While we take our hiatus from 4e, I find myself with more time to think about role-playing, not because we haven't filled the gap with a different game -- we've yet to start in Pathfinder, but have taken a side-step into the World of Darkness -- but because I'm not currently the Dungeon Master/Gamemaster/Storyteller. Griff has taken over that role for now.
The reason that I'm the DM so often, though, is because I like creating stories, like telling stories, and like causing pain and suffering in others (characters and players alike). Since I cannot fulfill these desires at present, I have to be content with just thinking about how I'll do so the next time I get the chance. And, on that note, I've been working on my latest campaign idea.
Since our 4e experience has so far been solely with the WOTC modules, I've never made any content in the current edition, not campaigns, modules, encounters or monsters. And, even though I've claimed to have forsaken 4e for now, I find that, because of the more recent exposure to 4e and the dwindling (though fond) memories of 3.5, that design thoughts keep steering to 4e concepts of encounters, roles and powers. Thus, I'm taking the challenge to write this campaign in both 3.5/Pathfinder and 4e versions at the same time.
This could be a disaster, of course. Refreshing my 3.5 knowledge is just going to cloud the 4e that I've only just gotten comfortable with, so it will be interesting to see if they can both co-exist at suitable levels in my head as I design this campaign. I haven't decided if it's going to be possible to design encounters in a way that, no matter what the edition you play, advancement is consistent -- that is, if the party survives encounters A1 through A7, they'll make it from 1st- to 2nd-level, in both 3.5 and 4e. On the one hand, it makes planning a lot easier if that was possible, but on the other hand, 3.5 goes to 20th level (before epic rules kick in), whereas 4e goes to 30th level "normally". So should that be the meter for advancement? Or does it really matter at all? One thing I haven't done is try to gauge what the comparable strength of nth-level characters are between the two versions, and perhaps that's what's necessary to determine the progression of each edition's implementation. So, by the time the party encounters Bossman Z, they should be of similar mightiness, not because I can't adjust the 3.5 and 4e versions of Bossman Z appropriately, but because the tone and spirit of the campaign at Bossman Z's point is such that the party should be suitably ... heroic. Mighty. Epic.
Anyhow, as I work on this, I'll occasionally post on how it's going, whether to complain about or praise 4e for how it is to work with from a designer's point-of-view, or to drop a few "well THREE POINT FIVE does this better than FOUR EEE does..."-type of posts. Or, admittedly, how 4e may very well be easier to design with than 3.5. But shh, don't tell anyone I said that.
Showing posts with label 3.5 DnD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 3.5 DnD. Show all posts
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The 4E experience begins to wind down
It probably goes without saying after such a prolonged silence (is it really almost December already?) but the end is almost in sight. The light at the end of the tunnel, and the first death knell for this blog, is in the Pathfinder RPG (aka DnD 3.75), which I think we'll be playing next summer. We've all agreed to give the Paragon level a fair shake first, and there's some hope that the PHB3 could be an edition saver. Otherwise, it's been nice 4E but while 3.# has numerous flaws, those flaws are better than yours.
Frankly, I was ready to turf 4E months ago. In fact my interest in all things DnD has been at an all time low for the last several months. I've been much more interested in White Wolf's latest edition of World of Darkness game even though I only get to play it via IRC which is not nearly as much fun as tabletop. While two in our group have shown some interest/willingness in trying an NWoD game, Crwth has made it pretty clear that he's not interested in learning a new gaming system. At least not one that falls outside the d20 family. I can respect that, especially given the strains on free time imposed by work, wives, and kids that we all have. We're lucky to play more than three times a month, so reading pdfs and learning a different RPG system is asking a lot. Not that it'll stop me from needling and pushing for it. (btw, if anyone knows of a good Play-By-Post site for nWoD, lemme know).
As mentioned, our group has had a lot going on in real life, so we haven't gotten together nearly as much as I'd like. Since our 5th levels were TPK'd we've only had one real session where all but one were present. That was a re-play of the troll encounter on the road, and it was great fun.
As a brief aside, I really like the Paragon level (at least my very early impression of combat at that tier/level). The number of Encounter powers available kept us from having to fall back on our piddly At-Wills which kept the fight interesting. My only big complaint, and one that mightily pissed me off, was that my monk couldn't use a spiked chain because none of his powers could be channeled through it. That's now been fixed (thankfully!) by the release of the finalized version of the Monk in Dragon #381.
Still, I don't see that one concession to flexibility and player choice being enough to save this edition of DnD for me.
As for the blog, I've probably got a few more posts to put up. One on setting is already in mind, and I expect to have a few as we get a little deeper in to the Paragon level/tier. I can feel the excitement.
Frankly, I was ready to turf 4E months ago. In fact my interest in all things DnD has been at an all time low for the last several months. I've been much more interested in White Wolf's latest edition of World of Darkness game even though I only get to play it via IRC which is not nearly as much fun as tabletop. While two in our group have shown some interest/willingness in trying an NWoD game, Crwth has made it pretty clear that he's not interested in learning a new gaming system. At least not one that falls outside the d20 family. I can respect that, especially given the strains on free time imposed by work, wives, and kids that we all have. We're lucky to play more than three times a month, so reading pdfs and learning a different RPG system is asking a lot. Not that it'll stop me from needling and pushing for it. (btw, if anyone knows of a good Play-By-Post site for nWoD, lemme know).
As mentioned, our group has had a lot going on in real life, so we haven't gotten together nearly as much as I'd like. Since our 5th levels were TPK'd we've only had one real session where all but one were present. That was a re-play of the troll encounter on the road, and it was great fun.
As a brief aside, I really like the Paragon level (at least my very early impression of combat at that tier/level). The number of Encounter powers available kept us from having to fall back on our piddly At-Wills which kept the fight interesting. My only big complaint, and one that mightily pissed me off, was that my monk couldn't use a spiked chain because none of his powers could be channeled through it. That's now been fixed (thankfully!) by the release of the finalized version of the Monk in Dragon #381.
Still, I don't see that one concession to flexibility and player choice being enough to save this edition of DnD for me.
As for the blog, I've probably got a few more posts to put up. One on setting is already in mind, and I expect to have a few as we get a little deeper in to the Paragon level/tier. I can feel the excitement.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Character Builder redux
I recently commented on the Character Builder demo. They just released the full version this week.
I still really like this program. I can bitch and complain about WotC's methods about many things, predominantly their website, but this standalone tool is very well done.
It has a few little niggly things, of course; if you're rapidly levelling up a character (say, to make a 30th level character), then after each level up, the save step always prompts for overwriting the old file. It's something you should want it to do, of course, so as not to overwrite the wrong thing, but perhaps this should be a Save versus a Save As... feature, so by default you do reuse the same file.
This is emphasized by the fact that the save file keeps track of all of your decisions at each level-up, which I think it great. It lets you go back and see what you did, and when; it lets you go back and retroactively change something if you so choose; and it lets you make a 30th level character and still get access to what he or she looks like at the lower levels - something that can be handy for a recurring NPC.
There are a few Feats, specifically from Dragon #368, with a bunch of "styles" that affect some of the powers (exploits) you might have; these feats just display as "Augment at-will exploits" on the character sheet, but these augmentations don't appear on the power cards that are generated, which means you need to keep that issue of Dragon handy -- oh wait! It's digital, so I can't have that issue just sitting on the game table.
When you get to the point where you don't get MORE powers, but just the opportunity to swap out old ones, the interface requires that you lose a power before even getting to see what your list of choices is. This is a problem if you're hoping to swap out a low-level power for a higher-level equivalent. It slows down what is otherwise a very efficient, fluid action.
The Builder also has a link to the Compendium for everything, but the horrid authentication system makes this ineffective; unless you've just authenticated to your Insider account in the last few minutes, the window that the Builder pops up will not be logged in. It kindly offers to let you log in, but doesn't honour the attempt, and in the end you're forced to just pop up your browser and view the Compendium the old-fashioned way, breaking the usefulness of the link in the Builder. This isn't a fault with the Builder, it's the fault of the Insider site which keeps your login for, what, two minutes before expiring it?
But except for these little things, it works very well. I meant to time how long it took to create a character from 1st level to 30th, but I ended up doing it over a long span of a day, so I really couldn't say how long it took. Because the decisions at each level are so few, however, I'm sure it doesn't amount to much - reading the power descriptions is the most lengthy part. I don't mean this as a criticism of how simplistic the levelling-up is (that was in previous posts), but on how the Builder takes care of the "uhh, what else increases at this level?" stuff that you find yourself doing by-hand. Many of the incorrect totals we had before we tried the demo were because we forgot to add 1/2-level here and there, or recalculate this here... the software does all that for you, which is nice.
Doing this levelling-up exercise also gave me a pass through the paragon and epic feats, which I only glossed over when I first read the Player's Handbook, and it let me see the high-end powers for the Ranger class, which I hadn't read at all. In fact, I can see myself making a 30th-level character of each class as a way of learning the powers for them, because as odd as it seems, I'm finding it easier to read them in the software than browsing through the book -- reading page after page is what gave the glassy-eyed "these all look the same to me" feeling about the powers. As I build this Ranger, and formulate a "style" to her, I'm starting to realize that you CAN customize your class to be different from every other member of the class. Or perhaps that's just the ranger, because it has it's two very separate paths built-in -- the melee and ranged versions.
One thing that seems almost backwards, though, is that I have access to all of the material out there. Our group has a copy of Martial Power, but I've not looked at it yet; however, I've just read through most of the powers from that book that are available to a Ranger. Is this going to affect sales of books for Wizards? The old E-Tools required that you bought each of the books' data separately (or in packs), where the single Insider fee for access to the Builder gives me access to books I might never buy. I'm not complaining, mind you! I just hope it works out for Wizards. It's a great gesture, and anyone who has played 3.5, and had access to all of the extra source material (I think our group is missing half-a-dozen, tops?) will know how time-consuming it can be to go through them all, making sure that you've got in mind all of the options available to you (I'm not saying options are BAD!). Having all of the feats and powers available in one place, and also filtered for what you are able to take, is definitely a boon for any player.
I haven't been paying attention to how much the various parts of the Insider subscription cost, or the bundles, or whatever, but I definitely recommend this tool if you've got room in your budget, or if not, the group should pitch in and buy a subscription for the DM, and get him to punch in the character data for the party.
I still really like this program. I can bitch and complain about WotC's methods about many things, predominantly their website, but this standalone tool is very well done.
It has a few little niggly things, of course; if you're rapidly levelling up a character (say, to make a 30th level character), then after each level up, the save step always prompts for overwriting the old file. It's something you should want it to do, of course, so as not to overwrite the wrong thing, but perhaps this should be a Save versus a Save As... feature, so by default you do reuse the same file.
This is emphasized by the fact that the save file keeps track of all of your decisions at each level-up, which I think it great. It lets you go back and see what you did, and when; it lets you go back and retroactively change something if you so choose; and it lets you make a 30th level character and still get access to what he or she looks like at the lower levels - something that can be handy for a recurring NPC.
There are a few Feats, specifically from Dragon #368, with a bunch of "styles" that affect some of the powers (exploits) you might have; these feats just display as "Augment at-will exploits" on the character sheet, but these augmentations don't appear on the power cards that are generated, which means you need to keep that issue of Dragon handy -- oh wait! It's digital, so I can't have that issue just sitting on the game table.
When you get to the point where you don't get MORE powers, but just the opportunity to swap out old ones, the interface requires that you lose a power before even getting to see what your list of choices is. This is a problem if you're hoping to swap out a low-level power for a higher-level equivalent. It slows down what is otherwise a very efficient, fluid action.
The Builder also has a link to the Compendium for everything, but the horrid authentication system makes this ineffective; unless you've just authenticated to your Insider account in the last few minutes, the window that the Builder pops up will not be logged in. It kindly offers to let you log in, but doesn't honour the attempt, and in the end you're forced to just pop up your browser and view the Compendium the old-fashioned way, breaking the usefulness of the link in the Builder. This isn't a fault with the Builder, it's the fault of the Insider site which keeps your login for, what, two minutes before expiring it?
But except for these little things, it works very well. I meant to time how long it took to create a character from 1st level to 30th, but I ended up doing it over a long span of a day, so I really couldn't say how long it took. Because the decisions at each level are so few, however, I'm sure it doesn't amount to much - reading the power descriptions is the most lengthy part. I don't mean this as a criticism of how simplistic the levelling-up is (that was in previous posts), but on how the Builder takes care of the "uhh, what else increases at this level?" stuff that you find yourself doing by-hand. Many of the incorrect totals we had before we tried the demo were because we forgot to add 1/2-level here and there, or recalculate this here... the software does all that for you, which is nice.
Doing this levelling-up exercise also gave me a pass through the paragon and epic feats, which I only glossed over when I first read the Player's Handbook, and it let me see the high-end powers for the Ranger class, which I hadn't read at all. In fact, I can see myself making a 30th-level character of each class as a way of learning the powers for them, because as odd as it seems, I'm finding it easier to read them in the software than browsing through the book -- reading page after page is what gave the glassy-eyed "these all look the same to me" feeling about the powers. As I build this Ranger, and formulate a "style" to her, I'm starting to realize that you CAN customize your class to be different from every other member of the class. Or perhaps that's just the ranger, because it has it's two very separate paths built-in -- the melee and ranged versions.
One thing that seems almost backwards, though, is that I have access to all of the material out there. Our group has a copy of Martial Power, but I've not looked at it yet; however, I've just read through most of the powers from that book that are available to a Ranger. Is this going to affect sales of books for Wizards? The old E-Tools required that you bought each of the books' data separately (or in packs), where the single Insider fee for access to the Builder gives me access to books I might never buy. I'm not complaining, mind you! I just hope it works out for Wizards. It's a great gesture, and anyone who has played 3.5, and had access to all of the extra source material (I think our group is missing half-a-dozen, tops?) will know how time-consuming it can be to go through them all, making sure that you've got in mind all of the options available to you (I'm not saying options are BAD!). Having all of the feats and powers available in one place, and also filtered for what you are able to take, is definitely a boon for any player.
I haven't been paying attention to how much the various parts of the Insider subscription cost, or the bundles, or whatever, but I definitely recommend this tool if you've got room in your budget, or if not, the group should pitch in and buy a subscription for the DM, and get him to punch in the character data for the party.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Powers for everyone
Having read the Warden and Druid classes, I get the feeling of a bit of similarity. True, the Warden doesn't have the burst powers the Druid has, and the Warden has its Marking. Perhaps it's just the effect that Griff and I have mentioned in the past, how all of the powers seem to be the same thing, for every class, with just a little change here and there -- it's like there's a formula for making powers:
Pick an attack ability (Wisdom)
Pick a defense (Reflex)
Pick a range (10 squares)
Pick damage (1d6 fire)
Pick one of the following extra effects: push, pull, slide, stun, daze, combat advantage, zone of effect (zone of effect: fire)
Based on the above, determine whether this is at-will, encounter or daily, based on some formula (at-will)
If Daily, determine the Miss effect, if any (none)
Based on the above, determine appropriate class for this power (Druid)
Based on that, determine the power's name (Flame Seed)
I wonder if every combination of every variable has been crunched into a database, and the last few steps just need to be done for the lifetime of 4e. New classes could be determined that way:
"I was browsing through the database, and found a Dex vs. Fortitude Range 5 2d6 + stun encounter power - what should we do with it?"
"Sounds like some sort of deftly-thrown implement that knocks someone out -- sounds like a Martial Controller to me. Let's call it the 'Flying Dagger' class. Next!"
Now I understand that, given the mechanics of the game, there are only so many combinations of things: we have six abilities to "attack" with, four defenses, four attack types (melee, ranged, burst, close burst), and then some creative damage and effects. So you might say of *course* they're going to start feeling similar.
And that's the point: in previous editions of D&D, those with "spellcasting" differed in large ways: arcane vs. divine, holy vs. nature, innate vs. learned. That let you easily tell the difference between them, and playing each of these classes was quite different. But now every class has spells (...by any other name...) and that's what's making these classes blur together.
Even just having the 3rd edition fighters and rogues using Feats instead of Powers was enough. Even having one defense score and three saving throws was enough for the classes' abilities to feel different. And this is the feeling that we seem unable to shake - that I'm casting Divine Leader attack at the goblin, that Griff is casting Arcane Controller attack, then a Martial Leader attack, a Martial Striker attack, etc. And while my numbers might be slightly different than Griffs, probably not much so, because my Cleric has his best score in Wisdom, and his in Intelligence, and so our rolls are coming out the same.
I've mentioned in the past that I've not read all of the powers for every class, and that certainly goes for those in the 10+ level range. So perhaps I'm speaking too soon, and perhaps this similarity between the classes will disappear as we progress. The danger, of course, is that we don't choose to progress, but instead return to 3rd edition, because 4e can't keep our interest.
Pick an attack ability (Wisdom)
Pick a defense (Reflex)
Pick a range (10 squares)
Pick damage (1d6 fire)
Pick one of the following extra effects: push, pull, slide, stun, daze, combat advantage, zone of effect (zone of effect: fire)
Based on the above, determine whether this is at-will, encounter or daily, based on some formula (at-will)
If Daily, determine the Miss effect, if any (none)
Based on the above, determine appropriate class for this power (Druid)
Based on that, determine the power's name (Flame Seed)
I wonder if every combination of every variable has been crunched into a database, and the last few steps just need to be done for the lifetime of 4e. New classes could be determined that way:
"I was browsing through the database, and found a Dex vs. Fortitude Range 5 2d6 + stun encounter power - what should we do with it?"
"Sounds like some sort of deftly-thrown implement that knocks someone out -- sounds like a Martial Controller to me. Let's call it the 'Flying Dagger' class. Next!"
Now I understand that, given the mechanics of the game, there are only so many combinations of things: we have six abilities to "attack" with, four defenses, four attack types (melee, ranged, burst, close burst), and then some creative damage and effects. So you might say of *course* they're going to start feeling similar.
And that's the point: in previous editions of D&D, those with "spellcasting" differed in large ways: arcane vs. divine, holy vs. nature, innate vs. learned. That let you easily tell the difference between them, and playing each of these classes was quite different. But now every class has spells (...by any other name...) and that's what's making these classes blur together.
Even just having the 3rd edition fighters and rogues using Feats instead of Powers was enough. Even having one defense score and three saving throws was enough for the classes' abilities to feel different. And this is the feeling that we seem unable to shake - that I'm casting Divine Leader attack at the goblin, that Griff is casting Arcane Controller attack, then a Martial Leader attack, a Martial Striker attack, etc. And while my numbers might be slightly different than Griffs, probably not much so, because my Cleric has his best score in Wisdom, and his in Intelligence, and so our rolls are coming out the same.
I've mentioned in the past that I've not read all of the powers for every class, and that certainly goes for those in the 10+ level range. So perhaps I'm speaking too soon, and perhaps this similarity between the classes will disappear as we progress. The danger, of course, is that we don't choose to progress, but instead return to 3rd edition, because 4e can't keep our interest.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
We're still alive here at the blog, but have been frightfully absent.
I won't bore you with tales of family, work and holiday obligations. We've both been negligent towards posting here, and it's my resolution, at least, to change that.
We do still play D&D, although the fact that we're still on the first 4e module should hint towards how often we get to play. We're a group of six thirty-somethings, and with family, work and other extracurricular activities, trying to coordinate 4 out of 6 -- my minimum for a session -- is a bit of a challenge.
There is plenty of 4e content to talk about, as Wizards is doing a really good job of keeping pace with Dragon and Dungeon magazine articles. Even if I don't have gameplay experiences to talk about, I'll talk about these more often (which I've said before, but resolve to do again).
Not that Griff and I are yet sold on 4e. We talk about whether we'll return to 3.5 or not, because there are some things that we still miss. We've often talked about a hybrid set of rules, the best of both, but haven't dug into how well that would actually work.
I've been working on a single-player 4e campaign idea that I'm going to take Griff through, so we have another view at the rules; I think 4e is well-designed to handle a single-player campaign, moreso than 3.5 at least.
I won't bore you with tales of family, work and holiday obligations. We've both been negligent towards posting here, and it's my resolution, at least, to change that.
We do still play D&D, although the fact that we're still on the first 4e module should hint towards how often we get to play. We're a group of six thirty-somethings, and with family, work and other extracurricular activities, trying to coordinate 4 out of 6 -- my minimum for a session -- is a bit of a challenge.
There is plenty of 4e content to talk about, as Wizards is doing a really good job of keeping pace with Dragon and Dungeon magazine articles. Even if I don't have gameplay experiences to talk about, I'll talk about these more often (which I've said before, but resolve to do again).
Not that Griff and I are yet sold on 4e. We talk about whether we'll return to 3.5 or not, because there are some things that we still miss. We've often talked about a hybrid set of rules, the best of both, but haven't dug into how well that would actually work.
I've been working on a single-player 4e campaign idea that I'm going to take Griff through, so we have another view at the rules; I think 4e is well-designed to handle a single-player campaign, moreso than 3.5 at least.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Ask Wizards. Why bother?
Okay. This has nothing to do with 4e. I admit that right up front. I'm honest and make no excuses about that.
Which separates me from the Ask Wizards "article" that appears every other day on the dnd4 webpage.
My understanding is that Ask Wizards is supposed to be some kind of font of knowledge. It's to clarify rules and how the game mechanics apply to certain obscure or unusual circumstances. The questions answered don't always have to be eye opening jaw droppers. Sometimes the mundane needs a bit of explaining too.
For instance, "A natural 20 is 'always a hit' but can it be negated by concealment? Or does a natural 20 overrule the miss chance in concealment?"
Instead we get...
"Ask Wizards: 12/07/2007
from DnD 4e Home page by Mike
I was curious: on average, how many questions do you receive a day?"
You know what? I don't give a flying fuck how many questions they receive! In fact, I'd be surprised if they receive any.
Why?
Because for months that "article" (and I use the term very loosely) has denegrated into nothing more than a thinly veiled series of advertisements. Ads for their shitty minis game. Ads for their even shittier Inn-Fighting game.
I hope it's boosting their sales of those two offerings, because WotC is dangerously close to losing this customer. After all, 3.5 is pretty damn fun.
Footnote: I sent in the above question on concealment and the nat 20 last week. I also sent a letter to Santa Claus and to God. Guess which of the three I expect to get a reply from.
Which separates me from the Ask Wizards "article" that appears every other day on the dnd4 webpage.
My understanding is that Ask Wizards is supposed to be some kind of font of knowledge. It's to clarify rules and how the game mechanics apply to certain obscure or unusual circumstances. The questions answered don't always have to be eye opening jaw droppers. Sometimes the mundane needs a bit of explaining too.
For instance, "A natural 20 is 'always a hit' but can it be negated by concealment? Or does a natural 20 overrule the miss chance in concealment?"
Instead we get...
"Ask Wizards: 12/07/2007
from DnD 4e Home page by Mike
I was curious: on average, how many questions do you receive a day?"
You know what? I don't give a flying fuck how many questions they receive! In fact, I'd be surprised if they receive any.
Why?
Because for months that "article" (and I use the term very loosely) has denegrated into nothing more than a thinly veiled series of advertisements. Ads for their shitty minis game. Ads for their even shittier Inn-Fighting game.
I hope it's boosting their sales of those two offerings, because WotC is dangerously close to losing this customer. After all, 3.5 is pretty damn fun.
Footnote: I sent in the above question on concealment and the nat 20 last week. I also sent a letter to Santa Claus and to God. Guess which of the three I expect to get a reply from.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Oh dnd. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I started working on a "wish list" for what I'd like to see in 4e. I started with things like more metamagic feats, simpler combat rules, better handling of the Diplomacy skill. Flying monkey ninjas. And from there the list went downhill.
Besides low blood sugar and too much coffee my list suffered because I really can't find many flaws in 3.5 DnD. There are a few things that can use some tweaking, or even a major overhaul (Grappling rules, I'm looking at you), but overall the game play is smooth and fun.
But why is it so fun? What is it about DnD that makes it my game of choice over Monopoly, Hungry Hungry Hippos, or Settlers of Cattan?
In no particular order:
1. the social aspect. Solitaire not withstanding all games have some sort of social aspect, but in what other game can you deride a fellow player for casting Finger of Death on a vampire, or huzzah at an attempt to ride a beholder?
Plus, there's the added element of cooperation that sets DnD apart. We're a party, a team, with a more or less shared goal. More importantly, it's us against that guy sitting behind the DM screens with an evil grin on his face. Oh, how we all hate him so much!
2. the die rolls. I don't know of any other game where the single roll of a die can cause so much tension. Just thinking of the words "roll a fortitude save" instantly fills me with fear. In fact, I just peed a little bit.
That said, too many die rolls can be a bad thing. There are only two things that slow down a game more than watching a fellow player insist on finding and counting out 15 seperate six-sided dice. Those are, 1. looking up the rules on counterspells, and 2. Jessica Alba.
3. character generation. I love everything about creating new characters. From the initial concept to rolling or picking stats to feats, spells, and equipment. I love it all. Then there's the cherry picking levels of other classes or coming up with some odd mixture of race and classes to make something viable. If I announce my latest character and my fellow players look at me with a mix of horror and confusion, I know I'm on the right track. Then it's just a matter of seeing if I can actually pull it off in game and get a few levels.
4. roleplaying. Doy Griff! It's a roleplaying game. You twit.
I know that this should go without saying but I love the roleplaying involved in DnD. We could hack'n'slash our way through, and sometimes do, but the most memorable moments are when we've used guile and roleplaying. Sometimes it's sweet talking a guard into running down the hall where the party's barbarian tanarruk waits with greatsword at the ready. Other times it's simply losing myself in the moment and honestly stepping into the shoes of my character. This kind of gameplay is transcendent for me.
5. the feeling of accomplishment. I'm talking about experience points. XP. The two sweetest letters in the English language. I know that it's all delayed gratification, but I love it more than all the loot in the DMG combined. I love seeing my carefully laid plans for feat progressions, spell selections, and abilities all coming together with each and every level up.
I'm sure I could come up with more but enough is enough already.
In short, I hope that DnD 4e continues the spirit of 3.5 with some simplifications, some clarifications, and even greater variety in character choices. More choice, less dice. Can WotC deliver on that in 4e? I sure hope so.
ps. Keep the look of the books. I love all the sidebars, the text boxes, and the background illustrations. If the Eberron books, with their blase text book appearance are a taste of what's to come... yuck!
Besides low blood sugar and too much coffee my list suffered because I really can't find many flaws in 3.5 DnD. There are a few things that can use some tweaking, or even a major overhaul (Grappling rules, I'm looking at you), but overall the game play is smooth and fun.
But why is it so fun? What is it about DnD that makes it my game of choice over Monopoly, Hungry Hungry Hippos, or Settlers of Cattan?
In no particular order:
1. the social aspect. Solitaire not withstanding all games have some sort of social aspect, but in what other game can you deride a fellow player for casting Finger of Death on a vampire, or huzzah at an attempt to ride a beholder?
Plus, there's the added element of cooperation that sets DnD apart. We're a party, a team, with a more or less shared goal. More importantly, it's us against that guy sitting behind the DM screens with an evil grin on his face. Oh, how we all hate him so much!
2. the die rolls. I don't know of any other game where the single roll of a die can cause so much tension. Just thinking of the words "roll a fortitude save" instantly fills me with fear. In fact, I just peed a little bit.
That said, too many die rolls can be a bad thing. There are only two things that slow down a game more than watching a fellow player insist on finding and counting out 15 seperate six-sided dice. Those are, 1. looking up the rules on counterspells, and 2. Jessica Alba.
3. character generation. I love everything about creating new characters. From the initial concept to rolling or picking stats to feats, spells, and equipment. I love it all. Then there's the cherry picking levels of other classes or coming up with some odd mixture of race and classes to make something viable. If I announce my latest character and my fellow players look at me with a mix of horror and confusion, I know I'm on the right track. Then it's just a matter of seeing if I can actually pull it off in game and get a few levels.
4. roleplaying. Doy Griff! It's a roleplaying game. You twit.
I know that this should go without saying but I love the roleplaying involved in DnD. We could hack'n'slash our way through, and sometimes do, but the most memorable moments are when we've used guile and roleplaying. Sometimes it's sweet talking a guard into running down the hall where the party's barbarian tanarruk waits with greatsword at the ready. Other times it's simply losing myself in the moment and honestly stepping into the shoes of my character. This kind of gameplay is transcendent for me.
5. the feeling of accomplishment. I'm talking about experience points. XP. The two sweetest letters in the English language. I know that it's all delayed gratification, but I love it more than all the loot in the DMG combined. I love seeing my carefully laid plans for feat progressions, spell selections, and abilities all coming together with each and every level up.
I'm sure I could come up with more but enough is enough already.
In short, I hope that DnD 4e continues the spirit of 3.5 with some simplifications, some clarifications, and even greater variety in character choices. More choice, less dice. Can WotC deliver on that in 4e? I sure hope so.
ps. Keep the look of the books. I love all the sidebars, the text boxes, and the background illustrations. If the Eberron books, with their blase text book appearance are a taste of what's to come... yuck!
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