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| Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Wizards Rpg Team
Brand: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $18.50
You Save: $16.45 (47%)
New (48) Used (9) from $18.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  201 reviews
Sales Rank: 4632
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 4th
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0786948671
Dewey Decimal Number: 793.93
EAN: 9780786948673
ASIN: 0786948671
Publication Date: June 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 What a disappointment June 18, 2008
35 out of 57 found this review helpful
After playing the game for decades now (e.g. AD&D circa 1980s), I can't adequately express my disappointment with the new edition rules. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?! In many ways, it is unrecognizable from previous editions, and rather than a logical evolution (can you say ver 3.75?), it has devolved into something I can no longer associate with the game Gygax invented. I don't know if the game designers sought customer input as to whether this was something we wanted. I get the feeling this is another attempt to get D&D gamers to buy another set of rule books. I'm sorry guys, but you should have done your homework. I am returning my purchase, which should be eloquent enough.
falls short of expectations June 7, 2008
33 out of 43 found this review helpful
First let me say that i'm not as experienced as some of the others here; i started playing D&D with the third edition and my group moved to 3.5 shortly after. After a year-long forgotten realms campaign using the 3.5 edition, the main complaint with a lot of my group was that the character creation rules were cumbersome and high level play was incredibly unbalanced. We switched over to the Star Wars Saga Edition as soon as it was released, which was touted as carrying many of the changes we would see in 4th edition. A streamlined skill system, balanced play at all levels, and character options that made your character feel truly unique. The game was simplified a lot from the old Revised Core Rulebook version, but the simple mechanics allowed GMs and players to put a stronger emphasis on role playing and storyline development.
So needless to say, my entire group was excited for 4th edition. The introduction of talent trees in SWSE seemed like it would work incredibly in D&D (just think: a diviner class with both cleric and druid talent options). However i tend to agree with many of the complaints here. Bear in mind i've only had the book in my possession for around eight hours, but from what i've read characters seem terribly limited. They've eliminated the druid, monk, and bard classes entirely in favor of the questionable warlock and warlord classes. They've removed prestige classes for "Paragon Paths" which feel limiting and cheap.
And worst of all, it seems as they've greatly complicated the games rules in an effort to move D&D away from tabletop gaming and to entice players to the new, pay-to-play D&D Insider. Honestly, there are so many character abilities that function "at-will" "per encounter" and "per day" that i don't see how it's even possibly to keep track of it unless you're playing on a program.
In conclusion, the game seems like an effort to take tabletop gaming closer to MMO gameplay. Two steps back from what we saw in Saga Edition.
 Review from a casual gamer June 11, 2008
32 out of 42 found this review helpful
I am not a hardcore DnD gamer. In fact, I might as well be seen as a newbie since I've only dabbled in 3.5. Still, new players are who WotC are marketing to, so I figured I might as well give my input.
I was introduced to 3.5 by a friend in high school. I read through the player's handbook and was impressed by the game concept. I particularly liked the class descriptions, Paladin and Sorcerer being my favorite to roleplay. When I caught wind that a 4th edition was being made, I decided to see what had changed. I cannot say I'm impressed.
The problem is that it focuses too much on combat. I know you roleplayers have heard this argument before, but put youself in my shoes and the shoes of those who WotC are trying to appeal to: if we want to combat monsters with friends, we'd just play WoW. Why bother with complicated character sheets when a computer can streamline it all?
Of course, the appeal of DnD is not the combat but the roleplaying; that's the way I've always seen it, but there's very little material in the PHB that doesn't relate to combat. Instead of "spells" for example (in 3.5 there were many spells which could be used outside of combat) there are "powers" and "rituals". I rather enjoyed the large list of spells from which your wizard could choose from in 3.5, but in this edition it's like "Once you reach level X you get this power" which really doesn't allow you to build your own character.
I suppose my biggest beef is the classes. In 3.5 there were 11 classes you can play; they took out 5 of those and put in two new ones. The ones they took out were the Bard, Barbarian, Monk, Sorcerer and Druid, all of which were very interesting to roleplay. Although there are technically 8 classes now, from a roleplaying perspective there are only 4. Let me explain: the Warlock is someone who uses magic, like a Wizard. The Warlord is a battle-hardy warrior, like the fighter. The Paladin, rather than a crusader for good, can now be either good or evil and has to serve a diety, just like a Cleric. The last group would be Rogue and Ranger the two "Strikers." It seems to me they just took the core four and doubled them; what happened to originality in classes?
I'm sure that the Warlord and Fighter are statistically different and function different in combat, but let me again emphasize that if I cared so much about combat then I'd play WoW. I'm also sure that there will be a second PHB that lets you play the lost classes, but I am a casual gamer. I don't expect to spend hundreds of dollars buying tons of books in order to have fun.
Furthermore, this book is not user-friendly. There is no glossary and only a one page index.
Though this review is mostly negative, they have simplified some things. Instead of 9 there are now 5 alignments, and they got rid of confusing combat rules like grapple. Instead of rolling for your stats, you now can use a point system. Critical hits simply score maximum damage instead of giving you and extra roll. Combat rules still take some effort to learn, however. I sort of wish I could borrow some elements from 4e and put them into 3.5, but I don't think this game works very well on its own.
Interesting, but surely not D&D June 17, 2008
32 out of 38 found this review helpful
4th Edition is truly a revolution. Many bad and moth-eaten concepts are thrown away, game balance is corrected (at last!), and all characters have interesting choices in each round of battle.
Superb? Yes and no. First of all, the classes are VERY MUCH ALIKE. You could confuse a ranger with a rogue... and possibly even with a cleric. Huge difference between classes is gone: ALL of them deal almost equal damage, all shift enemies on the combat grid and heal themselves... The Fireball spell deals 3d6 hp damage - oops! Just like fighter's exploits of the same level...
Then, almost all adventuring options (skills, spells, abilities) are gone. No one now can tame wild fauna: druids are gone too (with bards, barbarians, sorcerers and monks - they "will come in next volumes"), and rangers are now only damage dealers, with no wilderness powers. Almost all noncombat features was dropped. This is really disappointing...
Yes, 4th Edition has 2 new classes (and not bad ones!), new cosmology (better than old one, in my opinion) and good bestiary. But it is not D&D and it is TOO combat-centered. If it will not be change soon, I'll never abandon 3.5 for this ruleset.
All Flash, No substance June 6, 2008
31 out of 75 found this review helpful
I was open to this new edition. But after reading it, I can say that it is not for me! All flash and no substance. I love the design of the book and the artworks, but beyond that, it is not D&D. It's a wargame! But I'm sure that it will sell well and grab some youngers crowd that like POWERS!4th edition is all about POWER. PCs are bassically gods!!!
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