Wizards Wisdom- My Initial Thoughts of 4E

[Spirit Hawkfellow]

Wizard Wisdom

A 4 Edition Review.

   By Spirit Hawkfellow

   Once again my merry blades we meet to share ale, and toast the coming of new adventures and dangers '¦to mark the landscape of our gaming world.  Lo was it not just eight years ago that we unrolled the parchment of rule sets that would replace the old matrix of gaming for something new.  Now the Sages of Wizards that live by the coast have decreed that no longer shall the rules of which we have played and liked are forever more not needed, from their cauldrons of prickling brew, has come forth their latest incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons Game.  

 What can I Say to you?  having received it early by at least a week, the tomes have not left my side.  They are with me when I awake, when I travel off into the world, and when I return home to sleep, there they stay underneath my pillow warm and ready for the next day.  
   3e was a great start, vastly different than 2e, except when it came to spells.  It was a fresh take on the game, the addition of feats, complex combat, with minies ushered in a new way of tactical playing.  With 4e they have taken that next step.  Many will ask is 4e a better game than 3e.  Having played my last campaign with elements of both together I can tell you this'¦what you heard looks to be true.  4e seems to be quicker version of the game.  A leaner D20 system by far, to get those who want to play into the game quickly, and with out much fuss.  Reading it I believe this system will be easier to start play for new gamers, and leave enough of the old.  Heck it took me less than thirty minutes to roll up a character by hand with out using etools, thats a blessing.  
   
   Players hand book, Dunegeons Master Guide, and Monster Manuel, are written well.  The type setting is large enough that it doesn't bleed into the next word.  3e was notorious for making the type look like legalise, and laying many a peasant to sleep.  4e seem to be a young lean lion, with out the fat.   Just the way I love my steaks.  
   
   At first glance the art wasn't as appealing to me as 3e or even 2e, but as I continued to look on I took a greater appreciation to the design and concept.  4e goes for the flavor of second edition, with a 3e feel.  Once more art as fantasy illustration can be seen in D&D where many years ago it was a staple. Overall the structure of the books are sound.  
   By far player hand book is the book to have.  It is filled with a wealth of character and lore, just enough to keep you interested and happy as you create character classes, dole out feats and power and skills.
   
   The Power system of the game is what really make this system sing, added with feats it makes combat choices fun and more interesting than your 3e usual combat choices, thus adding for a meatier action combat sessions.  
   
   Gone are the clunkier modes of actions, and combat, and good riddance, in 3e they slowed the game down to a crawl.  If I wanted to play Rifts I would buy Rifts.  
   Dungeons Master guide is the weakest of the books.  If you have the previous 3e ones there not much deviation from those.  The D.M. guide seems more in line with newbie D.M, than old, which is fine.  The book doesn't go far enough in giving you the tools to create you own classes, which was 3e biggest strength.  

   
   Monster compendium, well It's monster Compendium, with 4e, many old staples monsters have gotten a wash and wax, and they shine nicely, The art is quite nice, and done with skill.  The monster themselves are presented with stats already set.  Plug and play is the name of the game with this edition, which I don't mind having, but again there should have been options in how to create monsters, which was not placed in the manual.

   4e is not perfect, but it does get a lot right.  There could be more powers, there should have been tables and ways for new class and character generations.  For the prices we the consuming public are paying  why are the Bard, Barbarian, Monk, not in this book.  Yes I know, I can hear it now, Player hand book two. I still think they could have layed down the foundation for them at least.  

   Wizard option people, as gamers we love options, and that what Dungeons and Dragons are about, let us descide what we want to use.  

   For the third D20 system game for Wizards, 4e seems to be charm, and already the call for my first 4e calls.  I can't see myself going back to 3e, I've played pathfinder.  There nothing special there, and it seems as clunky as ever.  4e might be the game that brings the action to sword and sorcery games.

   4e equals 41/2 stars out of five.


   Barking Points-  What the hell does Wizards of the coast have against media.  Dungeons and Dragons is one of Hasbro biggest properties, and could be as big as G.I. Joe or Transformers, it like a Parent neglecting it third child.  For a new system coming out there should have been tons of press, from t.v. news, advertisements, and what do we get  yeah stuff off of you-tube.  For crying out loud who runs their marketing department over there.  Get me some keebler elves and bake me some damn good ads for our favorite game.  To hell with the religious groups.  They don't bark when horror movies are killing young  beautiful nubile woman, then dammit I want to see a Balor chasing Timmy down main street with his +5 great sword.  

   Please Wizards Please, give us some advertising, and stop saying your  sales are down.  It not like the player won't find you, if you don't put yourself out there they will never come and Like the spirits from field of dreams whisper , 'if you build it they shall come.'

   Big Props to Ishy and Shadowfall

   
   Till next time  Venishdum Vanishdoim!!!!
   
   

[Ra-Tiel]

Well written. :D

However, a minor nitpick. ;) There are rules for creating your own monsters. They can be found in the DMG pg.184. I haven't played around with it yet, thou, but they seem to be rather solid (even if they appear quick'n'dirty).

Also, functional (DMG pg.176) and class (DMG pg.182) templates can be a quick way to alter the way a monster functions or behaves.

[Kaptn'Lath]

I agree wholehartedly, however a minor nitpick ;) there is information on creating your own class too. PHB page 29 the large table for class structure, just drop in your own flavored powers, paragon paths, ect. The table is the frame you shove all your flavourd bit into. (I am using it to make generic classea - Martial, Arcane, Divine, Daring, with Psion and Nature following) so together with what Ra-Tiel said two of your major concerns are already in 4e to enjoy!

[Spirit Hawkfellow]

Thanks guys for the point out.  Saw them afterward, and yeah you guys are right.  Looked at that information, and I will add a retraction to that.

[Elemental_Elf]

Barking Points-  What the hell does Wizards of the coast have against media.  Dungeons and Dragons is one of Hasbro biggest properties, and could be as big as G.I. Joe or Transformers, it like a Parent neglecting it third child.  For a new system coming out there should have been tons of press, from t.v. news, advertisements, and what do we get  yeah stuff off of you-tube.  For crying out loud who runs their marketing department over there.  Get me some keebler elves and bake me some damn good ads for our favorite game.  To hell with the religious groups.  They don't bark when horror movies are killing young  beautiful nubile woman, then dammit I want to see a Balor chasing Timmy down main street with his +5 great sword.  

   Please Wizards Please, give us some advertising, and stop saying your  sales are down.  It not like the player won't find you, if you don't put yourself out there they will never come and Like the spirits from field of dreams whisper , 'if you build it they shall come.'

I don't think D&D is actually that big. G.I. Joe and Transformers are much more popular than our little hobby. Plus, i think Wizards was shooting for more of a viral advertising campaign than waste the money advertising on Adult Swim. Remember, the D&D main site crashed due too many people logging on when 4e was announced. Plus, IMO, if you didn't know about 4e by now then you're only a casual gamer which probably doesn't care that a new edition is out or will be completely shocked and snatch all 3 books up the first time you see them.

One last thing, there was a lot of advertising for D&D Game Day, which coincided with the release of 4e, so its not like there wasn't any advertising.