Comments on: Fourth Edition, Another Year On

By: Brandan Landgraff

Brandan Landgraff — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:55:08 +0000

Ahh the magic of d20source.com. :D

By: Brandon Buchanan

Brandon Buchanan — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:34:25 +0000

Jonathan: Thank you very much for your response. I think I’ll probably go with Fantasy Grounds since I’m not concerned with the one-time license cost.

You’ve just reunited a former gamer back with his friends and with D&D.

By: Jonathan Drain

Jonathan Drain — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:24:18 +0000

Brandon: I use a third party app called Gametable, not to be confused with WotC's own delayed/cancelled online tabletop. You can read an article about Gametable I wrote in 2008.

By: Brandon Buchanan

Brandon Buchanan — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:17:41 +0000

Jonathan, you said under “The Good: Combat” that you used a digital tabletop to run your game. I thought D&D insider scrapped that.

I live in WI and my friends who I want to game with live in TX, and I would LOVE to have an online tabletop to use. Does this exist anywhere?

By: DirtyCajun

DirtyCajun — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:16:47 +0000

So far I have played many, and run a few, games of LFR. If the group has played together for a while the game runs very smoothly and combat doesn’t typically lag. On the other hand there are some LFR modules out there with one or two pushover encounters and then an encounter designed to take forever. It’s when you start incorporating a hard combat with hard to maneuver terrain that I really have a problem with the combats. A combat that would have run in an hour without terrain gimmicks can easily turn into a 2.5 hour slog that everyone is drained after.

By: wickedmurph

wickedmurph — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:23:26 +0000

I’ve had no problem with the pace of combats, but that’s because I modify combats extensively. I use Maptools to run my game, so I can make very big maps. That lets me build large areas, with multiple groups of enemies, patrols and things, and let the characters move through it in “real time”, combining skill challenge elements, combat in waves, ambushes and other factors into very long mega-encounters.

Most “encounters” run 2 or three hours, but they tend to be the equivalent of 4 or 5 standard encounters. I use a metric crap-ton of minions, and almost no soldiers and no solo monsters. Combat is fast, vicious and works really well.

Demothenes – you’re doing it backwards. I bought the first 3 books (should only have bought the first 2 in retrospect), and with my DDi subscription I haven’t had to buy another – everything I need is in character builder, compendium and monster builder – what do I need the books for?

By: Demothenes XXI

Demothenes XXI — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:23:51 +0000

I’ve been running the game for over a year now and the combat is still pretty damn slow, IMHO. We’ve tried all of the tips and tricks on the WotC forums and other stuff and it’s not working. The problem is that they took a game that worked for all kinds of gamers and changed it into something that is only fun for tactical gamers. My wife and most of my other game group are “storyteller gamers,” and they do not fit into the “tactical” mold. I have two other people in my group who regularly play “BattleTech” and “Warhammer Fantasy/40K;” they do great at this game and get all of the strategic and tactical nuances that are required.

As for the monster builder and stuff, I’m still a bit insulted that these things are only available to people who subscribe to their web-service. If I bought the books (at $30.00+ a pop), then why isn’t that enough for them to be able to use the service. I am fine with their charging subscription fees for the .pdf copies of the “Dragon” and “Dungeon” magazines. That’s fine and reasonable. I had even considered buying subscriptions to them. But I decided not to do so when I found that they were charging for access to the “game assistance apps.” I would be happy if they asked that I had to provide proof of purchase (i.e. receipt) for a given amount of product and then I’d be given a subscription. That would be quite fair. But for them to charge extra for tools meant to make the game easier for their customers is pretty lowbrow. Nickel and diming your customers is not good business.

I still buy the books because I suspect that I will be either running or playing this in the future, but I am very close to ceasing my current campaign because my players are getting burned out on the slow combat.

This is just what I am going through and I wanted to share it because I thought that this post was very well written and I wanted to share my experience with the blog poster.

By: Ray Wenderlich

Ray Wenderlich — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:03:25 +0000

My favorite things about 4E are the tremendous balance (as you’ve mentioned) and how each class has a variety of interesting abilities to choose between during an encounter.

My least favorite thing is that 4E seems to stress combat more than role playing.

By: Wimwick

Wimwick — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:35:46 +0000

I’m not sure combat is any faster or slower. It seems slower, but I think that is due to all the conditions that need to be tracked. One thing I’m interested in experiementing with is less overall monster of higher level, supported by a few extra minions. The other option is more monsters that are weaker, but they arrive in waves.

Skill Challenges are an interesting area. I love the concept but have found they are hit or miss in execution. I think they work best when the DM is able to introduce them as part of the story. PCs are then able to commence with skill checks in a very organic way that doesn’t feel forced.

Overall a great list, and I’m 100% behind you on the artwork. It doesn’t inspire my imagination they way previous did. It’s great artwork, but something is missing.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:17:50 +0000

Aside from supporting the game as it grows, I see no reason to switch from 3.5 yet. In my experience it provides a better platform for roleplaying and improvisation, while still creating a cohesive and structured game. I know this isnt an article to stoke the flames of edition wars, but that’s my two cents…