PHB 4e

[bigscary]

• Tabular layout is very, very nice. Clear descriptions of all conditions? Better than the 3.5 version thereof, and in the relevant part of the PHB rather than the back of the DMG.
• Book is both very pretty and very sturdy-seeming. We'll see if the latter is more than just appearance
• I really can't get over how much the layout and organization are improved.

Very pleased.

Comments

[jlc.livejournal.com]

I'm less concerned about the book itself, and more about its contents. But I admit it's so different I can't really tell yet whether I think I'll enjoy it more or less than previous editions. I don't think I'll be able to tell that until I play.
Agreed. If the game manages to move faster and still play as epic fantasy, I'll be quite pleased. Just from PHB scanning, it's hard to tell if that's actually going to happen.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

My first impressions from the PHB are that combats are expected to be long. Characters have a lot of HP and a lot of healing relative to the amount of damage they deal, and they got rid of most of the quick battle ending spells (save-or-suck, instant death, etc). But it also seems like everyone attacks every round, even when they're also buffing, so maybe it moves fast? We'll see.

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

Granted I've mostly been looking at Rogues, but so far it looks as if played right you could down a creature of like level in a single strike given a crit or 2 hits without a crit. For example, rogues start combat with advantage so they can always pull a sneak attack (+2D6 at level 1) in round one. More than likely they will use a short short (1D6), dagger (1D4), or shuriken (1D6 for rogues) for their attack. Rogue attacks all add Dex to damage (and assuming you are going to work a 18 in the main stat that is a +4). Given that a rogue with con 10 only has 22hp it's possible for another rogue to one shot him. I'm sure the other classes all have ways to pile it on as well. Even if the target has a high AC, there is a good chance that one of its other defenses are left lacking (and hence will be piled onto by the member of the party that can attack that defense).

So in general I don't see things as any better or worse in terms of combat duration in RT vs. any other version of DnD.