I played my first round of fourth edition last night, and I have to say it's a pretty big difference from 3.5.
I've heard a lot about it, and there are nothing but strong feelings about it either way... Some love it, some hate it.
Frankly, I think if it's looked at as it's own game instead of being expected to be a continuation of an old game, it stands fairly well on it's own.
I had a significant amount of adjusting to do, but most of the time it was me saying "Really? That's it? Huh."
For example, I played a warlock. I've always gravitated toward casters, and I found it very... unusual that I could keep using the same spell over and over. Granted there are spells you can only use once a day, but other spells you can just keep using over and over... No running out of spells. I also didn't have to prepare spells at night. Once again, very strange.
I'd used the D&D online character generator, which meant that everything I needed was like, RIGHT there on the character sheet. My spells, effects, my bonuses, my damage... all right there.
I didn't have to look in a book, not once during the whole session. In 3.5, it was not uncommon to find me leafing through a book to find the effects of a spell or a feat, etc...
All in all, it was a short exposure to the game, but I have high hopes. I think I'm going to enjoy it.
