When comparing Basic Set ("BECMI") / Rules Cyclopedia vs Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition , the Slant community recommends Basic Set ("BECMI") / Rules Cyclopedia for most people. In the question“What are the best editions of Dungeons and Dragons?” Basic Set ("BECMI") / Rules Cyclopedia is ranked 2nd while Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Basic Set ("BECMI") / Rules Cyclopedia is:
Basic D&D is 6 ability scores, a few skills, a character's saving throws, some equipment and, if a spellcaster, some spells; and that's it. This makes the game more about what's happening in the game rather than an exercise in firing off various powers on your character sheet.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Focus on the game, not the character sheet
Basic D&D is 6 ability scores, a few skills, a character's saving throws, some equipment and, if a spellcaster, some spells; and that's it. This makes the game more about what's happening in the game rather than an exercise in firing off various powers on your character sheet.
Pro Vibrant online community
As with AD&D 1st Edition, Basic/Expert D&D is one of the favored editions of the Old School Renaissance community, who regularly offer wildly creative material for it and have published several retro-clone editions, all of which are currently available online either for free or for low prices. OSR blogs on Blogspot and Google+ communities serve as sources of considerable materials that can be used without modification for this edition, and some of these materials break far away from the "standard vanilla fantasy" flavor of Wizards of the Coast's publications.
Pro Character balance
Warriors with weapon mastery and wizards with spells at higher levels feel more on par with each other than in other editions, where the wizards easily overshadow the warriors of the party. Magic is the best in other editions whereas in BECMI they had a place in the party and it was usually in the face of some monster.
Pro Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Lamentations of the Flame Princess is a horror/fantasy game (not for kids). Fully compatible with Basic D&D material, it features a few non-breaking adjustments such as a vastly simplified encumbrance system.
Pro It goes with grimtooth's trap handbook
Pro Feels mysterious and gritty
Pro Concise and consistent rules
Compared to prior editions, 4th Edition D&D has dramatically simplified rules. There are very few special cases to remember, and all character classes (Fighter, Wizard, etc.) share a common pattern in how they gain and use combat abilities.
Pro Excellent tactical combat system
As a grid-based combat game, 4th Edition offers well-balanced and tactically rich gameplay. In particular, it features numerous effects which force or prevent movement, often preventing simple "charge and attack" tactics.
Pro Focus on heroism and fun
4th Edition downplayed simulation, and instead embraced cinematic action. The players are assumed to be the main characters of a story which revolves around them, rather than merely one faction in a far larger world.
Pro Best balanced version of D&D
Other versions of D&D tend to use a "balance over time" system, where some character types are weaker to start with and stronger later on, and vice-versa for others. However, this works poorly if your game doesn't continue for a long time, or starts with PCs already at a higher level. 4th Edition is the first - and so far only - version of D&D to do a good job of making characters similarly powerful at all levels.
Pro Character death is uncommon
To encourage boldness, characters are far harder to kill than in any other edition. This also allows players to invest heavily in the story and personality of their characters without facing the potential buzzkill of loss.
Pro A unique D&D experience
Not weighed down by sacred cows, and arbitrary rules for the sake of nostalgia and identity.
Cons
Con Too much focus on combat, not enough on roleplay
Con Ovely complicated
Con Not enough customization
Multiclassing has been reduced to the point where it is rarely useful past the first feat & limited to one extra class.
Con Combat drags
Due to the scaling of player damage vs. monster hit points, even simple fights can take a long time to resolve, particularly at higher levels.
Con Suspension of disbelief is often difficult
Making it fun was such a priority in 4th Edition that it frequently trumped making sense. This manifests in ways ranging from "minions" who die in hordes at the lightest touch, to broken weapons simply repairing themselves.
Con Grid combat is required for best combat experience
Though most other editions of D&D assume miniatures are used for combat, they have all provided rules for playing without them, while 4th edition has not. It even goes as far as to measure distances and ability effects in terms of "squares.".
And while it's possible to play the game without a grid, 4th edition combat places so much emphasis on powers and abilities that move you and your opponents around the battlefield that keeping track of such movement is important enough where playing 4th Edition without minis or a similar system loses most of the interesting parts of the combat system.
Con Equipment is mandatory to be efficient
Con It's the easy mode of D&D
Everyone has spells and unlimited HP.