Board 8 > So I got a Dungeons and Dragons set for Christmas...

(+) Yeah! (+)

My family and I have been playing Pathfinder for the past couple of weeks. Comparing them without even playing D&D I can already see the differences. Just looking at the character sheets there's a lot less stuff to worry about in D&D. Now I see why some people call the new D&D for babies or whatever.

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More stuff does not necessary mean better gameplay. If anything, I'd argue the opposite.

Your set is 4E, I assume? I was more a fan of 3E. I never really looked in-depth at 4E, but it just seemed weird.

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I'm guessing you got Red Box?

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I used to play in a 4E group and now we have decided to start a Pathfinder game, though all we have done so far is make our characters. I can't really say I noticed a huge difference from just character creation, aside from the way combat works (4e having at wills, encounters, dailies, etc.)

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I wasn't trying to say that more stuff is better, if anything 4E being a bit simpler would help. And yes it was that red box.

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

I didn't really care for the Red Box. I didn't think it was a good introduction to 4E at all. I did like the dice it came with, specifically the d10 with an actual 10 on it instead of a 0 that means 10. Wish more dice sets had those.

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I can only speak from briefly looking into it, but at least the character creation instructions didn't seem very good. I remember Pathfinder (the starter set) came with a thick book that had a one-player sample adventure, then an extensive step-by-step guide to making characters. In this D&D box it looks like those two elements were combined and a bit truncated?

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

No. The actual D&D corebook is about a thousand and two-hundred pages long at this point, and the first excerpt is either 250 or 300 long. The Red Box is as far from a true 4th Ed. CharGen as Basic D&D was from 3.0.

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Sburbopolis, Homestuck RPG: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60981373

OK, then assuming I only have the red box what essential books should I look for?

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You beat yourself up with your past. Don't blame yourself, blame the world. Blame God. Blame me.

From: GANON1025 | #009
OK, then assuming I only have the red box what essential books should I look for?

'All of them except four or five' is the honest answer. For a slightly less expensive answer, PHB1, Adventurer's Vault 1 and 2, and Divine, Arcane and Martial Power, and even that is missing key pieces. Base 4th ed was totally playable, but a lot of important fixes have been introduced over time. Getting your paws on all the books leads to a legitimately better experience.

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Sburbopolis, Homestuck RPG: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60981373

As someone who has never actually played 4E...is it actually any better than 3E? It seems like every 6 or 7 years somebody decides to try to incorporate me in a D&D game, and then expects me to DM it since I'm the only one who has ever played (and I am a TERRIBLE DM.) I'm sure on the next pass whoever "they" is won't be willing to play 3E.

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It's Super Nice to get Dogged in the guru.

Mechanically? Unquestionably so. It's very different, that said. It's way less mechanics focused outside of combat, and you can pretty much just freeform everything if you're so inclined. In combat, there's much less rocket tag, and everybody is useful (except Bladesingers, Vampires, and Binders, lol them).

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Sburbopolis, Homestuck RPG: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60981373