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 Customer Reviews
Dungeons and Dragons: A review, 05 Oct 2008
I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far.
Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level.
I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns.
And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges.
Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one.
With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up.
That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this.
Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.
A radical departure, 01 Aug 2008
Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5.
I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below:
Negatives:
1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races.
2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle?
3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation.
Positives:
1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!).
2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain.
3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents.
4) The game is much, much simpler.
In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.
D&D Vista, 08 Jul 2008
Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up.
It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.
too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice, 02 Jul 2008
Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves
Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures!
Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D.
It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game.
Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun.
All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!
First Impressions a Great Edition, 27 Jun 2008
Like many people here i have being playing DnD for many years now and ever since I heard about the realise of 4th Edition I've been waiting with great expectation, and after getting the core rultebook I have to admit it is well worth the upgrade from 3.5 for which I have been used to.
Whats good about this edition is that it does remove alot of problems provided by 3.5 with regard the sheer volume of skills, feats and complexaty of DMing out of the game in the previsous editions and as a whole does seem a lot more balanced game. I haven't had chance to run my own game yet in 4th edition as my views have come from first impressions of this book, hence I i gave 4/5. In conclusion I would say it is great for new players to RPG and DM's alike although Previous DnD lovers out there may take some time to really enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
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Customer Reviews
Dungeons and Dragons: A review, 05 Oct 2008
I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far.
Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level.
I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns.
And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges.
Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one.
With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up.
That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this.
Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.
A radical departure, 01 Aug 2008
Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5.
I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below:
Negatives:
1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races.
2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle?
3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation.
Positives:
1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!).
2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain.
3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents.
4) The game is much, much simpler.
In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.
D&D Vista, 08 Jul 2008
Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up.
It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.
too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice, 02 Jul 2008
Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves
Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures!
Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D.
It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game.
Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun.
All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!
First Impressions a Great Edition, 27 Jun 2008
Like many people here i have being playing DnD for many years now and ever since I heard about the realise of 4th Edition I've been waiting with great expectation, and after getting the core rultebook I have to admit it is well worth the upgrade from 3.5 for which I have been used to.
Whats good about this edition is that it does remove alot of problems provided by 3.5 with regard the sheer volume of skills, feats and complexaty of DMing out of the game in the previsous editions and as a whole does seem a lot more balanced game. I haven't had chance to run my own game yet in 4th edition as my views have come from first impressions of this book, hence I i gave 4/5. In conclusion I would say it is great for new players to RPG and DM's alike although Previous DnD lovers out there may take some time to really enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
Nice piece of kit, 11 Oct 2008
This is a well made item. A heavy-duty, well laminated, single screen with four panels containing lots of useful information. I've not played D&D since 1st edition, and I still have my old 1E DM's screen. This one is better made, and has more tables on the DM's side. It's wider and less high than the old two-piece 1E screen, but I don't think that's a problem. One table is wrong, and WoTC have published a correction that needs to be glued over it. This is a minor niggle for something with otherwise high production values that can be bought for little more than a fiver.
Superb! A must buy for any DM., 01 Oct 2008
I can only agree with the previous 2 reviewers. This is really fantastic. It doesn't have all the weapon stats, etc., of previous DM screens, but that's OK in my book - that's what character sheets are for.
Instead, this screen has loads of those annoying bits of information that players and DMs spend ages looking up during adventure time, such as light and status conditions. There are standard DCs for each level, separated into easy, moderate and difficult, so it makes it easier to deal with situations or come up challenges on the fly.
This really is a must for any DM, particularly when it's so cheap.
Must have DM tool, 22 Aug 2008
An excellent product that has been a great help to me during the transition from 3rd to 4th edition. The best DM screen I have ever owned and I can't recommend it highly enough to other DM's. It saves an enormous amount of time having all the important tables right in front of you especially, if like me, you are brand new to 4th edition.
Very Happy, 22 Aug 2008
Don't be put off by the (Paperback) next to this products name, the screen is actually hardback, unlike the 3rd edition screen, which I am impressed with since the new one doesn't fall over or bend.
It is longer than the last one, meaning DM's can hide more sneaky stuff behind it *snigger* and the art is very good, depicting a gargoyle, beholder, vampires, lamia, mind flayer, umber hulk, black dragon, bugbears, troglodytes, drow, drider, hell hounds, fire giant and a roper, *phew*.
On the DM's side are over a dozen tables listing lots of useful things you don't want to have to look up in the middle of a game. Including Types of actions, light sources, attack modifiers and so on. But the best thing is it lists all the conditions (Blinded, Pertrified, Stunned etc.) and what they do to a character or monster, which is brilliant because without question the sessions before I got this, I inflicted a condition on the PC's or vice versa and had to look up what it meant, which detracted from the game.
When I recieved the character sheets last month, I was very disappointed, but when I opened the Dungeon Masters screen I was very happy and would recommend it to every DM out there, buy it!
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Customer Reviews
Dungeons and Dragons: A review, 05 Oct 2008
I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far.
Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level.
I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns.
And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges.
Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one.
With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up.
That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this.
Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.
A radical departure, 01 Aug 2008
Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5.
I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below:
Negatives:
1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races.
2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle?
3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation.
Positives:
1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!).
2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain.
3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents.
4) The game is much, much simpler.
In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.
D&D Vista, 08 Jul 2008
Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up.
It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.
too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice, 02 Jul 2008
Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves
Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures!
Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D.
It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game.
Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun.
All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!
First Impressions a Great Edition, 27 Jun 2008
Like many people here i have being playing DnD for many years now and ever since I heard about the realise of 4th Edition I've been waiting with great expectation, and after getting the core rultebook I have to admit it is well worth the upgrade from 3.5 for which I have been used to.
Whats good about this edition is that it does remove alot of problems provided by 3.5 with regard the sheer volume of skills, feats and complexaty of DMing out of the game in the previsous editions and as a whole does seem a lot more balanced game. I haven't had chance to run my own game yet in 4th edition as my views have come from first impressions of this book, hence I i gave 4/5. In conclusion I would say it is great for new players to RPG and DM's alike although Previous DnD lovers out there may take some time to really enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
Nice piece of kit, 11 Oct 2008
This is a well made item. A heavy-duty, well laminated, single screen with four panels containing lots of useful information. I've not played D&D since 1st edition, and I still have my old 1E DM's screen. This one is better made, and has more tables on the DM's side. It's wider and less high than the old two-piece 1E screen, but I don't think that's a problem. One table is wrong, and WoTC have published a correction that needs to be glued over it. This is a minor niggle for something with otherwise high production values that can be bought for little more than a fiver.
Superb! A must buy for any DM., 01 Oct 2008
I can only agree with the previous 2 reviewers. This is really fantastic. It doesn't have all the weapon stats, etc., of previous DM screens, but that's OK in my book - that's what character sheets are for.
Instead, this screen has loads of those annoying bits of information that players and DMs spend ages looking up during adventure time, such as light and status conditions. There are standard DCs for each level, separated into easy, moderate and difficult, so it makes it easier to deal with situations or come up challenges on the fly.
This really is a must for any DM, particularly when it's so cheap.
Must have DM tool, 22 Aug 2008
An excellent product that has been a great help to me during the transition from 3rd to 4th edition. The best DM screen I have ever owned and I can't recommend it highly enough to other DM's. It saves an enormous amount of time having all the important tables right in front of you especially, if like me, you are brand new to 4th edition.
Very Happy, 22 Aug 2008
Don't be put off by the (Paperback) next to this products name, the screen is actually hardback, unlike the 3rd edition screen, which I am impressed with since the new one doesn't fall over or bend.
It is longer than the last one, meaning DM's can hide more sneaky stuff behind it *snigger* and the art is very good, depicting a gargoyle, beholder, vampires, lamia, mind flayer, umber hulk, black dragon, bugbears, troglodytes, drow, drider, hell hounds, fire giant and a roper, *phew*.
On the DM's side are over a dozen tables listing lots of useful things you don't want to have to look up in the middle of a game. Including Types of actions, light sources, attack modifiers and so on. But the best thing is it lists all the conditions (Blinded, Pertrified, Stunned etc.) and what they do to a character or monster, which is brilliant because without question the sessions before I got this, I inflicted a condition on the PC's or vice versa and had to look up what it meant, which detracted from the game.
When I recieved the character sheets last month, I was very disappointed, but when I opened the Dungeon Masters screen I was very happy and would recommend it to every DM out there, buy it!
Better than the over-detailed morass that was 3.5 ed Realms., 17 Sep 2008
Personally, as someone whose group isn't massively in love with the detail of the realms this comes as a breath of fresh air as it means that I actually get to create stuff on the fly more easily than before.
Well presented and full of ideas, 04 Sep 2008
Simply put, the writers of this volume had the arduous task of trying to keep the existing Realms players happy whilst, at the same time, providing a new and updated Realms for players starting a campaign for the first time (probably on the back of the 4th Edition Rules).
In essence, this product is very good and, having been a DM since the 1980s, this is one of the best campaign guides produced to date. There will be some obvious objections to the new Realms from existing players who are reluctant to change. However, if you don't like the changes then don't worry, the whole purpose of a product like this is to be a guide only, providing the bare bones of a campaign for you to develop yourself, and you are not obliged to blindly follow everything that is written. In other words, if you don't like the changes, stick to what you do like.
As for the rest of us, the guide provides an exciting changed world to explore. Fabulous.
Interesting Direction for an Old Friend, 01 Sep 2008
The Forgotten Realms has always been a problem to me - inspiring and yet impractical. I loved the feel of the setting, the age of it, the depth, the detail, and yet these were all of its problems too. The feel made it always generic, the age of it made it always hampered by the past, the depth made it a chore to run, and the detail made fans irritating to play with.
Ultimately, personal knowledge shouldn't affect in game knowledge to the degree which it did. A new-coming DM to Toril couldn't effectively run it if there were players in his or her group who loved it - they would spend forever correcting the DM on the authenticity of the setting. It's not that these players were *bad*, just that the setting was so static and so rich and so persuasive that it was hard to escape the idea that it should all be *exactly as written*. Beware the DM who would dare to change anything.
But this was by no means the only issue. Big NPCs dominated Toril. Drizzt and Elminster were more recognisable than the setting as a whole, and the number of awful "cameos" that occured in games was atrocious... as for the novels, the less said the better.
What about the variety of terrain and setting? In theory this was great - you can set your game in almost any surrounding and it'll still be the Forgotten Realms. You want trading cities and costal areas? The Sword Coast. You want exotic locales and organisations? Calisham! You want frozen wastes? The Silver Marches! You want to rip off Lord of the Rings? The Dalelands! So what was the problem with this? Well, ultimately, it was scale. Forgotten Realms worked well with this theory of specific location until you hit about 10th level, when the entire thing fell apart. Soon, reliable and quick long distance transportation was available. The idea of a cohesive world disappears when you can be in desert one minute, and ice fields the next. So how has this changed?
Well, 4th edition includes a lot fewer transport spells, and the folding of teleportation into Rituals (with which you need a "portal key") means that mundane transport is often the way you go first, and then use teleportation when you need to over long distances from set point to set point. Travel thus takes longer, the dramatic differences in setting aren't so obvious, and the world feels a lot more cohesive. The splitting of the game into tiers also helps, as it gives DMs more warning of when to prepare for these changes.
So what does the new setting look like? Well, Mystra is finally dead. FINALLY. I mean, seriously, is this like the fourth time? NEVER BRING HER BACK. The Spellplague changes the layout of the map in a big way, as does the bashing of Abeir into Toril. Hello new races, bye bye old races.
But what's the point of saying this, really? Old fans are going to be angry - "They got rid of gods! They changed the map!" Boo hoo. The setting needed a desperate change - it's been more or less static (on a fundemental level) for years and years. The changes are interesting, smartly done, and the changes to the system make the setting work well. In the end, if you loved Drizzt and co, and hate the idea of not knowing every single event of the setting, then stay away.
For the rest of us, this is an interesting, stunningly beautiful book. The entries are perhaps a little short, but this leaves freedom in the details whilst really giving you a feel for the setting and countries. There are a lot of new monsters, good info on antagonist groups, a lovely poster map, and interesting discussion of the world in general as well as the specific entries. The major criticisms are, perhaps, only that some of the old issues are still there (the odd mix and match of terrain amongst other things), and that occasionally an important piece of information is missing (how big is the population of Waterdeep ay? AY?). Still, an excellent buy.
Drab, dreary details, 30 Aug 2008
Firstly, it's worth pointing out that this is not a rulebook. That may be obvious to some, but I expected something with a few new races, some class-specific traits, new spells, that kind of thing. This is just background to the Realms. I assume -but can't say for sure- that Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (Forgotten Realms Supplement) (Dungeons & Dragons) (Dungeons & Dragons) will be more what I'm looking for, and the fact that WotC have split this into two books is a source of some irritation to me.
I agree with the other reviewers that this is just a wall of bland data. It puts me in mind of the First Edition FR Campaign Guide in terms of sheer volume of endless words; but that was clearly written entirely by people (Greenwood et al, but different et al) who had played in that world and loved it. Their passion for the mythos was there in every word. This just reads like some hack with a deadline and a wordcount to meet sat, wrote ten pages of worthwhile stuff, cut and pasted other peoples ideas to fill in the cracks, then filled the rest with whatever came to mind while they were drunk watching Krull.
And it's a real shame. Because the idea of 4th Ed was that it was supposed to be simple building blocks that even the most ADHD ridden kid could pick up and play like they'd pick up their PS3 controller. I love rules, but I also quite liked that idea, because I'm 31 and don't have time to read endless pages of unbroken paragraphs about the number of available toilets in the town of GenericFantasySettlement45-D. This is not written in a way you can just dip into it.
In short this book has too much of the wrong kind of information, and is appallingly presented in terms of accessibility.
So why two stars after all the spleen venting? Because those ten pages of worthwhile stuff are there, as are other people's ideas, and someone has made an effort to make it look pretty pretty. It's just a shame that such a rich campaign setting has been made to look so banal.
Poor Version of the Forgotten Realms, 28 Aug 2008
What were they thinking when they released this ? A real shame and I know some will love this book but compared to previous "Core Settings" releases this just not deserve more than two Stars. I agree with the previous reviewer when he said there were worse products out there - and that is why I gave it two rather than one.
Okay - Why ? Well, there IS a lot of info here... BUT too much banal and surface info. The majority of entries for a Country cover two pages and include artwork within those two pages. Most of the info is unimportant to the setting and they should have been given more "meat" rather than a "Starter" & "Dessert".
As an "old timer" I can fill in many of the omissions but for a new DM then the task will seem mountainous.
The Adventures at the start are okay(ish)but again, based on previous releases, they are average and contrived.
I just hope the next few releases are better
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Customer Reviews
Dungeons and Dragons: A review, 05 Oct 2008
I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far.
Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level.
I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns.
And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges.
Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one.
With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up.
That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this.
Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.
A radical departure, 01 Aug 2008
Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5.
I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below:
Negatives:
1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races.
2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle?
3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation.
Positives:
1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!).
2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain.
3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents.
4) The game is much, much simpler.
In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.
D&D Vista, 08 Jul 2008
Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up.
It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.
too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice, 02 Jul 2008
Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves
Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures!
Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D.
It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game.
Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun.
All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!
First Impressions a Great Edition, 27 Jun 2008
Like many people here i have being playing DnD for many years now and ever since I heard about the realise of 4th Edition I've been waiting with great expectation, and after getting the core rultebook I have to admit it is well worth the upgrade from 3.5 for which I have been used to.
Whats good about this edition is that it does remove alot of problems provided by 3.5 with regard the sheer volume of skills, feats and complexaty of DMing out of the game in the previsous editions and as a whole does seem a lot more balanced game. I haven't had chance to run my own game yet in 4th edition as my views have come from first impressions of this book, hence I i gave 4/5. In conclusion I would say it is great for new players to RPG and DM's alike although Previous DnD lovers out there may take some time to really enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
Nice piece of kit, 11 Oct 2008
This is a well made item. A heavy-duty, well laminated, single screen with four panels containing lots of useful information. I've not played D&D since 1st edition, and I still have my old 1E DM's screen. This one is better made, and has more tables on the DM's side. It's wider and less high than the old two-piece 1E screen, but I don't think that's a problem. One table is wrong, and WoTC have published a correction that needs to be glued over it. This is a minor niggle for something with otherwise high production values that can be bought for little more than a fiver.
Superb! A must buy for any DM., 01 Oct 2008
I can only agree with the previous 2 reviewers. This is really fantastic. It doesn't have all the weapon stats, etc., of previous DM screens, but that's OK in my book - that's what character sheets are for.
Instead, this screen has loads of those annoying bits of information that players and DMs spend ages looking up during adventure time, such as light and status conditions. There are standard DCs for each level, separated into easy, moderate and difficult, so it makes it easier to deal with situations or come up challenges on the fly.
This really is a must for any DM, particularly when it's so cheap.
Must have DM tool, 22 Aug 2008
An excellent product that has been a great help to me during the transition from 3rd to 4th edition. The best DM screen I have ever owned and I can't recommend it highly enough to other DM's. It saves an enormous amount of time having all the important tables right in front of you especially, if like me, you are brand new to 4th edition.
Very Happy, 22 Aug 2008
Don't be put off by the (Paperback) next to this products name, the screen is actually hardback, unlike the 3rd edition screen, which I am impressed with since the new one doesn't fall over or bend.
It is longer than the last one, meaning DM's can hide more sneaky stuff behind it *snigger* and the art is very good, depicting a gargoyle, beholder, vampires, lamia, mind flayer, umber hulk, black dragon, bugbears, troglodytes, drow, drider, hell hounds, fire giant and a roper, *phew*.
On the DM's side are over a dozen tables listing lots of useful things you don't want to have to look up in the middle of a game. Including Types of actions, light sources, attack modifiers and so on. But the best thing is it lists all the conditions (Blinded, Pertrified, Stunned etc.) and what they do to a character or monster, which is brilliant because without question the sessions before I got this, I inflicted a condition on the PC's or vice versa and had to look up what it meant, which detracted from the game.
When I recieved the character sheets last month, I was very disappointed, but when I opened the Dungeon Masters screen I was very happy and would recommend it to every DM out there, buy it!
Better than the over-detailed morass that was 3.5 ed Realms., 17 Sep 2008
Personally, as someone whose group isn't massively in love with the detail of the realms this comes as a breath of fresh air as it means that I actually get to create stuff on the fly more easily than before.
Well presented and full of ideas, 04 Sep 2008
Simply put, the writers of this volume had the arduous task of trying to keep the existing Realms players happy whilst, at the same time, providing a new and updated Realms for players starting a campaign for the first time (probably on the back of the 4th Edition Rules).
In essence, this product is very good and, having been a DM since the 1980s, this is one of the best campaign guides produced to date. There will be some obvious objections to the new Realms from existing players who are reluctant to change. However, if you don't like the changes then don't worry, the whole purpose of a product like this is to be a guide only, providing the bare bones of a campaign for you to develop yourself, and you are not obliged to blindly follow everything that is written. In other words, if you don't like the changes, stick to what you do like.
As for the rest of us, the guide provides an exciting changed world to explore. Fabulous.
Interesting Direction for an Old Friend, 01 Sep 2008
The Forgotten Realms has always been a problem to me - inspiring and yet impractical. I loved the feel of the setting, the age of it, the depth, the detail, and yet these were all of its problems too. The feel made it always generic, the age of it made it always hampered by the past, the depth made it a chore to run, and the detail made fans irritating to play with.
Ultimately, personal knowledge shouldn't affect in game knowledge to the degree which it did. A new-coming DM to Toril couldn't effectively run it if there were players in his or her group who loved it - they would spend forever correcting the DM on the authenticity of the setting. It's not that these players were *bad*, just that the setting was so static and so rich and so persuasive that it was hard to escape the idea that it should all be *exactly as written*. Beware the DM who would dare to change anything.
But this was by no means the only issue. Big NPCs dominated Toril. Drizzt and Elminster were more recognisable than the setting as a whole, and the number of awful "cameos" that occured in games was atrocious... as for the novels, the less said the better.
What about the variety of terrain and setting? In theory this was great - you can set your game in almost any surrounding and it'll still be the Forgotten Realms. You want trading cities and costal areas? The Sword Coast. You want exotic locales and organisations? Calisham! You want frozen wastes? The Silver Marches! You want to rip off Lord of the Rings? The Dalelands! So what was the problem with this? Well, ultimately, it was scale. Forgotten Realms worked well with this theory of specific location until you hit about 10th level, when the entire thing fell apart. Soon, reliable and quick long distance transportation was available. The idea of a cohesive world disappears when you can be in desert one minute, and ice fields the next. So how has this changed?
Well, 4th edition includes a lot fewer transport spells, and the folding of teleportation into Rituals (with which you need a "portal key") means that mundane transport is often the way you go first, and then use teleportation when you need to over long distances from set point to set point. Travel thus takes longer, the dramatic differences in setting aren't so obvious, and the world feels a lot more cohesive. The splitting of the game into tiers also helps, as it gives DMs more warning of when to prepare for these changes.
So what does the new setting look like? Well, Mystra is finally dead. FINALLY. I mean, seriously, is this like the fourth time? NEVER BRING HER BACK. The Spellplague changes the layout of the map in a big way, as does the bashing of Abeir into Toril. Hello new races, bye bye old races.
But what's the point of saying this, really? Old fans are going to be angry - "They got rid of gods! They changed the map!" Boo hoo. The setting needed a desperate change - it's been more or less static (on a fundemental level) for years and years. The changes are interesting, smartly done, and the changes to the system make the setting work well. In the end, if you loved Drizzt and co, and hate the idea of not knowing every single event of the setting, then stay away.
For the rest of us, this is an interesting, stunningly beautiful book. The entries are perhaps a little short, but this leaves freedom in the details whilst really giving you a feel for the setting and countries. There are a lot of new monsters, good info on antagonist groups, a lovely poster map, and interesting discussion of the world in general as well as the specific entries. The major criticisms are, perhaps, only that some of the old issues are still there (the odd mix and match of terrain amongst other things), and that occasionally an important piece of information is missing (how big is the population of Waterdeep ay? AY?). Still, an excellent buy.
Drab, dreary details, 30 Aug 2008
Firstly, it's worth pointing out that this is not a rulebook. That may be obvious to some, but I expected something with a few new races, some class-specific traits, new spells, that kind of thing. This is just background to the Realms. I assume -but can't say for sure- that Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (Forgotten Realms Supplement) (Dungeons & Dragons) (Dungeons & Dragons) will be more what I'm looking for, and the fact that WotC have split this into two books is a source of some irritation to me.
I agree with the other reviewers that this is just a wall of bland data. It puts me in mind of the First Edition FR Campaign Guide in terms of sheer volume of endless words; but that was clearly written entirely by people (Greenwood et al, but different et al) who had played in that world and loved it. Their passion for the mythos was there in every word. This just reads like some hack with a deadline and a wordcount to meet sat, wrote ten pages of worthwhile stuff, cut and pasted other peoples ideas to fill in the cracks, then filled the rest with whatever came to mind while they were drunk watching Krull.
And it's a real shame. Because the idea of 4th Ed was that it was supposed to be simple building blocks that even the most ADHD ridden kid could pick up and play like they'd pick up their PS3 controller. I love rules, but I also quite liked that idea, because I'm 31 and don't have time to read endless pages of unbroken paragraphs about the number of available toilets in the town of GenericFantasySettlement45-D. This is not written in a way you can just dip into it.
In short this book has too much of the wrong kind of information, and is appallingly presented in terms of accessibility.
So why two stars after all the spleen venting? Because those ten pages of worthwhile stuff are there, as are other people's ideas, and someone has made an effort to make it look pretty pretty. It's just a shame that such a rich campaign setting has been made to look so banal.
Poor Version of the Forgotten Realms, 28 Aug 2008
What were they thinking when they released this ? A real shame and I know some will love this book but compared to previous "Core Settings" releases this just not deserve more than two Stars. I agree with the previous reviewer when he said there were worse products out there - and that is why I gave it two rather than one.
Okay - Why ? Well, there IS a lot of info here... BUT too much banal and surface info. The majority of entries for a Country cover two pages and include artwork within those two pages. Most of the info is unimportant to the setting and they should have been given more "meat" rather than a "Starter" & "Dessert".
As an "old timer" I can fill in many of the omissions but for a new DM then the task will seem mountainous.
The Adventures at the start are okay(ish)but again, based on previous releases, they are average and contrived.
I just hope the next few releases are better
A monster aid for the DM, 23 Aug 2008
A very useful monster manual that has the data displayed in a concise and easy to use manner. Monsters listed from A to Z makes for finding monsters fast and easy and the statistics block lists their relevant stats from their role in combat to their actual characteristic statistics (want to know what a kobolds' dexterity and wisdom is?). What the monsters powers are and what are the effects are listed in it's stat block and what players would know upon passing a lore check is presented in bite sized chunks of information. This shifts the emphasis from giving the DM a wonderful back story that they may or not enjoy to actually helping defining and letting a player in on the fun by having a mechanic to show just what their character would know in game about the monsters. Also given is it's level and role to help DMs better understand their function in a fight and encounter group helps a DM determine what a party should face.
Also listed are the tactics that monsters would use are mentioned as well alongside a full colour illustration. At the back a glossary and a listing of monsters by level and a useful racial traits used for npc or possible pc races if the DM permits it. My dislikes for this book are the use of symbols for attack powers, they seem a bit small to see and not distinct enough for my liking. Monster descriptions some are brief but all have a full colour illustration. This stops the problem of some things being overwritten and when you look at the page the stat block which a DM needs in a game quickly is there but some entries like the Beholder seem a bit too short. It does have a wonderful full page illustration but more information on it would be nice for new referees to have. The art in this book is very relevant in describing what a monster looks like and seems to be a way of saving on text space with descriptions.
Having used this manual to run a game it is very good at providing when the relevant information is needed fast.
Opaque, arbitrary, inconsistent, unimaginative and uninspiring, 16 Jul 2008
Sometimes you read a book that stuns you. Not often, as after 28 years of role playing you have pretty much seen it all, but sometimes.
With this, the 3rd core rule book for Dungeons and dragons v.4.0 the apotheosis of DnD from a role playing game to a table top, product dependent (miniatures and rule supplements), combat 'system', is complete.
First the good stuff. There are a wide variety of monsters (many of the old favourites, however,are missing) and most have multiple variations to reflect the 'role' the monsters fill (such as skirmisher, minion, brute, solo, etc) in 'Encounter groups'. Encounter Groups are predefined lists of between 1 and a dozen or so creatures that you simply select as a whole and drop in to your adventure. Everything is worked out for you. You, the DM, don't have to worry about hit points, XP, weapons, powers, feats... It is fast, easy, simple.
This is the 'WOW'factor, it really is useful.
After this, it all goes wrong. The 'system' ceases to make any sense whatsoever.
Is a Drow priest a cleric to Lolth? If it is, why doesn't it have the same number and variety of powers (such as utility powers) as a cleric? Why would it's hit points change when it's role changes when a clerics do not?
Are cyclops a race with the racial power 'Evil Eye', is Evil Eye one power or 6 (there are 6 different versions of Evil Eye, all different), a feat, racial ability, or what?
Why do Hydras and Chimeras, both multi-headed monsters have different and somewhat cheesy named 'powers' to describe the same basic action of attacking with all heads?
Why are Carrion Crawler tentacles treated differently to those of a displacer beasts and both differently to a Grell?
Talking of Grells, why does a level 11 elite controller Grell lose the venomous bite that a level 7 elite soldier Grell possess?
Can a lich cast arcane rituals?
These and many, many, many, many other questions will NOT be answered in this book.
Moving on...
The monster descriptions are brief. There is 'lore' that give players bare bones information and a few words for the DM. Each monster/role combination has a short paragraph on tactics. The monster stats block is itself crowded and squashed, and clearly do not cover everything. Racial traits are off in a section by themselves, not in the text describing the monsters.
It's brief. it's enough to run a combat, and that is it. If you want something deeper go look at a car park puddle.
Combat itself should be mentioned. It's incredibly positional and a lot of monsters powers push, slide, pull, shift, teleport or burst one or more targets. To be fair the players get the same, but all in all you need miniatures to track what is going on. Who makes those miniatures...
So, to be frank. What you have here are rigidly (but opaquely) defined creatures, with access to large (but unpublished) lists of powers, rife with internal (and inexplicable) inconsistencies, and all reduced to a set of condensed statistics and a tactics block. Oh, and the creatures 'enjoy' different systems for such things as recharging powers, healing surges, numbers of powers, etc, skewing the encounters heavily against them.
There is a lot wrong with this.The DM cannot easily reverse engineer the creatures and it is not clear that substituting one power/weapon/whatever for another will lead to predictable results. There is no mechanism for creating monsters and applying feats (indeed racial traits come in the form of feats in this 'system', so without all the racial traits being published the DM is stuffed and has to make arbitrary rule calls). The lack of a clear mechanism leads to greater dependency on more monster manuals and officially published books.
When the DM and players start to wonder about the inconsistencies there is no way to work out what should happen and what has happened. When the inevitable happens and the players and the DM decide fair play should exist in the game (that is, NPCs, monsters and player characters are all governed by the same rules) a lot of reworking will need to be done to the system, reworking that the rule books are incapable of supporting.
This, therefore is an extraordinary book. Utterly stunning. Opaque, arbitrary, inconsistent, unimaginative and uninspiring.
It's needed if you are going to play DnD 4.0, but it's still a turkey. One star.
An excellent tool for the DM, 20 Jun 2008
The new Monster Manual for D&D 4e, continues the effort of making life for the DM simpler. It provides the game information for a variety of monsters, focusing on their role within encounters allowing the DM to concentrate on plot and DM'ing. The big change between this and the two previous editions is the distinct lack of fluff in descriptions of the monsters. This may be disconcerting to some buyers, but personally I prefer it this way. It puts less restrictions on the DM's creativity as the DM can then place the monsters in a variety of ecological niches and within more interesting social structures.
Monster Manual light, 19 Jun 2008
After being impressed by Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition and the following 3.5 update I'm very dissapointed by 4th edition.
The art is very good as usual, since Wizard of the Coast has a lot of talented artists, so you won't have any problem with that. Lots of nice eye-candy indeed!
I agree with all the points in the previous review by Simon Allen. This book is definitely missing something. It's basically a text book with mainly statistics and maybe a couple of sentences about the creature itself. Take the beholder for example. Here's a short summary:
Beholder:
Stat block {} Eye of flame. Covers ~60% of the page
Tactics: Three sentences each for two different kinds of beholder.
Lore: 9 small sentences about beholder lore.
Stat block {} Eye Tyrant (Solo creature). Covers ~80% of the page
Encounter group: 6 sentences
This all there is about the beholder. All the info on this creature is on one page, the next page has a full-page picture of two beholders. Almost all creatures have their pictures on the same page as their stat block(s). As you can easily see this doesn't give a good picture of a beholder at all, except as a large piece of numbers and letters. This goes on for all the other creatures. In my opinion I don't really have to say anything more to prove my point. The reliance on stat blocks to show all the info makes this book look like an index for monsters in a trading card game or something.
This review is based on a thorough read-through at a gamestore, and I'm glad I read through it, because I won't be buying this one.
Dungeons and Half of the Dragons, 15 Jun 2008
I think we all expected Wizards to milk their new edition of the rules with a whole new suite of supplemental books, but I felt really let down with this. People are going to have to start throwing big cash at this game to get what they had in their hands from the three core books of previous editions.
Whilst the artwork and presentation can't really be faulted, the descriptions are sometimes very brief and oriented primarily towards combat. No ecology, no behaviourial or social traits, seem to take away some of the roleplaying possibilities. The tone of the text, like the other two books, suggests very much a younger target group. The 3.5 edition had a certain balanced maturity to its writing style that would not phase a mature gamer, but I expect this will be cause for complaint.
However, this is not my main gripe. There are huge gaps in monsters presented here that have been integral in the game since the beginning. No metallic dragons (only chromatic) and many of the the giant species (scorpions, ants, centipedes) that traditionally formed many of the challenges at lower level are just not there.
There is a section at the back which presents a selection of statistics for use in character generation, but those used to the level adjustment in 3.5 will probably not find these easy to get on with. Is a 1st level 7'5" 350lb minotaur really balanced with other 1st level characters? Why do none of the races in the whole game have negative adjustments to their statistics? Everyone is pimped up! Was not Warforged promised as a core race in D&D 4 Characters & Classes, but has now been demoted to a short paragraph here?
It also seems that for most of the stats presented in the Monster Manual, unless you are around 10th level, you are going to get kicked around. Although with the new self healing phenomenon you don't need to worry about dying ;) The variety here is limited - you will be fighting zombies and goblins for quite a while. How about a giant scorpion huh?
The idea of updating the game is well appreciated, but pages are wasted here with rather abstract 'gibbering horror mound' type villains that will have no real part in many roleplayng campaigns.
I will stick to Pathfinder for the moment. Hopefully I will be persuaded by the new web tools to take more interest. Do we have to pay for those by the way?
Maybe I'll leave this in the dentist's waiting room, as it's not a bad at a glance.
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Customer Reviews
Dungeons and Dragons: A review, 05 Oct 2008
I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far.
Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level.
I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns.
And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges.
Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one.
With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up.
That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this.
Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.
A radical departure, 01 Aug 2008
Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5.
I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below:
Negatives:
1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races.
2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle?
3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation.
Positives:
1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!).
2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain.
3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents.
4) The game is much, much simpler.
In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.
D&D Vista, 08 Jul 2008
Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up.
It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.
too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice, 02 Jul 2008
Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves
Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures!
Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D.
It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game.
Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun.
All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!
First Impressions a Great Edition, 27 Jun 2008
Like many people here i have being playing DnD for many years now and ever since I heard about the realise of 4th Edition I've been waiting with great expectation, and after getting the core rultebook I have to admit it is well worth the upgrade from 3.5 for which I have been used to.
Whats good about this edition is that it does remove alot of problems provided by 3.5 with regard the sheer volume of skills, feats and complexaty of DMing out of the game in the previsous editions and as a whole does seem a lot more balanced game. I haven't had chance to run my own game yet in 4th edition as my views have come from first impressions of this book, hence I i gave 4/5. In conclusion I would say it is great for new players to RPG and DM's alike although Previous DnD lovers out there may take some time to really enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
Nice piece of kit, 11 Oct 2008
This is a well made item. A heavy-duty, well laminated, single screen with four panels containing lots of useful information. I've not played D&D since 1st edition, and I still have my old 1E DM's screen. This one is better made, and has more tables on the DM's side. It's wider and less high than the old two-piece 1E screen, but I don't think that's a problem. One table is wrong, and WoTC have published a correction that needs to be glued over it. This is a minor niggle for something with otherwise high production values that can be bought for little more than a fiver.
Superb! A must buy for any DM., 01 Oct 2008
I can only agree with the previous 2 reviewers. This is really fantastic. It doesn't have all the weapon stats, etc., of previous DM screens, but that's OK in my book - that's what character sheets are for.
Instead, this screen has loads of those annoying bits of information that players and DMs spend ages looking up during adventure time, such as light and status conditions. There are standard DCs for each level, separated into easy, moderate and difficult, so it makes it easier to deal with situations or come up challenges on the fly.
This really is a must for any DM, particularly when it's so cheap.
Must have DM tool, 22 Aug 2008
An excellent product that has been a great help to me during the transition from 3rd to 4th edition. The best DM screen I have ever owned and I can't recommend it highly enough to other DM's. It saves an enormous amount of time having all the important tables right in front of you especially, if like me, you are brand new to 4th edition.
Very Happy, 22 Aug 2008
Don't be put off by the (Paperback) next to this products name, the screen is actually hardback, unlike the 3rd edition screen, which I am impressed with since the new one doesn't fall over or bend.
It is longer than the last one, meaning DM's can hide more sneaky stuff behind it *snigger* and the art is very good, depicting a gargoyle, beholder, vampires, lamia, mind flayer, umber hulk, black dragon, bugbears, troglodytes, drow, drider, hell hounds, fire giant and a roper, *phew*.
On the DM's side are over a dozen tables listing lots of useful things you don't want to have to look up in the middle of a game. Including Types of actions, light sources, attack modifiers and so on. But the best thing is it lists all the conditions (Blinded, Pertrified, Stunned etc.) and what they do to a character or monster, which is brilliant because without question the sessions before I got this, I inflicted a condition on the PC's or vice versa and had to look up what it meant, which detracted from the game.
When I recieved the character sheets last month, I was very disappointed, but when I opened the Dungeon Masters screen I was very happy and would recommend it to every DM out there, buy it!
Better than the over-detailed morass that was 3.5 ed Realms., 17 Sep 2008
Personally, as someone whose group isn't massively in love with the detail of the realms this comes as a breath of fresh air as it means that I actually get to create stuff on the fly more easily than before.
Well presented and full of ideas, 04 Sep 2008
Simply put, the writers of this volume had the arduous task of trying to keep the existing Realms players happy whilst, at the same time, providing a new and updated Realms for players starting a campaign for the first time (probably on the back of the 4th Edition Rules).
In essence, this product is very good and, having been a DM since the 1980s, this is one of the best campaign guides produced to date. There will be some obvious objections to the new Realms from existing players who are reluctant to change. However, if you don't like the changes then don't worry, the whole purpose of a product like this is to be a guide only, providing the bare bones of a campaign for you to develop yourself, and you are not obliged to blindly follow everything that is written. In other words, if you don't like the changes, stick to what you do like.
As for the rest of us, the guide provides an exciting changed world to explore. Fabulous.
Interesting Direction for an Old Friend, 01 Sep 2008
The Forgotten Realms has always been a problem to me - inspiring and yet impractical. I loved the feel of the setting, the age of it, the depth, the detail, and yet these were all of its problems too. The feel made it always generic, the age of it made it always hampered by the past, the depth made it a chore to run, and the detail made fans irritating to play with.
Ultimately, personal knowledge shouldn't affect in game knowledge to the degree which it did. A new-coming DM to Toril couldn't effectively run it if there were players in his or her group who loved it - they would spend forever correcting the DM on the authenticity of the setting. It's not that these players were *bad*, just that the setting was so static and so rich and so persuasive that it was hard to escape the idea that it should all be *exactly as written*. Beware the DM who would dare to change anything.
But this was by no means the only issue. Big NPCs dominated Toril. Drizzt and Elminster were more recognisable than the setting as a whole, and the number of awful "cameos" that occured in games was atrocious... as for the novels, the less said the better.
What about the variety of terrain and setting? In theory this was great - you can set your game in almost any surrounding and it'll still be the Forgotten Realms. You want trading cities and costal areas? The Sword Coast. You want exotic locales and organisations? Calisham! You want frozen wastes? The Silver Marches! You want to rip off Lord of the Rings? The Dalelands! So what was the problem with this? Well, ultimately, it was scale. Forgotten Realms worked well with this theory of specific location until you hit about 10th level, when the entire thing fell apart. Soon, reliable and quick long distance transportation was available. The idea of a cohesive world disappears when you can be in desert one minute, and ice fields the next. So how has this changed?
Well, 4th edition includes a lot fewer transport spells, and the folding of teleportation into Rituals (with which you need a "portal key") means that mundane transport is often the way you go first, and then use teleportation when you need to over long distances from set point to set point. Travel thus takes longer, the dramatic differences in setting aren't so obvious, and the world feels a lot more cohesive. The splitting of the game into tiers also helps, as it gives DMs more warning of when to prepare for these changes.
So what does the new setting look like? Well, Mystra is finally dead. FINALLY. I mean, seriously, is this like the fourth time? NEVER BRING HER BACK. The Spellplague changes the layout of the map in a big way, as does the bashing of Abeir into Toril. Hello new races, bye bye old races.
But what's the point of saying this, really? Old fans are going to be angry - "They got rid of gods! They changed the map!" Boo hoo. The setting needed a desperate change - it's been more or less static (on a fundemental level) for years and years. The changes are interesting, smartly done, and the changes to the system make the setting work well. In the end, if you loved Drizzt and co, and hate the idea of not knowing every single event of the setting, then stay away.
For the rest of us, this is an interesting, stunningly beautiful book. The entries are perhaps a little short, but this leaves freedom in the details whilst really giving you a feel for the setting and countries. There are a lot of new monsters, good info on antagonist groups, a lovely poster map, and interesting discussion of the world in general as well as the specific entries. The major criticisms are, perhaps, only that some of the old issues are still there (the odd mix and match of terrain amongst other things), and that occasionally an important piece of information is missing (how big is the population of Waterdeep ay? AY?). Still, an excellent buy.
Drab, dreary details, 30 Aug 2008
Firstly, it's worth pointing out that this is not a rulebook. That may be obvious to some, but I expected something with a few new races, some class-specific traits, new spells, that kind of thing. This is just background to the Realms. I assume -but can't say for sure- that Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (Forgotten Realms Supplement) (Dungeons & Dragons) (Dungeons & Dragons) will be more what I'm looking for, and the fact that WotC have split this into two books is a source of some irritation to me.
I agree with the other reviewers that this is just a wall of bland data. It puts me in mind of the First Edition FR Campaign Guide in terms of sheer volume of endless words; but that was clearly written entirely by people (Greenwood et al, but different et al) who had played in that world and loved it. Their passion for the mythos was there in every word. This just reads like some hack with a deadline and a wordcount to meet sat, wrote ten pages of worthwhile stuff, cut and pasted other peoples ideas to fill in the cracks, then filled the rest with whatever came to mind while they were drunk watching Krull.
And it's a real shame. Because the idea of 4th Ed was that it was supposed to be simple building blocks that even the most ADHD ridden kid could pick up and play like they'd pick up their PS3 controller. I love rules, but I also quite liked that idea, because I'm 31 and don't have time to read endless pages of unbroken paragraphs about the number of available toilets in the town of GenericFantasySettlement45-D. This is not written in a way you can just dip into it.
In short this book has too much of the wrong kind of information, and is appallingly presented in terms of accessibility.
So why two stars after all the spleen venting? Because those ten pages of worthwhile stuff are there, as are other people's ideas, and someone has made an effort to make it look pretty pretty. It's just a shame that such a rich campaign setting has been made to look so banal.
Poor Version of the Forgotten Realms, 28 Aug 2008
What were they thinking when they released this ? A real shame and I know some will love this book but compared to previous "Core Settings" releases this just not deserve more than two Stars. I agree with the previous reviewer when he said there were worse products out there - and that is why I gave it two rather than one.
Okay - Why ? Well, there IS a lot of info here... BUT too much banal and surface info. The majority of entries for a Country cover two pages and include artwork within those two pages. Most of the info is unimportant to the setting and they should have been given more "meat" rather than a "Starter" & "Dessert".
As an "old timer" I can fill in many of the omissions but for a new DM then the task will seem mountainous.
The Adventures at the start are okay(ish)but again, based on previous releases, they are average and contrived.
I just hope the next few releases are better
A monster aid for the DM, 23 Aug 2008
A very useful monster manual that has the data displayed in a concise and easy to use manner. Monsters listed from A to Z makes for finding monsters fast and easy and the statistics block lists their relevant stats from their role in combat to their actual characteristic statistics (want to know what a kobolds' dexterity and wisdom is?). What the monsters powers are and what are the effects are listed in it's stat block and what players would know upon passing a lore check is presented in bite sized chunks of information. This shifts the emphasis from giving the DM a wonderful back story that they may or not enjoy to actually helping defining and letting a player in on the fun by having a mechanic to show just what their character would know in game about the monsters. Also given is it's level and role to help DMs better understand their function in a fight and encounter group helps a DM determine what a party should face.
Also listed are the tactics that monsters would use are mentioned as well alongside a full colour illustration. At the back a glossary and a listing of monsters by level and a useful racial traits used for npc or possible pc races if the DM permits it. My dislikes for this book are the use of symbols for attack powers, they seem a bit small to see and not distinct enough for my liking. Monster descriptions some are brief but all have a full colour illustration. This stops the problem of some things being overwritten and when you look at the page the stat block which a DM needs in a game quickly is there but some entries like the Beholder seem a bit too short. It does have a wonderful full page illustration but more information on it would be nice for new referees to have. The art in this book is very relevant in describing what a monster looks like and seems to be a way of saving on text space with descriptions.
Having used this manual to run a game it is very good at providing when the relevant information is needed fast.
Opaque, arbitrary, inconsistent, unimaginative and uninspiring, 16 Jul 2008
Sometimes you read a book that stuns you. Not often, as after 28 years of role playing you have pretty much seen it all, but sometimes.
With this, the 3rd core rule book for Dungeons and dragons v.4.0 the apotheosis of DnD from a role playing game to a table top, product dependent (miniatures and rule supplements), combat 'system', is complete.
First the good stuff. There are a | | |