D&D Releases its Fourth Edition… Not Another Rule Book!

Hear ye, hear ye. All brave players who delve into the mysterious and legendary game that is Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Hasbro’s tabletop, role-playing game that we all know and love has released its much anticipated Fourth Edition.

As hardcore D&D fans know, when the game maker releases an edition, it usually means the cleanup of confusing rules and regulations, as well as the addition of some really cool new ones.

Remember when the Third Edition came out? I certainly do. It got rid of that grossly confusing mess that was the THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class 0) system, a system where plus meant minus and minus meant plus (the rules for armor class were like scoring in golf, the lower, the better).

Importantly, the Fourth Edition of D&D includes an upgrade to the character alignment system and the introduction of online play.

No, online play does not mean that the tabletop game is becoming a MMOG (there’s a Dungeons & Dragons Online, if that’s what you want); it simply allows for better online playtime with your D&D group, even if you live in other cities, states, or even countries. Even with the introduction of digital game play, D&D is still a tabletop game.

Although I’m duly excited about the online aspect of D&D, I am personally not looking to play my campaigns using Fourth Edition rules. In my opinion, it takes far too long to learn all of the basic rules so that you’re not constantly flipping through a book. Since I’m a Dungeon Master, I already have to flip through at least three books at any given time. I was just getting the hang of the Third Edition!