So did anyone get D&D 4E?

[Dr Archeville]

Since the mythical lamia was a half-woman/half-serpent (similar to a naga, but not exactly), neither of the other conceptions make sense.

Neither is a match for the mythical lamia, true... but neither are gorgons (D&D gorgons are metallic bulls that breathe a petrifying gas; in Greek mythology gorgons are monstrous women with petrifying gazes) or kobolds (in D&D they're either dog-like or draconic gnome-hating trap-making runts; in German mythology they're a type of shapechanging sprite) or stirges (in D&D they're some weird vampire bat/mosquito cross; in ancient Roman myth they're vampiric owls) or the tarrasque (in the original French myths it was a six-legged turtle-shelled scorpion-tailed lion-headed fire-breathing critter with a moustache that was beguiled & weakened by a beautiful woman) or trolls (D&D's Ogres are a closer match to the trolls of Norse myth; D&D's Trolls are taken from Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions).

But this new one has almost nothing in common with the one from the past 20+ years of D&D history, with what has been established in the D&D 'mythos'. So why bother changing it? Why not just give this insect swarm-in-fey's skin a new name, and leave the D&D lamia as the illusion-casting Wis-draining lion-woman it's been in all the prior editions? (Or just omit the lamia altogether, since 4E seems to not like attribute drain?)

[Vaalus]

My opinion on all of these things might not be shared by others, but it seems to myself and my gaming group that WotC is changing everything, creating a completely different game. They just slapped D&D on there to sell copies and push forward their new GSL. The system's completely different, characters are completely different, names are changed, and personally to me it doesn't have the feel I got from any previous incarnation of D&D. It's a different game, and after some play testing I refuse to touch it. It's not D&D, it's an ugly step sibling that shares the same name because of marriage.

[Warmonger]

But how do you really feel?

[Warmonger]

Personally I like it. Though in my opinion this game was created as a precursor to a new MMO. I think WOTC was really disappointed that their MMO tanked so bad so they went back to the drawing board to find something that translates better into an MMO game. I imagine an new D&D rpg is not far off.

[Heritage]

Personally I like it. Though in my opinion this game was created as a precursor to a new MMO. I think WOTC was really disappointed that their MMO tanked so bad so they went back to the drawing board to find something that translates better into an MMO game. I imagine an new D&D rpg is not far off.

I think you might be right on this, especially since 4E seems to have a lot more in common with WoW than 3.5.

Flipping through the MM, I was disappointed by several other things.

Dryads have been increasingly desexualized, why I'm not sure; in 3rd, they were smoking hot babes, in 3.5 they became smoking hot babes apparently carved out of wood, and in 4E they now appear to be large lumpy creatures formed from mud and twigs. I didn't read the full write-up, but that's what the picture showed. The lamia thing bugged me, too, not because of concept (which is actually cool), but because as others have said why call it a lamia? And dopplegangers are now just Eberron changelings with a different name; I can kinda see combining them, but why go for the weaker, more limited choice? My biggest disappointment is the loss of the mimic; sure, it's a silly monster, but to me that thing is one of the classic D&D monsters; taking it out of the MM makes me inexplicably sad.

I will have to say the most singularly disturbing thing I've seen about 4E is no listing of magical treasure in the DMG, which bugs me on two levels:

1. The DMG has always been the Sears Wishbook for D&D players; I've been jonesing for a Ring of Shooting Stars since 1981, and I've still never got one, and the Rod of Lordly Might (insert double entrede here) has been the Lamborghini of magic items for decades. Leaving out the magic items hurts more than losing the mimic.

2. I smell a separate splatbook that everyone is going to feel compelled to buy, meaning the real magical treasure will be leaving our bank accounts and heading towards Washington State. Grr!

[Barnum]

I will have to say the most singularly disturbing thing I've seen about 4E is no listing of magical treasure in the DMG, which bugs me on two levels:

Magic items are in the PHB, beginning on page 223.

[Geez3r]

I got the 4e books, and personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with the system per se, but it just doesn't feel right. I have yet to play, so I can't say for sure, but it really doesn't feel D&D-esque. Then again the past few years of my D&D career have been really, really off the cuff, and 4e just feels too pigeoned holed.

Like the last session we had in our 3.5 game, we entered the Temple of Doom to kill an evil god. Our druid weilded the Rapier of Fantastic, which was an artifact given to us by the god of being incredibly good looking and overly dramatic, whose power was to make you better at things that were impossible, but worse at things that were possible, so the fact that he was not proficient with it in fact made him better at using it. And because we were entering the Temple of Doom, the Rapier of Fantasic became a whip, the druid got a permanent 5 o'clock shadow, and his animal compainion became a small asian boy. We were accompanied by Biggs and Wedge, the most famous and faaaantastic adventuring duo in the world, but only because they were so good at convincing the public they had done everything, and to top it all off, they were based off Team Rocket. We also got a club that did 4d8 damage, at 15ft reach, and would ignore all DR if you made a tree based pun when you attacked.

So the fact that 4e emphasizes balance while sending versatility to the chopping block is a bit of a turn off. The whole point of our games is just shenanigans, not balance. Then again, we'll probably make a farce of the whole thing in all of about 5 minutes anways, and make up anything we need. Like the second to last boss in the aforementioned Temple was a giant ostrich thing with a shovel with the ability to manipulate time and space that only had a Charisma score. We broke most of the rules with that one, so no real big deal I guess. I just realized that I should have stopped talking at the end of the first paragraph.

[Heridfel]

Re: Magic Items

It's the PCs who have the greatest need for magic items, since NPCs use different rules and have a level-based bonus which compensates for their lack of magic stuff. In fact, if you do give the NPCs magic items for treasure, you lower that level-based bonus accordingly so the overall attack/defense/damage remains the same.

There's also the free-for-now Dragon magazine which released The Treasures of Ashardalon, an article full of new magical items. You now need to register on the site to access Dragon, but honestly, a free login account isn't a huge hurdle.

[eyeonthemountain]

I have been playing 4E for couple months now and am still not sure if I like it. Parts I like a lot, and other parts I am super iffy about. I know I will keep playing D&D, but will it be 3.5 or 4E or a mix. The jury is still out.

[Shadowboxer]

I bought the 4E PHB and I'm currently playing with a group. My short experience with 3.5 renders me inadequate to make comparisons between the two systems. I can say, however, that the game runs smoothly during combat (much of the rules actually mirror M&M) and the skill challenges are a clever way of including everyone in making that crucial skill check, rather than laying the burden on the rogue all the time.

I've just started playing and so my critique is limited for now. :)