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Lest anyone think I'm too negative on 4th edition
Here's what I like in it. Combat.
Combat seems to be greatly simplified in 4th edition. Most of this is because they took out all the large number of attacks you could get in 3rd edition. Okay, in 3rd edition, a top of the line fighter, at 20th level, could have 4 attacks with a main weapon. They could also have a few off-hand weapon attacks. And it was possible to activate some things as free actions. So you could have one character rolling 6 or 7 attacks each round.
When you're playing with a gaming group of 4-6 people, this can really slow down combat.
4th edition doesn't really allow that any more. But it's not so easy as to say you can't get multiple attacks. You can. But it seems to be handled in a more streamlined way. See, in 3rd edition, each attack after the first was progressively less likely to hit, because the modifiers to your hit roll kept going down. (Now, if you were smart, you had all the math figured out in advance and written down on your character sheet. This accounts for maybe 25% of D&D players.)
Initiative takes into account your level, for a nice change. (1d20 + 1/2 your level + all other modifiers)
Now, you get one standard action, one move action, one minor action, and as many free actions as you like. On the face of it, it doesn't sound less complicated, but it actually is.
Going in reverse order of what I just listed:
Free actions are things that take very little time or are incredibly simple to do (or both). Dropping something that you're holding is a free action. So is saying a few sentences.
Minor actions are like setup actions. They might not do much, but they're setting up to do something else. Drawing a weapon, opening a door, and things like that are minor actions.
Move actions are only used for moving. Walking, shifting (the new name for the 3rd edition "5 foot adjustment"), and so forth are move actions. Powers that allow you to move are also typically move actions.
Standard actions are things like making a melee attack, a ranged attack, casting a spell, and so forth. Most attack powers are standard actions. (Although powers run the range of everything from free actions to standard actions, it's safe to say that if it's something that deals damage to one or more opponents, it's a standard action.)
You can do these actions in any order you want to. So, you could drop a torch (free action), draw your sword (minor action), move up to a monster (move action) and attack (standard action). Or you could draw a dagger (minor action), move to flank a monster (move action), stab it (standard action), and say "HA HA! Bet you didn't see that coming!" (free action).
There are some ways to get additional actions during your turn, like spending an action point (which gives you one extra of whatever kind of action you want), and there are (as always) a bucketload of possible things to do during your turn (charge, bull rush, grab an opponent, etc.), but the combat is going to be less about "I hit the monster four times before it can react and the encounter is over", and more about thinking and playing a little more tactically then... well, let's face it, most D&D players are used to.
Players that are used to rushing in and relying on blitzing the monsters in a rush of high-Initiative gore are going to find that to be a less effective tactic, while players who actually plan ahead and use their brains as something other then keeping their ears apart will probably enjoy this a lot more.
Thus, as a side note, and a snide note, I predict a lot of TPKs in the first few months of the RPGA's Forgotten Realms game.
Combat seems to be greatly simplified in 4th edition. Most of this is because they took out all the large number of attacks you could get in 3rd edition. Okay, in 3rd edition, a top of the line fighter, at 20th level, could have 4 attacks with a main weapon. They could also have a few off-hand weapon attacks. And it was possible to activate some things as free actions. So you could have one character rolling 6 or 7 attacks each round.
When you're playing with a gaming group of 4-6 people, this can really slow down combat.
4th edition doesn't really allow that any more. But it's not so easy as to say you can't get multiple attacks. You can. But it seems to be handled in a more streamlined way. See, in 3rd edition, each attack after the first was progressively less likely to hit, because the modifiers to your hit roll kept going down. (Now, if you were smart, you had all the math figured out in advance and written down on your character sheet. This accounts for maybe 25% of D&D players.)
Initiative takes into account your level, for a nice change. (1d20 + 1/2 your level + all other modifiers)
Now, you get one standard action, one move action, one minor action, and as many free actions as you like. On the face of it, it doesn't sound less complicated, but it actually is.
Going in reverse order of what I just listed:
Free actions are things that take very little time or are incredibly simple to do (or both). Dropping something that you're holding is a free action. So is saying a few sentences.
Minor actions are like setup actions. They might not do much, but they're setting up to do something else. Drawing a weapon, opening a door, and things like that are minor actions.
Move actions are only used for moving. Walking, shifting (the new name for the 3rd edition "5 foot adjustment"), and so forth are move actions. Powers that allow you to move are also typically move actions.
Standard actions are things like making a melee attack, a ranged attack, casting a spell, and so forth. Most attack powers are standard actions. (Although powers run the range of everything from free actions to standard actions, it's safe to say that if it's something that deals damage to one or more opponents, it's a standard action.)
You can do these actions in any order you want to. So, you could drop a torch (free action), draw your sword (minor action), move up to a monster (move action) and attack (standard action). Or you could draw a dagger (minor action), move to flank a monster (move action), stab it (standard action), and say "HA HA! Bet you didn't see that coming!" (free action).
There are some ways to get additional actions during your turn, like spending an action point (which gives you one extra of whatever kind of action you want), and there are (as always) a bucketload of possible things to do during your turn (charge, bull rush, grab an opponent, etc.), but the combat is going to be less about "I hit the monster four times before it can react and the encounter is over", and more about thinking and playing a little more tactically then... well, let's face it, most D&D players are used to.
Players that are used to rushing in and relying on blitzing the monsters in a rush of high-Initiative gore are going to find that to be a less effective tactic, while players who actually plan ahead and use their brains as something other then keeping their ears apart will probably enjoy this a lot more.
Thus, as a side note, and a snide note, I predict a lot of TPKs in the first few months of the RPGA's Forgotten Realms game.
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And all of my worst experiences in RPGA were from the last Realms setting.