Yeah, and the blue books weren't all that great, when looking back after all these years.
Jim, one of my gamers, was kind enough to drop off the version 4.0 Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide for a review yesterday afternoon.
Now, I have to preface this with the following:
I hate rule revisions. Especially when they screw them up, like when 3.0 came out. Took a whole rework of the set, 3.5, to fix the fixes, and meantime we're spending $20 a pop on books. So when word began circulating (I first heard while playing DDO) about a new set of rule revisions, I rebelled. Refused to visit the Wizards site. Didn't even want a glimpse of the rules changes. Not a one. Told my gamers I didn't want to hear about them at the gametable, either.
I have spent the last 4 hours with the volumes and here is my initial reaction.
They've
gutted the game rules. They were absolutely ruthless, and they gutted them.
I like it.
To wit, the gutting: The old DM Guide
was 310 pages. The new DM Guide is 220 pages. And the typeface is larger. They've moved almost all of the magical item
descriptions out of the DMG and into the PH---or some other, as yet
unreleased, tome.
I was stunned to see how they present generating character ability
scores. Actually rolling dice to make your ability scores has been
relegated to the dungeon. Presented first are two other ways to generate your scores. Then, almost reluctantly, are gamers told how to roll for abilities. Gamers are advised, "Use this method with caution."
They've changed the basic combat engine. Drastically. But like I said, I like it.
Initiatives are a Dexterity check: d20. Result is a 5. To this, add:
+4 (half your level)
+2 (your dex modifier)
5+6=11, your initiative for this encounter.
Instead
of an attack roll based on character enhancements vs an AC, you make an
attack roll and modify it according to the ability the attack is keyed
to.
Two examples will show this rapidly:
Terrance the Fighter swings at a goblin using his +1 longsword. He
rolls a d20. The result is an 8. To this he adds:
+4 (half his fighter level)
+3 (his 18 STR score modifier)
+1 (his sword's modifier)
8+8=16 vs the goblin's AC of 13 is a hit and the goblin takes damage according to a simple to use weapon formula.
Bluetooth the Wizard unleashes a fireball onto four kobolds. She rolls a d20 (yep!) The result is an 11. To this she adds:
+4 (half her wizard level)
+3 (her 18 intelligence modifier)
11+7=18
vs the kobold's REFLEX DEFENSE SCORE of 15 (10 + 4 (half their level) +
1 (the higher of their Dex or Int modifier). The fireball does the
proscribed damage. The kobold save comes in at the end of the round.
Where did I get the reflex defense?
It is dictated by the fireball spell attack.
That's right.
Except neither of
these things are called attacks any more. They are called Powers. And
you have plenty of powers to choose from. Some, like swinging a sword,
are not restricted at all--they are called "at will" powers. Others can
be used once per melee encounter, and so on.
By
gutting the battle system and throwing out hundreds of geek-inspired
charts, tables, and formulae, I think the developers have done me a
favor--removed the need for a personal computer to figure out who the
hell is winning.
By moving all the available magic out of the
DMG and putting it into the PH, they've helped get the friggin
descriptions out where I don't have to worry about reciting them any
more once one has been found. But never fear, just because you can READ
about something doesn't mean you can actually FIND it in my universe.
There is a serious reduction in the amount of magic items available for reading about in the new books.
I
suspect this material will be made available to the DM's who cough up a
subscription to the DnDInsider website.
I figure I can find missing
items here, using this search engine:
I
might start dorking around with this builder if only to see what it
does.
You definitely will need the subscription to merge maps
made with the above tool into the online device, so your players can party
from four different home-based internet connections during the terrible
blizzard of 2009.
The DMG is full of advice. Yep. Real, honest-to-goodness words of helpfulness.I can actually imagine a virgin DM sitting down with this book and using it the first time and having a fun gaming experience.
I've given my gamers the "ok, we can discuss whether or not we want to go to 4.0" green light. We'll set some time before an upcoming gaming session to kick their thoughts around along with my own. I need to spend some more time digging through the books as of yet--I haven't looked at the new Monster Manual, and there are a few things with the saving throws that still don't sit right with me--I need to make sure I'm reading it right.
I still think it is a chance for Hasbro to make another pot of money by wiping out Dungeon Master libraries all over the world. The volumes are $35. Each. That's almost $100 to DM your first game.
But the revisions do not suck. Not at all.