First, a little about my background. I started gaming with the D&D red box Basic set during the 80s with a little dabbling in AD&D 2nd edition. During the 90s, I migrated away from D&D and into other games, particularly Rifts, Shadowrun and the World of Darkness. I very much became a D&D hater.
Then 3e came out and I loved it. However, after a couple of years of running D&D, I began to burn out. Creating adventures became more of a chore to me than anything fun. I completely quit D&D again, selling my 3.0 books but got back into it when 3.5 was released. The burnout feeling came back again, quicker than before. Once 4e was announced, I once again cleared my shelves of D&D.
(Yes, I still gamed, just not D&D)
I watched daily with anticipation every little tidbit I could find on 4e until I finally got hold of the books. And now, once again, I love D&D.
The books are organized, the characters are heroic in statue and skill, the monsters are pretty awesome (even low level ones). Designing adventures is EXTREMELY easy in comparison to previous editions. Heck, I could even DM it off-the-cuff, which is something I couldn't really do before (treasure tables, I'm looking at you! Or, well, I would be if I still had any of my 3.x books). Combat is fluid and casters aren't the only ones with kewl powerz.
Is D&D more video-gamey? Is it more anime? Is it more super-heroy? Does it make hamburger out of several previous editions' sacred cows? Does it have a little "trading card game" feel?
Yes to all of those questions, to varying degrees. That's not, IMHO, a bad thing at all. The players' characters get the chance to really shine, and everyone can do something cool, often every round.
So, in a word, I find D&D to be: Awesome.
I look forward to making posts regarding how our campaign is going.
Tags: D&D 4e Dungeons & Dragons
