D&D 4E - Nerf Hammer

Of all the changes made in 4th Edition, the one that strikes me the most is how they've changed the efficiency and power of magic, that one element which virtually defines the fantasy role-playing genre.

Let me make it simple. Old edition magic had two qualities. First, magic was strong. Dungeons and Dragons is a game with combat and conflict. A majority of the game's mechanics and rules revolve around the concept that there will come a time when you have to kill something, or be killed yourself. The previous three editions had characters with the ability to use magic spells, be they called magic-users or clerics or wizards or druids or sorcerers, serving as the benchmark for what was raw power in such a fight. Magical power starts out as mediocre to decent at low levels, with the wizard having the power to use magic only a few times daily before becoming exhausted. But this quickly changes upon reaching 5th or 6th level, when spells suddenly become the combat-warping effects that they are known to be.

Ask any veteran of what I shall call The Old Ways, and they can immediately name a slew of powerful combat spells that make the wizard an invaluable asset on the battlefield. Magic Missile, Fireball, Cone of Cold, Cloudkill, Flamestrike, Disintegrate, Power Word Kill. All these spells and more will evoke a response from someone familiar with the old system.

And these are just the spells that harm. The beneficial spells aren't a slouch either. Words like Haste, Stoneskin, Heal, Raise Dead, and the whole array of Cure [insert any affliction known to man and god here], are part of veteran gamer canon speech.

The second quality of old edition magic was that it was convenient. A high level spellcaster can have dozens of spells in his arsenal, with dozens more to choose from to fit various needs. Each of these spells can be cast in one combat round on the average, with some of the stronger ones taking up to a minute. Like raising the dead back to life. Yes. You can raise the dead back to life in a minute or less.

Plus, the convenience of magic also extends to the effects that can be produced by magic spells. Practically any hindrance, obstacle or delay can be negated by a high level caster in the party. Worried about hidden devices? Use Find Traps. Your GM decides to hit one of the party with that once-in-a-campaign illness? Remove Disease. Locked door? Cast Knock, or use Passwall if you're feeling mighty. Go up that suspicious-looking winding staircase? Nah, just cast Mass Fly. Cross that desert? No. Teleport is your answer. Not sure who the thief is? Detect Evil or Discern Lies will do.

Magic was so good, and so easy to use that it even supplanted the skills and abilities of the other character classes.

Of course, I'm using the word was, suggesting correctly that this is no longer the case in 4th Edition. Largely, with few exceptions, in 4th Edition, magic got nerfed.

And it got nerfed solidly.

Magical effects were weakened by toning down the effects, making them more inconvenient to use (hooray for rituals), or both. In some cases, certain spells were removed entirely, for balance, or even mechanical issues (a not-so-fond farewell to the Polymorph class of magical effects). The number of magical effects spellcasters can use is now at par with the powers of other classes.

What does this mean? For starters, spellcasters are no longer the absolute benchmarks for high level power. Classes are more even now in terms of usefulness, even at high levels, and all of them are there to serve a specific role. Class abilities are no longer easily supplanted by magic. And this also means that the stereotype of the uber-powerful mage who can take on the entire party by himself is no longer possible. The minions of the evil wizard are not just fluff to get in the party's way. They're necessary to keep the evil mage alive.

As a role-playing-centric Game Master, I'm also relieved that I no longer have to explain why convenient magic didn't warp the way of life in fantasy societies. Think about what would happen in the real world if you had a class of citizens who could Detect Evil at will, and you'll see what I mean from this singular example.

To be fair, I've never played a primary spellcaster class before. I don't know how some spellcaster players will find the drop in their power levels. I'm sure many will be disappointed, even angry, and refuse to play this horrible new version of their favorite game. But as objectively as possible, I view this particular change in the D&D paradigm as a good one.

D&D 4E - Powers

The new Dungeons and Dragons game has changed some of the most fundamental aspects of the original versions, while trying to remain true to the essence of what made the original paper and pen game such a classic.

One of the things it mostly threw out the window was how character class abilities and spells worked. Aside from the most essential class features, most class-related abilities, including spells, are now called powers. These powers are classified in three ways, particularly how they relate to combat:

At-Will Powers are those that can be used every round, once per round.

Encounter Powers are those that can only be used once per encounter. The use of these powers can be restored after a short rest.

Daily Powers are those that prove so draining that they can only be used once before requiring an extended rest to restore its efficacy.

Powers manifest from different sources depending on what class you are. Wizards draw from the arcane and their powers are called spells. Clerics use divine power and use prayers. Fighters have martial power and use exploits (I would have called them techniques or styles, but that's just me). Gaining these abilities is a simple matter of increasing in level. All classes progress with gaining powers at the same rate:

At level 1, you select 2 at-will powers, 1 encounter power, and 1 daily power from those available to your class.

You gain a new encounter attack power at levels 3, 7 and 11, with the option to replace those with a stronger one at 13th, 17th, 23rd, and 27th levels.

You gain a new daily attack power at levels 5, 9, and 20, with the option to replace those with stronger daily powers at 15th, 19th, 25th, and 29th levels.

You also gain a new utility power at levels 2, 6, 10, 12, 16, 22 and 26.

Whenever you gain a level, regardless of whether you received anything new, you are able to replace one existing power with another one of equal or lower level.

This very simple system dictates that no matter what class you are, be you wizard or fighter, you have the same number of powers of a certain type (ignoring special cases like humans who gain an extra at-will power at 1st level). This means even fighters have "spells" of their own, and that the days of the high level wizard slinging a dozen each of fireballs, lightning bolts, ice storms and what have you are things of the past.

The best thing about this, for me, is that all classes now have significant abilities even at high levels, which go beyond their hit points or equipment. There is reason to feat the high-level exploit as much as the high level spell. Let's compare the effects of two such powers, both level 23 encounter attack powers:

3d6 + Intelligence modifier thunder damage, and the target is stunned until the end of your next turn. [Ranged 20]

4[W] + Strength modifier damage. Weapon: If you’re wielding an axe, you gain a bonus to the damage roll equal to your Constitution modifier.

Both are comparably strong. Though the fighter exploit does more raw damage, the spell makes up for it with range. And there's no "strictly better" comparison, unlike when you compare the destructive potential of an 18th level wizard versus that of an 18th level fighter from 3rd edition. And note, none of the comparisons I'm making take equipment into account.

That's another nice effect of the new power paradigm. Each class is so full of features that equipment, while still important and valuable, is no longer overwhelmingly necessary for characters to become interesting. If a DM wanted to, he could create a low-magic setting where mystical items and artifacts are rare, and the characters are still capable of many things.

Any system with this much class balance and emphasis on the character (not his gear) has a thumbs up from me.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - Alignment

I've always been against the concept of alignment, being of the mind that no person is completely good or evil, and that an entire setting system with integral components revolving around being centered on one or the other is silly.

I mean, if it were that easy to tell who's evil or not, why the hell aren't there paladins and clerics walking around good societies weeding out the evil on a daily basis by performing random scans on the populace? That alone should alter the whole paradigm of how that kind of society would work. And that musing is just off the top of my head.

Don't get me started on how many debates have been made on what constitutes as good or evil, by action or omission, especially in the context of the pre-4E paladin and the chance of "losing your divine powers" and reverting to "a common fighter" till "atonement is made."

Ugh.

Thankfully, 4E seems to have lifted much of the importance of alignment in its structure. The original editions had nine alignments, as well as overtly elaborate, yet still lacking, definitions on what counted as what. Certain alignment definitions came out as awkward or half-baked, while others were defined to rigidly and lacked flexibility.

The new edition simplifies things into 5 alignments, though their terminology could use some elaboration (that last opinion really isn't important and is a manifestation of my OC tendencies). The five alignments are Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, and Chaotic Evil. The book does a good job in defining each of these, but they can easily be summarized in a statement or two:

Lawful Good - "I will do whatever is of greatest benefit for everyone and my society."

Good - "I want what's best for those I care about."

Unaligned - "I just want to survive and be happy."

Evil - "I am willing to hurt selected individuals and manipulate the system for my personal benefit."

Chaotic Evil - "I'll do anything to get what I want, and I'll get rid of anyone or anything that gets in my way."

The book goes on to state that most people, players characters included, are unaligned. Which is quite true. And here, given the new definitions, the alignments are more flexible in their interpretations, plus, it hints that alignment in general is more an interpretation of how the character is acting at present, in general, than a conscious decision to uphold the cause of good or evil. After all, even good people do things which can be interpreted as evil once in a while.

It's a step in the right direction. Now if only they'd remove it as a line item entirely. Hmm... Maybe in Fifth Edition.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - Races

The first thing about 4th Edition player races you're going to notice just by looking at the table of contents, is that Gnomes and Half-Orcs are gone. My guess is that they were the least popular of the original races. Gnomes, because they're the bard version of the halfling/dwarf comparison. And half-orcs, because while they're strong and powerful, they're portrayed as being ugly and physically unattractive. Like it or not, we're a visually-oriented species, and if you're going to make a character, they either have to be be good-looking from a human perspective, or they have to look COOL if they're not human-like in appearance.

The consensus, I suppose, is that half-orcs are neither good-looking or cool.

With those two races gone, they have been replaced by two new races (Eladrin and Dragonborn), and what I suspect is a favorite from 3rd edition (Tieflings). I'll get to the specifics of those new races later, but first, let's move onto the general changes one sees from the 3rd Ed standards.

No more racial penalties. All races have nothing but bonuses now. There are no more races which are inherently clumsier, less healthy, or less intelligent than other races. Part of the drive to engineer everything towards bonuses instead of penalties. It's not that your race is less intelligent. It's that the other race is inherently SMARTER. The half-full glass wins over the half-empty one.

They went out of their way to make all races attractive, both for roleplayers and straight up gamers, making it so that there's a reason to pick one race over another in many regards. Take the halflings, for example. Many new players of mine used to ignore them completely in 3rd edition. Here, they get the coveted "negate an opponent's critical hit" once per encounter. Being able to stop your foes from smacking you with a natural 20 once per fight is a BIG thing.

For roleplayers, the societal and cultural impact of the maximum lifespans of the long-lived races has been minimized by simply reducing said lifespans. Eladrin are the only race to live over 300 years, with elves and dwarves living to be about 200.

For the new races, let's begin with the Dragonborn. Obviously meant to replace the half-orc, they get the coveted +2 Str bonus on top of getting a bonus on Cha. They're a dragon-based reptilian race, which gives them a coolness factor half-orcs don't have, despite the fact that they look nonhuman. Getting to use dragonbreath once per encounter is also a plus.

The Eladrin might as well be called fae elves, though the book's alt terminology for them is high elf or gray elf. Technically, they split the characteristics of the 3E elves into two races. Eladrin get the quickness, the smarts, and the longsword skills. They also get the charm resistance and a new teleport ability. You want the woodland smarts and the archery? Stick to the original elves.

Lastly, the Tieflings are still the beings of infernal ancestry they were in the previous version of the game, more clearly so now given their large horns, but hey, that's cool too. Their abilities might be considered the weakest set of all the races, given that they have Intelligence and Charisma bonuses, but their racial ability is oriented to physical combat. This is not to say that they're not a good race, but I predict they'll be the least attractive of the basic races offered in this first handbook.

One last comment. About the humans? Still the excellent default choice. Good show, WotC.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - First Glance

I managed to filch myself a copy of the 4th Edition rulebooks of the venerable Dungeons and Dragons game, en route to either buying my own legal copies or shoving it aside as a passing interest. This is intended to be the introduction into a series of posts I'll be making as I slowly wade through all of this new material.

I've been playing this game since it was sold in boxed sets containing softbound booklets and its own dice, so naturally I was curious as to what horrible or beneficial changes they made when they transitioned from the 3rd (or 3.5) version of the game.

Oh, yeah. There were changes. Not as massive or paradigm-changing as, say, the move from 2nd Edition to 3rd. But they're there. And significant enough to see that there is no possibility of a clean conversion of characters from one version to the other.

A quick flip through the sections of the Player's Handbook gives tantalizing hints as to some of the changes. Some of the things I immediately notice:

1. Removal of some core races, and the introduction of new core races. There are more core races than there were previously.
   
2. Removal of some core classes, and the introduction of new core classes. There are less core classes than there were before.
3. Integration of epic levels into the core books.
4. Character abilities are split between powers (which include spells) and feats.
   
5. There are new twists to basic combat, such as being bloodied, or getting healing surges, ongoing damage, a new critical hit system, and minor actions.
6. Miscellaneous equipable items have deliberately been arranged into distinct slots. And there are less slots available than previously.
7. Weapon classifications (called groups) are more important now.
8. Introduction of rituals, and how they are different from spells.

All that from just 5 minutes of browsing. There's a lot of material to cover, which is probably a good thing. I'll probably have a lot to say once I get deeper into the books, so for now, it's time to read (when I can find the time).