Epic-tier one shot: suggestions

[Mentat55]

I am running an epic-level one shot this weekend for my gaming group, we've previously given 4e a whirl with heroic-tier PCs, and they really wanted to see the highest levels of the game.

The session will be about 5-6 hours long, and there will be four PCs: eladrin ranger, eladrin paladin, dwarf fighter, and goliath cleric.

My own ideas: since our other adventure involved gnolls, I thought something involving demons and Yeenoghu might be cool; of course, an encounter with an ancient dragon would be classic as well. I've also been taking a look at pieces of Tomb of the Sand King's Daughter and maybe adapting that to a single session.

I was wondering if anyone had tried something similar and had ideas they wanted to share.

 

[RangerWickett]

I did try something like that, and my conclusion was that epic is something you need more than one session to really enjoy. Unless the group is used to their characters, the game slows down as people try to keep track of all the various powers they have. I mean, we had fun, but the game did not go quickly.

At epic level, with characters the players aren't familiar with, I figure you'll get 3 combat encounters in during 5 or 6 hours. Which should work okay for a 3-act structure.

I'd recommend:

1. Remember the standard caveats about avoiding 'grind.' Avoid using more than one monster at a time that can stun or daze PCs. (Also, just don't use Dracoliches.) In general, it's better to use monsters of the party's level or below, rather than tossing a handful of higher level foes at them. Players tend to enjoy games less when they miss a lot, or when they don't get to hit at all.

2. A lot of people feel that solos, especially at high level, should _not_ be played solo. If you want a big dragon fight, you're better off with a 'solo' that's a level or two lower than the party, with some weenie monsters to support it and keep the PCs from just surrounding it and kicking it into the dirt.

3. Unless your group is just in it for the tactical aspect, don't neglect storyline and roleplaying for a one-shot. Even if your goal is just to put the system through its paces, your players will have more fun if they care about taking down the villain.

4. Use re-skinning liberally. There hasn't been enough stuff published yet to give you exactly the rules you want for everything, but if you need a few demonic gnoll paladins, you're probably safe if you just use those high-level legion devil minions.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

For the story benefit, maybe the adventure is actually related to what the PCs are doing in the regular campaign? Maybe it happened in the past by ancient heroes, or is about their future selves, or some other heroes trying to stop something bad from happening (Nice if it would end in a TPK then ).

At least the first one or two encounters will probably be hard, as people get to accustomed with their characters, their parties and the different abilities they have at their disposal. I suggest designing the first encounters to be a little easier on them, maybe allowing them to show off their strenght. (Later encounters could do the reverse, targeting their weaknesses - without necessarily being higher level at first.)

 

[Piratecat]

I did try something like that, and my conclusion was that epic is something you need more than one session to really enjoy. Unless the group is used to their characters, the game slows down as people try to keep track of all the various powers they have. I mean, we had fun, but the game did not go quickly.

This. There's a great big learning curve at first. I'd focus the game more on roleplaying than combat if you don't want it to drag.

 

[the Jester]

Even a paragon-level one shot has a steep, steep learning curve. If you are really going to do this, throw in a quick easy fight early on so that the pcs have a chance to learn their characters. And don't be surprised if you don't get much done.

After running a paragon-level game at a con, I have become convinced that one offs are best done in the heroic tier.

 

[Mentat55]

Well, they have played 4e once before, so many of the changes made to the rules they are now familiar with. They seemed to get the hang of the heroic PCs pretty quickly.

The increase in the sheer number of powers, however, is a big change at epic level. I've tried to keep the characters pretty simple -- none of the really complex or poorly worded powers, only a few conditional feats (most of the feats are invisible and added into the stats), and two of the characters are the epic versions of the PCs they played in the last 4e session we tried.

One of the players had two requests: (1) a part of the session that did not showcase 4e, basically a rules-free, RP scene or scenes, and (2) a situation where I/we can show off page 42. Any suggestions for the latter? Seems to me that some sort of challenge that is has a lot of interactive terrain / hazards / traps might lend itself towards that, but I am not sure.

 

[Otterscrubber]

Ya, it's kinda like buying a WoW character on Ebay. They will rock but you will not know what you are doing with them if you're not used to playing them. The powers you get have so much going on, especially for Warlords, that play does slow down as everyone reads the fine print on what all should be happening.

 

[SlyFlourish]

I have a couple of suggestions:

1. Have them generate their own characters. I used pre-gens and the players didn't like them. One player stated that how good a pregen is is inversely proportional to the level. The higher they are, the more pregens suck.

2. I did a level 26 pregen game against a dungeon delve and the monsters, in general, did far too little damage. I suggest adding either +1/2 level or replacing the damage modifier with the level of the creature. Minions can do damage equal to level. Elites and solos should probably have their hitpoints reduced by 1/2 or 1/4. The ancient black dragon took FOREVER to even bloody.

3. You could also houserule some things to make it faster such as using average damage, doubling damage on crits, or other quickplay things.