"Encounters" - anybody, um.. tried one?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/wayoflife/06/08/new.dungeons.dragons/index.html

I guess this is some self-contained, just-add-water, simplified application of the 4e rule-set in what oldies like me would probably identify as adventure modules...

Anybody tried this version of the game?

Besides good old AD&D I briefly tried 3.0 and reading the comments this doesn't sound like an improvement.

Well... curiosity finally got the better of me, and I actually played D&D for the first time in over 2 decades last night - a 4e "Encounters" session set in the "Dark Sun" milieu (think Mad Max mixed with Dune and forget everything you know about the races - halflings are vicious, tribal, xenophobic cannibals, etc.).

It was fun!  The Encounters modules are a bit narrow/contrived (you can't stray too far from the story-line) and somewhat more combat-focussed than what I remember, but there are definitely things about the new rule-set that I like.  For instance, the skills (at-will, per-encounter, daily) are a lot of fun.  (I have no idea when those were introduced, but they weren't in AD&D.)

I may just have to pick me up a 4e Player's Handbook after all...

That's brilliant Mike. I'm glad you enjoyed it. How many of you played? Keep us informed of your adventures and maybe some of us might invest in 4e. You can't beat a good old hack and slay.

Thanks, there were six-seven of us (one guy left early).  I'll chime in now and again for sure.

This week, I almost got stuck with the Healer, but thanks to a no-show I ended up playing an Elvish ranger, whose arsenal of rather nifty per-encounter skills will not soon be forgotten by certain goblins and a lizard-folk shaman (except that they're all dead now)...  :)

I've not played for years, I've DM'd but not had the pleasure of playing. At the moment I am writing up the next part of an adventure for my mate, Neil, and I am also fleshing out details of my campaign world. I am enjoying it because it is bringing back all those memories, god I'm getting old - I need a potion of longevity. When we last played I left him on a path which passes through an ancient group of burial mounds. It was a hot hazy day and they will need to fight against the drowsiness that they are beginning to feel. Neil hates undead because of the fear of being level drained but I reckon the party will get through and on to the next part of the adventure (although I'm sure there will be a few scares along he way!).

In other news, I'm now working my way through the (absolutely awesome) Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and with each page-turn regretting more and more the time I've recently wasted familiarizing myself with the depressing pant-load that is D&D 4e.

I actually feel like this is the evolutionary leap forward (i.e. from AD&D) I've been dreaming of...  All the 'greatest hits' of Classes and Races, and a strong emphasis on real role-playing, all in one gorgeous book.  

Pathfinder FTW!

That's disappointing about D&D 4e because you seemed to enjoy the first session. What went wrong? I might have to look into Pathfinder. Have you played it yet?

Well, it's a good time compared to no RPGing whatsoever, but frankly, I'd been trying to deny misgivings about 4e from the get-go.  Given that I completely missed eds. 2, 3, and 3.5, I didn't feel I had much of a framework in which to judge 4e to begin with.  But I did start to feel that my early prejudice about it being WoW with dice was somewhat on the ball.

I don't like the new books.  The PH now is three volumes, and the races and classes I really want to play (i.e. the classics) are spread out between them, intermixed with teiflings & dragonborn.  If you just buy the first PH, you can't play a druid or a monk or a bard.. You can't play a half-orc or a gnome.  Meanwhile, new playable races are being introduced to spread out the good stuff:  teiflings, dragonborn, minotaurs, etc., etc.  Who the hell wants to play a minotaur?  Ok, maybe I'm just being 'racist.'...

I don't like the huge emphasis on "Powers" (spells for everyone!) in 4e.. especially when, for instance, the Wizard's powers all seem like variations on "magic missile."  There's a real shortage of spells that provide value outside of a melee - at least in the PH1.  The powers multiply endlessly (gone are spells per day for the most part), and the result (for me anyway) is a boring repetition of the same actions almost every encounter.

I also don't like all the hand-wringing in the D&D community about the stability of the rule-set... the liklihood that they will never reprint the current core rulebooks because the new red-box "Essentials" set changes direction once again; we're on the periphery of "4.5e"; the world as we know it is ending, blah, blah, blah..

On the other hand, there's Pathfinder, which is D&D 3.5, only "fixed" and then extended:  One core rulebook (570 pages, mind you) that is absolutely fabulous looking (the artwork is fantastic), and which serves up everything needed to play for both player and GM (except monsters - those are in a separate publication called the Pathfinder Bestiary - also excellent).  All the races you know and love, all the classes (including some variations based on, say, Cleric's divine "domain" or a Wizard's particular arcane "school") that we've always played - they are all in there.  The rules for combat and magic and skills make good sense and seem much more pro-role-playing to me.  There are TONS of spells (of all sorts).  On top of it all, the book is extremely well organized.  They game-tested the heck out of this thing and it shows.

Anyway, blah blah blah - it's easy to check out for yourself.  There's a comprehensive web version of the game rules and monsters (complete with a lot of fan content and stuff from published adventures) over at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/

You can also grab full pdf versions of the rulebooks direct from paizo.com for about $10 a pop.

Oh, and I have *not* played it myself yet, but I'm definitely looking for a local group so that I can ASAP.  Till then, I'll keep getting my fix at the WotC-sponsored "Encounters" sessions - all the time, knowing there's something better.  :)