c'est magnifique, c'est non Dungeons et Dragons

Really, it's amazing how much 4e D&D gets it wrong on a meta- level while simultaneously getting it right on a design level. The design is fairly elegant, streamlined, easy to follow. I've been rereading my 4e stuff and I really like it; I think it's sad to see it go away and I really hope someone picks up the content or people still play with it, a little like how I've been told Hackmaster is basically 2e.

Everyone's pretty powered up, which is actually the game's chief flaw, it winds up being so balanced as to be rather generic - my barbarian isn't too different from your barbarian isn't too different from how gamers in Paris and Tel Aviv are playing barbarians. The game really doesn't have many options for players who want archer characters. Playing a healer is a particularly weird paradigm shift because lots of cleric abilities are keyed to healing up bloodied PCs (down to half hit points, so a little like not being able to do anything about that broken ulna until the patient's obviously gone into shock). There's some definitely rules creep going on, though I'm not a wise enough analyst to spot it. But for the most part, it's sound. That said;

• the game doesn't actually succeed at getting the meta-thrill of finding that one little rules thing that makes your character awesome. Being relatively fair and balanced means you miss out on how first level fighters with a flail essentially get two feats for the price of one, or the way a Pathfinder gnome ranger can potentially start play proficient with repeater light crossbow. I'm pretty sure the Vancian magic system fits into this for people.
  
  This, by the way, is someone else's meta-thrill. I'm perfectly happy knowing that whatever I choose for my character, I won't feel completely outshone and like I've picked crummy character options about halfway through the game. (This is not a good feeling when I want escapism. I feel ineffective enough in real life without needing it in my games.)
  
  I've heard that early baking mixes were just things you poured in a muffin or cake pan, put in the oven, and boom, you'd have muffins or cake, and that people hated them. Enough that the manufacturers made it so you'd have to add milk, butter, eggs or water, and suddenly that was cool. 4e is the tabletop gaming equivalent.
  
  
• trying to create a uniform background feels like mandating the uniform background. Left to their own devices, players are mostly going to gravitate towards the sort of genero-background everyone can access; paladins worship the god of justice, dwarves are awesome with hammers and axes, and nobody really cares that much whether giants are another race that evolved or tied to the origins of dwarvenkind in a great war of gods against the Elemental Chaos itself, as long as giants mean experience points and ace treasure. Sad but true, nobody is going to be as much into my homebrew setting where paladins worship a god of death, dwarves are awesome with bows and spears, and giants have x origin story, at first - that gets into a weird little learning curve. But as soon as you quasi-mandate paladins, dwarves and giants, suddenly it feels closed off.
  
  In similar thinking, 4e gives everyone spiffy powers. From the most tank-brained armored warrior to druids who understand the slow motivations of an entire old-growth forest, every character is tied to the ebb and flow of magic in the world. This is the only way to explain it and I think it's awesome. It's also not what people expect out of D&D. People expect that their tank-brained armored warrior or clever thief is someone who gets badass perfectly mundane feats - maybe a few ninja ki powers, if you're really willing to stretch. I'm reminded of the saying about sufficiently advanced technology.
  
  
• the thing I didn't like at first is the mandated battle map. You almost can't play 4e without slapping a map down with miniatures. There was a pretty solid chance of course that you were going to have maps and miniatures out anyway, but what was an incredibly convenient extra is now mandatory, and that bristles.
  
  This is tied to peoples' greater dislike of 4e as a combat game. What I think the designers had in mind was that players can eagerly spend whole sessions chatting up locals and shopping for cool stuff without a blade or spell which needs rules, so they largely skipped over this one. Effectively handing gamers a toolbox with only hammers and a note saying "look, we trust you to figure out level surfaces and square joints," thus giving the impression that all there is to do as a carpenter is bang nails into stuff.

(no subject)