After Playing 4th Edition - Feedback Resource

[Jal Dorak]

For those of us who have tried out 4th Edition (whether enthusiastically, inquisitively, dejectedly, or forcedly), this thread is intended to be informative to other potential players.
Read Spoilers!

Spoiler:

As someone down on 4th Edition for some time, I think these boards could use some more positive thoughts and feedback. Along the constructive lines of some of the recent PRPG threads, I would ask that people comment on a balance of:

1) positives,
2) negatives,
3) things you didn't expect.

Finally, post a quick final thought: are you going all in for 4th, staying with 3rd/PRPG, or playing both sides?

For myself:

1) People still had fun playing, and most players did something interesting and dramatic with their powers (thus losing nothing on previous editions).

Most of the powers were useful enough to be used at least once.

Adventure design is still on par with previous WotC products, so people should know what to expect.

2) Very little in the way of options or scaling - if you like everything about your character to get better, then levelling up is not as dramatic in 4th Edition. This is personal opinion, as this was clearly a design goal.

Rolling to hit Fort/Ref/Will occasionally felt a bit off, such as fire "attacking" someone who steps into it.

Several iconic powers have been severely altered and reduced in strength: turn undead, I'm looking at you! Other powers can clearly be abused, such as at-will spellcasting being used to blow holes in castles and tunnels (1d6+Int damage for 3 squares is pretty effective as a quick digging tool...).

3) I expected the Second Wind mechanic to feel "off" but the result in combat is minimal, and is like using an action point to claw your way back into a fight. (Outside of combat is another issue).

1-Square movement did make things a little bit easier, as people never had to take back a move from miscounting. However, never had an odd situation such as diagonal move going farther than on axis, or square fireballs.

I expected fighters to be better than they were (after my experience with Book of Nine Swords). Overall, I found the wizard was the most effective low-level character since gaining at-will spells.

My final verdict:

Spoiler:

There are some good things in 4th Edition, even for an old grognard like me. I really like the idea of rituals for certain spells, and I already use action points. But there is nothing worth investing in a new game for, anything I like I can (or have) house-rule(d) into 3rd Edition. I probably wouldn't turn down a game of 4th Edition if it was the choice between roleplaying and not, but that isn't really a ringing endorsement of the system.

As the "new" Basic D&D ***1/2 / *****
As the "new" Advanced D&D: **1/2 / *****
Meeting design goals **** / *****
Personal taste of design goals ** / *****
Overal *** / *****

4th Edition lives up to the expectations of its designers - if you like what you have read in the previews, the game delivers exactly that. And if you don't care what rules govern your game, the game doesn't take anything away from a roleplaying experience.

However, if you like immersive rules and fine detail, and a logical interwoven set of conditions, then you probably got a bad feeling about 4th Edition already - you were right, it is less simulation, more game.