The first thing that strikes me about the Fourth Edition PHB is the artwork. The level of the artwork is far above anything I've seen in any RPG I've perused. Gone is basic line art or even the classical artwork of 3E. This artwork is of high quality and high caliber although I must admit it feels a bit like a cartoon. A good cartoon mind, but a cartoon none the less.
The chapter's contents begins with the basic "This is a roleplaying game" overview of roleplaying. There is a bit of trumpet blowing with lines such as "D&D invented the roleplaying game and started an industry" but that is no fallacy. Basic concepts such as diplomacy, role-playing, decision making, leveling and dying are all skimmed on.
The campaign setting, points of light in a world of darkness, appeals strongly to my own preferences for post-apocalyptic settings. The chapter then goes on to describe the roles of the varying elements of an RPG. What I already find vaguely disturbing is the half-veiled requirement that you have official D&D Minis and maps to play. Of course you don't need them - but you will find them "useful."
We wind into the core mechanic - roll a d20, add your modifiers, and pray for the best. They also go ahead and cover rules contradictions and rounding. We also run into yet another cross-selling of D&D Insider for "a nominal subscription." Granted the features it offers sound fantastic but still... feels wrong to do this early in the book.
So all in all not a bad mix. I can understand the urge to try and make more money but to be honest seeing it in the introductory chapter for the first roleplaying game many will play is cheap. The quality of the rest the material so far is pretty good.
Tune in latter for Chapter 2: Making Characters. And let's be honest - it's the first chapter that REALLY matters, yeah?
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