The "Choose your own Adventure" thing is cute, but can also be a little confusing, and I think it would be easy for new gamers to miss important stuff...
For instance, my rogue apparently gets "Bump and Run" which does normal damage and moves my opponent 5 feet away from me... so far so good... but then it also tells me I can move half my normal distance away from my opponent... is that part of my regular move action? or part of Bump and Run? It's unclear in the book... maybe it's clearer on the little cards? Would a new gamer think to look there?
Hmm... okay, healing surges, fine...
Alignment... man... if Alignment and I were on a long drive, and she (alignment) was bitching about her boyfriend (Wizards), and showed me this, I'd tell her to break up, move on, he's just not that into you... For the record, I'm of mixed feelings on alignment myself. I see it as a role-playing aid. That is, if noting down on your character sheet that you're "evil" reminds you to stretch yourself and "be evil," then more power to you. But as a DM and player, I'm not going to enforce (or even set up) your evilness. Which brings up something else... check this out (I scanned it, because I want to make sure you believe me...)
Okay, I understand that, for new players (and new DMs) Good characters are (a lot) easier than Evil ones. And I understand that some players read "evil" as "I get to be an asshole at the table and nobody can call me on it," but that's got nothing to do with evil pcs, that has to do with assholes at the table. If you have asshole at the table, ask them to leave. Evil PCs can work way more often than rarely. Poor, poor alignment. You just aren't loved anymore.
Okay, fewer skills than Pathfinder, but they make sense, the book explains them well enough I guess... no problems there... the little skill check in the book is cute enough (poor dying goblin...)
Hmmm... my rogue gets 12 Reflex save + my dex modifier... but the character sheet says the base is 10... I assume the other 2 is a class bonus? No way for me to know for sure...
Hey, I get 2D6 added to my attack rolls when I have combat advantage! I wonder what that is...
I guess I'll figure it out when I play...
Okay, so the Choose your own adventure thing is cute, but it took me an hour to wander through, and I did it ALONE. The Pathfinder starter is less cute, and sometimes a little more confusing, but at least it wasn't designed to isolate you from your friends. It just seems odd to me, to make something that's designed to be done alone, to kick off such a social activity as DnD. That said, it works, I have my rogue ready to go for Sunday night!
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