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Average Customer Rating:

Different but in a good way!

Customer Rating:

OK. Its clear from this review page that this new version of D&D has caused a lot of controversy. I do wonder how many of the people giving this a one or two star review have actually played the game? Guess what? It is actually a heck of a lot of fun! So many of the complaints here seem to lack any sort of sound logic. 'Its been dumbed down!': Not so. Simplified in all the right places to make it more streamlined and more fun. There is also quite a lot of degree for customising your characters - more than you might think initially. For example feats aren't as powerful but you get more of them and there are stacks of cool powers for each class to choose from etc. Also Skills have been grouped together which makes much, much more sense. I mean who ever put ranks in Balance anyway? Instead of trying to put your scant amount of skill points into Climb, Jump and Swim you just need Athletics to cover the lot. Much better in my opinion. 'Less role-playing more combat': As far as I'm concerned role-playing is all about how much the players put, its nothing to with the system. If you want to 'act in character' go for it - its fun. If you just want to explore dungeons, kill things and get treasure - thats fine too. What they have done is make a decent streamlined combat system and by adding the skill challenges the DM now has a way to construct non-combat encounters that are challenging and provide interesting ways for the players to use their skill. 'Its like an MMORPG': I don't know as I don't play MMORPGs but who cares as long the system works! 'Its become a miniatures game and you have to buy their overpriced minis': Newsflash. You've always been able to buy minis for D&D even back in the days of 1st edition and 3rd edition made it essential to use them not 4th. And anyway you don't have to use offical minis - its easy to knock up some counters on your computer. 'Its not D&D anymore': Of course it is! Its got elves and dwarves and wizards and paladins and halflings and orcs and dragons and clerics....etc The ambience of the game is down to what the players and DM put into it - nothing to do with the system. Also the bard, gnome, half-orc, druid, barbarian etc are on the way in future releases. In short, ignore the complainers and give it a go. All I know is that the first combat I ran with it - a simple kobold ambush - was the best 1st level battle with no gimmicks I've ever run. Not once did it just degenerate into repetative rolling to hit, no characters getting killed with one unlucky hit; there was action, drama, daring maneuvers and above all else great fun! The only bad side I can think of is that of coure it makes all your 3rd edition stuff fairly obsolete (although of course any world-books can still provide you with plenty of game ideas and settings). This is unfortunate but alas progress needs to be made. Overall, I think the new edition is quite a success and only wish it was around back when I had more time to play. I can't wait to get my little nephew into this and pass the torch! Recommended!

Dungeons and Dragons: A review

Customer Rating:

I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far. Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level. I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns. And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges. Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one. With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up. That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this. Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.

A radical departure

Customer Rating:

Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5. I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below: Negatives: 1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races. 2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle? 3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation. Positives: 1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!). 2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain. 3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents. 4) The game is much, much simpler. In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.

D&D Vista

Customer Rating:

Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up. It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.

too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice

Customer Rating:

Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures! Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D. It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game. Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun. All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!