen. It doesn’t “feel” anything like playing a game of WoW, even if the mechanics bear a resemblance.
- Everyone has something to do in combat. Definitely true. The roles give everyone something to do in combat. How much value that something depends on the encounter, but gone are the “15 minute day” that wizards faced at early levels as well as the the fighter being boring at higher levels because he can only swing his sword. Definitely an improvement, since combat is such a huge part of the game.
- Feels like a CCG. Okay, this isn’t really a rumor that I had heard, but it’s an impression that I got from advance details I had heard. Two of the core rules state: 1) “Simple rules, many exceptions” and 2) “Specific beats general”. Sounds like MtG and other CCGs operate with their cards vs. rules. It means learning the many exceptions will be the biggest hurdle. And I’d have to say it’s true.
There are lots of other things I could talk about, but the final verdict is that the group I DM will be playing it once we finish our current adventure. There are some details that I have to work out, such as converting the Eberron races to 4e. Also, I’m dropping tieflings and dragonborn won’t be available as PCs, at least not initially. I will monitor Keith Baker’s blog and Wizards to see what they do to convert Eberron.
