Elodan

A summary of our fifth session of our Return to Khazad-dum campaign (there may be slight spoilers to King of the Trollhaunt Warrens, as Kevin is borrowing some things from that adventure):

In attendance:

• Kevin - DM
• Me (Tom) - male dwarf warlord (Durin)
• Dave - male elf ranger (Loric)
• Ed - male human fighter (Grimbold)
• Bob - male Halfling rogue (Aramis Took)
• Matt - male human fighter (Galiator of Gondor)

I have been assimilated. My consciousness has been added to the 4E collective.

Actually, it's probably more of a "how I stopped worrying and learned to like the 4E."

Due to the weather, schedule conflicts and the holidays, it's been almost two months since our last session. There wasn't a lot of action this week.

We spend quite a while catching up. Again, it's mostly because we hadn't met in a while plus Matt's come to the game for the first time in years. Matt's a friend of Dave's who gamed with us for a while in the early days of 3E (when we played both 3E and HackMaster). Matt's has never played 4E (his other group, which Dave is a part of, plays 2E). I'm looking forward to hearing his thoughts on the game. As I'm placing the food order, I overhear Bob telling Matt that 4E is similar to 3E but simpler and better (or words to that effect, I was talking the pizza guy at the time). At least I finally have an idea of which system Bob seems to prefer. This places the count at:

• 3 ½ pro-4E (Kevin, Ed, Bob); Lance = ½
• 1 neutral (Me)
• 1 neutral, running slightly anti-4E (Dave)

Before we start, I mention to the group a house rule I saw on one of the boards allowing you to spend an action point to recharge an encounter power. I want to use this to help eliminate "the grind." Kevin mentions several paragon paths already allow you to do this so there's no need. I get the feeling Kevin wants to play within the rules for a while before adding house rules. I expect that he'll add them as we decide we really need them.


The party decides that wandering the swamp with a crudely drawn map is probably not a good idea. We decide to head back into town to try and get better information. After a night's rest at the inn, the party comes down to find the innkeeper, Champ, in a much better mood and with a more helpful attitude.

Obviously, Kevin has read my previous posts about non-helpful NPCs. This leads to a discussion of who's NPCs are the biggest jerks. Eventually, I think we all reach the consensus that we have never met a helpful NPC in any of our home campaigns.

Champ tells us that trolls have always occasionally attacked the town; that's why they built the troll wall. He also tells us that the trolls have become more aggressive recently. He then re-introduces us to Baccus while asking if there's anything else we want to ask. (Of course, I forgot to ask the obvious question, how'd he get the nickname, Champ). Baccus, deep in his cups despite the earliness of the hour, tells us how his expedition found the main troll warren before his group was slaughtered. The main warren is not too far from a now-abandoned ancient keep built before the river overflowed and created the swamp. He also mentions that the trolls seem to have a king. We are then told that a sage could probably help us locate the keep and we could find one at the mayor's keep. Grimbold and Galiator head off to procure supplies (torches, we need lots of torches) while the rest of us visit the mayor.

At this point, Matt has to leave. We'll have to wait until another time to get his impressions of 4E.

We meet the mayor and explain our desire to help the town with the trolls. He doubts we can help considering that the baron's son failed, but he's not one to stop us and points us to a sage who is an expert in the old ruins of the area. He's actually within the mayor's keep (how convenient). The sage gives us the history of the keep (it was an outpost of an ancient kingdom, the story was more interesting than that but this is just a summary) and gives us directions to it.

Now this is probably the most role-playing we've done at one time in quite a while. Personally, I'm very shy (I'm surprised I post as much to the few D&D boards I follow as I do). A coworker once told me I'm very quiet until I let you into my circle and then I'm quite sociable. Of course, I'm not shy with the guys but I think because of this, I much prefer to describe my characters actions rather than act out what my character saying; i.e. "Durin introduces himself and his companions to the mayor and offers his party's help with the growing troll aggression." I'm not sure if this helps or hurts when it comes to NPC interactions; considering that the DM may find it more useful to get more "direct from the PC's mouth" type of responses to his questions.

As part of out earlier discussion of NPCs, we find it interesting that the majority of the time my character ends up in the 'leader' role (not in the 4E sense). Especially as I tend to play dwarves so I can be direct (which I am in real life). Ed points out that usually what happens in these discussions is that either my character takes something as a perceived insult and flips out or I get impatient and insult the NPC (calling a baron, "hey f**ko" is usually not a good idea). Kevin points out that a lot of times someone, usually Bob, chimes in and derails the conversation. This generally pushes me into the impatient category. Plus, I'm a butt-kicker at heart and look forward to the action.

Despite a couple of hiccups, these conversations went well. Kevin kept asking me if I had anything else to ask, which made me feel like I was missing something (if we are missing something, don't be afraid to drop a hint Kevin). On the whole, these NPC interactions were actually pretty fun.

The group leaves Ninglorien and heads into the swamp. Thanks to the sage's directions, Loric finds a relatively dry trail leading deeper into the fens. Late in the afternoon, the ranger notices a tree giving off some electrical discharge. Before he can shout a warning, it launches a ball of lighting which hits Durin and Grimbold. At the same time three shambling mounds rise from the swamp. The battle goes swiftly (until certain people's turns) and the shambling creatures are destroyed. The warlord starts to take a short rest and it hit by a lightning ball just as Grimbold reminds everyone about the tree. Moving quickly down the path, the party finds a dry place to camp and takes an extended rest.

I enjoyed the combat against the shambling mounds. My powers seemed so much more effective this combat. Not sure if it was good roles or that I've got a better feeling for the powers themselves. Some highlights: using Hammer and Anvil to give Grimbold a basic attack which he then used to take down a mound (he had something that let him substitute powers for basic attacks). Using Lead the Attack to give Loric a +5 attack bonus against one of the creatures which helped him take it out. Rounds went by fairly quickly until we got to Bob. He would take what seemed like for-ever to decide what to do. Kevin was timing us. Dave, Ed and I were taking on average 30 seconds to decide what to do. Bob came in at over 4 minutes. He's still looking for broken ability combinations.


I still am not a big fan of the powers system (at least not in regards to the martial classes). I tend to hoard my dailies and it sure seems like you get too few encounter powers.

At this point, I realized that, for the most part, I'm having enough fun playing 4E. It's got it's frustrations but they're no worse than any prior version of D&D (and may be better in some cases). The guys (including Dave, again for the most part) seem to be enjoying it as well. I got a chance to skim through the APG and Goodman's Dragonborn books; both of which appear to be excellent. Both made feel better about what you can do within the system. Also, I tried out the beta character generator. From what I've tried, it seems to be pretty powerful yet simple (hmm, maybe this will help Bob figure out his powers better). As long as we're having fun, I'm going to roll with whatever system the DM wants to use

I still plan on using the Pathfinder RPG at the start of the next campaign I run. I have a ton of 3E adventures I'd like to run (Rappan Athuk Reloaded, I'm looking at you) and don't want to do the conversion. Plus, I prefer the direction that system is going over 3.5.

In the near future, Dave is going to run some 3.5. It should be interesting to go back to that system.


Any time these are no longer interesting reads let me know and I'll stop posting them. I want to keep posting our experiences as we continue to learn 4E, go back to 3E and try the Pathfinder RPG.

DM's Summary:

After a good night's rest, the fellowship sets about getting a good breakfast at the inn. Durin speaks to the Champ, the innkeeper about the recent problems with the trolls.

"There's been trolls in the fens there long as anyone can remember. Rumor even has it that there was a troll kingdom there ages ago, that was wiped out by floods. Some say that it was the elves that brought up the river to cause the flooding, even sinking the early settlements of men in the area. The rivers have since rescinded, but there is much death and decay in the area, making it a natural refuge for troll kin."

Champ notes Baccus coming down the stair and begins to pour an ale and place it on the bar next to a plate of breads, jams and cheese. The weary warrior grabs the plate and tankard and retreats to a corner with his breakfast.

"Anyhow, there's also talk of powerful magics there. A remnant of the destruction said to be wrought by the elves and the resting of the one ring for an age after Isildur fell there." The portly innkeeper whispers. "For the last year or so, there have been increasing attacks on the outskirts of town. The road North and South has been attacked infrequently, but the eastern trail has been impassable for near a year. No one that left that way has come out of the fens alive. After we lost an emissary from Esgaroth, the Baron sent a handful of men to rout out the evil. Baccus was one of the six that set out with the Baron's son to the fens and the only one that returned."

Durin thanked Champ for being 'extremely helpful' and then turned his attention to the warrior in the corner. Hoping, he could prove as helpful, the dwarf sat down at the table with him. Baccus had little interest in what the dwarf had to say, preferring to drown his troubles in drink this morning. He did tell the dwarf that they had stumbled upon a large warren of Trolls before they were slaughtered and he had to flee. Baccus even gave a general description of a ruin nearby that marked the location of the warrens. Although the details of how to get there elude him. "We had a tracker but he's dead now. I just kept walking until I found the river and then followed that back to town..."

Allorian suggests visiting a sage to find out more about the rumored ruins. "Oh yeah, we'll do that!" Durin proclaims as he heads to the town keep. Grimbold and Galiator head to the market instead to buy some supplies. They are looking for torches and oil in particular. At the keep, they meet the mayor who tells them that he believes they are foolhardy for trying to venture into the fens, where the Baron's son, considered a great hero, fell. The mayor does offer support when it appears he cannot talk the dwarf out of his desire to help. He points them to the sage's office and bids them good luck.

The sage believes he knows what keep Baccus was speaking of, and draws a rough map to the location. Loric studies it briefly and they thank him for his help. After meeting back up with the rest of the fellowship, they decide to purchase foodstuffs and supplies and head out in the morning.

As dawn breaks, Loric finds the east trail and they head off into the wilds. Sensing where to veer off the trail, the elf finds a passable path and breaks north, deeper into the fens. As the morning wears on, Loric's skills provide a relatively safe path. Galiator and Allorian follow well behind the party after having to stop when the lummox of Gondor twisted his ankle on a root jutting out from the ground.

Late in the afternoon, a strange crackling sound comes to the sharpened ears of the elf. Shortly thereafter a flashing in the trees catches everyone's attention. Like bugs to a flame, the party moves steadily towards the strange lights. With a sudden crack, a flash of electricity jumps from the treetops, striking the heavily armored Durin and Grimbold. The bolt is strong enough to be felt by those nearby as well. Stunned from the blast, Loric fails to notice the vegetation itself seems to come to life and tries to engulf the elf. The strange plants, coursing with lightning, surge towards the heroes whipping them with wicked lashes and even jolts of electricity. The hobbit deftly moved among the thickets, jabbing at the vegetation before making a misstep and being engulfed by one of the strange plants. He barely manages to wriggle free before the aberration courses his body with electricity.

Durin barks instructions, rallying his allies to a victory. It seems after several battles with the dwarf, they are beginning to appreciate his tactical skills and moving in response to his orders. The fellowship takes a short rest before continuing on, allowing Galiator and Allorian to catch up. As dusk begins to creep in, Loric spots the rocky outcroppings of the ruins they seek. Feeling a better sense of security against stone, Durin suggests they set up camp there for the night. After a short debate, they reach agreement and start a fire. In the morning, the group decides to scout for the warrens but keep camp at the ruins. Loric, Durin and Aramis set out following the stream downriver. The elf's logic is that even trolls need water so the warrens are likely near the stream.

A little over an hour later, Loric notes that there appear to be more frequent troll tracks along the banks of the stream, a bad sign unless you're looking for trolls. They head back to the ruins and get the rest of the party. As they make their way back they find a well worn path near the water's edge dominated by troll tracks. The heroes continue to follow the trail. The end of the path is blocked by a sturdy gate of thick timbers anchored to the wall of a cave. To the right of the gate, the stream flows sluggishly through the fang like stone pillars, disappearing into the darkness beyond. To the left, they can see a narrow window slit looking down on the approach to the cave mouth.

"This must be it." Durin declares. "Loric, Aramis and I will investigate. Grimbold, Galiator and Allorian will wait here in hiding until I signal." The dwarf and elf start down the path towards the gate before realizing they are missing someone. Looking back at Galiator, Grimbold and Allorian they call out. "Aramis? Aramis?"

The hobbit is nowhere to be found....

This is me sort of "thinking out loud."

I think if the class/power thing was done differently I would really like 4E. I would have preferred talent trees or gain use(s) of abilities at certain levels. It really annoys me that I can only use an encounter power like Hammer and Anvil (my favorite warlord power) once an encounter (hence it being an encounter power). I know it's supposed to represent finding that opening once an encounter but why can't it be more than that. Another example of the top of my head is why can the ranger only do double shot once a day. The powers system feels arbitrary. I still feel Marking is lame.

Not a fan of what I consider to be the arbitrary limitation on magic item powers. If I have 2 items with daily powers why can I only use one of them a day if I'm under 10th level. I know you can get around this via milestones, but what really determines those. Plus, it's something else to track.

The sales model is another turnoff. Before the announcement of 4E, I was planning on taking my campaign back to core (core being the PHB, DMG, MM and Player's Guide to the Realms). Tired of carrying all the books around; checking so I wouldn't introduce 'broken' aspects into the game. Now, core is multiple books. Things are purposely being left out so I have to buy another book if I want druids and barbarians. I may have to pay X dollars a month to get those Faerunian epic destinies I wanted. I know I don't have to buy the books, but it's a lot easier than trying to design druids and barbarians myself.

It seems like it's all about the math instead of making things fun and interesting.


There's a lot of good in 4E. I love the monster/encounter design of 4E. I'd want some minor tweaks (such as casting time) to the ritual system (plus add a whole lot more). I wouldn't mind seeing some spells that are lines or cones. I expect to steal the action type breakdown, critical hits and death and dying rules for which ever system I use.


This is why I think I'm leaning toward Pathfinder. They seem to be making tweaks that move 3.5 more toward some of the better 4E ideas while keeping the classes/powers (abilities) in a system I prefer.

A summary of our fourth session of our Return to Khazad-dum campaign.

In attendance:

Kevin - dm
me - male dwarven warlord (Durin)
Dave - male elven ranger (Loric)
Ed - male human fighter (Grimbold)
Murph - male eladrin warlock (Allorian)

It's been two weeks since our last session and it takes quite a while for the table chatter to die down and the session to start.


The party makes it to the town of Ninglorien well after sunset. Since we're on the wrong side of the Anduin, we have to wait for the ferry to take us into town. We get an inn recommendation from the ferryman, go there and get a good night's rest.

In the morning the group is talking with the inn owner who mentions that trolls have been threatening the area. In fact, the local baron's son had recently led an expedition to stop the creatures. Unfortunately, the expedition ended badly. The man's head was tossed over the town's walls and only one man survived. As it happens, the survivor is having breakfast a few tables over. There is some debate amongst the party if we should help the town with its troll problems or continue on our quest to retrieve the item of power. In the end, we decide it would be best to help; otherwise, the town may be destroyed by the time we complete our overall quest.

We ask the innkeeper for an introduction to the survivor which he refused to do. Strange. Especially since it seemed that he was telling us these tales because he wanted our help. Anyway, we introduce ourselves to the man and ask him to tell us what happened as we want to help. The survivor, Bax, tells us what happened. As we make plans to enter the fens, Bax makes a condescending comment and provides us with a rough map of the warrens where his expedition went. I think that this is another instance where Kevin expects us to do or act a certain way but doesn't give us any clues as to what he's looking for. A lot of times it seems that all his NPCs are jerks (I'm not much better, people in glass houses, etc.). It can be a pretty frustrating experience, especially when Murph's attention is wandering and he keeps babbling on (causing us to miss some important details Kevin may give out).

Anyhow, Loric feels he can use the map to get us to the warrens. We're making out way through the fens, when we spot 3 lantern-like lights ahead. Before we know it, Loric is dazed and being dragged toward the lights. A battle ensues.

We end up fighting what I believe are 3 will o' wisps and 3 (possibly 4) large creatures. I forget exactly what these creatures were. Kevin used frog minis for them. I get my ass handed to me and end up using my second wind and dwarven armor's daily power to keep myself up. I feel this is important to do, as I'm the only healing the party has . Again, I find myself treating my powers like spells. I blow through all my encounters in no time. Ed is soon in the same place. I find myself reluctant to use my dailies as this is our first encounter for the day (plus a lot of my dailies are utility powers and not relevant in this battle). This is where the power system really is starting to annoy me. Dailies seem like they need to be rationed carefully. At wills do such a small amount of damage compared to the monster's hit points that the battle becomes a slugfest. Despite our having two strikers, this is what happened here. It's almost like "going through the motions." You know you're going to win but the monsters still have enough HPs to do some damage to the party (I know you can have the monsters run away or such, but it always feels cheap to me).


After the battle we call it a night.

At this point, I'm still not feeling the love for 4E. I think it's the way the classes have been done that really turns me off. Not a fan of the power system.

Sorry for the abruptness and general negativity of this post but I'm kinda tired of wavering between 3E and 4E. With Kevin and Ed loving 4E on one side and Dave loving 3E on the other, it's tough. I want to run something everybody will enjoy.

I wonder if I'm trying to force myself to love 4E and if that's my problem. With 3E, I loved the game from the start and found it very difficult to go back to AD&D. I'm not feeling that with 4E. More and more I find myself leaning toward giving the Pathfinder RPG beta rules a spin.

Of course, I may be putting too much thought into this.

A summary of our third session of our Return to Khazad-dum campaign.

In attendance:

Kevin - dm
me - male dwarven warlord (Durin)
Dave - male elven ranger (Loric)
Ed - male human fighter (Grimbold)
Bob - male halfling rogue (Aramis)
Murph - male eladrin warlock (Allorian)

I talked to Kevin during the week and asked if I could change a couple of my powers. He agreed and I swapped out some powers that grant moves to allies for some that do healing and other such things. I think this will be more effective in aiding the party.

It looked like Dave wasn't going to make it but at the last minute was able to escape work. We made it to Kevin's only 15 - 20 minutes later than usual.

The guys have read my blogs and we discuss 4E as we eat. Kevin and Ed are pretty pro-4E, Dave is pretty much pro-3E. I'm ambivalent. Not sure where Bob stands (I think he was busy trying to optimize his character while these discussions were happening). I think Murph will be fine with whatever. The pro-4E folk talk about how much easier the math is. Ed mentions that he really likes the idea that a wizard never runs out of spells. The whole "I shot my spell wad, let me pull out my crossbow" didn't sit well with him. I think he's absolutely right about this. I mention how Pathfinder is attempting to address this. Kevin tells me not to worry, he can add the stuff I think 4E is missing. In fact, I'll be the first to find a cursed item (yay!). I tell him to "wow" me.

Kevin has picked up the King of the Trollhaunt Warrens adventure. He's not going to run it but pick and choose what he wants.

It's takes us a while to get started. First because of our discussions and then because my nephew got gum in his hair (he took the gum instead of the piece of candy he originally showed Kevin he was taking). Murph used WD40 to help get it out (who knew?). I tell Kevin I'm not feeling the "wow" (I still kill me). We'll only get one encounter in tonight.


The heroes awake in the morning to find that Loric has caught up to us. We then spend a quite a bit of time trying to determine which route we want to take to Rhosgobel. Several of us have different ideas on the best route. Eventually, we decide on our path. Kevin asks us several times if we want to pick up additional gear before we move on. None of us do.

Our journey is uneventful until we reach the lands near Ninglorien. In the late afternoon, we come upon several trolls chowing down on a horse carcass. Bob mentions that trolls shouldn't be out in the sunlight. Kevin retorts, "it's cloudy." Even though I love FR (pre-4E, post-4E = not sure yet), I can see why DMs become frustrated with the know-it-all player.

Luckily, the trolls don't notice us. Dwarf, eladrin and halfling move closer to the trolls and dismount. We wait until Grimbold charges in with his horse then move to attack. Loric attacks from the side with his bow. Here we get to see how mounted combat works. Essentially, you and your mount share the actions you can perform on a turn. If you have the feat, you can use any special abilities the mount confers to its rider. In action, it seems to be pretty simple and effective.

Durin is moving up to engage one of the trolls when a creature phases in and blasts us with cold (Durin, Allorian and Grimbold happened to be lined up just right). Since were closest, Grimbold and Durin move to attack the creature. Allorian decides to as well. Next thing we know, Aramis runs over to join us. This leaves Loric all by himself to fight the other 5 trolls. As Bob moves, I say "did we all suddenly forget about the other 5 trolls? We're going to get smacked hard." Bob replies, "we should be ganging up on one at a time." I know he's moved near us so we can set up flanks so he can get his sneak attacks. Of course, the creature phases out and the rest of the trolls take us hard from the side.

We take down the trolls (having 3 strikers helps) but they keep getting back up as they regenerate if they're not damaged by fire or acid. Dave tries lighting his arrows with flint and steel since he doesn't have a torch. The rest of us check our sheets and only Murph has a torch. Guess we should have done a better job gearing up when Kevin asked. It takes several rounds but eventually we take down and burn the trolls.

It's around 11 and Bob leaves for work.

We then notice a wounded human not too far from the horse. I suspect it's the creature. Of course, if I attack it'll be a human and if I don't it'll be the bad guy. I proceed to aid the man. Kevin mentions that the guy seems to be healing much faster than he should be. "Son of a b..." The creature laughs and attacks. It really taunts the party, especially Durin as we battle. We take it down.

It's about 11:30 and I start packing it in. Kevin asks if we want to continue into the town. I decline. He asks if I'm leaving because of the creature's taunting. It has nothing to do with the taunting or having a bad time. I enjoyed myself. For some reason, I'm beat (might be writing up all these summaries at work). If I weren't driving, I probably would have stayed. Plus, Ed looks out of it.


At this point, I had fun but am still ambivalent about 4E. Once Kevin politely told Murph that his idiom was not to run up and hit things with his rod, Murph got the hang of things relatively quickly. Much better than last week. I noticed that was still a lot of dice rolling and addition done, especially when the strikers hit. I guess I just don't get the point about the math being easier.

I'm not sure if it was all the strikers or if Kevin knocked back the bad guys hit points but the combat seemed to neither go by too quickly or turn into a slugfest. I had mentioned seeing the math proved on one of the boards that you could reduce non-minion's hit points by 25 - 30% and still provide challenging encounters. Kevin's response let me to believe he came to the same conclusion. It'll be interesting to see if he did reduce hit points.

On the way home, Dave and I discussed how 4E seems to be missing something. We just can't put our finger on it but it just seems to be lacking something.

I still think I'm going to give the Pathfinder RPG a tryout when it's my turn to DM again. In addition to adapting some of the things I like from 4E, I plan on sticking with the core only plus two books; the Player's Guide to Faerun and Races of Eberron (I really like the races Eberron introduced).

I'm looking forward to the next session.


DM's summary:
After arriving in Edoras, Grimbold meets with the captain of the township guard and informs him of the fallen riders. They are saddened to hear of their loss but grateful for the heroes attempts to save them. They reward them with riding horses for their journey northward.

The morning sun brings a warm autumn afternoon and to the party's surprise, Loric is already in Edoras having tea in the common room when they come down for the morning meal. They tell him about the strange beast they defeated and suggest he get a horse for the ride. Loric politely declines, "I move faster on foot" he declares.

As the sun creeps on into the afternoon, Grimbold, Loric and Durin debate over the best route to take. The journey to Rhosgobel requires crossing several rivers so suitable crossings must be taken. Durin is insistent about staying clear of Fangorn but otherwise not concerned with what trails they follow. Through careful consultation of maps and Loric's knowledge of the area, a satisfactory course is planned. Feeling they possess adequate supplies, the Fellowship eschews purchasing any additional provisions and enjoys some good food an ale before taking to the road again in the morning.

Loric's skills in the wilds have the heroes moving swiftly across the landscape. For several days they follow the trail as planned, leaving the high plains of Rohan far behind. Skirting the edge of Lorien, Allorian recounts tales of his ancestors to help pass the time. Continuing on toward Ninglorien, where they shall make the crossing of the Gladden river, it almost seems the monotony of the road will be the only obstacle to to overcome. The fellowship presses on to reach the town as night falls. Cresting a small hill on the edge of the fens Loric spots a number of foul trolls in the twilight rending the remains of a horse along the road.

Preoccupied fighting over their meal, the trolls fail to notice the heroes moving in to attack. Loric unleashes a hail of arrows as Allorian blasts them with his powerful elven magic. As the trolls stagger back in surprise, Grimbold charges down the hill on horseback followed by Durin and Aramis. The advantage against the trolls is short lived as a burst of cold erupts from out of nowhere and some form of humanoid giant appears next to Allorian. Loric dispatches a troll with a well placed arrow but to his surprise, the creature springs back up to attack again. The battle suddenly focuses on the new adversary as the four of the five heroes head for the newcomer while trolls move in for a better position to strike.

Surprise takes the intrepid adventurers again as the giant vanishes into thin air. The trolls, in their new positions lay a solid beating on the heroes before they have a chance to strike back.

Durin fells a troll, Grimbold another, while Allorian drops a third but they spring up as quickly as they fall. Loric remembers that trolls are able to heal their wounds unless they are harmed by fire or acid and he frantically flicks his flint on a fallen troll to no effect. Allorian manages to light a torch just as the invisible attacker appears again attacking and disappears again. The group manages to finally bring the trolls down with sword and flame and there is no sign of the giant. Durin spots a wounded rider near the remains of the horse and moves to assist while the others keep watch. He gives the man some healing aid and notices the wounds healing more quickly than usual. The dwarf's suspicions are realized when the rider changes back to its true form as the giant and attacks. It unleashes a wicked blow but Durin comes back with a blow of his own. He is taunted by the giant mercilessly as they trade blow for blow. Grimbold gets to the dwarfs side and provides the first strike that leads to Durin delivering the final blow.

After regrouping and catching their breath, the Fellowship makes the last hour of the journey to the town.

A summary of our second session of our Return to Khazad-dum campaign.

In attendance:

Kevin - dm
me - male dwarven warlord (Durin)
Ed - male human fighter (Grimbold)
Bob - male halfling rogue (Aramis)
Murph - male eladrin warlock (Allorian)

This summary is going to be a little rant-y.

After Murph's previous experiences playing wizards, Kevin decides it would probably be best if Tharivold becomes an NPC. Wizards popping in and out of the adventure feel more Tolkienish. Kevin creates an eladrin warlock for Murph to play (it lets him sling spells to blast things, seems like a perfect fit).

After a good night's rest, the wizard tells the party that he has learned that evil is on the rise in Middle Earth and strange creatures have been appearing. This is also causing more evils to rise in Moria. In order to help combat this evil, he asks us to retrieve and object of power. The eladrin warlock is introduced as someone who can help us on our journey, and is cousin to the one we must meet.

We head through the gap of Rohan on our way to Edoras. There we will acquire horses to speed our journey. On the way, we run into a strange creature attacking some Rohirrim (Kevin found fan created version of a behir). Before we can join the battle, the horsemen are slain. Lance's character, Goliator, was with us but not really with us (as an NPC). He had gotten sidetracked and was some time behind us.

This would be our only encounter for the evening. Kevin did his best but this evening's combat was pain-ful (stretch out your pronunciation of the word). Kevin had lent Murph his PHB and told him to read up on his character's abilities. Murph did not do so. Kevin had allowed us to tweak our characters if he made character choices we disagreed with. Bob switched a lot of his abilities (one was taking the feat to let him use d8s instead of d6s for sneak attack damage - I didn't realize that hobbits were that blood thirsty). On average, Bob and Murph took 4 - 5 minutes to perform their actions (Kevin timed it). From what I could tell, Bob kept looking for broken ability combinations. Murph kept looking for what he could do (this is what I was afraid of when we started at 11th level, someone unfamiliar with the rules and so many abilities to figure out). Ed and I averaged 1 - 2 minutes (mostly checking the math or trying to remember what we planned on doing). This meant a single round of combat took 10 - 15 minutes. I don't blame 4E for these long delays. These delays did give me additional time to go through my power list. This is where I realized that most powers are essentially the same. Most powers seem to let you attack and grant someone a move (the warlord's specialty), attack and grant someone a bonus, attack and grant healing or a save). The higher level powers just increase the damage output and possibly increase the move/bonus/heal/save. Once you run out of encounter and daily powers, combats really become a slugfest. Again, my powers are not as useful because of the nature of the combat (still loving Hammer and Anvil). Galiator arrives just in time to help finish off the beast so we can end the session.

From here on, this becomes a little rant-ish.

Since we started a such a high level and Kevin only gave our characters a couple of magic items, he's decided to let us pick an item or two (under a certain GP value) and have Tharivold make them. During the week, I leaf through the magic item section of the PHB. I'm underwhelmed. Magic items seems to be there to give you minor bonuses, an occasional boost and of course, up the damage output. Between the powers and the magic items, I'm starting to feel like 4E is missing something. Then it comes to me. Where's the magic, the sense of wonder? I know the rules don't preclude you from roleplaying, but I think they have effect on how you game. Look at how many people say 3.5 had too many rules preventing them from really enjoying the game when they could have just have easily ignored the rules they didn't like. We did it in 1E and 2E. I see no reason you can't in 3E. In theory, it's true in 4E but I haven't investigated it yet.

Let me give you some examples of what I'm talking about. My memory is a little foggy on some of the details but I'll do my best.

In a AD&D game, our characters were about 7th level (near the glass ceiling ) and we had managed to tick off the local evil wizard and his henchmen. We were staying in an inn on the waterfront. My character happened to looking out the window and noticed a glowing object growing brighter and heading straight for us "it's coming right for us"). We just managed to escape the room before the fireball hit. We met the magic user and his henchmen in battle on the docks. Eventually, all the wizard's men were killed and my compatriots were down. The wizard then trapped me with an Iron Bands of Bollero (sp?) spell. Kevin has an evil grin on his face as he tells me that the wizard is gloating and appears to be preparing another spell. He asks what I'm going to do.

I tell him "bead of force."

"What?"

"I have the beads of force we found in my belt pouch. I reach in, pull one out and flick it at him."

Kevin's surprised but lets me make an attack. It hits and the wizard staggers. "You'll regret that." As he prepares another spell, I toss another bead of force at him and hit. Kevin asks, "how many of those things do you have again?" I respond, "four, and I intend on using every last one of them." The wizard's really upset now. "I am going to make your death slow and painful." "Suck on this!" Another hit and the wizard falls. This is probably one of my all time favorite gaming moments. I'm not sure it would have been as memorable in 4E. Sure I could have been immobilized by some power, but the thing that made this encounter so great was that I wasn't supposed to be able to do anything (immobilized just prevents movement). Plus, no beads of force yet (if ever, or I'll have to invest in another book or a DDI subscription).

In another AD&D game, my fighter found a set of plate mail and put it one. It was armor of missile attraction and I loved having it. Another time, Ed's character found magical boots which turned his character into a woman (hilarity ensued). In a Living Greyhawk game (before the dark times, before the magic marts ) Dave's monk found a Quaal's Feather Token. When he died during a river journey, miles from any civilization, we were able to use it to quickly get us back to a town and have him raised (allowing him to continue the adventure instead of sitting there until the end). Finding a magic item was special (We did loose some of this in 3E where any wizard can make an item). I don't get the same feeling with 4E (especially where the guidelines tell you to make sure the items are useful to your PCs).

At this point, which means today as our next session is this Friday (which I'm looking forward to), I'm still down on 4E. The more I think on it, the more I realize why 4E hasn't grabbed me (yet?). I don't care if the classes are balanced against each other. I play classes I'm interested in, not because they are more powerful than the others. I want my wondrous magic items to be wondrous. Resource management was part of the game (4E has it to some extent but it was much more prevalent in prior editions). Defeating the enemy despite the fact that you started the battle with lingering injuries made it that much sweeter. How cool was it to overcome you're cursed item or a penalty because you're using a weapon you're not proficient with to take out the bad guy. While I like a lot of what 4E brings to the table, I worry that it sacrificed too much in the name of balance (and eliminating penalties).

I think we (as in my group) let the rules of 3E get in the way of our fun (and I am (was) as huge offender). I went back and started looking at 3E again to remember what I liked and didn't like. I also have been looking at the Pathfinder RPG beta rules and the Books of Experimental Might. I'm liking a lot of what I've seen with the Pathfinder RPG beta. It's increasingly likely that the next time I come up in the DM rotation, I'm going to use the Pathfinder RPG rules to run an adventure (at least to start). My 1E / Hackmaster books are also calling.

I plan on keep an open mind as we play 4E (I pointed my group to these posts). I can see 4E becoming my system of choice still. How this campaign goes will have a lot of influence on my acceptance of this system (no pressure). I tried to quickly put together some of my likes / dislikes so far about 4E.

Likes
- monster design
- encounter building
- critical hit system
- death & dying
- action type breakdown (i.e. the utility of the minor action)

Dislikes
- skill challenges (that may change after I give Stalker0' of ENWorld Obsidian system a try)
- "sameness" of powers
- everyone's a wizard
- all spells areas are squares
- magic items
- the sales model


DM's summary:
After stepping through the portal, the fellowship finds itself in the lower basement of Tharilvold's tower in Isengard. The group enjoys a hot meal by a warm fire for the first time in nearly a month. After enjoying some comforts and a good night's rest, the adventurers meet in the morning to assess their situation.

Tharivold has been in contact with other Wizards of the Circle and has learned that the evils stirring deep within Khazad-Dum are a reflection of other evil surfacing all around Middle Earth. Tharivold also needs some time to spend crafting items of power for the intrepid adventurers. To assist in this, he has asked Rualiss, an elf wizard to bring a magical orb back from the far shores. He has arrived from an ancient elven portal deep in the Mistwood to the town of Rhosgobel. Rualiss has sent word to Tharivold that strange creatures have been coming from the woods and that the times are dangerous indeed.

The Blue Wizard asks the fellowship to travel to Rhosgobel to retrieve the orb and bring it back to the tower. In the interim, Tharivold has business with the circle and can craft items of lesser power. To aid them on their journey, Allorian, an elf cousin of Rualiss, has traveled to Isengard and will return with the Fellowship to Rhosgobel. Allorian is an elf who is touched by the ancient powers of his people and can perform great feats of magic naturally.

After another full night's rest, the group makes plans to pass into Rohan, to the town of Edoras, there they will buy horses to make the long journey northward. Loric has fallen ill from the many dark and damp nights in Moria and must take rest in Tharivold's tower. He will catch up to the rest of the heroes once his ailment has subsided. As they enter the Westfold, the fellowship comes upon a handful of Rohirrim fighting a strange dragon-like beast. Unlike a dragon, this creature has no wings but six pairs of legs. It's mouth and scales course with lightning and it stands nearly three times the size of a man. The heroes barely have time to react as the creature seems to burst forth a ball of lightning that fells all four of the riders. Charging forth, the party sets to destroy the strange beast. Unfortunately Galiator is several hundred yards behind trying to shoot a wild turkey with his bow.

A mighty battle ensues with neither party refusing to give ground. Durin flares in anger as blow after blow fails to pierce the thick scaly hide of the beast. Aramis manages to deftly place a short sword strike here and there by dodging and maneuvering around the much larger foe. Grimbold swings his mighty blade but does not seem to be very effective in his attacks. From a safe distance, the newest member of the fellowship blasts the beast repeatedly with mighty ancient elven powers. Just when the heroes feel they are gaining ground, the beast unleashes another wave of deadly lighting. The hobbit barely scampers out of the beasts wicked maw before being swallowed alive. As the beast seemed to intensify its attacks a blood-curdling cry of "Blood, Death, and Vengeance!" booms from over the bluff and Galiator thunders over the hill with his sword held high. His reckless attack catches the creature off guard and the warrior of Gondor lands a mighty blow causing it to lower it's head. Seizing the opening, Durin swings his axe viciously onto the top of the beast's head, dropping it lifeless to the ground.

After the battle the heroes gather up four horses of the fallen Rohirrim and ride into Edoras before nightfall.