DnD 4.0

Now, I only have minimal DnD (Dungeons and Dragons) experience, and my friends range from much to no experience. I have played with 3.5 only, with a great DM. A friend asked if I'd think about DMing for him using 4.0. Well, I went out and bought a shiny new 4.0 Players Handbook (a nice contrast to my falling apart 3.5), and started to read through it.

My first shock: No barbarians! Now, it does make a BIT of sense. Barbarians were highly prone to min/maxing (you can read about min/maxing here, which was annoying for RPing. However, a good DM can ensure that doesn't happen, and the barbarian could be a rich character.

Also removed: Pets! Now as DM I made an executive decision to allow pets that are 1/1 (one HP, 1 in each stat, one skill maybe?), however it sucks that they're gone. Again, they added a lot of dynamic to a group.

They also switched up alignments a bit, but I can't really complain about the new ones as they work, and there's no reason you can't make up your own alignment.

This is what I love about DnD, and something that so far they have mostly persevered in 4.0: The rules are more of a suggestion than a rule. You as a group can make decisions about mechanics (or rather, you as DM tell your group), and still have the game work. Hell, if you wanted to you could add in barbarians from 3.5, people mixed 3.5 and 3.0 all the time so I can't see why it wouldn't work.

One thing that kind of annoys me but doesn't mean anything: They added half-elves as a race. In the past you used to have to use the mixing system for being half whatever, but so many people want to be cool half elves I guess.

There are a number of new classes and races, but I haven't dug deep into them yet.

I had read that there was greater emphasis on using miniatures and spacial locations during the game, but I haven't found it to be a major problem. That might be because my old DM was big on doing that anyway?

There is one thing that tips the scales in favor of 4.0 for newbies. It's simple to understand! Things are laid out in a logical format, clearly written, and very few assumptions.

All in all, I give 4.0 a thumbs up. The problems such as missing classes can be worked around, but an easy to understand book is key.

And like I say about a lot of things: If you don't like it, don't buy it!