 Goto [ Index ] |
Please note these caveats: This is not an exhaustive review of the Core Set designed to educate readers on *all* of the changes in 4th edition. That would take an article rather than a review. If you are unfamiliar with the character classes that have been dropped, how ability score generation has changed, and so forth and want an extensive discussion thereof, you won't find it here. And this review is not based on extensive playtesting, although I have, indeed, played several sessions of 4th Edition. Nor will I comment on tone, artwork, and so forth. This review is solely of how D&D 4th edition plays compared to 3.5 in my experience and measured against the design goals and a few overall observations at the end.
EXTENDING THE "SWEETSPOT" OF D&D BELOW AND ABOVE THE 6TH TO 13TH LEVEL RANGE
The designers have clearly accomplished this goal.
At low levels, encounters are now interesting. A first level battle between starting characters and a group of kobolds I experienced was vastly more intricate than the equivalent "swing until somebody hits" encounter in 3.5. The number of character options and powers and monster options and powers made the encounter epic and exciting right out of the box.
At higher levels, the number of powers has been significantly simplified. Instead of a massive proliferation of powers that seemed to warrant a notebook at high levels in 3.5, 4th edition is designed so that powers are "swapped out" for more effective powers at higher levels.
GETTING RID OF THE FIVE MINUTE ADVENTURING DAY
All of us old-timers have experienced it. Your characters wake up, run into a group of orcs, and a few bad rolls later, your whole wad is shot. You're down to your last hit points and your only option is to rest for 8 hours to have a prayer of surviving the next encounter.
Encounter powers that refresh each time a new battle occurs and healing surges have greatly mitigated this problem. Basically, you can heal up out of combat, and even in combat to improve your party's resiliency.
Wizards are no longer relegated to firing a magic missle and hiding for the rest of the day. Clerics aren't stuck burning all of their spells just to heal up the party for the next encounter.
Design goal achieved.
LEVELLING OUT THE POWER OF THE CLASSES
Although I have no idea what Wizards are like at higher levels, it *looks* as if they don't become any more godlike than any other class at high levels, which was definitely an issue in 3.5. Wizards in 3.5 were kind of like a snowball...at low levels, they were very fragile an ineffective, at high levels they could waste any other equivalent character of the same class. 4th Edition seems to have smoothed that progression out, definitely at the low levels and, as far as I can see, probably at the higher levels.
Paladins have been given a bit of a shot in the arm overall, Clerics have been tamped down a bit (accompanied by the fact that now anyone can heal themselves), and rogues seem to be able to do more in combat than just wait for a backstab opportunity.
Overall, the concept of character roles in the party and the fact that, given healing surges, a party is no longer dead in the water without a dedicated healer, helps level out classes in regards to their overall usefulness to the party.
I'd say the designers have likely accomplished this goal, but it bears more scrutiny.
MAKING MONSTER ENCOUNTERS MORE INTERESTING
GMs now have many more quick options to diversify encounters, from adding Elite templates to monsters, to including "minion" versions of monsters that go down in one hit, to creating Solo monsters that can take on a group of five equivalent-level PCs. The guidelines for creating monsters and modifying them are fairly straight forward and are clearly described in the DM's Guide.
The first level encounter I spoke of earlier with a group of kobolds was vastly more interesting than an equivalent first level encounter in 3.5 with the kobolds employing unique powers to give the players stuff to worry about. Gone are the "swing until someone hits" experience of low level encounters. I don't know how that plays at higher levels, but the low level experience has definitely succeeded in fulfulling this goal.
I did notice that the Monster Manual, overall, seemed to have less base entries than the 3.5 Monster Manual, but that might have just been my perception. Perhaps something for further investigation.
EASIER FOR THE GM TO CREATE ENCOUNTERS AND ADVENTURES
This is a somewhat mixed bag.
I think it's definitely easier to ballpark an encounter for a group of PCs than it was in 3.5. The whole "2 creatures of level 5 are equivalent to a creature of level 7" business and what not used to drive me batty.
There are clear guidelines on what makes for a survivable, appropriate encounter for a group of PCs and guidelines on how to modify monsters to a fixed level, as discussed previously. I found those guidelines more helpful and clear than their equivalents in 3.5.
And the treasure guidelines seem less random and straightforward, although I do miss the old treasure tables. :) Magical items are now scaled upwards with a party of a certain level uniformly finding magic items that are of a higher level than they are...at least, that's the default recommendation.
Skill encounters and Hazards and Trap encounters, however, look like a headache. Skill encounters were nebulous in 3.5, so that doesn't really work as a comparison point, but Hazards and Traps are now multidimesional and require some real thought to design in 4th edition. That extra thought might not be a bad thing, but it certainly isn't any easier than 3.5. I'll be awaiting a sourcebook with a junk load of predesigned traps. :)
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS VERSUS 3.5
And finally, some overall impressions of 4th compared to 3.5 for those wanting a bit more of what 4th ed "feels" like.
For one, it seems less lethal. If you enjoyed the old days in which your group of players didn't even name characters until they got to 2nd o 3rd level because of the lethality rate, that's gone. If you liked that struggle, you'll likely be unhappy with the shift in 4th edition. If you feel that D&D was always a bit schizophrenic being highly lethal, gritty, and random at lower levels ("Whoops...the orc rolled an 8 for damage...you be dead!"), yet proclaiming itself a game of high magic and high fantasy, then you'll be fine with the shift.
As an adjunct, high level characters are truly heroic. Because of the simplified skill system, a high level character will likely do *everything* better than a specialist of lower levels. And when you skip over into the 11-20th level tier and the 21st to 30th level tier, you become an order of magnitude more awesome. If you like the grittiness and specialization of more diversified characters and skill specialists in 3.5, you'll likely be disappointed about this change. (Although I must say, it's interesting having an end point to shoot for in a campaign...30th level and your destiny, as it were.)
Finally, it is a much, much more tactical game. Whereas you could possible play 3.5 without a battle mat and minis with minor improvisation, many of the powers in 4th edition are based almost solely on a character/monster's position on a battle mat.
I'd also add that it seems a much more tactically intricate game than 3.5. It seemed clear to me that if a GM doesn't understand how to use a particular monster's powers, players could easily clean an equivalent level encounter's clock. Likewise, if players don't coordinate tactics and power use well, picking the right spots and maneuvers, a savvy GM could make life very difficult for them.
If you've always enjoyed the "game" aspect of D&D, than this shift will work for you. If you enjoyed gaming without a battle mat and minis moving about, it won't.
One warning: With the proliferation of abilities and some of them seeming quite powerful on first glance, I'm willing to bet there are some as yet uncovered killer combos in 4th edition that will need to be "patched". I find this no different than 3.0 when it first came out. It had some broken parts, too. I'm sure 4th edition was playtested more than any previous version of D&D, but it just seems like a more difficult system to power-gamer proof than previous editions.
In summary, given my ratings, obviously the changes sit very well with me even though I have several shelves worth of 3.5 materials. :) I could see continuing to play 3.5, however, and by no means do I think it necessary to shout down those who still prefer 3.5. As I've stated throughout this review, there definitely are clear reasons why someone might prefer 3.5. But as for the goals of 4th ed, I think the designers are spot on.
