Just this past April, Wizards of the Coast asked the Character Optimization Forum folks – people and D&D 4e players like you and me – what the good, bad and ugly is in D&D 4e. They’re listening to and interacting with the D&D community more than ever, so it’s no wonder hundreds and hundreds of posts came back.
What about DMs? No worries, Popesixtus and Wrecan have us player/DMs and full time DMs covered! Or even full time players who are curious what DMs think! What I really like most about the DM version of this effort is that DMs tend to think at and communicate a more macro level view of D&D’s core principles, elements and features.
After all, DMs run games, so they experience quite a lot from many different perspectives.
And player/DMs? Is there a greater state of D&D enlightenment?
We should all be encouraged by this more collaborative direction of D&D and, more importantly, improving the D&D experience. I for one, am quite excited by what we can do together to achieve the new classic D&D game, focused solidly on that fine and wonderful balance of evocative atmosphere and robust rules. Classic feel and smooth mechanics, meeting together in Zen-like perfection!
Here’s my list of what I believe works and what doesn’t in D&D 4e:
What Works
Teamwork. I love the true team-play that D&D 4e encourages and rewards. There’s an opportunity for everyone to really help their allies in a fight, whether offensively, defensively, or otherwise, through plenty of tactical options and powers.
Conditions. Though tracking them is a separate story, the various stock conditions that can be applied is a great feature of combat. Easy to understand, ripe for combinations, whether individual or cooperatively.
Dungeon Delve Format. Wonderful, efficient presentation of an adventure framework, with 3 ready-to-go encounters is a fantastic way to give as many DMs as possible something to work as little or as much with as they like for their night’s game and campaign.
What Doesn’t Work
Combat Length. Encounters shouldn’t average 60 minutes, per the core rules. That’s by far the longest average combat in D&D history, and it’s too long. Isn’t there a way to have rich, faster-moving D&D tactical combat without sacrificing an hour? Too many triggered actions, interrupting other players’ turns repeatedly, are one major culprit. Low PC damage output compared to monster hit points might be another.
Encounter Management. Encounters are supposed to be easier for a DM to build and run, but that’s not the case in actual play. Many times, monsters have various triggers that need an additional level of tactical checkpoints throughout a round and encounter, causing tremendous slowdown. It’s hard for a DM to keep track of an entire suite of triggered actions and tactical checkpoints. Building and running encounters can still feel like “work” for the DM more than they feel like “fun.”
Skill Challenges. Fitting a storytelling element into some sort of scoreboard format and chaining a few skills together isn’t much fun after all. Leave skill use and relevant actions to a few checks and to actual storytelling. Don’t mechanize everything about D&D – it doesn’t need it. Remember D&D is both a game and a storytelling experience.
Too Much Crunch, Not Enough Flavor. You swung way towards the game over the storytelling early on with 4e. As you’ve already noticed, that was a mistake, and your products have started changing. Back to D&D’s roots you go! So this is a less major quibble now.
Magic Items. They no longer feel magical or special. There’s far too many boring magic items. Consumables seem to be forgotten, mostly because most of them are terribly underpowered.
At-Will Powers. Characters don’t get enough of them, and they don’t change enough during a character’s career to keep them interesting. These powers, and to a lesser extent the others, get repetitive and boring. Throw in over-long combats with massive slowdown, and it’s worse.
Supplies, Time, Travel. None of these got enough attention or have practical, elegant enough rules. Most of the time, you can ignore these classic elements of D&D – which is a terrible loss for a storytelling game.
Digital Support. Character Builder, Monster Builder and similar digital tool updates are woefully slow. D&D Compendium search filters are inadequate; you especially need to have the option to select multiple filters within a given list (i.e. show me monsters only from MM3 and MV.) Critical and simple needs and features of the Character Builder are missing – i.e. gems, jewelry and art objects, custom items, magical containers (i.e. bag of holding) that directly impact weight carried, etc.
Whether you’re a player or DM, what are your both favorite and most infuriating things about 4e? What works for you? What doesn’t? Micro-level (i.e. a specific feat, power, skill, magic item, etc.) or macro?
Please share yours over on the What’s a DM to Do? forum thread created specifically for this, and be sure to keep tabs on Wrecan’s compiled updates in his D&D blog. See you Friday!
Kilsek
I am only getting familiar with the 4th edition clockwork, but as far as I see it:
The intention to streamline the mechanics, has only resulted in a different mechanic.
A fighter and a sorcerer are now more comparable than ever.
Introducing a general to hit, makes the pure casters rather weak, compared to physical fighters. Physical fighters have a lot of options to increase their attack rolls against AC, as a casters you are rather limited if you don’t intantly start off with a seriously enhancing implement. (compare the odds of hitting with spells versus ref/will/fort and those of hitting against AC, especially at levels under 10)
To give a precise example:
As a sorcerer you get your charisma modifier mainly to add, only at level 11, you get an opportunity to add another ability modifier. ( “Sorcerous power” before that, to hit is a lottery).
As any physical fighter you get weapon proficiencies, focus, specialisations, etc …
Result:
Lvl 6 (naked) sorcerer: to hit:
– with spells +7 (cha 18)
– with melee/ranged +9/+9 (dex 18 + melee training feat)
The AC of monsters being more often than not equalled if not outdone by one of their saving throws, a caster needs at least 3 at will powers (targetting different saves) , just to have a chance to match the damage output by physical fighters. Not to forget that especially melee fighters get more than one “opportunity” to attack “or just deal damage” during others turn.
Thanks for having taken the time to read my post.
Best regards,
Iso
Welcome to Leonine Roar and thanks for your comment, Isodil!
With literally over 3,000 feats to choose from, there are still a few shallow spots when it comes to feats customizing certain mechanics. You can still find caster feats for your sorcerer to imporove accuracy, like Implement/Versatile Expertise or Staff Expertise, though they don’t have as many simple but innovative options such as the Melee Training ability score-based feats for basic attacks.
Damage-wise, there’s a few good feat options for casters/ranged that sets them apart from melee, in both damage and style. Dual Implement Spellcaster, for example, is an excellent choice.
As for defenses, monster AC tends to be a little higher (not always, but usually) than non-AC defenses by design, so perhaps that’s why there’s not as much support for some classes in this area? (Plus there’s the natural tactical advantage of typically attacking at range – i.e. lower risk. While related, that’s more of a seperate topic.)
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