Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition

I started roleplaying with the D&D basic boxed set back in 6th grade. For 8 years I had an absolutely wonderful time with D&D, AD&D 1e and 2e but then stopped with the breakup of my groups. This year I started playing again and had the choice to play 3.5 or 4. I took a look at both systems and needless to say I'm buying the 3.5 books.

4e is an abomination. I'll never play it and I'll never buy a WotC product again.

This used to be such a fun game. It did. I started playing years ago and loved almost every aspect of this game. Now it resembles my younger brother's video games. They changed everything and ruined it. I hate D&D now. I'll go back to an older version and play that instead. It'll be a lot cheaper that way, too. Btw, I hear a lot of 3rd party publishers will continue to produce 3.5 materials, which is good because I happen to love that edition.

Shame on you Wizards for ruining a great game. You've lost my money.

When the new edition came out I had the opportunity to flip through the core books for a couple of days, but I didn't get to actually play. I did create characters at 1st, 15th, and 30th level to get a feel for the rules. I've discovered that as both a DM and a player building characters helps me learn and understand the rules. However, by playing various games over the years I've come to learn the actual play is important because many things that don't look like they will work or be fun turn out to be and vice versa. So, finally this week I DID get to play in a 4e session. Having actually experienced it I feel like I can write a review.

First off is the presentation and layout of the books.

The new artwork is beautiful, what there is of it. A lot of the art is recycled from the 3.x books. Particularly the Monster Manual is filled with art out of my 3.x books.

The ink smudges easily. Take a drink from your soda and try to turn a page, the moisture from the cans condensation is enough to make the ink smudge. Likewise the binding is very weak. I watched a DMG literally dissolve in a players hand only hours after it was purchased. Ill admit it could have possibly been a damaged product and not the norm, but the point was to play the game, not run back and forth between the store and home to exchange books.

If you've purchased a WotC D&D supplement in the last couple of years you know what to expect with the editing. Just like in every other recent WotC offering there are an absurd amount of grammar, and spelling errors, as well as a number of typos. Ill be the first to admit my spelling and grammar isn't perfect nor do all typos get caught, but I'm also not being paid specifically to correct those things, nor am I selling my, ostensibly professional, work to anyone.

The books are, however, well laid out. In the PHB (Players Handbook) you'll find an intro to D&D and role-play in general in the beginning, including a half page sidebar giving the history of D&D. Followed by a brief explanation of a few terms like DM and PC, as well as pictures of the various types of dice all properly labeled so a new player can see what a d20 and so on is.

I really enjoyed the opening couple of sections of the PHB. I think the best part of those sections is the discussion and how to on actual role-play. It gives small discussions on personality, mannerisms, background, and appearance as well as questions players can ask themselves to flesh those things out. One complaint I've heard a lot about the edition is that it throws the role-play out, that it doesn't encourage it. I see more discussion on the subject here than in my 3.x or 2e Players Handbooks. It certainly is designed with new players in mind, and I find the sections themselves useful for the veteran gamer as well.

Now for the actual play.

Races.

Included are the staple Elves, Dwarves, Half-Elves, Halflings, and Humans. Out are the Gnome, and Half-Orc which are replaced by the Dragonborn, Eladrin, and Tiefling. The returning races are handled well, I particularly like the Human which retains its bonus feat and skills as well as being able to place a +2 bonus to an attribute of their own choice. Likewise the Half-Elf is made a far more favorable choice than in the previous edition. The new races I'm not quite sold on. Both the Dragonborn and Tiefling (Tieflings have always been my favorite PC race, along with Dragon Magazines Cansin) feel very much like flavor of the week offerings. By the way, if you were a fan of previous editions Tieflings, that's not what you're getting here. Its a defined race, with a defined background, with a defined look. Planetouched are no longer humans with just a touch of the planes in them (admittedly in 3.x I always felt the planetouched would have been better served being templates than base races but I'm not sure I like the 4e versions better judging by the Tiefling and what we know of the Genasi). The Eladrin is another story entirely. I get the feeling Wizards couldn't decide if they wanted elves to be the high magic, civilized race they are in much fantasy literature, or the reclusive barbaric woodsmen they are in the rest of fantasy literature. So they broke them up into two groups. Eladrin are the former (if you're into Forgotten Realms think Gold Elves) and Elves the later (think Wild Elves).

Races still have bonuses (boni?) to ability scores, but penalties are gone. This is part of a trend I noticed a lot in the game. Negative modifiers are all but gone. Abilities do damage even on successful saves and often even on misses etc. It reminds me a lot of the newer kids sports leagues where they don't keep score because no one can lose since losing makes people feel bad. I thought the chance was part of the fun and I really don't like this new 'everyone wins all the time!' mentality of this edition.

Classes.

Each class is given a role to play in combat. A Striker (Ranger, Rogue, Warlock) is what other games call a damage spiker, basically very high damage output, but doesn't take a hit well. These classes heavily emphasize mobility to do their damage and get out of range of retaliatory attacks. Defenders (Fighter, Paladin) do just what their role implies, they're what other games call tanks. They take hits well but don't have the damage output of other classes. Controllers (Wizard) deal primarily with crowd control and area of effect abilities. Leaders (Cleric, Warlord) are party support. They provide healing and party buffs. Now each class can certainly go outside its role but I found that any class designed for the role you want can do it better and easier. This means while a Fighter can certainly be a good ranged attacker, both Rangers and Rogues do it better with less work. So your ranged Fighter is largely a flavor choice, but since mechanics are completely removed from role-play (except skill challenges, but well go into that later) there's no reason at all to not be the class that best fits the role you want. I missed the inclusion of Bards and Monks and I am curious to how Druids would work in the system (I suspect they'll turn out to be a Cleric Paragon path). The Warlock was a very popular 3.5e base class that got almost no support despite its popularity so its nice to see it here. The Warlord, however, feels very superfluous. I really felt like it was added as filler. But like with the races, that's an entirely subjective matter and your mileage may vary. I'm sure there's plenty of players out there who prefer it.

Each class comes with its own set of at will, per encounter, and per day abilities all chosen from many options (which are all ultimately the same...) at level up. They're called different things depending on the class (Fighters are exploits, Wizards are spells), but in the end they're all the same thing. The bulk of what separates one classes from another's is the flavor text. I found a few abilities within same role classes that were exactly the same aside from the flavor text (which was also alike enough). The bulk of 3.x complexity came from the caster classes and the huge amount of information for them to keep track of. How many spells can you cast? What do the ones you have do? Which ones can you prepare? etc. It could really slow the game down. Wizards had stated an intent to address that specific issue in 4e. While casters themselves have become less burdensome that way, they weren't simplified enough to remove the bogging down effect on the game. Instead all the other classes were taken up a level in that regard. Now everyone effectively has a spell book with a ton of things to look up when their turn rolls around (seriously, the classes section takes up 2/3 of the PHB and is nothing but abilities). Fortunately all your same level abilities are effectively the same thing so it shouldn't take long to be able to memorize them all. And speaking of casters, if you're looking for vancian casting, stop before you exhaust yourself. Its gone.

Classes also gain Paragon classes. These are essentially 3.x substitute levels. At level 11 a character must select a Paragon Path from a list based on his base class and the paths prerequisites. The Paragon Path grants additional abilities and powers at specific levels. However one does not stop advancing in their base class. If you chose to be a Cleric then you're a Cleric forever. The Angelic Avenger Paragon Path adds abilities at Cleric level 11, 12, and 20, but through it all you continue to be a Cleric. Like I said, substitution levels, which was something I really liked in 3.x and I like it here as well. Its a very limited selection for now but I imagine these things along with Epic Destinies contributing to edition bloat in the same way Prestige Classes did in 3.x. Alternately you can choose to forgo a Paragon Path and instead take a few abilities from another's classes list. This, and a single feat, is the extent of multiclassing. I think that's too bad because multiclassing, while far from mechanically sound, was a good way, along with skills, to mechanically reflect character background.

Similarly at level 20 a character chooses an Epic Destiny. An epic destiny is something your character has been destined to become, hence the title. Like Paragon Paths, Epic Destinies add abilities to the character, specifically a single powerful per day ability. I've played Final Fantasy 11 which has in it what's called a 2 hour ability. Its called that because its very potent and so is only usable once every 2 hours real time. Epic Destinies remind me very much of that. Mechanically they're very sound and an interesting addition. However, I don't particularly like Epic Destinies for several reasons, the most important being they assume a LOT about your character. In fact they flat out tell you how your character will spend the rest of his or her life after the campaign ends. I also don't like that my characters MUST have been destined to do what they do. I think that Joe the farmer who took up his sword to defend his home and loved ones is a lot more heroic than John the predestined who was born to defeat the hordes of darkness. Id rather play Joe than John.

Classes also have Healing Surges, which allow a character to heal themselves for 1/4 of your maximum hit points. It can be done once per encounter (powers can change this) and at will outside of combat, but you do have a finite number of them per day dependant on class on Constitution score. This mechanic gets a lot of flak but its one I liked. It takes a lot of pressure off the party healer and allows the support classes that normally do the healing to be able to do some buffs or mix it up in melee from time to time.

Skills.

Classes still have a skill list, but most skills have been consolidated into skill groups (i.e., Move Silently and Hide are now just the single Stealth skill). I'm on the fence about this. Skills in 3.x were one of the best ways to mechanically reflect a characters background. There was no other way in that edition or this one to define your characters history on your sheet than with skills. But at the same time many skills were redundant (profession, craft) or never got used (profession, craft). Also I don't like the perception skill in 4e (search, spot, listen rolled together) just for the reason that someone who sees well or is very perceptive (spot) doesn't necessarily hear well (listen) and vice versa. 4e assumes they are equally good at both.

Classes grant x number of skills plus Intelligence modifier of know skills, just like in the previous edition. However skills do not increase at level up. Skills are chosen only once, at 1st level. Characters are either trained in a skill (selected the skill at level 1) or are not. Trained skills gain a +5 modifier on checks, untrained skills do not.

In the DMG you'll find the rules for Skill Challenges. These are intended to be encounters where characters use their skills to resolve the situation and gain experience rather than a combat encounter. The idea is a really good one and I wish Wizards had better developed the idea. In practice these are so broken its absurd. A quick breakdown of the math of DCs versus level appropriate skill bonuses shows around a 70% failure rate. Things should be difficult and challenging, yes, but success should not be the exception. We went to the Wizards website to see what they had to say about challenges. Turns out we were right, the DCs are way off, and less than a month after the editions release WotC had released full on errata for the entire section of the book challenges appear in. Likewise they errated poison DCs. You're probably thinking, 'Well, 3e was so broken they had to errata it with a full on edition upgrade' and you'd be right. The main difference being in the 2 years it took 3.5 to come out 3e was still playable. Skill challenges were not. Kudos to Wizards for fixing it so quickly though. Incidentally, if you're planning on getting the 4e DM screen it has the unerrated skill challenge and poison DCs so you'll need to print out the squares from the errata PDF to paste over the ones in the screen. Hopefully future print runs of the screen will have the errated tables.

Feats.

Effectively the same as 3.x. Broken up by Heroic (any level), Paragon (level 11+), and Epic (level 21+) tiers. Mulitclass feats grant one ability (listed, not your choice) from that class, grants training in one class skill (also listed, not chosen) of that class, and allows access to class only feats of that class. Only one multiclass feat may be taken per character.

Items.

Magic items grant powers or properties that scale with you. A weapons power may increase damage die size as you level up and the AC bonus you armor grants increases with your level as well. This eliminates the 'magic mart' mentality from the game but puts a much heavier reliance on magic items. It makes separating heavy magic from you game for a low magic campaign almost impossible since the scaling of monsters assumes a certain damage output and defense level that are only attainable with said magic items. 3.x was easier to remove heavy magic from in this regard. While Fighters and other melees had to rely on magic items to compete with casters in damage output they could function without them in level appropriate encounters by simply removing things like DR from the monsters. That is not the case in 4e.

Combat.

Combat itself is much smoother than in previous editions. However the addition of so many more options per class per level bogs down the play in the same way caster lists did in previous editions. So while the actual actions run smoother and faster, each players turn takes more time. Also the addition of condition tracks and abilities that affect positioning (i.e., an attack that lets the attacker move the attackee one square) leaves for more tactical thinking which causes players to spend more time considering. The end result is combats run about just as long as in previous editions. Ultimately combat in 4e plays out a lot more like a tactical game, and is very reminiscent of 1e that way, than in previous editions. It also emphasizes positioning and teamwork more than previous editions. It plays and feels like the D&D minis game, and in fact the DMG has an entire section on playing 4e WITHOUT a DM. At that level it IS D&D minis.

Rituals.

Rituals are spells that are not combat spells. Brew Potion, Comprehend Languages, Knock, etc. They typically take 10 minutes to cast, last a very long time, don't take up ability slots, and can be cast by just about anyone (non Wizards have to take a feat to cast them). I like these. I really do. A big part of a casters resource management in previous editions included deciding which utility spells to memorize. Not to say that having a knock spell memorized wasn't useful, but it did take up a slot and that was a slot that a Wizard (or Sorcerer) wasn't going to be using in those 3 or more fights a day the game balance assumed. So its nice to have utility spells as a separate mechanic outside the casters combat repertoire. Its also nice to have a non Wizard, like a Fighter or more specifically a Rogue, be able to dabble in magic without dramatically hurting their party role. I've always like the scoundrel archetype which I envision as a 3.x Rogue with a small bit of magic dabbling. The always has a trick up their sleeve type, and I think the ritual mechanic makes that easier to achieve than even previous edition multiclassing.

GSL.

I add this because it bears mentioning. GSL stands for Game System License. In 3.x it was called OGL or Open Gaming License. It is to gaming what open source is to software. It was a document that made certain parts of the D&D game usable for third party publishers (3PP). That means that if I wanted to write a gaming book I could use certain D&D mechanics in it and essentially make it compatible with D&D. It blew a lot of life into the hobby and allowed Wizards to focus on the books it wanted to while leaving the more niche material to other companies. This was a smart move on WotCs part. TSR, the company who owned D&D prior to Wizards of the Coast and their 3e, drove themselves into bankruptcy by over extending their product lines to include every niche product their fan base wanted. The result was material the pumped a lot of money into that didn't return enough to make it profitable. The OGL was Wizards means of putting that niche material on the market without having to invest money into it. It was a huge success and resulted in not only in strengthening the hobby but unifying gamers. One rules to rule them all as it were (you can find d20 versions of almost any RPG on the market, including World of Darkness, due to the OGL).

Unfortunately the GSL is a big step backwards. For whatever reason Wizards feels that the OGL hurt them more than helped them, and the GSL is worlds more restrictive. Since the OGL cannot be retracted Wizards has included stipulations in the GSL prohibiting any 3PP that signs it to no longer be legally able to produce 3.x material. Signers also agree that Wizards can retract the GSL entirely or from that company specifically at any time for any reason. They give Wizards the right to usurp their IP (intellectual property) as well as retroactively add material to the GSL (this means if I write a 4e book with pink elves that like to light themselves on fire and run around licking the flames out I can, but if 2 years from now Wizards creates the same thing I have no legal recourse. They can also then add it to the GSL which means that I'm in legal violation of their IP even though I wrote it 2 years earlier and it wasn't in the document, and they can sue me).

The end result is I doubt well see much 3PP support for 4e. The upside is that since the OGL cant be retracted many 3PPs, like Paizo, will continue creating 3.x material and for the first time ever D&D is competing with itself (this seems like the likely reason for the termination of GSL clauses in the GSL).

Conclusion.

4e is an interesting game. I can see where the claims of 'its not D&D' are coming from. Too much deviation from the previous incarnations of the game. If I took Monopoly and made it so instead of moving around a board buying properties and trying to out finance your opponent I made it so you moved a piece around a board and tried to uncover letters to make certain words, while I may call it Monopoly, and its still a board game, and it may be loads of fun, it isn't actually Monopoly. D&D 4e not only looks fun, but it IS fun. Its far from the perfect game Wizards claims it to be, there's plenty of kinks and I imagine a lot of house ruling going on in games, just like in the games previous editions. Its innovative as well. There are a lot of ideas I'm really looking forward to seeing fleshed out or reworked.

Ultimately though, at a $105 investment for the 3 core rulebooks it is too much. Especially considering the reused art, the poor book quality, the number of adds in the books for other books (sidebars throughout the core books), the unfinished product (classes, races, and powers/power sources left out because they either weren't done or are to be placed in upcoming books, like the Half-Orc which will be in the Forgotten Realms Players Guide, and the Bard which will be in next years PHB2), the poor play testing (skill challenges), poor editing, and aggressively antagonistic GSL, I simply cannot justify the cost of the edition upgrade.

If any of what you read seems interesting to you then I highly recommend you trying the game out. Like I said its fun. If not, consider taking a look a Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder RPG, which is what many are calling a 3.75 edition. Plenty of great talent is onboard including many of the Wizards greats, and its compatible with all your 3.x books with only some things requiring some small tweaking.

I was terribly upset with the idea of online play. I always thought that Warcraft had that down. Why not leave it to the pros. I enjoy role playing with my friends; however, let's face it, the people that play this may not be the people I want to hang out with. That's just one of the many quarrels I have with this particular version of the game. Some of the other are too many of the rules that were good about 3.5 have changed. Over all, it's terrible; everything that was good about 3.0 has changed, and I believe that this big, steaming, heaping, nutty brown pile deserves to be flushed. I give it an overrated ONE out of FIVE. But bear in mind I can't give it a zero; unfortunately, Amazon won't let me. .000001/5

P.S. I'm going to play Warcraft.

I'm assuming that anyone looking at this product has read the reviews. They know the changes and they already have a pre-disposition toward this new edition.

Briefly, this new game is really, REALLY fun. I was hesitant about the changes, but once my group got together and ran through a couple sample scenarios, I was won over completely.

D&D is a game of heroic combat, and finally it feels that way. Fighting is fast, intuitive, and FUN. All classes have multiple special moves and options each turn, and it makes fighting FEEL like a real melee brawl. The new combat is movement-oriented and exciting to take part in. Goblins leap and dodge, Rangers and Rogues tumble across the field, and Warlords direct allies and enemies like pawns.

Seriously, we were VERY skeptical of this new system, but YOU HAVE TO GIVE IT A CHANCE. I know there's a lot missing, and a lot has changed, but just sit down at the table and give it a try. Reading the rulebooks is NOT enough, you have to see these changes in action to get a feel for the new game.

It's really, truly, a lot of fun.