I want to run 4th edition

Not the OP, but I've looked at it before and I'm not sure how someone would actually use this to play the game.

wow thanks everybody, i didnt expect actual answers so quickly, i expected shit posters to be honest.

but thank you so much, ill go look at funning.space now.

is there a place i can pick up lvl 5 pre-genned characters? I've learned over time that nobody actually likes starting at level 1 and i usually start people at lvl 3. also if I'm going to test this with my group i dont want them to take 2 months to build their characters and lose all the hype.

It's not the worst edition, it's just vastly different from the paradigm that 3.X established.

It's a very self-contained system that does what it intended to do extremely well, in that it balances combat. It has very little else to it. Encounter design and character building is all mechanic-centric, it's all very neat and tidy, and it basically just works, but a lot of people feel that it gets to be a little bit soulless because of this focus on balance.

It's basically a tactical unit-based wargame. If that's your jam, you'll enjoy it, and it's not like you can't roleplay, there are just no mechanics to support it. And that's fine, people who need mechanics to roleplay are autism incarnate.

You wouldn't, it's a rules compendium. It's for people who already know how to run a game to look shit up. You should read one of the beginner books at least.

CBLoader makes character building very, very easy, although for absolute newbies 5th level characters would still take some time.

I think the 4e starter set (red box) comes with premades at least.

>and it's not like you can't roleplay, there are just no mechanics to support it

You are not wrong, but... it basically has the same amount of rules support for RP-ing as every other D&D. D&D really isn't an RP heavy system in general.

is CBLoader accessible for mac?

I've been running 4e for years, and you have to get used to refluffing monsters, and shuffling their non-AC-defenses to be appropriate to their new forms. Fortunately, this is pretty easy.

It's less of a module-based game, and works much better with an improv style, where the highly cinematic action-hero nature of the system can shine through.

Whatever you do, remember that, unlike in many other editions of D&D, your players aren't just a part of a living breathing world that grows around them, they are the protagonists in a fantasy novel about them and their adventures.

As far as books you need, the PHB's, Monster Manual 3, Monster's Vault, Dark Sun Creature Catalogue, and Monster Vault 2 are all you really need. DMG can be helpful, but is actually quite unnecessary.

Worst of the editions? Imo it is the best. 4e is a rain man's dream, and great if you have 5 hours to spare for combat. 3.5 is great for "I am a -insert broken minmax here- and I will -insert broken combo here-. But I suck at everything else. Pathfinder is dope. Hilariously broken at times, but good material I guess.

5e is pretty vanilla, but its stength lies in the ability for a (competent) GM to add almost anything to it. Complex combat, new classes, races, etc. It is super easy to homebrew 5e. Also, OOB everything is balanced. No trap options (except PHB Beastmaster). It just takes getting used to the fact that there is so little content compared to the editions (hint hint, it is newer).

I agree with that Rule of Cool's "Legend" is great, but it's officially dead and lacks a bestiary so it'd take more work to run an ongoing game.
Still, it's free and satisfies this interesting design niche where it pulls concepts from both the d20 SRD and 4e.

FantasyCraft makes for FANTASTIC martials and has some interesting mechanical hooks for any number of settings, but has very some fiddly bits and the book's a bit obtuse if you don't basically do at least one full read-through. Having a PDF helps a lot.

Personally I would recommend additionally checking out a game called "Open Legend" (also free). Instead of things like a specific spell list it has "banes" and "boons" representing special effects, many of which can also be done by nonmagical types.

Second for Fantasycraft

Man, that blog post really makes the skill challenge system work really well. I loved the idea of them, when I first encountered them when DMing 4e years ago, but I could never get them to work right, always being up front with entering a skill challenge. But keeping it hidden and part of the flow of an encounter seems so much fuckign better. And im also fuckign pissed my brain never realized this before now.

Now I can bring this over to PF games I plan on running too.