D&D: 4e

Today is the day. The Fourth Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rules are officially released to the wild. Rumor has it that Amazon is already low on the new Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual and that the books will be hard to find in the wild (of Border's and local friendly game stores). Too much Hype? Not Enough of a good new game with plenty of demand?

When I first learned of the new edition a year or so ago, I was pretty pumped. The move from AD&D, 2ed to D&D 3ed was masterful, in my mind, slimming down the rules and making them more cohesive; without sacrificing the flavor of what made the game so much fun to play. The early information trickling out from the folks at WOTC made it sound like 4e was taking the 3e kernel and making it better.

As I learned more however, I wasn't as convinced. Less dice rolling and weird inter-party party powers seemed to be cropping up that made life confusing and turn 4e into a minis game more than a role playing game. I haven't pre-ordered the books and don't plan on running out today to get them, but I was able to peruse a copy of the Player's Handbook. It is organized well and the quality seems pretty darn high. But I can not tell if the flavor is there. So I will be getting the books in the next month or so. I guess we'll just have to play the darn thing and find out if it is worth all the hype.

Verdict? TBD