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Lots of 4e thoughts going around.
I loved it but had two major problems with it. One I could fix, one I couldn’t.
1. I felt like the tactical pressure on the DM to outsmart 4-5 players on the grid was too much. The game was very focused on combat tactics
I loved it but had two major problems with it. One I could fix, one I couldn’t.
1. I felt like the tactical pressure on the DM to outsmart 4-5 players on the grid was too much. The game was very focused on combat tactics
And if you aren’t, your players suffer because your encounters aren’t challenging enough amd turn into grindy slogs.
2. The gama was released and immediately suffered from endless and nonstop errata. It was like a treadmill.
2. The gama was released and immediately suffered from endless and nonstop errata. It was like a treadmill.
I am not a combat/tactical DM. Never have been, not as a player either. I just stood there with my fighter and swing my axe a lot. And I don’t feel I challenged players or took advantage of the system’s strength as well as I could have.
The game tried to help—monsters had roles assigned which were a key to help you learn to use them. But there was a heavy burden on the DMs to make every combat an exciting set piece, because they took up A LOT of session time. It was dnd chess.
So when people ask me what my issue with 4e was (and why I jumped ship soon after to Dragon Age), it wasn’t that the game itself was bad—it’s a fine game designed for players seeking a specific type of experience—i was not the DM to run that game though.
And the errata part became unsustainable because if you weren’t paying attention to the 1000 powers out there, your players would show up with new errata all the time, or you would that they hadn’t seen. It became an proverbial fire house of errata content that grew tiresome.
So no. I never felt it was video gamey, or lacked RP.
I did feel it hit a full stop when init was rolled and it pivoted to a dnd chess game that weighed heavily on the DMs tactical brain, as there was no other way to run those combats. The PCs powers didn’t let you.
I did feel it hit a full stop when init was rolled and it pivoted to a dnd chess game that weighed heavily on the DMs tactical brain, as there was no other way to run those combats. The PCs powers didn’t let you.
Anyway. Thought I’d share my opinion. The “newbie” in my name comes from the 4e era. It’s the first dnd I ever DM’d (played as a PC many others), and while it made many things easier, like prep and stat blocks, those did not outweigh the harder parts.
4e came out in late summer 2008. By 2011, WOTC was already designing 5e in earnest. I know this because I know. So after 3 years, they knew they wanted something different.
Here's one thing I feel 4e did an amazing job at:
It created and set the foundation for a wonderful community here on twitter. 4e launched 1000000 blogs, podcasts, twitter feeds, and diy content that still carries over to today.
It created and set the foundation for a wonderful community here on twitter. 4e launched 1000000 blogs, podcasts, twitter feeds, and diy content that still carries over to today.
I made tons of friends, had amazing experiences, opportunities, and moments that would have rocked teenage me's world, all because of 4e. And for that alone, I love it.
