David Artman writes:
>On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 2:48 PM, Dale Sheldon <dales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>> I heartily endorse the 4th edition.
>I've played a bit at cons, and the impression I got (albeit, from VERY
>combat-heavy scenarios) was "I'd rather play Mage Knight."
I'm fairly pro-4th -- it's by far the most coherent D&D ever.
Of course, it's not for all games, or even all fantasy games, because of:
>I've been in the "Indie" game scene for quite a while, and it's kind of
>opened my eyes as to how a game system can really enable the type of play
>one wants... how one can choose a system to shape a play experience.
This.
I spent 15 years avoiding D&D in all its forms, but I enjoyed 3.5,
once I got into it, as a tactical/roleplay oriented RPG, but it was
insanely cumbersome, and a lot of the mechanics required out-of-game
research or other time expenditures (resource management, etc). 4th
gives the same kind of experience -- light characters with roleplay
hooks in a universe with a short growth curve, and team-oriented
tactial combat where you get to show off your cool toys -- without as
much of the cruft.
It's hugely gamist, but I'm a Nar/Gam gamer at heart anyway (with a
big continuum); I enjoy Feng Shui too, with a similar mix.
OTOH, for -most- stories I want to tell, D&D isn't what I want; I'd
rather use OTE or Everway or PTA for more serious games, focusing on
character and decisions, not tactics. (my last successful -run- was
OTE mechanics with the "keys" borrrowed from The Shadows of
Yesterday). Hell, freeform (rule-less, or rule-light where you use
your ruleset only when you don't already know what's going to happen)
works -fine- for most groups I play with.
I'm not a big BW fan, but I haven't spent time thinking about it; I've
come closer to Mouse Guard than I have to BW.
--
Joshua Kronengold (mneme@(io.com, labcats.org)) |\ _,,,--,,_ ,)
--^-- "Did you know, if you increment enough, you /,`.-'`' -, ;-;;'
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