My feelings toward D&D 4th Edition are mixed. When I first read the rules back in 2008 I immediately fell in love. I really liked 4E’s powers, the evocative artwork, the new core races like the Dragonborn and Tiefling. My early impression was quite positive. And even now I think 4E was a really well designed tabletop RPG. But after actually playing the game I noticed some issues. 4E has a lot of what people eventually called “dissociated mechanics”. Which means that some mechanics are not meant to simulate the reality of the game world. A good example are some of the powers of the Warlord class which allowed them to move other characters on the battle map. How this looked like in the reality of the game world is still a mystery to me. A lot of people didn’t mind, but for me at the time, it felt weird. I also didn’t like the focus on miniature combat and battle maps. I am more of a theater-of-the-mind guy.
It’s unbelievable that D&D 4th Edition was released almost 17 years ago. In the meantime we saw the release of Pathfinder, its second edition and the release of D&D 5th Edition which even got a minor overhaul recently. D&D 4th Edition is old news at this point. But is it old enough to give it another chance?
Over the years I noticed that I have definitely become more relaxed and even tried several games which I vowed never to touch with a ten foot pole. To my surprise I am very much enjoying Pathfinder 1st Edition and its highly tactical combat even though I initially was highly skeptical. It wouldn’t be that strange if a second look at 4th Edition were more positive than back in the day. Nostalgia usually plays a role in this. But sometimes it’s just the change of perspective.
When I had another look at 4E recently I noticed that I still like a lot of what it offers. I still think that 4E has some of the most interesting classes and the changes to the cosmology and the accompanied lore were definitely a breath of fresh air. I also like that 4E characters are much tougher than their 5E counterparts and that the rules in general allow for a more super-heroic game style. This may not be for everyone but at the moment it feels quite appealing to me. I also have a soft spot for the “Nenthir Vale”, the implied setting for 4th Edition, which was fleshed somewhat in adventures and the Monster Manuals. At a point I actually considered using it for a 5E game.
D&D 4th Edition has still quite a few flaws (at least to me) but with hindsight it’s easier to fix or alleviate some of them. Combats can still take ages, true, but it’s easy to reduce the enemies’ hit points and overall reduce the number of combat encounters in a game session or adventure. The changes made to the game in the “Essentials” line back in late 2010 were a change in the right direction, so using those in favor of the original ones might help as well. A lot of people say that 4E is probably the best designed and most balanced edition of D&D out there. Perhaps it was ahead of its time. Some of the adventures released for 4E are considered among the best WotC have ever released and the Dungeon Master Guide 2 is praised by many as THE best guide for GMs period.
So should we give 4E another chance? I have to admit I haven’t made up my mind up yet. I still get why I was truly excited about the game when it first came out and while rereading parts of the core books I thought more than once: “I’d love to run this!” But I also remember the things I didn’t like. I am still a bit worried about the “dissociated mechanics” ruining the game for me even though I think the miniature combat isn’t such a big deal for me anymore. D&D 4th Edition has been compared (mostly unfairly) to a MMO back in the day, but the aspects which caused this perception may actually be its strengths – or at least what sets it apart from every other edition of D&D.
Even if you decided you wanted 4th Edition another chance, there are some availability issues, IF you prefer printed books. Things might be different in the US, but over here in Germany, it’s pretty hard to find some of the more rare D&D 4th Edition books on the second-hand market. Luckily things are looking much better if you don’t mind using PDFs. Basically the whole 4E catalogue is available on DriveThruRPG at this point. I’ve noticed that a few titles are even available as POD.
What are your thoughts on D&D 4th Edition? Did it get too much flak from fans back in the day or was this well deserved? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
It would be interesting to see if they released it under a Creative Commons license how much attention it would get. Would people rewrite the game, would they just take pieces here and there, or would they ignore it.
I also wondered what would have happened if Critical Role decided to play 4th instead of 5th Edition.