First, though, thanks to everyone -- especially Gideon -- for making it clear that I am not somehow under suspicion of starting a thread for nefarious purposes.
I truly was shocked by the altered nature of D&D 4e, and pleased by the more iconic feel of C&C -- and I really did want to start a "movie trailer discussion" type of dialogue to see what other people thought on these matters.
While I haven't posted a lot yet, I have genuinely enjoyed the intelligent, and often humorous, conversation which has ensued.
The side-topics which arise are as interesting to me as the main one, more often than not, and all of it gives me a better idea of the kind of folks who post here.
As we all know, there are good discussion forums, and there are horrible discussion forums (where the roads out of those hells are paved with the bones of the well-intentioned). I'm pleased to see that these TLG forums skew much more toward the friendly.
I'll post more, here, and elsewhere on these forums, as appropriate. First off, though, I wanted to clear up a misconception that's grown out of my original post.
When I first mentioned that Stephen Radney-McFarland of WotC went on to talk about the use of cards at the 4e gaming table, a few of you thought I meant Magic: The Gathering -type cards.
In fact, Radney-McFarland was talking about using index-card-like cards for things like tracking Initiative, and other 4e game states.
I didn't quote the section originally because, frankly, I found it long, dull and obvious. At most, it reiterated the point that (in my opinion, anyway) there sure does seem to be a sudden and powerful need for rigorous table-tracking of all kinds in D&D 4e -- a point I felt the earlier excerpts had already made.
But, in the interest of fairness and clarity for this discussion, here's the section on card use in Dungeons & Dragons, 4th edition, exactly as it appeared in the original article.
Please, again, I'm not posting this to invite scorn for 4e, or praise for C&C. It's here to put to rest the criticism that D&D 4e is somehow fusing with Magic: The Gathering. It's not. While C&C may be the preferred game hereabouts, we must give "that other game" its fair due.
Here's Stephen Radney-McFarland again, in his own words. This is my final excerption. If you simply must have more, I suggest you go sign up for a free D&D Insider web account, while they're still free.
Thanks to everyone for the ongoing discussion. It's much appreciated.
TheNewGuy
Quote:
Cards and More Cards
I really love using cards in my D&D games. Cards are portable and flexible information devices. They fit easily in the hand, and you can put a bunch of information on them. Right now, I am fitting entire 4th Edition D&D stat blocks on my 3x5 initiative cards with relative ease -- including my current monstrous bad guy, an adult red dragon named Nemisalat (and she's a solo creature to boot!). But I've lauded the virtues of initiative cards in this column before -- no need stomping old ground to death. For my 4th Edition games I've also been using condition, power, and magic item cards.
Condition cards are nothing new. There have been a number of publishers who've created condition cards, and many DMs use them. The reason that I think they'll be especially important in your 4th Edition D&D games is because there will be a period of time when everyone in the group is learning the rules, and the more you can avoid page flipping, the faster your first few sessions will run. While developing the new D&D edition, we made sure that the new conditions were simple, talked to one another, and were bullet-pointed so you don't have to wade through paragraphs to find the one clause you seek. This format lends itself to simple cards that convey information quickly. I hand players cards when their characters are afflicted with a condition, and they hand it back when the condition ends.
Power cards aren't entirely new either . . . other classes have had them in the past (mostly spell- or psionic-using classes, but weapon-users got their first taste of their use in Tome of Battle), but they are very helpful especially when you start playing 4th Edition. Like the casters of past editions, everyone in 4E has a healthy dose of interesting options they can employ in combat, and their use and reuse is determined by their rates of usage. While this greatly enhances choice and fun in game play, if you've never used a power-heavy class in past editions of D&D, this can seem a little daunting at first. Even relative veterans of the system (like my home playtest group) can find being thrown into a higher level of play daunting at first without some mnemonic tools. Writing even the most basic description of what a power does and on what page it appears only expedites game play. I know that some of you will scoff at using cards in a roleplaying game, but my sincere advice is to get over your hang-ups. Cards are tools, not the destroyer of roleplaying.
Many times the right card can enhance the roleplaying experience. I've been using the Paizo GameMastery item cards since their release and they're just as useful in 4E. They're relatively inexpensive, and they feature great art and basic descriptions, plus they offer enough room for you or your players to write what the item is or does on the back. They are especially handy to give out when the PCs have found an item, but aren't sure what its purpose (or true purpose) is yet. They are also very handy in that they allow your players to keep track of inventory and have a handy way of trading items . . . just pass the card along. There are, of course, other companies that produce similar products, and using index cards is probably the cheapest way of pulling off this particular time-saving trick.
