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Old 05-31-2008, 03:06 AM   #1
Cybren
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Default First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

quite a few books got sent out early, and a PDF has been leaked online, so now a lot of people have seen the game, myself included.

It looks like an improvement over 3.5, but i have to say, my primary fear, that the classes would be homogenized by the use of "powers" in a negative way, was valid. While certainly different classes have powers that in general do different things, the fact that they all use the same mechanic(1/2 level + ability mod vs static defense), generally only are used for the same thing (dealing, preventing, or undoing damage in combat), and are used with predictable frequency (whenever you want, once per combat, and once per day).
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Old 05-31-2008, 10:16 AM   #2
trooper6
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Medford, MA
Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

I have a question.

So D&D 4e...each character has a number of "At Will" special powers. Is there any incentive to make basic attacks with your sword anymore, or is it all Sinister Strike (or whatever the At Will powers are called), all the time?
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Old 05-31-2008, 10:44 AM   #3
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

Quote:
Originally Posted by trooper6
I have a question.

So D&D 4e...each character has a number of "At Will" special powers. Is there any incentive to make basic attacks with your sword anymore, or is it all Sinister Strike (or whatever the At Will powers are called), all the time?
If you have the option, an At Will is generally better. However, you may not have the option for one reason or another (attacks of opportunity, charging, and certain powers grant a basic attack, and since you only have two at-will powers, sometimes you won't have one that fits what you want to do. In particular, you may not have both melee and ranged).
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Old 05-31-2008, 11:55 AM   #4
Cybren
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

Quote:
Originally Posted by trooper6
I have a question.

So D&D 4e...each character has a number of "At Will" special powers. Is there any incentive to make basic attacks with your sword anymore, or is it all Sinister Strike (or whatever the At Will powers are called), all the time?
From what i've seen there's little reason to use "basic attacks" when you are able to use an at will power (which is most of the time)
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Old 05-31-2008, 01:53 PM   #5
sir_pudding
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Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

Concerns:
  • All the "Attack the enemy and benefit your ally" powers. These are very hard for me to visulize. Why can't you do each effect seperately? If I want to summon a magical force sheild and there aren't any enemies about do I punch the wall?
  • Warlocks are a core class. Seems to be drifting fairly far away from anything that resembles a standard archetype.
  • Gnomes are no longer a core race. This is going to make the 4e version of Eberron kind of difficult I suspect. House Sivis is now composed of what exactly?
  • Tieflings are now a core race. Personally I associate them (and the other planetouched) as being world specific. AFAICT there aren't any planetouched in Ebberon for instance. Also if they are going to include Teiflings as a core race, where are the other plane-touched?
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Old 05-31-2008, 06:58 PM   #6
Cybren
 
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Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

Quote:
Originally Posted by sir_pudding
Concerns:
  • Gnomes are no longer a core race. This is going to make the 4e version of Eberron kind of difficult I suspect. House Sivis is now composed of what exactly?
  • Tieflings are now a core race. Personally I associate them (and the other planetouched) as being world specific. AFAICT there aren't any planetouched in Ebberon for instance. Also if they are going to include Teiflings as a core race, where are the other plane-touched?
Gnomes have player stats in the monster manual, and i don't get what they're doing with tieflings at all. It was so arbitrary. They don't seem to be "plane touched" either. They're not "heirs to a lost demonic empire" or something, and all the artwork portrays them as "freaky demon goat people". A far cry from the "hint of the otherworldly" that they previously were
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Old 05-31-2008, 07:39 PM   #7
LoneWolf23k
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

Quote:
Originally Posted by sir_pudding
Concerns:
  • All the "Attack the enemy and benefit your ally" powers. These are very hard for me to visulize. Why can't you do each effect seperately? If I want to summon a magical force sheild and there aren't any enemies about do I punch the wall?
  • Warlocks are a core class. Seems to be drifting fairly far away from anything that resembles a standard archetype.
  • Gnomes are no longer a core race. This is going to make the 4e version of Eberron kind of difficult I suspect. House Sivis is now composed of what exactly?
  • Tieflings are now a core race. Personally I associate them (and the other planetouched) as being world specific. AFAICT there aren't any planetouched in Ebberon for instance. Also if they are going to include Teiflings as a core race, where are the other plane-touched?
Gnomes will apparantly be covered in the Monster Manual, with playable stats. And I know Eberron will eventually get a 4th edition manual, so they're bound to include stats for Eberron's races.
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Old 05-31-2008, 08:55 PM   #8
IrishRover
 
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Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

So...what is the backwards compatability with 3/3.5 like? 1 to 2 was easy (and I'm dating myself, but I remember the ORIGINAL Unearthed Arcana as a big event in gaming) 2 to 3/3.5 was tough, and 3 to 3.5 was (for the characters I play) trivial.
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Old 05-31-2008, 10:27 PM   #9
Anaraxes
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

All I've seen is the preview material, but it looks unlike 3.5. Wizards start with 10 HP (plus Con). Everybody gets to heal themselves six times day. Level 1 isn't level 1. Stats are similar, as is AC, but I'm not sure how easy conversion will be.
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Old 06-01-2008, 03:07 AM   #10
Rasmus Wagner
 
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Default Re: First thoughts on D&D 4th edition

Quote:
Originally Posted by IrishRover
So...what is the backwards compatability with 3/3.5 like? 1 to 2 was easy (and I'm dating myself, but I remember the ORIGINAL Unearthed Arcana as a big event in gaming) 2 to 3/3.5 was tough, and 3 to 3.5 was (for the characters I play) trivial.
AFAICT, you're better of rebuilding than converting.
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