And We Go A Frolicking In The Vale

I have recently been picking up some of the "new" Dungeons and Dragons Essentials books and I have to saw that I really like what I see.  In fact Spacer has even expressed an interest in trying it out so this is another game that I've added to our gaming queue.  Unlike the Gamma World or Leviathos adventures, I want to run this game mostly right out of the books.  I like the setting and the stories that that the folks at Wizards have created for the Essentials products so I'm really excited to explore them.  They have also thrown enough other juicy tidbits into the setting that it would be very easy to build on them and create some really interesting stories.

That said I really don't see running this one past tenth level which is the end of the Heroic tier in the game.  Once you get past this point it seems like things start to bog down as the number of powers and hit points and effects all pile on top of each other.  Of course this opinion is only based on what I've heard of actual plays that are way up there in level and don't feature the Essentials products but I'd rather end things with a pleasant taste in everyone's mouth instead of the bitter pill of rules grind.

So what's so special about Essentials that could make it different?  Well it seems somewhat trimmed down from the regular 4e experience based on what I've read and heard on podcasts.  Rather than bogging you down with tons and tons of choices for your characters, they've really slimmed things down but still give you the option of adding more from the other products if you want.

I really like this approach as it makes the game seem much more approachable (go figure...) and gives a pretty reasonable gateway for people interested in taking a look at this game.  In fact I'm even thinking about making a couple of adventures that I can run to introduce my daughter to this part of my hobby.  Probably somethings with goblins since I have all those minis already... but more on that later.  Until next time...