Honestly it was a breath of fresh air as it came into existing 3.5 games as it released. Kept martial players engaged past level 7 and up to 13 in several campaigns I was in. No joke it saved us from losing players (to WoW etc)
People ignore how splatbooks come out with a splat
Who is still playing all the way to level 17? If you put in the miles, like actually start at level 1 and build up a transcript of a hero’s journey, all the while the player gets more proficient with the mechanics on the sheet—it just isn’t a big deal
A friend once told me, that 4e was actually the best DnD, bc it had everything DnD players wanted, but they refused to admit they want the game to look like this.
It's not the worst thing ever, but I thought the specificity was sort of stifling, personally. I know people still run it, so it's definitely a matter of taste.
I’ll forever be glad it’s what I started with back in 6th grade. Genuinely such a fun system when you don’t have someone in your ear complaining about it LMAO
Even like... called shots. I really miss called shots. I know AD&D 2E is old and rickety, but damnit, it's my home. I need 2E's proficiency system was ahead of its time, imo.
I think 4e was a great tactics game, but it really really struggled as a roleplaying game, which is hard when you are The One And Only Roleplaying Game.
The things who were inspired by 4e made though? Amazing.
4e was solid from a balance perspective. There's a lot I liked about the system though I do acknowledge it had a lot of issues. I love it as a tactical game though it never really scratched the DnD itch for me so I ran it alongside 3.5 till 5e dropped
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People ignore how splatbooks come out with a splat
Yes, at level 17. And they can do it *once*, and then they have to go lie down. Sound familiar?
Now WoTc is still trying to sell DnD as a live service and it's mechanics are still worse than most video games.
https://makapatag.itch.io/gubat-banwa
4e was a great example of cool ideas, but failed usage.
4e was the RPG that convinced me I might like RPGs because it had that stuff.
The things who were inspired by 4e made though? Amazing.