4th Edition D&D: Not for me...

By Charles Moffat - 2008.

Based on a Google search there is a surprising number of hits for the words 4th edition D&D and boycott. Almost 28,000. Quite a few of the complaints are on blogs or forums.

For those not familiar with Dungeons & Dragons the game was first published in 1974 and has gone through a number of changes over the past 34 years with new editions, including some radical changes like 3rd edition.

The problem however is the new 4th edition game has pissed off many of the game's fans. 28,000 posts talking about boycotting 4th edition D&D suggests there is hundreds of thousands more roleplayers out there who are likewise pissed off by the new game and will avoid playing it.

Granted, there are those who say the new game is an improvement... but I will point out these players tend to also play Magic the Gathering, miniatures games or computer games... the new 4th edition game complicates the game to the point that players print or make "Power Cards" that they use during the game... and the new complicated rules for movement makes miniatures mandatory.

This however reduces the game to a card game/miniatures game and roleplaying, actual roleplaying TIME is reduced. The rules governing movement, powers, etc. end up wasting a lot of game time.

Time is a very relevant thing when playing RPGs. Games are only so many hours long and typically only one session every week or two. Time is therefore very precious and the more time wasted discussing rules, powers, etc. is less time doing actual character roleplaying. And it is the roleplaying that people enjoy the most.

Here's an example of what 4th edition does:

A player moves his Paladin miniature so that its beside an orc on the table. The player lifts up a card and says "I move 1 square and I Divine Challenge this orc" and points at the orc miniature on the table. He then lifts up a 2nd card and says "and then I use Holy Strike on him." The player then rolls his d20 to see if he hits or not.

The use of the power cards thus reduces roleplaying... the same player in 3rd edition could have simply moved the miniature and said "Hello foul orc! I am going to smite you so hard you are going to wish you were never born!", thus indicating to the DM that he is both challenging the orc to fight him, and intending to use a smite attack. A 4th edition player could have done the same thing in theory, but because of the power card system players tend to forget they have the option to roleplay out their powers instead of just reading off the cards.

You could try running a 4th edition game without the power cards, but it would be a lot of stuff to remember in your head and you'd be flipping through the rulebook constantly to check the different powers and the precise wording of each.

I personally have boycotted 4th edition D&D. I tried the game out for several months but eventually got bored of the lack of character development in the face of a party more interested in powers, bickering over movement rules, etc. My review of the game was 0 stars out of 5. I viewed it as a complete waste of time.

I currently am DMing a 3.0 game and I'm also an avid member of a 1st edition game and a 2nd edition Dark Sun game. I also play Dungeons & Dragons Online, which most closely resembles 3.5 D&D.

I will note that a game's roleplaying success largely depends on the players and their willingness to roleplay out situations. 4th Edition seems to discourage this however with too much emphasis on the various powers/rules. The previous editions allow players to customize their characters more statistically, but also gives them a lot more room to roleplay out their situations.

In the aforementioned 1st edition game I am currently playing a cleric and I roleplay out every undead turn check ("Begone foul undead! Back to the graves with thee!"), every spell I cast ("Goddess, heal my friend in this time of need!") and even my pathetic attempts to hit the enemy ("I swing wildly at the kobold with my hammer {rolls dice} and hit the tree standing next to him!")

There's also the regular roleplaying where you're just talking to the NPCs, trying to solve a mystery, puzzle or whatever or threatening the barkeep that if he doesn't keep pouring the ale you're going to burn down his tavern...

Some of the players in my game had never experienced this style of gaming, but once you get into it you realize its much more satisfying to cut off the bad guy's head while shouting "Thats for killing my sister and burning my town down you bastard!"

Sure the neighbours may wonder whats going on with all the noise, but that is the way roleplaying games are meant to be. Loud and fun.

Its certainly not supposed to be a bunch of geeks playing power cards and bickering. Thats not even D&D any more. Its something else and the makers of 4th edition should be ashamed of themselves.