Took a break from the writing routine and had the usual weekly 'nerd nite'-- rpg with the guys. At the moment we're normally alternating weeks of Rob running Star Wars Saga Edition (which rocks so much it makes me feel disloyal to the D6 version, my all-time fave game) and Steven running Burning Wheel (which is really inspiring to read but we can't seem to get our heads around the playing of it). Tonight Fred was going test out a Warhammer scenario con scenario he's been working on (1st ed-- he's French and a bit of a luddite), but between one thing and another he didn't get it together.
We dragged out the battlemat, hastily cut out some paper minis and had a crack at 4e D&D. I kind of like it. Really glad we used minis, I think it's the making of the game. I'd have happily gone without for any of the previous editions, including 3.5, but all the changes make 4e really wargamey by default and it was really satisfying as a player to really get into the tactics of an encounter.
I'm not sure what I'd make of it as a GM though. There are loads of strategic options to keep in mind through encounters and I don't think I'd want to do that much prep. While it does tactical stuff really well, I'm not sure I'd want that all the time either.
Rob's thinking of swapping SWSE for a 4e Ptolus game, so I guess we'll have a chance to get a bit more in depth with it. Given tonight's game, I'm up for that.
We dragged out the battlemat, hastily cut out some paper minis and had a crack at 4e D&D. I kind of like it. Really glad we used minis, I think it's the making of the game. I'd have happily gone without for any of the previous editions, including 3.5, but all the changes make 4e really wargamey by default and it was really satisfying as a player to really get into the tactics of an encounter.
I'm not sure what I'd make of it as a GM though. There are loads of strategic options to keep in mind through encounters and I don't think I'd want to do that much prep. While it does tactical stuff really well, I'm not sure I'd want that all the time either.
Rob's thinking of swapping SWSE for a 4e Ptolus game, so I guess we'll have a chance to get a bit more in depth with it. Given tonight's game, I'm up for that.