alexandraerin | (no subject)

I didn't get Tales of MU updated for Saturday until just a few minutes ago. My friends just got copies of D&D 4th edition and abducted me at d20-point for an all-day-and-night gaming session. My first impressions of the new version:

1) They're trying really hard to capture the MMORPG market.
2) Combat plays fast and snappy (assuming you've got your character's moves down) but with infinite variety, rules are less than robust in other areas.
3) As with any roleplaying game, how fun it is depends on the players and a flexible DM.

This is probably the biggest example of a "pure product" release. There was nothing wrong with 3rd edition that 4th edition fixes, except that it was losing ground against World of Warcraft and not selling as many new copies as when it first came out.* The core rulebooks, apart from resembling MMORPG play in its mechanics, notably don't involve very many non-combat abilities or abilities that would require roleplaying/human judgment to "mechanic" (no animal companions/mounts/cohorts/thingies, no paladins falling, etc.), which makes me wonder what they've got in the pipeline after D&D Insider (which looks awesome) is up and running... both in terms of electronic adaptations, and supplement books that will no doubt add back in some of the more popular deleted features... and make more money for WotC.

*(Note that I'm not criticizing them for doing this. We've all got to eat.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I suppose it's a different strokes-for-different-folks situation... most people in my circle lament the loss of druids and such things as animal companions. They might have bogged combat down a bit but they also made it more interesting. I don't really see how something like an animal companion or a paladin mount would slow combat down any more than having an additional player character, if it was integrated with the new combat system. For instance, because the module was balanced for a larger group than we were using, we ended up doubling up on characters halfway through our system, and that didn't even double the time it took to get through a round.

One thing I forgot to mention that I was very glad to see: the easing away from "Vancian" magic for wizards. "I cast magic missile on the orc. See you guys tomorrow." Yeah. Apart from being a terrible game mechanic, it doesn't really map to any (outside of Vance's writing) concept of what a wizard is and how magic works you're likely to find in fantasy and folklore.

Actually, the wizard's one of my favorite classes in terms of how it was handled. I like that they kept the "flavor" cantrips in place... that was a reassuring sign that while the system is most heavy on combat resolution, they really don't intend for the game to be nothing but that.

Though, in order to keep the Old Skool flavor for magic missile, I'm already declaring a house rule for my future campaigns: magic missile can be split into individual 1d4 attacks, or a d4 can be sacrificed for a bonus to hit.

You seem to have your finger more on the pulse of this great rampaging beast than I do... do you have any idea what the ETA on D&D Insider and the virtual tabletop is? I will be very happy to give them my money for that stuff. The people I was gaming with live two hours away and gas is 'spensive.

I've done a lot of Living Campaign gaming, and you get a very different situation when players don't necessarily know what kind of party they'll have until they sit down to the table. It's pretty easy for some character types to dominate combats in 3.5, the druid menagerie build is just one issue, certain other broken builds also tend to dominate, say the ultra high damage heedless charge type that leaves nothing for the rest of the party, or any level 15+ Wizard, or a well built cleric in any situation where the PCs can buff before combat.

Vancian magic is definitely gone, the only lingering vestige of it is the Wizard ability to choose between different daily and utility spells each day. I think they did a good job with the flavor on the Wizard. Rituals also help keep a huge amount of the old D&D flavor for the non-combat type spells.

You might try making magic missile 1d4+Int with a secondary attack for 1d4 damage, and then adding an additional attack for another 1d4 at 11th and 21st. It might get a little weird with it being a basic attack though. You'd have to clarify that things like bracers of the perfect shot only apply to the primary attack.

You won't have to give them money for D&D Insider anytime soon, they are trying to make all of those tools available ASAP, but they are going to be in beta until some time next year, and there will be no charge until they are fully functional.

If your friends are just looking for something different, they should check out 3.5/Pathfinder RPG from Paizo Publishing (www.paizo.com/pathfinderRPG).

Paizo published Dragon and Dungeon magazine until Wizards canceled the print editions. They now produce the Pathfinder Adventure Paths, and are the main support going forward for 3rd edition.

They're doing that by having a year long Alpha & Beta playtest of the Pathfinder RPG, which is designed to be a backwards compatible enhancement to the 3.5 rules - polishing instead of demolishing. The Alpha (and Beta next month) are available as Free PDFs.

If it sounds like something they'd be interested in, tell them to check it out - Paizo is responsible for much of the best RPG material available to date. They had similar concerns about 4th edition's focus, which is one reason they went ahead with the new system (and to keep an "in-print" copy of the rules available).

Take care - love MU!
TCM

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