Every game has its good and bad points. But like chicken rice, no matter good or bad, there is usually still the chicken and the rice. Which brings us to a role-playing game. It needs role-playing elements and of course, it must be enjoyable as a game.
4th Edition DnD.
It is a roleplaying game. With a filmsy Skill Challenge system for determining complicated role-playing encounters which doesn't work anyway, and an elaborate tactical grid combat model. We can definitely see where WoTC concentrated their effort on in 4th Ed.
This also conveniently allows WoTC to heighten demand for their overpriced plastic miniatures (some of them which I do admit looks quite okay in terms of mass-produced China-sweatshop standard).
All in all, the game sometimes degenerates into a hack-and-slash fest, sadly even when the DM does not want it that way, as the combat in 4th Ed takes around half an hour, all the way up to two hours for "epic" fights.
"No zombies or motorized hacksaws please as we continue to mow down the minions, thanks."
We experienced this quite often in our heroic-tier campaigns, and the players can expect the bulk of the four-hour long DnD sessions to be combat-oriented if at least two such 4th Ed encounters are thrown in.
Okay, you must be asking, but if the combat is fun and all, won't we want to spend more time in the part of the game which is indeniably the game's strength?
Umm, yes.
If combat was does not end up being an inevitable household chore (think washing stacks of dishes and plates after a hard day of work, and you had just wanted to go to bed in the first place.)
Combat in 4th Ed is fun on paper with the various at-will, encounter and daily powers given to us by the game, but pardon the cliche, after a while, it does feels a bit like an MMO, where I am clicking my character's special powers on his on-screen HUD. The various status effects inflicted on mobs/players is reminiscent of MMOs in general as well. (and boy does it feel like the dishes and plates analogy.)
Too many skills depend on tactical placement and the cooperation of the party, which is important for most games, but to keep track of all these on the battleground (kitchen table), means distracting one from roleplaying his fighter in the old days, where one can shout,
" I hack at him wildly with my great axe. Arrrrr!!!"
*rolls a 1 on a d20* - loses an arm and a finger according to Shell's Custom Crit System (CCS)
In fact, that might be the only thing that the fighter could do as an attacking option (besides Power Attack etc) in the old days. But by keeping it simple, it allows one to flesh out his toon (character) in his own unique way rather than allowing the name of the power to compensate for it.
Constantly having to wonder which three squares to move away to get concealment, which exact few squares to stand on to get the most out of the entire's party power array etc, starts to grate on the party and the DM alike, like say, an hour into an epic fight.
The sheer number of status modifiers accumulating on the mobs and players does not help with the ease of book-keeping too.
All in all, I feel that DnD 4th Ed is too clunky in combat form after playing firsthand, contrary to their boast of a cleaner/faster system. The "Powers" system did simplify the creation of a character, but not the actual time spent in a fight due to unforseen "splash damage" time taken from remembering the sheer number of status effect modifiers, the 202th time a mark moved in the same battle, and trying to optimize play between 4-6 players with individual powers requiring specific placement.
It is of no fault of the players or the DM that they want to optimize play, but the system itself is rather flawed when so much time have to be spent to do it efficiently. WoTC should buck up and start "patching" the existing game content first, before churning out endless sourcebooks/splashbooks in a short-term attempt to grab quick cash.
I am still having fun playing the game though.
I play the game primarily for friends, for their companionship and interaction, and of course, a four-hour journey into a different body/soul/mind. I enjoy the personal challenge, trying to keep myself in character, longer and longer as the weeks go by, until one day, when Pongtau, Shell, Lex or Shane ask me to buy a drink at the vending machine next to our gaming table, I can snarl to him in Deep Speech,
"Get it yourself, thrall, before I siphon your brain and mush your senses!"
By then, I would have hopefully snapped to my senses, and go about buying the drinks.
I never viewed myself as a great roleplayer, as all these things should come naturally to the great and the gifted. But I do try my best, and for what I lack in, I make up for it in intensity and the willingness to grind on and improve oneself.
Three words to all our players, vets included.
"Do-not-f*cking give up."
Peace all, and stay tuned next time when I will be touching on the original 4th Edition game which came into existence way before DnD 4th Edition. (Clue: It rhymes with Shallow Buns.)
p/s: Vek is selling his custom-made dice which rolls a 6 approx. 32.1 percent of the time. Word goes that the local casinos are trying to head-hunt him for his mad skills.
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