Any Dungeons and Dragons players here

[Luckyflux]

Just looking for info about the newest version 4. I was an avid player many years ago and I have been reading about the newer version. It looks good but I wanted to talk to some expert players about D&D.

First question would be how do you feel about the new rules? Is it easier to get into the game and learn the rules?

What do you like or dislike about the new version?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I play. I have played. We stick with the old rules. Basic D & D. not even advanced, let alone version 3 or 4. We play in the basic world, before they even named it Mystara we have been playing there., Over 20 years we've been playing

 

[Luckyflux]

Wow, so you didn't even go through any of the other revisions such as 2nd edition and 3.5 edition?

I would like to see what are the big differences between the older versions and the 4th edition, to see what is easier about it.

Do you do any modules? Or is everything custom from your group?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

We sometimes use modules for story ideas. Sometimes we stick right to it, but our DM always tailors it ot fit our characers.

In the 20 years we've been playing, we've covered about 5 years in the lives of hte characters.

 

[Unicron]

I don't really know enough about 4th to comment on it. I have 3rd, and one issue I know that came up was changes to the class system. 3rd has the set of basic classes and a system of advanced (prestige) classes, many of which are scaled to work with a character of a particular base class. Some prestige classes are open to anyone with the right qualities, while others are restricted by race, alignment or preexisting class.

 

[Silvercrest]

I don't know 4th either, but what I have read about it sounds redundant, pointless, a waste of money and time, and redundant.

3rd Edition is gold as far as I'm concerned. I used to be like Flying Spaghetti Monster, a diehard 1st Edition player. I resisted our group moving into 2nd Edition for years and years, and when the group did it anyway, I thought it was also a waste of money and time.

That made me extremely reluctant to look at 3rd Edition. But when I finally did, it really sold me. I'd recommend it for Luckyflux as well.

Currently I'm beginning a 3rd Edition campaign that's set in the universe of Stargate SG-1. I imported rules from D20 Modern and the short-lived Stargate RPG to cover the non-medieval stuff. They're all based on the D20 system, so you can do that relatively easily. (Obviously, most of my game is custom.)

 

[Mistral]

Haven't played in years but never got past 2cnd edition. As a DM, I always quoted the line in the original DMG that said, "These are guidlines, not rules, and you may wish to alter specific aspects of your campaign."

Golden words that I took to heart. Gary Gygax would have been hard-pressed to see his game in what I played.

 

[Chaos Descending]

I haven't played D&D since about 1992. I'm most familiar with 1st Edition AD&D, have played some 2nd Edition AD&D, but actually prefer the (relative) simplicity of the original D&D ruleset.

 

[Davros]

I have not played since first edition AD&D. In 1982 I discovered Runequest and never turned back.

 

[Luckyflux]

I read a sample module for the 4th edition entitled Keep on the Shadowfell, and I found it to be very well made. All of the monsters made sense (none of the 'where the heck did that thing come from'....), the maps made sense and the villagers made sense. I enjoyed reading it very much even if I didn't know the technical aspects.

As I was reading it I wanted to know more and more about the newer edition, even though my own DnD experiences happened like 25 years ago, too old to compare back then.

 

[Unicron]

I did see some fun poked at some of the sillier rules in the minutiae, which I'm sure is true of every edition. i.e. you had to roll a stupidly high number in 3rd to determine that bears attack with their claws. And the Order of the Stick made fun of the fact that Power Word spells technically should take up spell pages equal to their level, even though they're only one word long. I'd recommend it to RPG fans, particularly D & D (which it shamelessly spoofs).

I also saw a link somewhere to a guy who exploited the mechanics of the rules (I'm pretty sure it was a version of D & D) to create a gag character who was essentially a L1 with deity-level power. He did it for fun, but it was interesting to read.

 

[Stiletto]

I've played 4th Edition at a con or two. I'm not fond of it, but I can see how others who have never played any edition of D&D would like it. It is very streamlined.

If you are interested, Wizards Of The Coast made several podcasts of new players playing. It is hilarious to listen to and I've listened to them several times. Each of them are, at least, 3 hours long. The 2nd session even has Wil Wheaton playing with them. Have I mentioned how funny they are?

Here are shortcuts, if you want to download them and listen.

[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode1.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode2.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode3.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode4.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode5.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode6.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode7.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PA_Episode8.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep1.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep2.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep3.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep4.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep5.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep6.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep7.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP2_ep8.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep1.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep2.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep3.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep4.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep5.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep6.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep7.mp3[/URL]
[URL]http://media.gleemax.com/podcasts/DnD_PAPVP3_ep8.mp3[/URL]

 

[Cain]

I just got into D&D and pen & paper RPGs last year. Never played before that. I've played 3.5, 4.0, and "old school clone" of the original D&D called Swords & Wizardry. I really enjoy 4.0 for several reasons. The rules are very internally consistent. The classes are well balanced. The "powers" make combat more dynamic. DM prep is very easy with how monsters and XP budgets work. The character builder makes building characters easy and hides some of the complexity.

There a lot of criticisms of 4.0 as well. The classes are too balanced to the point of sameness. All of the options in combat make it too long. It's too much like a video game. Some criticisms are more valid than others.

I still like 4.0, though, and I prefer it if run well. But, I've found that the system doesn't matter too much as long as you have a fun group and a competent group.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I remember one of the early handbooks it was red... and it tells you how to begin your first adventure wiht a story that talks you through it. I remember you play a male warrior who finds that his guide is a female cleric with chainmail armor (I remember the drawings of her were hot!) . Of course she eventually sttands between you and the evil wizard trying to protect you and he shoots a magic missile at her, and she collapses on the ground. You run off, carrying her over your shoulder but at the end of the adventure you are not able to revive her.
I'll never for get that.

 

[Luckyflux]

Ha! I have a similar thing with the original DMG. Somewhere in the DMG they describe a sample encounter between a group of 4 players coming upon a group of 5 players and the ensuing battle that forms. I read that description of the battle at least 100 times. It was about 2 pages long but I was always fascinated with that battle...

 

[iguana_tonante]

I'm a player. I started with D&D when I was a kid, then stopped for years.

I started again in college: first AD&D, then 3rd Edition, then 3.5th Edition.

Then we got really tired of spending our money, so we made a custom system and we are sticking with it. WotC can kiss my ass now.

 

[AJBryant]

I'm a player. (Heck, I used to be the editor of Dragon Magazine.)

I'm still pretty much stuck on AD&D 2.0, although I tweaked it a bit, especially after 3 came out. I call mine 2.5.

 

[Unicron]

Money's part of the reason I didn't really try to get into 4th. I bought a lot of stuff over the period of several years for 3rd, and I just don't want to spend extra money "upgrading" it. Besides, I do like the design and art that was used for the bulk of 3rd.

 

[Pauln6]

I play 4e and really enjoy it. We converted our ongoing 20 year old Greyhawk campaign to 4e and just carried on playing. On the plus side, the classes are now far more balanced and the monster creation rules are astoundingly flexible - no more spending an hour creating your big bad evil dude only to have him fail a save against Disintegrate in round one.

There are enough class options that you can build pretty much any class concept now (I recommend clubbing together to get a DDI subscription as the character builder, compendium, and monster builder tools are hugely useful). It's very easy to 'reskin' mechanical rules to fit a new character concept.

Some aspects like magic items are too cookie cutter and mechanical but after a year of playing it on and off, we're getting wise enough to create our own custom-made items. I also don't like the way that the game had to be designed for min-maxing optimisers since it makes it a bit harder for non-optimisers to build flavourful characters but in most cases this isn't a major problem.

While the group dynamic makes cooperative combat a joy, it does make it harder to play solo games but they have no produced rules for 'companion characters' as tag along npcs to help plug gaps in your group or to keep a solo player alive.

Overall, it's fun.

 

[Silvercrest]

Currently I'm beginning a 3rd Edition campaign that's set in the universe of Stargate SG-1. I imported rules from D20 Modern and the short-lived Stargate RPG to cover the non-medieval stuff. They're all based on the D20 system, so you can do that relatively easily. (Obviously, most of my game is custom.)

Just had to report that my customized Stargate game is going AWESOMELY.

I took the 3.5 Edition Players Handbook and rewrote sections of it to accommodate non-medieval characters. The D20 Modern books establish levels of civilization, Progress Levels. Medieval/D&D characters are PL 2. Modern-day characters are PL 5. TNG-type characters are PL 7. Since any kind of world is available in Stargate, I had the players pick which PL their character was from.

I imported a bunch of new skills like Craft (Mechanical), Computer Use, etc, and then established starting skills for each PL. Lower PLs get to take things like Handle Animal and Survival. Higher PLs get things like Electronics and Computer Use, but they do NOT get Handle Animal or Survival, at least initially.

I also came up with some customized classes for modern-type characters, like "gadgeter" and "technologist". Currently the group consists of two rangers, a monk, a bard, a rogue, a gadgeter, a "naturomedic", a "daredevil", a "transchemic", and a psionic. PLs ranging from 2 to 8.

Then I explained how all the characters came to be in the same place, which was they were prisoners in the dungeon of a Goa'uld System Lord, and that they were in the middle of a breakout. "What do you do?"

Currently the group is jumping from world to world, trying to find a place where they aren't hunted by the Goa'uld. They have such a wide range that I can throw just about any type of challenge at them, and one member of the group will be able to step forward and have a chance to shine. Everyone is having a blast.

Just had to boast a little.