4th Edition DND!

I am a videogamer.  Ever since I picked up a controller at age 4 and jumped on my first Kremlin soon thereafter ( *sigh* no, not the Russian capital, silly non-gamers) and since then I’ve been hooked. The ability to temporarily become someone or something greater than I am was part of the allure; it began innocently enough, with my childish willingness to become a superhero, a powerful being. However, as my age progressed and my mental capacity flourished, my self-image did not. So, to sort of help deal with that, I played more games: A.) because it was something to do, B.) because they often posed a challenge and C.) because I could pretend to be someone else for a while, and stop being a boring, depressed, lonely middle schooler.

Nowadays, I feel alot better about myself, limiting gameplay to a test of skill, intelligence, and oftentimes just to have a good time with a good friend. However, the wish to roleplay, as it were, sort of lingers. This time it isn’t a need to become someone I prefer to myself; I just think that wizards, knights and that whole deal is pretty damn cool, and there’s nothing wrong with that. So instead, my habits have manifested with a few other things I’m familiar with as well as a controller: A pencil, some paper, and my own imagination.

Dungeons and Dragons is a game I play. When I first picked up the Players Handbook, I expected to find some stuff that made me sort of cringe. I was a geek, yeah, but like that? No. No, no way. I played videogames, but that was different. Mario was there, he was visible. There wasn’t any pretend, I told myself erronously. There was a solid, definite connection to the real world through the buffer of the television screen. But Kaitlyn kept wheedling away at me and soon enough I gave in and tried to learn just how to play perhaps the most convoluded but physically simple board game known to mankind.

I was enthralled but didn’t let myself know. So many choices, so much freedom… it’s still something that astounds me. You can see something on the screen about how your character looks, yeah, but you can’t ever make him yours, you can’t become him, because he’s not in your imagination. That being said,  you need an imagination to play. I do, and so I vividly picture every move, every strike and counterstrike and spell that’s thrown around the map while it happens. Then there’s the character creation, the impromptu roleplay, the massive tactical advantages that occur while playing… it’s what makes me happy.

That’s why I’m gonna gripe about 4th edition. I know, you’ve all heard it a million times, but this here is an attempt to try and pick apart the basic philosophy of it, instead of looking at it as a system and detailing every little bit of it until the sun runs dry.

The thing here is this. As a videogame, I would buy it. I would buy it, I would analyze it, I would LOVE it because when it comes down to it, it is a system which works very, very well. I would pay a 15 dollar monthly fee for this game if it involved a keyboard and a mouse. And I think that’s sort of what it’s supposed to mirror. Classes and races in videogames are balanced so expertly (or are supposed to be; see Holy spec Paladins in WoW) because it gives the players a supposedly flat playing field to play on. It eliminates unfair advantage and makes competition all the more exciting, attainable, and as back and forth as it can be. Whether it’s “who can win the race in 1st place”, “who can be the last man standing in a fight” or even “who can raid Karazhan the fastest”, there is always competition involved. Hell, even in PvE combat – whether it’s “get to the end of the dungeon and slay the monster” or “get to the top of the mountain and defeat Bobomb”, there’s still the essential factor of balance. Classes must be balanced to compliment eachother perfectly and be effective enough. Maps must be balanced enough to bring out just enough challenge, just enough fun.

But that’s just it. The problem with the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons is that it tries to be too much game. The spirit of the piece itself is to attract a wider, different audience than traditional dungeon crawlers.

Now, that being said,  it’s also juxtaposed against the very fluent, easy system of DnD 3.5. Unlike 4th Edition, 3.5 does it’s best to try and represent what would actually happen in real life within the confines of the D20/Grid system. Granted, there are some things – Evard’s Black Tentacles, for example – which simply wouldn’t happen in the real world. However, if it COULD happen, the speed at which one tentacle could throw you would be determined by the tentacle’s strength scores, against how heavy you are and potentially  whether or not you are trying to attack it. You WOULDN’T have a special ability that would allow you to smack it upside the… erm… “membrane” (i guess we can use that term) that would somehow grant health to an ally, not unless the terms “leech” or “vampire” applied (see PHB 4th edition, Cleric.)

3.5’s system is also surprisingly simple and elegant when it comes to freedom of content. There are definite, hardset rules you have to follow, but there are few enough as to allow a surprising amount of creativity and freedom within that system. Take non-core 3.5 classes and their abilities, for example. Specifically, the Dragon Shaman’s Healing Surge special abilitiy is a wonderful example of this.

Everything in DnD is based off of chance. You roll a die (usually a 20-sided die) and then add or subtract any relevant modifiers, then possibly comparing it to an opposed roll of the same method and then reacting in kind, making any specific effects happen and causing the player to address the new situation. That is DnD’s base mechanic. Healing Surge circumvents that entire deal by letting the player tap into a specific resevoir of healing points, which can be used to heal, cure status ailments, or even get rid of negative levels with no roll, and thus no chance of failure. There aren’t that many points to spend, so it’s not entirely broken, but it completely circumvents the usual system without destroying it or feeling out of place. It’s juxtaposed against the entire ruleset, but it works without complaint.

Combine that with a game that’s easier to understand and roleplay with, and you’ve got a winner. What more can I say? 4th edition is a fun game, but I’m looking for a roleplay. Not a videogame.