Heroes of the Fallen Lands: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement (4th Edition D&D) Review

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Heroes of the Fallen Lands: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement (4th Edition D&D) ReviewAlright, this one will get long. If you're just looking for a quick blurb, here goes!
"Heroes of the Fallen lands is not only (1) an outstanding supplement for existing 4e players which presents daring new class builds, but also (2) a great introduction to the game for new players, and (3) an olive branch to existing D&D and Pathfinder players who felt that 4e had moved too far away from their favorite styles of play. There's something here for everyone who plays D&D, or who wants to see what the fuss is all about. For most existing players it won't replace the PHB, but for newer players, it's a standalone work."
Now, for the rest, which I'm certain is tl;dr... I've had this book for a week and a half, and I read too many forums.
* Let's get this out of the way.... Is Essentials an EDITION CHANGE?
If you check forums and talk to game shop owners, when Essentials was announced, the interwebs went all a-twitter about it being a new edition. Heck; you can see it in a thread on this very site. Lots of people have been calling it "4.5" - an echo of 3e's major shift to 3.5 three years after its release. Well, from reading the book and taking a look at the current state of 4e, I don't think it's an edition step at all. If you don't care about this discussion, skip down to the next header.
Don't get me wrong - there are some rule changes. But let's face it - we're 4e players; rule changes and updates are almost a monthly thing for us (though it's slowed a bit). There are also new class builds which don't use the regular At-Will/Encounter/Daily power progression. Well, we've had that since PHB3. There are a good number of feats which have been changed. What's more, new feats won't have tier requirements. Again, feat changes are nothing new - but many of these (with the exception of Melee Training) have been considerably improved. Magic item rarity is an add-on system which any DM could include or ignore.
For an edition change, I expect something drastic and dramatic. I expect to have to re-make characters, buy new books, and more or less stop using the old books. This isn't the case here. As an example, I couldn't make a 3.5 Fighter and take a one-level dip into 3.0 Ranger. I couldn't make a 3.5 Wizard and pick 3.0 Haste. If I wanted to pick up the Knight of the Chalice prestige class, I had to use the version in Complete Divine, rather than Defenders of the Faith. Basically everything in 3.0 was replaced by everything in 3.5. This isn't the case here, at all - I couldn't imagine just using this book and shelving my PHB. It can serve as a standalone game, but WotC wasn't joking when they promised broad compatibility. I see zero issues with mixing Essentials options with "regular" 4e options; it's all 4e. In fact, for my upcoming Dark Sun campaign, one player is going to use the Thief build, and another will use the new DDI-only Essentials Assassin build.
So if it's not a new edition, just what *is* Essentials? Wizards of the Coast has been pretty clear about what it is and isn't, but the problem is that it's a whole lot of things and it wears different hats for different audiences. So lots of us have looked at it, decided that Wizards is giving conflicting information, and left more confused than before. Given that, I'll try to break it down into groups.
* FOR EVERYONE
This is a pretty neat book for your $20. It's softcover, and digest-sized, but I haven't missed the hardcover yet. While it's theorertically "lay-flat," I find that it's actually "lay a bit flatter and don't worry about bending the cover." It's fairly heavy for its size - it feels about the same weight as a PHB. The header fonts are enormous, but the regular fonts are about normal 4e size. I find I kinda love the digest size because it makes it much easier to read while laying down in bed, and will have no hesitation about buying more of them.
* IF YOU'RE AN EXISTING 4E PLAYER...
...and enjoy the game, think of this as the PHB4 and some updates. It has some radical new takes on existing 4e classes. While the Cleric (Warpriest) and Wizard (Mage) still hew pretty close to their PHB counterparts, the new Fighter (Knight), Fighter (Slayer), and Rogue (Thief) are quite different. First off, the Fighter (Slayer) is a striker - not a defender, like every other Fighter is. Second, all three of these classes *rely on modified Basic Attacks in combat*. Knights and Slayers go into "stances" which may cause an enemy hit by a Basic Attack to be slowed, or a stance which lets them Cleave. Thieves get "tricks" - move actions which let them skirmish more effectively, and improve their melee attacks. I can't speak yet as to these new subclasses' effectiveness, but they look fairly capable. I worry that an experienced player may get bored with them, but for a new player, these new options look very workable. Time will tell.
There are a lot of new feats, which show a changed philosophy. There are no Paragon or Epic feats here; instead, all the feats are available at 1st level, and most of them improve as the character advances in tier. The basics are here - Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus, Toughness, yadda yadda. There are also new (and badly needed) feats - Implement Focus is finally an option! Expertise feats are all of a sudden interesting! The various Defense feats have been seriously beefed up. And - awesomely - there are new Defense feats with a high stat prerequisites which give flavorful riders for your Superior Will, Reflexes, or Fortitude.
For most current 4e players, I don't forsee you putting away your PHB any time soon. The new classes are just new options, and look like they will work at your existing table without adjustment to any characters. Each of these subclasses is very narrow and focused, and I don't think most experienced 4e players will go with (for example) a Thief instead of a PHB Rogue. This is not a replacement for what you already have, unless you decide to make it one.
* IF YOU'RE A BRAND NEW PLAYER...
This will be all you need if you have a group available. This covers all the basic rules for players, presented in a user-friendly manner, with a lot of explanation and detail. You don't need both this and the Rules Compendium; this will tell you everything you need to know to make these five or six classes. It's a very good intro to the game, and it's specifically written with you in mind. Your DM will want the DM's kit, and maybe the Rules Compendium and Monster Vault, but as a player, $20 covers all the bases.
* Finally, if you're NOT A FAN OF 4E or a LAPSED PLAYER...
...this book is Mike Mearls's olive branch to you. Don't get me wrong - this is still 4e, but the options presented herein have a distinctly older-edition feel. If you didn't like or Fighters and Rogues using Daily and Encounter powers, these builds will make a lot more sense to you. If you wanted Wizards that did more finesse-type stuff, like taking control of enemies' minds and charming shopkeepers, this will be a step in the right direction. (Don't get me wrong; a 4e Wizard will never have the bag of tricks a 3.5 Wizard did, but I think you'll find the Essentials Wizard options a bit more to your liking.) If you were unhappy because so many 4e books read like technical manuals, you will find that the flavor text is back. (And there's a LOT of it.) If you couldn't stand the way 4e dealt with magic items, the new magic item rarity will help a lot - it partially fixes the economy, and puts magic item distribution even more firmly back in the DM's hands than it was in 3e. If you wanted to make a Fighter and just say, "I hit it with my sword," that's once again an option.
So while it won't be to everyone's tastes, I'd recommend you take a look at it and see if you want to give 4e another chance - or even a first one. WotC listened. It's not an entirely new game, but it is a brand new set of options which look specifically aimed towards getting that old-school feel into 4e.
For a discounted $20, it's tough to go wrong with this, for anyone interested in D&D of any edition.Heroes of the Fallen Lands: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement (4th Edition D&D) Overview

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