I'm sick of reading the B.S that "4e doesn't focus enough on role-playing".
<rant>I've been reading up on lots of blogs about 4e lately. Its fun to see how people are viewing the game. In general, I think that our Lords of Tyr group ranges from neutral to highly positive when it comes to 4e. I've noticed a lot of posts out there in the blogesphere that complain about how 4e is too much like an MMORPG and is totally focused on hack'n slash and not enough on role-playing.
What a load of rubbish! Do you need rules to give your character a personality? Do you need rules to interact with the DM and the other players in fun and entertaining ways? Do you need rules to ask the DM about what kind of people are in a local inn and then interact with them? No! Here is rule number one for all you players out there. You are responsible for your own role-playing.
No DM or other player in your group can make a role-playing experience for you. If you want more role-play, than role-play! That being said, I think I know why many people seem to be thinking that the game is all mechanics now. It is because the mechanics are new and different. 4e changes nothing about role-playing. No one is interested in how their role-playing will change. However, everyone that is playing 4e is very interested in how the mechanics work. This is especially so for the more advanced players. So yes, I think the first few sessions of 4e will end up being more mechanics based than anything else, because that is what people are interested in learning.
My suggestion to everyone, is that if you are missing out on some role-playing because of the high interest in the new 4e game mechanics, that you just actually start role-playing. I think that because the game is streamlined, compared with 3.5, that it bodes well for the role-playing centered folks and the hack'n slashers out there. Faster paced combats mean more time for role-play and for combat.
I noticed this during our first 4e game. We ended up getting through 3 encounters. Usually we would be able to get through 2-3. Even with our slower uptake with the rules we got through 3. In my mind that means we can easily get through 3-4 encounters per session and be able to chew through more storyline and role-play because of it. </rant>
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I agree in general. There
I agree in general. There are only a few reasons to really want system for roleplay in my opinion. Intimidation, haggling, interrogation, and the like come to mind. Directly opposed challenges with real, measurable results. That said, I think all that was adressed to my satisfaction in 4e.
I think that the general lack of roleplaying that happened in our own game, regrettable though it was, was understandable. It is extremely difficult to play act a character that you do not understand well, and let's be frank... we were playing this game with almost no idea of what these characters were truely capable of (or what their foes were capable of either for that matter). Roleplaying will certainly pick up once we all have a better handle on both the rules themselves and the capabilities of our characters in respect to the world arround them.
Also, sometimes it's fun to kill some gnomes. They are monsters after all.
RAWR.
I would like to note...
I would like to note that Chad and Tim found many opportunities to roleplay in H1, mostly because both took the time to talk with the NPC's in the Winterhaven.
Chad has actually had an interesting arc with one NPC who eventually became the only person he trusted in the town. He then had the rug pulled out from under him when the goblin Splug revealed that NPC was (allegedly) in cahoots with the death cult.
That being said, I will say the following about the 4th Ed rules:
Spells and Prayers are much more combat focused. Many open ended spell effects in previous editions are missing, especially charms and illusions. The ones that still exist, like Command, have been boiled down to a handful of mechanical effects.
This shouldn't be too surprising, a lot of these more "complex" spells have been transitioned to rituals. This does kind of takes them off of the table for use in combat.
Another complaint I have seen is the lack of a crafting system in 4th Edition. While there are rules for making magic items, there are not really any for just making swords/armor/etc. I can understand the ommision, since in most games taking time out to craft was relatively rare. But it probably irks people designing characters like "Dwarven Smiths" not to have rules to back up their ability.
That being said I think these weaknesses will all get better over time. I am sure we will eventually get a better variety of prayers and spells. Heck, we are already starting to see that in the most recent Dragon issue! I also bet we will eventually get some form of crafting rules, although I doubt we will see the return of the Crafting skill.
It would also be unfair not to mention that the Skill Challenge system can add more "crunch" to social encounters for players who require it. It is a real improvement over previous editions where a single Bluff or Diplomacy roll had too much power.
So, that is probably a long way to say "I agree" with Chadarius. At least on most of what he says.