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| Player's Handbook: A 4th Edition Core Rulebook: 1 (D&d Core Rulebook): 1 (Dungeons & Dragons) | 
 enlarge | Author: Wizards Rpg Team
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £12.59
You Save: £7.40 (37%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (22 reviews)
Sales Rank: 22024
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 4
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0786948671
Dewey Decimal Number: 793
EAN: 9780786948673
ASIN: 0786948671
Publication Date: June 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Dungeons and Dragons: A review October 5, 2008
I for one do not like this incarnation of the Dungeons and Dragons system. In a way a radical change is good (like we saw it when Star Wars moved to the new Saga Edition Rules, which I absolutely love), but they've quite simply taken it too far.
Reading the books felt to me like I was reading through the instructions of an MMORPG, everything has cooldowns (At will (or per round), encounter or daily) and you're now severely limited in the things that you can do. Basically a Fighter can hit stuff HARD (but there's only so many ways of doing it), a Mage Blows stuff up (Again, limited ways of doing it) and it's all depending directly on your character level.
I must prefer the old days of tons of feats for the fighter, and gazillions of spells for the wizard to choose from. It was a lot more customizable than the current system is. Although, I will say that the Healing Surge idea is good (but with reservations, as they still need to be activated by people such as the cleric) as it allows for the cleric to be something other than just a Heal-bot, so I'm considering taking that for my Dungeons and Dragons (3.5) campaigns.
And yes, there I let it out. I'll be sticking with 3.5. Not so much for the reason listed above, though they are plenty, BUT there is one major overriding factor in choosing to keep my game the way it is: Skill Challenges.
Skill Challenges are basically a skill check you do to see if you get something done. Now, I'll admit that skill checks are useful (for picking a lock for instance), but I do not believe that they have anything to do in a social interaction. This is a ROLE-playing game, not a Dice-rolling one.
With the new system the players basically do not need to talk to the NPC, they can basically go "I roll Diplomacy - 35 - What do I get told by him?" instead of having to interact with the NPC. Gone are the interactions with the NPCs where you actually talk to the Game Master, getting into the role of both your character and he into the one of the NPC. Sure, skill checks will soften up the NPC for you, but they should not determine your utter success in a social interaction. Even the best diplomats sometimes goof up.
That being said, I will give it credit for it's nice layout, and it's very nice art. But I still feel that the heart was ripped out of my favourite game after this.
Time to bring out the 3.5 Books for me.
A radical departure August 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Right let's get the obligatory credentials out of the way; I have been a DM for over 15 years, starting with AD&D 2nd ed. I have run a campaign that spanned 2nd ed, 3.0 and 3.5.
I have loved every one of the editions and I still remember the furore about the old 3.0 (what? No THAC0!?). My gut reaction to what I read in this book was "what on earth have they done!?" I have now had a chance to digest it and can summarise my findings below:
Negatives:
1) Certain iconic elements have disappeared such as the druid and barbarian classes and the gnome and half-orc races.
2) Limited opportunities for character development. There is little to distinguish one fighter from another. Furthermore spells have been rebranded as powers which can be used either at will, by encounter or daily. These powers are mainly of the combat variety. Other more utilitarian spells such as scrying or long range teleportation have become rituals, accessible to anyone with the correct feats. Begs the question how do you charm the guard to get him to smuggle you in to the villain's castle?
3) Skills are fixed by your class and you can't change them once you select them at creation.
Positives:
1)Gameplay is sped up considerably by the use of these powers. The myriad combinations of modifiers are gone (no more need for spreadsheets!).
2) Combat is fluid with lots of movement and use of terrain.
3) Interrupt actions allow you to respond immediately to your opponents.
4) The game is much, much simpler.
In summary, if you are a diehard 2nd or 3rd ed supporter, I would recommend having a thorough look at this new system before you part with your hard earned. If you are a new player and want to get into role playing this would be a quick easy way. I will use 3.5 for my main campaign which is with my university friends, who are all seasoned gamers. However I will use 4.0 for local play which will be once a week for 3-4 hours therefore needs to be fast and furious. I will however be designing a homecooked skills system and iconic characters such as the barbarian and bard.
 D&D Vista July 8, 2008
7 out of 15 found this review helpful
Yup, this is to D&D3.5 what Vista is to XP. In short 3.5 only needed a little tweeking here and there to make it perfect. So what do Wizards of the Coast do? They completely re-make the game and balls it right up.
It looks very pretty. :P (just like Vista)And at first glance looks to be well laid out and easy to use, but this is a lie. When you start looking in depth you find numerous rules and annotations that are badly explained (if at all). Then theres the classes and races that have been replaced. WHY? There are some good ideas in here but I personaly am feeding this book to the recycle bin and going back to 3.5 It still works.
too old for 4th edition... but too young to stop rolling dice July 2, 2008
8 out of 17 found this review helpful
Now we know what killed Gary Gygax...... the final ripping out of D&D's quirky soul! Everything is perfectly balanced, no more supermen half-orcs wielding the hammer of thunderbolts with gauntlets of ogre power and a girdle of storm giant strength... no more gimped gnome illusionist/thieves
Pretty sad for an old timer, but I am sure the new players will enjoy their squad based adventures with floor plans and plastic figures.. after all the plastic figures are much cheaper than Warhammer figures!
Edit: Having taken time to play 4ed, something strange becomes apparent: hidden beneath a lot of MMORPG jargon are the seeds of D&D.
It would appear that 4ed was designed to be instantly understandable to any MMORPGer, even if they have never played a tabletop game before. To this extend the Players handbook and Dungeonmasters Guide are swamped with some of the most awful gaming jargon I have ever read. However, and this is the important part, the designers have managed to keep alive a glowing ember of what makes D&D special and once you have waded through the jargon you get to the heart of the game.
Playing the game was supposed to be streamlined and faster than 3/3.5 ed, this just isn't the case. Rolling characters is a bit quicker but the combat is longer... but fun.
All in all, I would award another star and a half..... D&D is not quite dead yet!
 First Impressions a Great Edition June 27, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Like many people here i have being playing DnD for many years now and ever since I heard about the realise of 4th Edition I've been waiting with great expectation, and after getting the core rultebook I have to admit it is well worth the upgrade from 3.5 for which I have been used to.
Whats good about this edition is that it does remove alot of problems provided by 3.5 with regard the sheer volume of skills, feats and complexaty of DMing out of the game in the previsous editions and as a whole does seem a lot more balanced game. I haven't had chance to run my own game yet in 4th edition as my views have come from first impressions of this book, hence I i gave 4/5. In conclusion I would say it is great for new players to RPG and DM's alike although Previous DnD lovers out there may take some time to really enjoy it.
Hope this helps!
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