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1 year ago ::
Apr 11, 2012 - 7:28PM
#11
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Favorites:
1. Monster design - being easy for the DM, and having unique abilities different from characters
2. Primal power for Druids
Un-favorites:
1. The whole power AEDU system
2. The whole healing surge mechanic
"If it's not a conjuration, how did the wizard
con·jure/ˈkänjər/Verb
1. Make (something) appear unexpectedly or seemingly from nowhere as if by magic.
it?" -anon
"Why don't you read fire·ball / fī(-ə)r-ˌbȯl/ and see if you can find the key word con.jure /'kən-ˈju̇r/ anywhere in it."
-Maxperson
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 12:53AM
#12
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Favourite: The robust mechanical/mathematical framework of the system, that lets me use the exact same challenges against a level X party consisting of classes A, B, C, and D as I do against a level X party of classes E, F, G and H, and makes it simple and easy to alter those challenges for a party of level Y.
Least Favourite: The excessive inflation of numbers with level, especially monster hitpoints (which make combats take too long) and the ever-widening difference between a character's class primary abilities and those that are not relevant to his/her class (which makes it impossible for characters to be good at 'off-stat' skills at higher levels - e.g. a fighter who is also a historian/scholar just doesn't work beyond the heroic tier).
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 4:54AM
#13
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Date Joined:
Oct 24, 2001
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Most Favorite (general): Balance
In 4e, for the first time ever in D&D, when asked what class I want to play, I do not need to ask for the campaign level. I do not need to worry about being the party tag-along or spotlight hog. And despite the existence of Role in the game, I do not need to be too concerned with what other players have chosen. 4e lets me play my favorite classes at any level in any campaign. This most favorite part of 4e is the "whole" that is the result of lots of really incredible "parts" - AEDU, powers, parallel advancement, stat structure, skill simplification, etc.
Most Favorite (specific): Action Economy
I love the Standard, Move, Minor, Interrupt/Reactions, and Free action set-up of the game. On my turn, I know I get a Standard, Move, and Minor action. I appreciate that I can build a character that will act between his turns almost every round. I have enjoyed playing a rogue that is built around immediate actions and a warlord that is almost completely minor-action-oriented.
Least Favorite (implementation): Rituals
More specifically, the rituals were a bit too underplayed because they were underdeveloped. I think they were a great idea that got treated like the ugly duckling because they were overshadowed by too many other great ideas. And like the ugly duckling, I think it would take very little to turn them into the swan they can become.
Least Favorite (mechanics): +X Magic Items
I hate (as strong a word as that is) the +1 magic sword. I have used inherent bonuses even before the designers added them simply to eliminate the "must advance" approach to the weapon/armor/neck slot requirements the game math imposed. Let a magic sword be important because it is magic, not because it *must* be owned.
Here are the PHB essentia, in my opinion: - Three Basic Rules (p 11)
- Power Types and Usage (p 54)
- Skills (p178-179)
- Feats (p 192)
- Rest and Recovery (p 263)
- All of Chapter 9 [Combat] (p 264-295)
A player needs to read the sections for building his or her character -- race, class, powers, feats, equipment, etc. But those are PC-specific. The above list is for everyone, regardless of the race or class or build or concept they are playing.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 5:51AM
#14
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Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2003
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lots of favorites, and a handful of dislikes but I will go with: Favorite - I could almost distill it to "the Warlord," but the root of it is that I like that 4E allows you to make martial characters that can really contribute, particularly at high level where they traditionally got overshadowed. Least Favorite - magic items. I like 4E's philosophy that the character should be the star of the show and not his equipment list, so I'm OK with the math-required plusses on the weapon/implement/armor/neck pieces, but the vast majority of attached item powers present as completely impotent. They don't feel magic and powerful. Daily powers tend to never get used because they are either really niche-y and rarely come up, or are good but the players hate to think they wasted their single use too early on something and instead never use it on anything. Properties, overall, are bland and uninspiring and just nickel and dime bonuses up. The entire Waist slot feels like a barren wasteland of mediocre choices (sooo many epic characters wearing Viper Belts fer crissakes), with Hands and Arm slots not far behind. Finding a good magic item should be an event, but too many of them just fall flat. It does neatly explain why most of them only sell for 20% of list though 
INSIDE SCOOP GAMERS: In the new version of D&D, it will no longer be "Edition Wars." It will be "Edition Lair Assault." - dungeonbastard
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 6:14AM
#15
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Date Joined:
Mar 16, 2011
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Best: The clear layout and page format of adventures and encounters. No longer a wall of black and white text, but information formatted into sections, and detail on how to run the encounters.
Worst: The number of status effects in combat, it gets really confusing keeping track of them.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 7:53AM
#16
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Date Joined:
Jun 23, 2003
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The perception that there are a lot of status effects interests me. Is it because it is they are more readily available to more classes and thus fewer effects are applied more often in combat, or is it that there appears to actually be too many?
I really appreciated the drastic reduction and consildation of status effects from 3.X to 4E, particularly the removal of the Sickened, Tired, and Scared tracks. Could never seem to memorize whether Nauseated was more debilitating than Sickened, would I rather be Panicked or Frightened or if I could be both Fatigued and Exhausted.
INSIDE SCOOP GAMERS: In the new version of D&D, it will no longer be "Edition Wars." It will be "Edition Lair Assault." - dungeonbastard
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 7:56AM
#17
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Date Joined:
Apr 14, 2011
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Favorites:
1. Monster design - being easy for the DM, and having unique abilities different from characters
2. Primal power for Druids
Un-favorites:
1. The whole power AEDU system
2. The whole healing surge mechanic
I gotta disagree on the healing mechanics. 4e's hp mechanics are the fantastic. Self-recovery, not needing a cleric or a bag of wands/potions, and most importantly how surges are the limiting resource that defines the adventuring day. Surges are where the tension comes in 4e, not how many more fireballs the wizard has left. So I'll put the hp mechanic (wouldn't call it health or healing because its more abstract than that) up as my favorite, because balance has already been mention many times. I do love the balance and everyone being effective, but wish skill and non-combat abilities were more balance. Least favorite, sometime the math is way too transparent - you have to pick x feats, need x magic items, encounter math can be very predictable, and, as mention, combat becomes very formulaic. TjD
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 8:11AM
#18
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Date Joined:
Mar 12, 2011
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so this insight came from playtesting....other systems...
my absolute favorite thing about 4e is the uncoupling of fluff and mechanics. 4e presented more mechanical rules than any prior edition, in order to create a balanced game that relies less on dm fiat to function that earlier editions. At the same time, 4e did not try to impose rules on non-combat situations that didn't need them, and explicitly gives instructions on how to re-flavor powers, items, even entire classes to fit a character concept. This gives unparalleled freedom to roleplay whatever you want, without breaking the game.
my least favorite thing is power and item bloat. fighters dont need 30 power choices at each level, nor do i want to sort through hundreds of really bad items to find the cool ones. when a dm hands out a really terrible item as a reward, it feels like an insult.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 1:00PM
#19
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Date Joined:
Mar 31, 2012
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Favorite thing:
AEDU: It puts everyone on the same level, with reguards to liniar fighters, quadratic Wizards, but it still allows each class to play differently, if you can get past "Zomg! Fighters have powers now!" Wizards are renowned for their amazing Daily powers, and that calls back to the Vancian system of previous editions, without forcing them to use their fireball, then sit around shooting their crossbow for the rest of the day. Fighters can not only just swing their sword each time, but they can do stuff like tactical positioning at-will, and still have a big cinematic Huge blow to use once a day, against the BBEG.
Least Favorite thing:
Out of combat utility: The one thing that actually keeps me from completely giving up 3.x/Pathfinder is that I feel like out of combat there's little that distinguishes classes. Sure the thief can disarm traps, and the fighter can break down doors, and the Wizard is the go to Encyclopedia, but I wish there was a little more to it than that.
Least Favorite thing (II):
[Insert Blank here] Taxes: Feats should be bonuses for characters to pick up, and it shouldn't be that a character lags behind simply because they picked up a cool feat, instead of a +1/2/3 to attack feat. Similarly, I don't like magic items to be expected to scale. Take for example King Arthur. He didn't pick up a new sword, every time he needed a bigger bonus. He just got a (arguably non-magic, but even if it was magic, it was probably just +1) sword from the stone, and then upgraded to Excaliber. But he never put down Excaliber, because suddenly he was paragon Tier, and he needed a +3 Greatsword.
I am currently raising funds to run for President in 2016. Too many administrations have overlooked the international menace, that is Carmen Sandiego. I shall devote any and all necessary military resources to bring her to justice.
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1 year ago ::
Apr 12, 2012 - 1:12PM
#20
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Date Joined:
Oct 19, 2008
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Favorite: Anyone can play any class anywhere any time and generally not be suckass.  Biggest Drawback: Decentralized printing of "cool stuff". Basically, the need or percieved need to print something in every book that people want or might want to drive sales instead of assuring that each book had the highest quality stuff. For example, did you know you could find prices for mundane trade goods in the Draconomicon I? Or that Phoenix Feathers can be used in a Raise Dead ritual to bring back somone who's been dead for a year? Or that Cocktrice Feathers can cure petrification when made into a poultice? What about the idea of using trap/hazzard layout for hauntings due to their centralized location? I mean, on the plus side it means every book is cool. On the minus side, most of those things, those great ideas are in "DM" books; Monster Manuals and their kin, Plane or area specific books, etc. Those things should be located within easy reach of players, and as I understand it, the MMs and the like are not usually intended for Player reading. Instead, these ideas should be within easy reach of the players. Much like Essentials did with suggested improvisation for skills, these flavourful things should be provided within, for example, the list of conditions, or within ritual descriptions. Or the Compendium online should link back to these ideas. Something other than having to go hunting through books to find them, I guess.
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." --Bill Cosby (1937- )Vanador: OK. You ripped a gateway to Hell, killed half the town, and raised the dead as feral zombies. We're going to kill you. But it can go two ways. We want you to run as fast as you possibly can toward the south of the town to draw the Zombies to you, and right before they catch you, I'll put an arrow through your head to end it instantly. If you don't agree to do this, we'll tie you this building and let the Zombies rip you apart slowly. Dimitry: God I love being Neutral. 4th edition is dead, long live 4th edition.Salla: opinionated, but commonly right. fun quotes
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If you can't understand how someone yelling at another person would make them fight harder and longer, then you need to look at the forums a bit closer.
quote author=56832398 post=519321747]Considering DnD is a game wouldn't all styles be gamist?
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