Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Review
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I had the opportunity to play D&D 4th Edition in a series of play tests run by a friend of mine last December. As gaming sessions go, they were quite grueling; we showed up at noon and played until well after 10 or 11 p.m. We had to, though: We were on a deadline. Wizards needed feedback on the adventure we were playing by the end of the month. Despite the long hours, despite our fumbling with the rules, despite sometimes rough notes for the dungeon master, it was a glorious experience.
At every level, mechanically, players and dungeon masters (a game's storyteller and arbiter) are freed to experience the game in ways they never could before. Characters now have special powers that assist them in combat, giving them real moment-to-moment choices in the heat of battle.
"I hit it with my warhammer" gets pretty old; instead, why don't you whack that monster upside its head so hard that it's forced to stagger backward? Spellcasters have similarly colorful abilities in D&D 4th Edition; where once they had hundreds of thematically similar spells to choose from, they now only have to make a few important decisions as they gain in power. Warlocks, arcane casters that truck with mysterious powers, have particularly evocative abilities. What better way to deal with a troublesome orc than to teleport it away from you? If part of that trip involves burning in the fires of Hell, so much the better!
