I spent most of the day down at Dragon’s Keep playing D&D 4e. Played the starter adventure all the way through as a Rogue, and then DM’ed the same adventure’s 2nd half for a group whose DM had to leave before they finished.
It’s a lot more fun than I remember my first 3.5 experience being. This game has play. It helps to forget some of what you think you know. Just roll with the new rules. I love the fact that there are very simple (and very COOL) options for blade-wielding types to make attacks with. You can attack against AC, fortitude, reflex, and will — saves are not rolled by the defender. The attacker just has to beat an AC-like score, whether he’s swinging at you or firing off a spell. Cool.
Anyway, I played for about 5 hours, and then headed home. I have the adventure and the figs, and I was contemplating running the kids through it.
All four were in the back yard, ages 5-13, plus two neighbor children and one cousin, same age bracket. They had assorted padded implements including five boffer swords and one funoodle, and were alternately laying seige to or defending the “hill” we have in the yard. My youngest ran back from the hill to the far side of the yard, and then shouted charge as he ran 80 feet to where he started. Sandra explained… he has to go back there to restore his hit-points.
I don’t need to teach these kids D&D 4e. They need to teach ME whatever THEY’RE playing. It looks more fun.