D&D 4th Edition

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
Created by	Wizards of the Coast
Published	June 2008
Genres	Fantasy
Dice	d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, d4

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The 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons is one of the most coherent and designed editions of the game. It is also hugely controversial, as it made even more substantial changes to the underlying game rules than the previous edition, and was published a relatively short time (by D&D scale) after the revised 3rd Edition. The lead designer was Rob Heinsoo.

4th Edition made the following changes:

• All classes were moved to have abilities with limited usage, with only three usage rates: at will, per encounter, and per game day. This meant that martial characters also gained high powered abilities requiring resource management and wizards gained (or had expanded) the unlimited cantrips they gained in the previous edition.
• Saves were calculated based on the best modifier out of two ability scores rather than a single fixed one.
• A "level modifier" was added to all saves, giving a base constantly increasing bonus.
• "Saves" were replaced with "defenses", so that all abilities were based on the attacker/user rolling and beating the target's static score. Saving throws were replaced with 50/50 rolls to determine the duration of effects.
• Fighters were given an actively defined role as a "tanking" class with specific abilities preventing enemies from bypassing them in combat.
• The Warlord class, a martial class with battlefield control and buffing abilities, was introduced. This was an extremely popular change amongst some players, as D&D previously had no rules-driven battlefield control abilities that were not represented as magic.
• Class "paths", where a fundamental choice could be made within one's class, were introduced.

The Controversies

Weeaboo Fightin' Magic

One of the more common complaints about 4th Edition was that it allowed martial characters degrees of control of the battlefield that had not existed in previous editions, and that this required greater abstraction of the combat.

For example, the fighter ability Come and Get It allowed the fighter to pull enemies towards them on the battlefield. Critics argued that, taken literally, this was unreasonable as there is nothing a mundane human with a sword can do to require others to move towards them. Supporters argued that this was not intended to be taken literally, but instead represented the fighter moving around and intercepting opponents in the abstract "flurry of battle", becoming a defining presence on the field. While it was always a presumption of D&D (and most tactical combat systems) that characters were not actually standing still and waiting for their turns to attack opponents with a single swing, these mechanics required imaginative visualisation in a way that D&D had not before, which was extremely unpopular with some players.

Benefits

• Martial and caster classes are correctly balanced for one of the first times in a D&D game.

Problems

• Monster Manual Math: most of the monsters in the original 4th Edition Monster Manual had math errors which could result in bad gameplay experiences. This was revised in later editions.
• Trap options: several character options were extremely weak and were not improved later on. The most common is that of the three "implements" a Wizard could choose, the Orb was ultimately most powerful.

d20 systems

13th Age • Dungeons & Dragons (3rd and 3.5 Edition, 4th Edition, 5th Edition) • Gamma World • Lancer • Level Up • Mutants & Masterminds • Pathfinder (1st Edition, 2nd Edition), Shadow of the Demon Lord