I look at editions as toolboxes to draw from in my own game, and 4th had a few good tools to it. The forest might have been unwanted, but there were some pretty trees.
Man, I still think 4e’s at-will / encounter / daily powers were an interesting idea that made non-magical classes more fun to play, balance issues aside. People complained that it made the classes too samey, (which is a valid criticism). But damn, I want cool, once per day fighter abilities on par with a spell.
I also thought that the progression of class -> paragon path -> epic destiny was badass and really enhanced the storytelling aspect of a character.
I tried running it once, with some video-gamers, and they friggin’ loved it. Only problem was the ability cards were way out of print by that date, and I didn’t understand that you really need those after level 2 or so. Tracking all the different ability types is just a nightmare, grinding the overall pace of the game to a snail’s pace without them.
Looking back on it critically, I don’t like having to dump more money into WotC’s pockets to make the core books playable. I do appreciate that they attempted to streamline things, and for the right table, it’s a good design. I did print some proxies up and tested some combat and man was it punchy and fast. If money was no object, I’d absolutely run what is otherwise a DnD-flavored “deck building game” with level progression.
I still like minions as a concept. Dinky little guys that have 1 HP but if ignored will still do a decent amount of damage?
Yeah it’s good stuff. Still rewards people for splitting fire too so suddenly it’s fine to attack zombie ABC even if your ally has already damaged zombie XYZ.
There were some neat ideas in 4th at least.
I look at editions as toolboxes to draw from in my own game, and 4th had a few good tools to it. The forest might have been unwanted, but there were some pretty trees.
Man, I still think 4e’s at-will / encounter / daily powers were an interesting idea that made non-magical classes more fun to play, balance issues aside. People complained that it made the classes too samey, (which is a valid criticism). But damn, I want cool, once per day fighter abilities on par with a spell.
I also thought that the progression of class -> paragon path -> epic destiny was badass and really enhanced the storytelling aspect of a character.
People complained it was too much like a video game, because it used actually good game design principles.
Edit: apologies for waking a necrothread.
I tried running it once, with some video-gamers, and they friggin’ loved it. Only problem was the ability cards were way out of print by that date, and I didn’t understand that you really need those after level 2 or so. Tracking all the different ability types is just a nightmare, grinding the overall pace of the game to a snail’s pace without them.
Looking back on it critically, I don’t like having to dump more money into WotC’s pockets to make the core books playable. I do appreciate that they attempted to streamline things, and for the right table, it’s a good design. I did print some proxies up and tested some combat and man was it punchy and fast. If money was no object, I’d absolutely run what is otherwise a DnD-flavored “deck building game” with level progression.
I still like minions as a concept. Dinky little guys that have 1 HP but if ignored will still do a decent amount of damage?
Yeah it’s good stuff. Still rewards people for splitting fire too so suddenly it’s fine to attack zombie ABC even if your ally has already damaged zombie XYZ.
4th edition gets a lot of hate but I definitely enjoy borrowing things from it.
I did a few 4th edition sessions and I cannot quantifiably say I’ve had a worse time than my 5th edition sessions.