Comments on: GTS 2009 Dungeons and Dragons Seminar

By: Oz

Oz — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:54:39 +0000

“We really want top counter the perception that D&D is a tactical, combat focused war game. ”

It took them a year to figure this out?

The game as designed is about the mini fights. The onus is on the DM to make it a role-playing game and I think that is where a lot of new DMs will struggle and their players will lose interest.

By: Trask

Trask — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:44:30 +0000

Thank you for the info, Saracenus.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

By: Saracenus

Saracenus — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:25:36 +0000

ENworld link your post. Scout Rouse responded there with some additions and clarifications.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/254542-gts-2009-d-d-seminar-rouse-discusses-d-d.html

By: Kameron

Kameron — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:16:04 +0000

4E module designs are skewed toward combat. While this doesn’t eliminate the ability to roleplay, I’d imagine that in a lot of one-shot sessions (e.g., Game Days or Dungeon Delves), play easily falls into tactical wargames. A chapter on storytelling in the DMG2 will be a nice step toward a balance between roleplaying and wargaming, but I think there needs to be some shifts in adventure design philosophy before we see a real change.

By: Mike Shea

Mike Shea — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:11:16 +0000

Yeah, a lot of the elites and solos need to be beefed up in my opinion.

By: Dustin Snyder

Dustin Snyder — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:58:24 +0000

Mike – do you mean errata in addition to the updates available from their website?

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/updates

By: Mike Shea

Mike Shea — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:13:44 +0000

I was surprised he said that 4e paragon level PCs were a mistake for the Game Day, that combat took too long. This is something I’ve seen in our paragon game now and I’d like to find some solutions for it. It’s going to be hard to defeat, though, but more low hp high damage monsters would be a good idea and some erratas to the existing books would help too.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:15:04 +0000

Thanks for sharing this. Good to see them acknowledge that podcasts and bloggers are a good place to focus their marketing energies.

Not sure about that “tactical wargame with limited role-playing” bit… it certainly doesn’t come across like that in the Podcast. I guess I’ll find out next weekend. :)

By: greywulf

greywulf — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:05:09 +0000

Thanks for posting! All very encouraging, methinks.

Interesting that they acknowledge “They have received feedback that the 4e game is a tactical wargame with limited role-playing.” It’s not an opinion I share (I think 4e D&D is a very role-playing friendly game) but the perception is certainly there. Be interesting to see how they approach that in the DMG2.

By: Dustin Snyder

Dustin Snyder — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:28:45 +0000

Because of the comments made about the RPGA and Game Days (organized play), I’ll be further linking this in the RPGA forums as well.

Thanks for the liveblog!