Yesterday, I ran a "interim" session for that campaign to make sure everyone in the group had achieved 11th level. Our next session will see us embarking on the first of the Paragon level adventures: King of the Trollhaunt Warrens, of which I’ve spoken highly before. I hope it plays as well as it reads! 

 

It seems like a good time to reflect on how 4e has treated us and we’ve treated 4e over the past year.

 

Honestly, 4e has been a tricky proposition. There are things I adore about the system, for instance the healing surges, the lack of dependence on clerics and the much, much shorter statblocks for monsters, but getting used to elements like rituals and skill challenges has taken longer. We still don’t use rituals much (even in the homebrew game I ran), and it was only during the D&D Game Day a couple of weeks ago that I was happy with how a skill challenge was written.

 

Then too, the players have had to get used to the system and the new emphases for playing and building their characters. The fighter is no longer the character for beginning characters. (Our group believes the ranger is far better as such). I’ve had a few players not quite content with the number of options available to their characters, but there have been two things that have gone a long way towards fixing that.

 

The first is the release of the Power books and the Player’s Handbook II. With those books, it is astonishing to see how much they’ve filled in the system and provided a wealth of options for character building. 4E feels much more a "complete" system with them.

 

The other, and by no means the least important, is the D&D Insider. Nathaniel subscribed to it a few weeks ago, and he’s now greatly addicted to it. The impact of being able to look up at the game table every feat and power published in the system without having to flip through masses of books cannot be underestimated. And then, when it includes feats and powers from books or sources (such as the minis) that you don’t have? Fantastic! And Nathaniel is a Mac user!

 

So, as 4e matures as a system, a lot of the original rough edges are seeming to be smoothed out. It’s no longer the 4e that was originally released.

 

Another aspect of 4e that might not be apparent to everyone, especially those that have only scanned the core books, is that the implied "points of light" world is getting more and more detailed. The adventures have helped here: although they’re not quite as detailed as I’d like in the descriptions of individual rooms, I’ve read quite a bit of "setting" background which has filled in history, given relationships of the gods and primordials, and more material of that nature that I’ve found inspiring and entertaining.

 

Then too, books like Open Grave are great for more of those details. I really can’t praise Open Grave enough. Its predecessor in the 3e days was a book I found particularly boring and rarely used… but Open Grave is finding its way into more and more of the adventures I write, and now it’s beginning to inspire them as well.

 

E1 finally arrived this week. (Australia seems to get the rest of the D&D books on their release date. Why do the adventures seem to take 6 weeks more?) Inside it were a number of really nice surprises. The first was that E1 is properly the first part of a trilogy of epic level adventures. I don’t think you can say that about the H or P series, but E1 has a very open (you might say, cliff-hanger!) ending. And it’s a doozy. It may be another year before I run it, but I’m really looking forward to it.

 

The second really nice thing about E1 relates to the way that the rooms actually have descriptions in the first adventure book; in particular murals that give some of the history of the world, with History and related skill checks to allow the PCs to get even more information than just the bare mural. There’s more of the primordial war against the gods here, which is one of the best things about the mythology of 4e.

 

Finally, I got a real surprise with the Raven Queen…

 

However, as I mentioned, it’ll be a while before my group reach E1. They’re only just up to P1, and the first aspects of Paragon levels are just becoming apparent… and we’re all getting very excited.

 

You see, Paragon levels actually mean something in 4e. It’s very much like what happened when you reached your first Prestige Class in 3e, but far more consistently cool and awesome. Nathaniel, who reached 11th level before everyone else (there’s an advantage with hosting the game and therefore being present for every session!), was demonstrating the powers of his half-elven fey warlock to all and sundry yesterday. He’s taken a paragon class that allows him to do damage whenever he teleports… and (by virtue of D&D Insider) he’s got a utility power that allows him to teleport at will!

 

Oh, boy. It’s not overpowered at all – although it’s great for clearing out minions – but he’s having an absolute blast with it. Greg’s (new) cleric will be able to take on an angelic form, and that’s making his day. I’m not sure what Adam and Josh are doing with their paragon levels, but I’m sure they’ll enjoy them.

 

There really is a feeling that the PCs have gone from novice adventurers to being real heroes at the world. I can only assume that the same will apply once they reach the epic levels.

 

So, 4E, one year on. Am I enjoying it more than when I started? Yes, definitely. I would say that it’s now my favourite version of D&D to DM. To play? I don’t know. I haven’t actually been able to play it yet! I think there are still things that can be done to improve the game, especially with regard to the way skills and skill challenges are handled, but I feel that it’s breadth of options and ease of play have now reached a level where it is a truly superior system. Of course it’s not for everyone, but it’s a game I feel very happy playing.