blog

Name: Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
System: D20

I didn’t start playing Dungeons & Dragons until 3rd Edition. Actually, it was 3.5 when I really jumped in, before that I was one of those guys who would wanted to give it a try, but never had the will nor a way. After a few years of gaming I was excited by the announcement of 4th Edition mainly because I believe it was time for change, and was anxious to see what Wizards of the Coast could do with the time between editions. Yes, I know that is has been out for a few months and this review is incredibly belated. No, I’m not going to write a few pages on each of the three core Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition books. It’s not like a videogame, which I am used to reviewing, where they work as standalone products. They are together, and unlike the expansion books to come out in the months ahead, they don’t stand alone, they are all part of beginning a Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition experience.

The Player's Handbook (PHB) is the book that will likely sell the most, and as players generally outnumber Dungeon Masters (DMs), the book that will get the most use. Because of this, the book is also, if I may say, “where the money is,” because while an experienced DM can easily ignore the issues of a shoddily put together book, a new player can't. There were several issues from the previous edition that Wizards of the Coast set out to fix involving complicated rules and allocation of materials within the core rulebooks, and in 4th Edition they really were only able to fix half of those issues. They did a fine job of simplifying the rules without dumbing them down. The core classes are as deep as they ever have been, and each player should be able to find the niche they want to be a part of and create a character around that.

At nearly every level the player is choosing a new power that can either be at-will, encounter, or daily, and they are allowed to use it in those increments. It’s a great change, and gives all players, regardless of class, a huge selection of abilities to choose from on each and every turn. It makes some classes, namely the fighter, feel much more powerful while making others, like the wizard, feel a bit weaker when compared to its 3.5 brethren. These are only temporary quarrels, and by later levels the powers help keep the game balanced. My biggest complaint is the standard character sheets, which somehow manage to be even worse than those for 3rd Edition. The space given for “Powers,” which is really the bread and butter of 4th Edition, is tiny in comparison to everything else in the book. I have already started printing out separate sheets for players to use because of the shortcoming. This is only a temporary problem, but one I could see acting as a barrier for new players.

Leveling was also simplified, as well as character creation, but you wouldn’t know that by just using the PHB, because it isn’t a really good guide when it comes to character creation. It could be the wording, or the placement, but the lack of a “Here is the way to build a character” section ensures that the first few creations are going to be rough and long. Feats make a return from 3.5, but the sheer lack of variety in the PHB makes them less important than they were in the previous edition, instead waiting for the expansion books to flesh them out. I suppose that is how it may have been in the last few versions too, but it is a problem that should have been addressed.

The Dungeon Master’s Guide has similar issues to the PHB in terms of layout and content allocation, but they aren’t as important because of the fact that it is made to be read by DMs. Anyone complaining should buy post-it-notes and shut up, because the life of a DM isn’t supposed to be easy, so deal with it. The book has several pages with tips for Dungeon Mastering, including how to deal with different archetypical players (funny how the DMG has archetypes for players and the PHB has archetypes for characters), which is a definite plus for any new or old DMs. The Monster Manual (MM) is the only book of the three that I would consider truly outstanding due to the content it holds. It goes above and beyond the call of duty by ending its long list of well-balanced monsters with several pages of player races that didn’t make the PHB cut. Sure, they don’t have feats to use, but the fact that players can now easily roll up a Drow or Kobold puts the MM on top of my list.

It's easy to see why D&D purists are up-in-arms about the changes. 4th Edition is a lot nicer than 3rd was, with less negatives and more positives. Players don't have a harder time using weapons they are unfamiliar with, they simply have an easier time with weapons they are. Elves don't lose any constitution just for being elves, but they don't gain as much as other classes. It could be argued that the game is easier, but the hurdles are on the side of the Dungeon Master, not the player, to make an interesting game. These are things people can get over, and on the whole, 4th Edition doesn’t suffer from the individual problems of the books or the complaints from traditionalists. Despite the DMG and PHB being poorly put together, the structure of the actual rules makes 4th Edition worth paying attention to, and Wizards of the Coast’s determination to deliver monthly expansions should only make things better. Most of the issues with the books will be null and void within a few months once the expansions are out, the PHBs are rabbit-eared and post-it-noted, and the players know where everything is. 4E adds room to grow, and opens the game up so that it should be easy for new players to jump in with little training. In other words, it’s fun, it’s balanced, and it’s accessible – exactly like it should be.

Reposted from Pen and Paper Portal, be sure to check it out for all of your nerdy RPG needs.

Related Articles:

Star Wars RPG Gets the 4th Edition Treatment

Introducing Pen and Paper Portal

The Pen and Paper Portal for June 27, 2008

Share this article: