Taking A Break From D&D 4e
Posted: February 15, 2010 Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, News, RPG 17 Comments »I think if Wyatt was a corporation, this post would cause its stock prices to plummet hard. D&D is the game, and any blogger talking about it constantly and usefully is sure to swim in e-fame, especially with WOTC now actively drawing from the blogging community for things and recognizing people’s efforts, like those of the Newbie DM. So it was a big decision for me whether or not to talk about how I’m probably going to take a hiatus from DMing D&D 4e, and therefore, probably not going to post about D&D 4e stuff for some time (except for things I’ve promised to do like Endeavors and the Monster Manual reviews – Monsters are made to be mocked regardless!). I finally decided to just do so because you would notice it eventually. So if you wanna unsubscribe from the feed or something, I guess I can’t blame you!
I’m in a couple of 4e projects, and I just want people to know that I’m still totally up for writing about 4e, so if you want to collab, by all means I’m here if you happen to think I’m competent enough to join you. I still like writing monsters and combats for 4e – I think about them every other day. Before I get misconstrued I want to say that I still love 4e and will continue to play it. I don’t suddenly “hate” 4e and this isn’t some post about how other games are better than 4e. This post is about how me, for my home game, I don’t think 4e’s the system I want to be DMing anymore. Writing yes; DMing it no.
A major part of the reason I posted a lot about 4e is because I was very actively engaging it. I kept up with all the latest materials, I played on a constant basis, I read forums about it, and I homebrewed for it since I DMed my own campaign. Now that I’m stepping back from DMing it, I probably won’t post much about it at all. Don’t get me wrong though – D&D 4e is a great game, and I love playing it. I’m still in a D&D 4e campaign (though it seems to have stalled rather hard) and am looking for some other games to join now that I’m going to be having some free time opened up. I rather like playing 4e, but part of me thinks it’s not the game I want to DM, and that everything I’ve done to it is resembling what I did to 3.5 back in that time – hack it apart to frankensteinian proportions in an attempt to make it the game it’s not going to be.
Not only that, but I gradually stopped being caught up on the parlance of the game. When the game came out I was active in optimization discussion, I could tell you the stuff that worked, the builds that were cool. I was present for when Kenshiro Cascadero was born and Orcus was already dead. But as time went on, and more books were released, there I grew apart from that culture that once kept me energized about the game. I couldn’t keep up with all the classes and the builds and the items and combos that were good, so much so that I was pleasantly surprised in another forum to see a debate about the Paladin being the new “best defender.” I knew Divine Power had done quite a lot to fix it, but even past Divine Power (which I read, making this all the stranger) I was still functioning under the old assumption that the Fighter was the better one. In fact I still am confused as to who’s the better one. I just know it isn’t the Swordmage. I think – my game mastery is slipping away from me.
Part of it is that I don’t have DDI, and the character builder interface is just painful for me to use, so I’m unlikely to ever purchase a subscription. I don’t use it enough to get accustomed to it. I had an orphaned builder from a friend’s DDI account which he cancelled. It was last updated in september I think, and it has never been my preferred method of getting acquainted with new material. But nowadays it’s not just in books that you’re seeing all the game-changing new options, but every month there’s class acts and things in Dragon that change the nature of playing a class, and I can’t keep up with them, which removes me from the parlance of the game’s mechanics that is ongoing. So without up-to-the-minute knowledge I don’t feel like discussing builds and stuff, so I drew away from the community of the game.
I also had a lot of ideas implode on me. One of the big climactic encounters of my game turned into a grindfest where the monster would’ve won had I not toned down its stats and played it much stupider than it is so that it wouldn’t stomp the players. A lot of the ideas I have for gaming don’t seem to fit with the 4e mindset. I don’t want grim and gritty, but I don’t think I want the 4e alternative anymore either. Which is weird, because as a player I rather like the huge amount of near-invincibility you enjoy in 4e as an optimized character. And as a DM, I get annoyed by it! There’s just no understanding me. Also, while I like making battlemaps, I’ve found I don’t like gaming with them. That’s right – I developed a love of playing around with maptools and drawing stuff, but when it comes time to play, I wish I could kick the battlemap to a mid-ocean ridge.
All of this adds up to the spark of DMing 4e has died down for me. Some of you probably guessed at a bit of this when you saw my current segregation of the Spirits of Eden pages. I shoved all the fluff together and called it the “guide” and put the mechanics stuff for 4e into a separate page. Ever since I’ve been writing mostly fluff. Spirits of Eden’s grown into its own thing for me, and I’ve been wanting to run a campaign for it on some other system. As you saw, I made my own game with a bunch of stuff I like. Hopefully I’ll get to run it sometime, and see if the experiment did create something I enjoy DMing. If not, the hunt goes on.
I won’t remain away from 4e DMing forever, probably. Every day I get ideas that’d be good to play in 4e. They tend to be simple ideas that work well for 4e, rather than the overtly-grandiose campaign plans I am known for. But there was just something about GMing Cthulhutech the other day, running a combat where I didn’t care about tactical movement, had them shoot guns and not care about range, all without a battlemap and condition tokens and so on. Making like 10 full-fledged NPCs in about a half hour without software. Something about it that just made me want to DM other games.
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That read like a ‘Dear John’ going away letter. It’s ok to step away from the DM screen every now and then. No one can always be the DM. There are lots of systems and settings out there. Play something new, try something different, but always be that Wyatt Salazar we love.
Best of luck kid. I know the feeling quite well. Just make sure you aren’t being mindfucked by your brain in believing what you currently think is what you want. I speak of experience.
Ya know where to find me.
@Dan: Yeah, it wasn’t very graceful. But I know a lot of people read this blog primarily because of D&D 4e. So I think it’s only fair I tell them. I also thought I’d outline my reasons and see if anyone out there felt the same way.
@Chatty: I’m going to give it some time and see. 4e’s always there to go back to.
I love this hobby. It isn’t just 4e no matter how much I love and play and run it. Go run barefoot around in the grass on the other side of the fence, I might join you from time to time.
Just remember to giggle, don’t cackle. I make that mistake all the time. Cackling is dangerous crazy, giggling is just crazy.
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve been going back and forth for the better part of the last few weeks or so trying to figure out which system to run. 4e is so simple, but sometimes it feels too simple and I end up wanting more crunch. But the thing is I hate math, and having to crunch numbers so shit, I ended up back where I started.
Eventually after talking to a couple of the gamers I game with about the different systems we’ve tried, and what we’ve liked and disliked about each we came back around and decided that 4e was really the foundation system that everyone enjoyed. But there are parts about it that we didn’t like and felt that other systems did better, so we just plan on importing ideas and mechanics from other systems and playing a house ruled 4e. But that’s still just the plan so far…
So I guess coming up with NAAd6 is the way to go. It seems like every game group eventually ends up playing the game that they want to play by making it themselves, whether it’s from scratch, or using an already established system as a platform and I think that’s just how it goes.
Have at it, man. I’ll be interested to see what else you try. Burnout’s a B, but it isn’t forever…
I’m sure a lot of 4e fans will be disappointed in regards to your 4e hiatus, but I’m sure whatever else you’ve got will be quality stuff.
[...] Someone’s stepping back from DM’ing 4E, with a post that speaks volumes about how ‘improved’ D&D has become. You better read this. [...]
Definitely sounds like a bit of burnout to me. Don’t sweat it. Something like this is definitely normal…myself, I’ve really stopped paying attention to 4E as new material came out. Maybe I’ll be back in, maybe not.
When it comes down to it, 4th Edition is only a system. What’s important is that you can play and enjoy an RPG.
I’ve felt this after the first year 4E came out. I had fun running it and playing it with my new group but after starting my full-time job, I find myself being detached very quickly, from my group and the community.
Partly for this, I would like to blame DDI. While it has great potential, it has become more of a barrier for me to be involved in the community. Being in a situation where I can’t afford and unwilling to fork out hard-earned cash for something that is almost compelling to be ‘in-the-know’ is just good enough reasons for me to look at the game with disdain and distrust. With the rate that it is pumping out content, it almost made it pointless to start late.
I actually dropped my Word of Wizards feature (if you still remember what that was) because I felt that other blogs with a DDI subscription have better access to information and goodies that are barred from me (which others like me would really want to know about). I also started to feel that there isn’t anything posting about 4E in my blog since those material would be seen as being outdated.
I don’t say this with contempt but to me the 4E community feels to more like an exclusive club and I’m the poor schmuck that has been left out by the ‘cool’ kids.
Just sounds like you are burned out. I’m kinda in the same boat. I’ll always be willing to play D&D 4e, but I’d rather GM some other game systems. Either way, it’s all good.
Questing, I know exactly how you feel. I feel the same way – without a DDI sub to keep up with the game there’s little point in me participating in much of the community discussion, which revolves primarily around game mechanics (and sometimes fluff which I ALSO don’t have access to…) so I became very detached. And when I became detached from the community, the energy and enthusiasm I had began to drain, and my desire to rejoin the community waned with it all.
All I can really say is “finally”.
Considering you haven’t been a big fan of almost all of the products and new content being put out for 4E, I’m not surprised at all that you’d take a break from DMing it. I think it’s a good decision for you, and I hope no one unsubscribes from this blog because I’m sure you’ll share insights just as great or even greater about whatever games you are playing!
Best of luck! I think I know where you’re coming from; I went through a similar process with 3e, which started a few years of wandering about, trying bits and pieces of other games, just to narrow down exactly what I want from an RPG. I think I’ve got a nice little list of “wants” and “must haves” now. Here’s hoping it’s a time of adventure and renewal for you.
[...] rant, rules Recently, The Spirits of Eden’s Dennis Santana aka Wyatt Salazar has chosen to take a break from 4th Edition D&D. He self-deprecatingly declares that “if Wyatt was a corporation, this post would cause its stock [...]
Reading this post really made me think of my own recent feelings and experiences with 4E. I still very much enjoy playing 4E … as for DMing … its just not that fulfilling for me anymore. I really have been pulled in the direction of indie RPGs … ya ya the high brow snooty hippy RPGs … stuff like Mouseguard, Dogs in the Vineyard, In a Wicked Age, Spirit of the Century. I really prefer running those types of games to 4E. That said I really still am enjoying being a 4E player … fun stuff … yes basic hack and slash … but a few decades of playing D&D under my belt and its still not old.
Yep, I know the feeling. I’ve found that playing 4E is a lot more fun than GMing it and that a lot of the optimization talk and huge amount of material coming out for 4E (there sheer # of feats alone is staggering considering how early we are in the life of the game) is fatiguing. One of the things that’s renewed my interest in 4E has been disengaging from the supplement grind and instead learning to pare away all the excess stuff to create little kernels of coolness. Thus, creating a “world” (small scale) in which every hero must come from the arcane power source and only dwarves, elves, and humans exist creates much more interesting and far simpler play situations. Another thing that I swear by is using the Inherent Bonus option and making magic items really rare – it removes one element of optimization and DMing fatigue (trying to seed this stuff in packets sucks IMO).
Anyways, keep up the great work….whether it’s 4E related or something cooler (how about a Mouse Guard hack? ;op ).
[...] of other places, as well as stumbled and dugg and etc. In February 2010 I posted about how I had stopped playing 4e. That was basically the point after which I really knew the site was going to fall downhill [...]