Playing through the Pre-constructed: Part 1

*MAJOR KEEP ON THE SHADOWFELL SPOILERS WITHIN*


So...
Keep on the Shadowfell!!!
(cue epic intro music)

We rolled up characters a night before the game began, so on play night, well, we played!

I set up my table, grabbed all the minis I would need, grabbed tokens for "marked," and "bloodied" conditions, and gold coins for Action Points (thank you Talisman,) bought beer, mulled mead (seriously it's delicious, try it!) and we sat down to game.

I started off by explaining the point of their travels; I used one of the suggested hooks from KotS:
"Regardless of the other portions of your backstory, I'd like to assume one trait that you all share in common, You have all been trained by a retired adventurer named Douven Stoul, who saw something of a 'spark of the heroic' in you, and assembled you into an 'adventuring team' of sorts, which operates out of the city of Fallcrest"
Trite, I know, but I feel like deep story is something that can be developed as a campaign progresses.

The Players had questions about Douven Stoul, so I fleshed him out a bit more into the sort of person who embodies the phrase, "those who cannot do, teach." I also gave him a scholarly bent; a man with much knowledge but little applicable skill in combat situations (an important facet of his character later in the adventure.)
I proceeded to explain that while they had business away from Fallcrest to attend to, Douven Stoul's research led him to believe that he had discovered the grave of a dragon, dating to shortly after the fall of Nerath, located just south of the small town of Winerhaven, and assuming that such a short trip would be safe without the protection of his students, departed for the town alone.
When the adventurers returned from their business, his tearful wife explained that she hadn't heard from Douven in two weeks. Heroes that they are, the party departed for Winterhaven to seek Douven out.

With that all settled, we began the first encounter, wherein our heroes, about three hours from Winterhaven, notice the tracks of many small, claw-footed, creatures.
My veteran players (Ryan and Dave) took action immediately, making checks to identify and follow the tracks, and splitting up to follow them, and to protect the party flanks.
Wilson got back into the groove of gaming quickly and began making his own checks and discussing his own strategies.
Jessica sat still, and didn't say anything, not because she didn't want to get involved, but because, while explaining the basic mechanics and themes of the game, I had neglected to explain gameplay itself; you know, the whole "say whatever you want to do within the constraints of the game world, and I will tell you what the outcomes of your actions are, using the mechanics if applicable, oh, and there aren't turns, unless you're in combat (which is about to happen), or unless I have to many people yelling at me at once." Yeah, the entire concept of D&D, completely missed in my explanation of the game.

Any-who, with that settled play continued.

The characters spotted the kobolds, waiting in ambush, and battle ensued. I explained what the characters knew about kobolds, and that kobold bands such as these were a common problem on the open road between towns in Nentir vale, but that they typically were not brave or stupid enough to assault well armed groups, which raised some eyebrows around the table.
The characters essentially mauled the kobolds, though 4th edition rules gave the illusion that it was a bit closer (hit point recovery is pretty easy for PCs, and everyone still had some encounter and/or daily powers left). The encounter (understandably) crawled as everyone learned the system. I explained the concept of minions, which thrilled the characters, and allowed for some pretty great tactical decision-making.

After battle the party proceeded to Winterhaven and questioned the locals about the kobolds (they've been a problem lately, and we think we've seen them being bullied about by a goblin), and about the whereabouts of Douven Stoul (he headed off south with a group of shady characters and an odd looking halfling to dig up the site of an ancient battle-field that was important to him for some reason, yeah I can give you directions.)
Hearing that the Lord of Winterhaven, Pendraig, was offering gold to those who could solve the town's kobold issues, Kharn arranged an audience with him, and agreed to take up the quest. Kharn then attempted to lie about the agreed upon fee, which led to some (I felt) wasted time on bluff checks, and arguments about why he was shafting the rest of the party.
After deciding that finding their mentor came first, the characters retired to an inn, and Ryan proceeded to stir up more chaos by having his character bet Wilson's that he could hit him with his flail.
He succeeded, but Gamble tried to wiggle out of his bet, leading to more arguments and silliness. Finally with all of this out of everyone's system, play continued.

The characters departed for the ancient battle-site in the morning, where to no-one's surprise, they saw the beginnings of an excavation of a long-dead dragon. The strange halfling turned out to be a gnome, and the shady excavators turned out to be shady thugs. Shortly after the gnome slipped up on a bluff check, battle ensued.
The party emerged victorious once more, though the gnome slipped off and got away. They collected the accumulated loot of the thugs, including some interesting historical pieces, and also located their mentor, bound and gagged in the bushes. Douven explained that the thugs, who were led by the gnome, had bound him shortly after their arrival at the burial grounds, and had forced him, on pain of death to identify the artifacts they were uncovering. The gnome seemed to be searching for something specific at the behest of a person named Kalarel.

The party escorted Douven back to Winterhaven, and put him up at the inn so that he could recover from his captivity. Then they hit the town, asking about Kalarel. They got the information they sought at the local temple, where the high priestess informed them that Kalarel was a young acolyte devoted to Erathis who had become disenfranchised with his religion when bandits had sacked and burned down his home with his family within it. He shortly after claimed to have a vision, from a "god of true power," who had "called to him from the north."
At this point the players had heard of the ruined keep to the north, and decided that after solving the kobold problem, they would head in that direction (perfect!)

Next time:
Assault on the Kobold Cave!