4th Edition D&D: What Worked, What Did Not

To begin, I find that only in 4th Edition has my character ever felt like he/she/it stands well above normal people in that he was able to take more hits, fight for longer, and be a damned hero at level 1.  Previous editions have you cringing from encounter to encounter with only very few healing sources available.  Cowardice is not heroic. :P

So, I'm going to start with the Character Sheet, and move on from there, going from concept to concept.


Init: Only real change here is that one adds 1/2 of one's level to it.  Makes it so the slow fighter actually can keep up at higher levels.
Defenses:  Very straightforward, and standardized, in a GREAT way, to be like armor class.  As to why they didn't do that in 3rd or 3.5, I have no idea.  Making it so multiple stats can affect those defenses as well is good, that way certain characters don't get fucked because of a mediocre CON but large STR.  Finally, for my wizards in the balconies, one can add either the DEX or INT mod to cloth or leather armor for AC purposes.  That is also great, and keeps wizards out of one-shot range.
Statistics:  Left the same, and there is no reason to change that.  The system works!
Senses:  I hate these Passives as the DM, so I don't use them.  Should Probably get rid of that concept.
HP, Bloodied, Surges:  Each of these is a good concept, for some characters may want to stay around Bloodied in order to get a better bonus to something.  The Healing Surges concept helps give each character some healing options, if only via Second Wind.  Seeing that Hit Points is a very abstract concept, that works.
Skills:  Hilariously, this is where people get pissed much of the time, in that they shortened the skill list, and combined too many of them into one thing.  The praise comes from Stealth.  This is such an easy fix people!  It's D&D, make your own skill list!  Also, getting rid of Skill Points was a great decision, as characters got too good with them too quickly, as well as being good at too many things.  In its place, trained is great at level 1, then you add in whatever modifiers for stats and races, then 1/2 your level, which makes progression very homogeneous, and helps the DM.

Beyond that, the character sheet is pretty much the same as in other RPG games.  Moving on.

DM'ing: Best in any RPG I have ever seen.  It's essentially party vs. party combat, you are given plenty of ideas of who would party with what for an encounter, AND they got rid of that bullshit CR concept and replaced it with an XP budget.  Want your PCs to have to fight harder in order to overcome their problems? Add monsters that make sense, act tactically, and give them a run for their money, and show how the world needs heroes.

Classes:  This is where the game changed the most.  Everyone gets "powers" that derive from different sources: martial training, Gods, arcane forces, evil pacts, nature herself, or one's own mind.  Unfortunately, before I continue, the classes get pretty crazy post PHB1, but smart DM'ing can mitigate the more skewed classes.  Actually, people hate how close these classes were originally in power.  In earlier editions, fighters become insanely good, especially clerics, when compared to wizards.  Yet, later, post 5th level, when one gets fireball, everything changes, then the fighters fall into obscurity, and become little more than damage sponges, partially because feats are terrible, and that's all the fighter gets.  So hey, in all cases, when I come to the table with a character, it feels, due to having my at-wills, encounter, and daily power, that my guy has had some serious training, and took some good techniques from that to make the world a better place.  :)

Weapons:  This is a failure in two parts, mainly because at-wills were so good that they often would do the same damage as a basic attack, yet get some bonus attack....so why the hell should I do a basic attack?!  Also, the weapons become little more than [W], and lost even the small variety they had in 3.5 with their differing critical hit ranges.  This should have been improved upon, and basic attacks should have done more damage, but at-wills give one tactical options.  Apparently, that's too hard.  Encounters and Dailies being badass are fine due to their limited nature.

Other people have told me that it "doesn't feel like D&D" or "it's more of a miniature game than D&D," but I have yet to figure out, by asking very pointed questions, what anyone means by that.  Roleplaying is dependent on the party and DM, totally on them.  Difficulty is on the DM because he makes the encounters, and knows how much healing they have access to.  So, people try to blame the game, yet even the argument that it is "easier" due to more healing is taken care of in two parts, because WoTC, in in their adventure modules, have included since AD&D rules in case the characters get too damaged to take it easy on them.  Again, difficulty is on the DM, but this game has no meaning unless the PCs are in very real danger of dying.  For instance, I'm DM'ing a 4th ed game, and already each PC has dropped and begun bleeding out at least once, but as they get deeper into the dungeons, their healing will run out, and their heroic actions will become more and more desperate.

As a side note, Pathfinder is a great improvement on 3.5, so much so that I fear that, if WoTC goes back to a 3.5 style with 5th edition D&D, then they're running headlong into a trap that will lose them even more money.  Hell, I doubt many will buy it because gamers are that lazy, and have no issue pirating books.

I doubt that they'll just make an improvement on 4th to play, but what they need to do is:

Fewer Classes, more options within them.  The old AD&D splash books need to come back.
Weapons need to feel more weapon-like, with each having some special property.
Feats need to stop sucking, and some weapons should naturally be able to be enhanced by one's DEX modifyer.
More Monster Manuals.
A NEW OFFICIAL SETTING that is not Forgotten Realms or Eberron.

So, here's some rambling list of things I like about 4th edition, along with some legitimate problems and complaints it has, as well as some that come down to how lazy people are when it comes to needing to learn a new damn game.

;)