So what's the point here? Well, odds are good that you're a 4th Edition D&D player. If you are, odds are also good that you know folks who play other editions. And if you know folks who play other editions, odds are especially good that you've heard the complaint I'm about to address.

Before we go any further, let me say one thing: I don't mind if you're playing 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Edition. If you're having a great time and your campaign is fun, keep doing what you're doing.

Personally, I wouldn't trade my 3rd Edition campaign memories for anything. If you're playing another edition because you're having fun, I'd say you're doing so for the right reason. Gaming should be about fun first and foremost, after all! That said, as a true believer in the current edition, as we have said all D&D players give 4th Edition a try at some point.

Anyway, if you're like me, you've likely heard some unfounded criticisms about 4E and been frustrated by them. A lot of misconceptions still float around in cyberspace, often spread by people who haven't even played the game. But I want to address one of the strangest here:

All roleplaying has been removed from D&D with 4th Edition.

The next time you hear this myth bantered around, invite these folks to your next 4th Edition session and show them firsthand the roleplaying opportunities available in the game.

Fourth edition doesn't include some of the mundane mechanical elements of character building that 3rd Edition did. For example, certain skills (I'm looking at you Craft and Profession) enabled a player to feel like his character had some sort of grounding in the "real world" of the campaign. Odds were good that you never made a Craft or Profession check in your game, but having ranks in that skill made you feel connected to your character's background. In 4th Edition, those skills are gone. Why? Because a character's statistics don't represent the absolute truth of a character's story. That's right -- one of the reasons those skills are gone is they hindered roleplaying.

Now if you want to say your character was a blacksmith's apprentice and knows how to make his own sword, just say so. Don't worry about feeling forced to reflect that story decision mechanically. Just write it on your character sheet.

Then you've got skill challenges. While they do include mechanical elements, they provide a structure that DMs can use to navigate complex non-combat situations. Most importantly, this is the first time the game has given DMs an easy way to reward characters for their participation. In other words, 4th Edition includes incentives to incorporate roleplaying (and other non-combat) situations into your game.
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