Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition

Well, I played Dungeons and Dragons 4.0 yesterday when Gauntlet Games (Lincoln, NE) was having a game day, so I finally got to learn the new version. We played two "campaigns" in the period of 7-8 hours.

These "campaigns" really weren't more than a couple encounters each with a storyline connecting them. The first one, we were on a boat taking on pirates at the start, which led into some murder mystery. It was more role-play and skill based (stealth and perception checks, mostly). It took me a while to get into since I didn't get it right away and was a bit lost.

The second campaign started out with a group of travelers searching for a treasure called the "Cup of Truth." I had never played the same character for multiple campaigns, but my pre-rolled rogue hit level two after the second campaign. It helped to play the same character, because I had learned her abilities the previous campaign.

This quest for treasure started out in either the woods or mountains (I can't remember which) and then something happened and we were facing a dark room filled with enemies. We took them down and found their diaries which spoke of a maze and different rooms within the maze that weren't exactly safe for the average traveler. We got through to a magma room with enemies, took them down, and then moved on to take down a dragon. In order to get through the maze, we had to do skill challenges to see if we made it.

We took down the dragon while also getting keys for the chest that was sitting in the middle of the room. (Actually, the rest of the group fought with the beast while I picked locks of statues, and then I got the finishing blow on him.) It was more combat and skills than role-play, but I thought I still managed to play my character well. And then I got to take him home :)

It is definitely a different style than v3.5. You get two cards that have bonuses (fail a skill check? take a 10) to help out during gameplay as well as action points to take extra turns with (only 1 per encounter can be used, but you get an extra one every other encounter). They streamlined a lot of the skills like search, spot, and listen (now all perception), so no more scrolling down a long list to find them.

They were using a character generator from D&DI, so the abilities were in squares on a sheet of paper, making it easy to see all the information that would be needed to use said abilities. Both race and class abilities were on the paper as well as all the saves, initiative, AC, HP, etc. It makes it easier on the player and speeds up gameplay.

All in all, v4.0 is fun to play, but it's not my beloved v3.5. Maybe if I see a DM/GM leading v4.0 as smoothly as I've seen them lead v3.5 without having to read from a script, I might "convert." (I like the character interactions from v3.5 and the need for the DM/GM to improvise at times. In v4.0, you basically are lead through the campaign by the DM/GM from what I have seen). I doubt it, though. I might add v4.0 to my list of tabletop RPGs, but I don't expect it will take the place of v3.5.