D&D 4E and Level Up

 My brother and I collected 4E, and we loved it. That was a rough stretch, and the game got us out of the house and off the floor for the week. Most people hated the edition. It did not matter. We had figures, a battle map, and those tight dungeon fights that felt like chess you could bleed on. We were there for a tabletop-first game. We were not there to win an argument about whether it counted.

It held for the first ten levels. After that, the edges came apart. Monsters carried so many hit points that the fight became hours that dragged on forever. We started looking at each other like nobody had run this game at a table before they printed it.

It got so bad that our monsters wished out loud for it to be over, too.

I get why a 5E referee stops tracking the number. The game feels like it is coming apart in your hands. You can fake a fight that still feels like a night, or you can play it honest and watch people check out because high level is too easy. We did our version of that in 4E. Cut the monster’s hit points in half, doubled the damage- anything to make the mess end. By the end, we could not stand what that edition had turned into. With 5E, if a DM doesn't prep right or doesn't know their players' power, the end boss can turn into tissue paper and the whole night is ruined.

There was a D&D YouTube video recently about how lying to players like this and faking fights is terrible. But if the game is that broken, I don't blame DMs who cheat the system to make things feel more exciting. Especially if your players won't play anything else. What are you supposed to do? At that point, it is either lie to your players or quit a game you can't stand anymore.

At least if you lie, you are all playing together.

That is where we ended up with D&D 4E. In the end, it came down to lying to each other and rolling the dice.

But still, D&D 4E sits in a special place. The last good long campaign I played with my brother. At the start, it felt like it could go on forever. That part of my life still feels that way when I think about the maps, the minis, and the two of us at the table.

We walked to the bookstore to buy the books.

We spent those Saturdays together.

We would play with the new books all Sunday.

Leveling up to 10 in D&D 4E was fun. After that, it was a slow, long letdown.

That is why I hold A5E so tightly, even though Tales of the Valiant is the better-supported game and has more of everything. Level Up feels like a 5E that remembered 4E without asking me to play a broken game. A fighter with a tradition. A road that can go wrong. The commander class returns. Nerrath is still a place you can walk toward. The math is dry and scales well to level 20. It plays like a fixed 4E should feel, without being 4E.

Today’s 5E is at the end of the edition, casters having all the fun while the rest of the table watches. A5E is the last flicker of that 4E candle. I cannot put A5E away. It stays on the shelves I actually play from. I have better games. The memories are stronger than today’s promises.