Patch Day
On patch day, WotC broke the game. Now they’re releasing hotfixes like crazy to patch up the worst of the problems.
I’m not going to review 4e; there are plenty of other reviews out there, which pretty much cover all the major points without straying into frothing-rants land. I think it’s a pretty neat game but it’s not D&D.
With that said, though, I think it’s telling that the game I want to run using the 4e rules is something I call ‘D&D Fight!’.
D&D Fight!
(Note that this is how I ran it with 3e; I’m going to have to revise it some for 4e.)
Players create characters at first level using the standard rules in the PHB, with the appropriate starting money and so forth.
The game is divided into 20 chapters, one for each level. At the end of each chapter, players gain one level and the money for that level as specified in the DMG’s ‘money per level’ table. No other loot is given.
The chapters are grouped together by ‘base town’, which is the location the players are theoretically operating out of. The base town has only one characteristic: the purchase limit, as specified in the DMG. Players can buy magic items in town that cost less than the purchase limit. At chapters 4, 8, 12 and 16 the players move to a new base town, and thus can purchase more powerful items.
Each chapter is structured identically. First, the map is drawn for that chapter. The entire chapter takes place on this map. Then, the players are given their starting location, and arrange their minis in the starting location. Some chapters are more strict than others; for instance, a chapter may begin with an ambush, requiring the players to divide their minis into two separate groups.
Chapters are composed of 1 to 3 ‘waves’ followed by a final ‘boss wave’. Each wave can have its own objective, such as ‘reach this point’ or ‘keep this NPC from dying’, but ultimately all the waves have the same goal: kill all the enemies. The chapter is complete when the final boss is defeated.
Players are considered to be fully refreshed, healed, free of conditions, and otherwise in perfect fighting shape after each chapter ends. Players that are dead at the end of the chapter are automatically raised at no penalty. Players raised during the combat suffer rez penalties for the duration but recover fully at the end of the chapter.
Chapter starts and wave starts may give players a few rounds to buff before initiative is rolled, or (as with an ambush or a chase scene) they may not.
Players lose a chapter if the whole group is killed, and must restart that chapter from the beginning; consumable items used during the chapter are not restored. Players win if they defeat the final boss of Chapter 20.
Why D&D Fight?
Because D&D is full of cool stuff you only get to use at high levels. Because reaching high level in a game takes forever, and starting at high level isn’t as cool and organic as developing your character up from scratch. Because 3e, at least, has lots of fun monsters you never get to use because most groups level past the ‘kobolds/goblins/orcs’ phase so quickly. Because well-constructed combat is fun.
4e seems likely to support this game style easily, since 4e seems like a tactical turn-based console RPG (Final Fantasy Tactics, for instance) and D&D Fight is basically a tactical turn-based console RPG.