On the Other Hand….

There is THIS very nice front cover for the new Dark Sun setting for 4th edition D&D.  Now THIS cover makes me want to know more! I really liked the first Dark Sun. I am looking forward to getting this book.

DCC #10 via 4th Edition D&D

Our DM was running Dungeon Crawl Classics #10 for a sidetrack this week. The module is pretty much a series of encounters in which the party members must overcome obstacles and retrieve crystals which they must then destroy in order to save the area from it’s corrupting influence.

We started our session about 10:30 am and finished about 11:30 pm. A long day, for sure. This was the first full session of 4th edition I had played and I was happy with how it went. Unlike 3.5, I (playing an invoker) always had something to do in or out of combat. The game ran smoother than I remember from my last 3.5 game and everyone seemed to have a good time.

During one combat, I was sure we were going to have our heads handed to us by a group of Bugbears. Thanks to second winds, good die rolling and tactics, this was not the case. It was a pretty close combat and was the highlight of the evening. We could use a real defender, though!

4th simply flows  and feels more like D&D to me than any other edition has. I like how you can go back and change the powers you’ve taken if you feel it is needed, using the Character Generator (and I certainly needed to, not being totally up on the system).

Overall, an exciting play session and I am looking forward to more.

I Love Me Some 4th Edition!

Yes, I’ve only played it (briefly) once. Looks like I’ll be giving it another try this weekend. I am SO looking forward to it. Really, IMHO, it’s a more exciting game and more logically laid out than any other edition of D&D. There are other games I enjoy playing and other systems I prefer to use for fantasy (Hero), but if I’m playing D&D, from now on it’s going to be 4th edition. Just my Humble Opinion.

Saturday Game?

 Well, I may try to head over to Greensboro for a game of 4th Edition D&D this Saturday. I usually don’t game in Greensboro, but was invited over by a friend of a friend to give the new edition a try. IF I go, I’ll post a report of my impressions.

D&D 4th Edition

 So, I have the 4th edition D&D books. I’ve had a chance to do a quick read thru of the Players Handbook. Some very good changes here. I like the new races (who has EVER played a gnome…really!). I like the new way of building the character (stat wise). Good bye dump stat! I LOVE the layout. Every thing a player needs to make a character is right here. No need to refer to the DMG and it’s organized very well. Grappling has been handled as well as it can be, so that’s welcome as well.

Not sure I like the whole emphasis on minis. It’s getting almost impossible to run the game without them. So, in my opinion, that’s a bit of a draw back, but not a deal breaker. So far, I DO feel that this is a better game than 3.5. Now, I haven’t accually played it yet, but I do intend to. Anyway, I like what I’ve read so far and am looking forward to more (Monk, Illusionist, Necromancer…..).

Swordwings

Nice piece of art. I’m starting to lean more towards being really enthusiastic for 4th edition. Here is a link for more of the Swordwing info-

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4ex/20080502b

4th Edition Hit Points

• It’s implied that death is now less common, but when it happens it’s more than just the speedbump it is in 3E.
• Negative hit points now go down as far as one-half the character’s normal hit points (instead of the flat -10 currently).
• Bleeding remains, but there’s some kind of die roll associated with it; this means that you can’t predict exactly how many rounds it’ll take to die. It’s a bit faster than 1 hit point per round.
• When you receive healing, the healed hit points count up from zero, not from the negative total you’ve reached (no “negative hit point tax”).
• “Staggered” is gone – zero hit points means unconsciousness and dying, just like any other negative hit point level.
• Monsters don’t generally use these rules, and die at 0HP.