Now that the focus is being pulled away from time-devouring miniatures wargaming marathons (a.k.a. typical 4e combats), the smooth transitions in and out of D&D Next combats are pleasantly noticeable.
Or should I say, you don’t notice them. That whole awful standard of “set piece encounters” that 4e encouraged is being turned and destroyed in a flash of white light – and not an edition too soon!
This means more time for storytelling and roleplay. More time for more encounters – and more types of them. Smooth transitions throughout the game’s action and scenes. Isn’t that what your D&D game needs? Isn’t that what we all want?
No longer do you spend two or three hours fighting one of the villain’s lieutenants, forgetting why the hell you were there in the first place. Surprise – long, intensely tactical fights as a standard can create player (and DM!) fatigue and boredom. Now I love the thrill of pitched combat, but who wants that?
So like this past Saturday’s prequel adventure to my upcoming nautical D&D Next mini-campaign, I’ll take a rich story I never feel too far away from thanks to plenty of exploration, roleplay and a gauntlet of short combats (read: 5-20 minute high-risk combats) that D&D Next is serving up any day – and so should you. Your friends and fam who play with you will thank you for it, trust me. (Remember Tiny Encounters? Yeah, feels like that!)
It’s all about imagination and the cool factor, after all, and D&D Next is doing a great job of capturing D&D’s classic essence of “cool.”
Which brings me to recent Legends & Lore column thoughts on healing in D&D Next.
Healing is all over the place; it’s simply not cool right now. I’ll explain why and offer solutions next time.
Kilsek