Another thing I'm liking about 4.0 is cheating death. My character did an incredibly bone-headed thing last session and three of us were near death several times during the encounter but with the help of healing surges and second winds we were able to turn it around and emerge victorious.

I'm still dubious on the cheating death thing.

I think 4.0 is corporate, in the sense that the party IS the character. Party build is what's key, not character build (although that obviously feeds in to party build).

And it seems like either everyone in the party is alive, or it's a TPK.

So it's kind of like a solo adventure played simultaneously by multiple people.

Which on the one hand is fun; it's the Three Lives approach made famous by Atari. On the other hand it undercuts the ability for some characters to keep moving forward and recruit new characters.

It wasn't all me, if the rogue hadn't failed his hide check and gotten hit with sticky goo we could have run away but in 3.5 we all would have died. I get attached to my characters and I hate making everyone wait while I re-roll. And it wasn't knowing death is difficult that made me do the dumb thing, I was thinking in terms of RL and forgot that after the bad guys saw us we'd all roll initiative and a lot of them would have a shot at us before we could retreat. Maybe death is a little harder than it should be, at least my character for sure should have died but I can't say I'm not glad I didn't.

Market survey time for you Xbox gamers: You know how the games have unlockable achievements, and each achievement has a little icon, and these ride with your gamer profile on Xbox Live etc?

If you were really into a game (GTA IV, Halo, Rock Band) and could get little enamel pins of the achievement icons, would you? Would you get one as a gift for a friend?

Raq, it would depend on the achievement. I could see some would have a lot of potential draw for a few months after a game's release but after that I think things would be kind of a tough sell.

Strikes me as a bit of a licensing nightmare, though.

Hey billytea, I am liking the boardgame Ra a _lot_, as well as (mumblemumble, looks to Raq for brain) an Egyptian construction game we played this weekend. Ra, in particular is visually stunning. I lost both, primarily because I was so busy looking at the pretty & going all narrative. Oh, and exploring gaming structure and ... yeah. I lost.

And Rock Band (there was more to this post, but the thread and my iPod conspired this morning and it went whoosh) - wow. DH is an awesome guitar player... even better than on air guitar. Now I need to find a digital lighter (having pioneered the air-lighter in 1993). I like the fact that everyone is playing together - and I love the way that the voice becomes another joystick.

But I should not be allowed near the guitar. And Iris is better on drums.

an Egyptian construction game we played this weekend.

Cleopatra and the Society of Architects.

I think of Cleo and "group solitaire" but Sox's role-playing made it fun. My favorite of her fly-by-night construction companies was definitely En-Ra.

Cleopatra and the Society of Architects.

Is that the one where one guy gets fed to the crocodiles? I've heard the component quality is excellent.

Hey billytea, I am liking the boardgame Ra a _lot_, as well as (mumblemumble, looks to Raq for brain) an Egyptian construction game we played this weekend. Ra, in particular is visually stunning. I lost both, primarily because I was so busy looking at the pretty & going all narrative. Oh, and exploring gaming structure and ... yeah. I lost.

I don't actually have any Egyptian-themed games. It's an inexplicable gap, I know. Not sure whether to go for Ra or Amun-Re. Ra's probably the better-regarded game, but the session review for Amun-Re just makes it sound like so much fun.

I've heard the component quality is excellent.

This is true, but, in my mind, this will forever be the game that taught me that my housemate can't explain game rules for shit and always leaves something out that becomes important later on and totally screws up your game. I don't think he does it on purpose, but it's so frustrating when you get halfway through and realize you've done something really stupid. I now ask him "What important thing have you left out?" before we start anything new.

fly-by-night construction companies

Hey.

All 14 of them were well-documented entities, with strong marketing and acquisition capabilities.

Is that the one where one guy gets fed to the crocodiles?

yup.