Keep on the Shadowfell- a statistical grind analysis.
Catchy title!
Actually the statistical analysis is a bit of a misnomer but it got you here, read on…
And so a strange thing happened the other day, I got to play D&D 4e around a table, not so strange you may think but it's actually the first time I've done this, and the first role-playing game for me that has involved people- real people, in the flesh for... seven years.
Revelation- burning bush time, just...
I had forgotten how good it was, how much easier than playing via Maptools & Skype, nothing against it of course but nothing beats having people there to gauge reactions properly, to bring the game alive.
That aside we played KOTS, none of the players had ever played 4e before, one guy has been playing D&D and various other RPGs for over 20 years, the other four players absolute noobs.
So I read the forums here and I see there's a fair amount of chatter about how long combat is taking (‘the grind’) so we decided to run a little experiment. We decided to pass around a laptop and record in note form everything that happened, how long it took, and the consequences of said actions- for every turn, and including the bad guys. I don't know what if anything this will tell me/you/us... but we did it so I'm going to share the info- like it or not.
We used pregen characters, I'm not sure if they were intended for use with KOTS, my filing system is not what it used to be, and we used the updated KOTS version latterly made free on the Wizards website.
So the characters in game are-
McGyver, Male Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut 1
The party leader, played by the guy with the 20+ years experience, name pronounced the same way as on The Simpsons, a detective style Paladin of Bahamut- investigating for good. See Sean Connery's character in “The Name of the Rose.”
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1
A fornicating drunken dwarf, Joe Pesci in any one of the myriad gangster flicks he's been in, here he’s off the bottle, and the tail; and laconic thrown in for good measure.
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1
Sandra Bullock from Miss Congeniality, which I have of course never seen- I wouldn't tell you even if I had, you'd never look at me in the same way ever again. I figure it's a much watered down version of Sigourney Weaver's turn in any of the Alien films... only, y'know, for the kids.
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1
Danny DeVito with a kind of reverse Tourettes, brought up by Sisters of the Light of Pelor, so in place of the swear words we get- “And then I CASSOCK went to the MITRE... M-M-MITRE GREAT BIG NOBBLY CASSOCK bathroom.”
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1
The cowled Mage says nothing- enigmatic and as dry as a Martini, think Christopher Walken in robes, looks a bit sissy but nobody is going to tell him that.
I had the players each think of an archetype to base their PCs on.
Anyway, that's the cast- not that they're going to get speaking parts, as I said at the start- just the fights and maybe and little of what happened between them. A walkthrough if you will- with stats, so there are going to be spoilers...
The back-story is McGyver has taken the job of tracking down Douven Staul, Fallcrest's senior Mage- Nimozaran, is paying well. He has therefore assembled a crack team (think the A Team) to go and get the job done. Most of the characters either owe McGyver money or a favour- the players each thought of their own reasons for saying yes to McGyver's request for help- from rescuing from the law (Winstanley), to rescuing from a bottle (Dirty). They all had a reason to put their life on the line for the Dragonborn.
So have a look/read, see what you think, is this something people would be interested in reading or is it just too dry; I’ll post the first four encounters or so and then judge the response. If there are bits you don’t understand then just ask, if there are things that I need to add (and I have the info) then I’ll make the changes.
And so to Winterhaven they go...
Catchy title!
Actually the statistical analysis is a bit of a misnomer but it got you here, read on…
And so a strange thing happened the other day, I got to play D&D 4e around a table, not so strange you may think but it's actually the first time I've done this, and the first role-playing game for me that has involved people- real people, in the flesh for... seven years.
Revelation- burning bush time, just...
I had forgotten how good it was, how much easier than playing via Maptools & Skype, nothing against it of course but nothing beats having people there to gauge reactions properly, to bring the game alive.
That aside we played KOTS, none of the players had ever played 4e before, one guy has been playing D&D and various other RPGs for over 20 years, the other four players absolute noobs.
So I read the forums here and I see there's a fair amount of chatter about how long combat is taking (‘the grind’) so we decided to run a little experiment. We decided to pass around a laptop and record in note form everything that happened, how long it took, and the consequences of said actions- for every turn, and including the bad guys. I don't know what if anything this will tell me/you/us... but we did it so I'm going to share the info- like it or not.
We used pregen characters, I'm not sure if they were intended for use with KOTS, my filing system is not what it used to be, and we used the updated KOTS version latterly made free on the Wizards website.
So the characters in game are-
McGyver, Male Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut 1
The party leader, played by the guy with the 20+ years experience, name pronounced the same way as on The Simpsons, a detective style Paladin of Bahamut- investigating for good. See Sean Connery's character in “The Name of the Rose.”
Dirty Biskit, Male Dwarven Fighter 1
A fornicating drunken dwarf, Joe Pesci in any one of the myriad gangster flicks he's been in, here he’s off the bottle, and the tail; and laconic thrown in for good measure.
Kaspard, Female Half-Elf Cleric of Bahamut 1
Sandra Bullock from Miss Congeniality, which I have of course never seen- I wouldn't tell you even if I had, you'd never look at me in the same way ever again. I figure it's a much watered down version of Sigourney Weaver's turn in any of the Alien films... only, y'know, for the kids.
Winstanley Portico, Male Halfling Rogue 1
Danny DeVito with a kind of reverse Tourettes, brought up by Sisters of the Light of Pelor, so in place of the swear words we get- “And then I CASSOCK went to the MITRE... M-M-MITRE GREAT BIG NOBBLY CASSOCK bathroom.”
Grey Morlock, Male Human Wizard 1
The cowled Mage says nothing- enigmatic and as dry as a Martini, think Christopher Walken in robes, looks a bit sissy but nobody is going to tell him that.
I had the players each think of an archetype to base their PCs on.
Anyway, that's the cast- not that they're going to get speaking parts, as I said at the start- just the fights and maybe and little of what happened between them. A walkthrough if you will- with stats, so there are going to be spoilers...
The back-story is McGyver has taken the job of tracking down Douven Staul, Fallcrest's senior Mage- Nimozaran, is paying well. He has therefore assembled a crack team (think the A Team) to go and get the job done. Most of the characters either owe McGyver money or a favour- the players each thought of their own reasons for saying yes to McGyver's request for help- from rescuing from the law (Winstanley), to rescuing from a bottle (Dirty). They all had a reason to put their life on the line for the Dragonborn.
So have a look/read, see what you think, is this something people would be interested in reading or is it just too dry; I’ll post the first four encounters or so and then judge the response. If there are bits you don’t understand then just ask, if there are things that I need to add (and I have the info) then I’ll make the changes.
And so to Winterhaven they go...
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