Massawyrm at AICN has an exclusive review of the new 4th Edition D&D. Reading the review really brings me back to my own memories of being a D&D gamer; I gave up D&D back during 2nd Edition (when there was still the Basic vs Advanced dichotomy). What lured me away was Magic: The Gathering, and then after college I just never had time again to play anything. I really would love to get back into D&D but the constraints on my time are even worse now than before. Plus, no matter how innovative the rules, to have fun you just need to play with friends, and most of mine are too far away, scattered around the nation. Maybe next year.
Actually wouldn’t it be amazing if we could run a D&D campaign via group chat?
UPDATE via Scott,
hmm. Anyone up for a campaign? 🙂
Ya know, I’m pretty sure that’s been done, actually.
I’ve done it. It’s great. I did it on ifMUD, where some of my friends hang out, and we have dice rollers and stuff scripted up.
Maptool is your friend.
http://rptools.net/doku.php?id=maptool:intro
Some transcripts are at strackenz.spod-central.org/~lpsmith/rpg/transcripts/
Though that seems down right now
Isn’t there some online thing in this new edition to let scattered people play? Not sure if it’ll work or how much it’ll cost though.
I guess the first step is investing in the players’ guide (and GMs guide, I always played both sides of the screen). In hindsight it make sense that there woul be scripts and whatnot to assist, but the primary logistical barrier is finding the same block of time, which gets harder the more spread out the group is. My college gaming group is scattered from California to North Carolina, from Texas to Massachusetts.
When I first saw the D&D4 ideas, I was excited… but the more I learn, the more leery I become.
Some of what I found…
– Races: Gnomes move to Monster Manual, Tieflings move to PH (Players Handbook), new races Eladrin and Dragonborn (Half-orc missing atm)
– Classes: Warlock & Warlord are new in PH (Barbarian, Bard and Druid are missing in the info I’ve seen, possibly moving to supplements)
– they are messing with my Dragons! (Chromatic =/= evil, Metallic =/= evil) booooo!
– lots of encounter changes (Beholders will now be able to take on a party)
– They are making classes into more of a “slotted” or MMO style. Trying to make groups more dynamic, ie. Clerics wouldn’t be mandatory in a good group, etc.
– Talent trees… /sigh
In General, lots of changes: some good, some bad, some that make you scratch your head.
I still am hopeful for the online gaming table… but current rumors is that your standard account will only give you three days a month of playtime online. I really would like more info on the online portion.
Best info I’ve found so far is at http://dnd4.com
keep in mind that when i last played, it was 2nd Edition. We used the Starjammer expansion to bring elements of Dark Sun, Ravenloft and Dragonlance into our homebrew campaign setting. I dont even know what feats are, let alone talent trees 🙂
I guess this makes me a bit of a gaming dinosaur. But three days a month of time, if actually budgedted by the hour or minute, might actually be enough for people like me who just cant find time to play. Id love to have a slower moving campaign online with my old and now scattered gaming group.