Keep on the Shadowfell preview

[malraux]

This would be some much easier if they'd just release the rules.

 

[FireLance]

Do you think this means that if a sword and board fighter wants to prevent an enemy from disengaging him, he'll have to override the paladin's mark?

Not really. Based on the text, the fighter does not have to mark an opponent he attacks, and the immediate interrupt basic attack works with any adjacent enemy, not just those he has marked.

 

[bjorn2bwild]

first off, a humongous thank you to thalmin for giving us all of these sweet scoops.

One thing I'd like to ask (that I haven't seen so far in this thread) is can you list the fighter's damage with his maul?

I'm wondering if we can determine what the benefits are for wielding weapons two handed.

 

[lvl20dm]

The Fighter is doing 2d6+3 with the Maul with a +6 to the basic attack. He is STR 16 and is getting a +1 to attack with 2-hnd weapons as a Class Feature. Looks like the big advantage to 2-hnd weapons is simple damage (and likely Power choices).

 

[AsmodeusDM]

Looks pretty good...

I think several other people have already done so, but I stopped by my FLGS today too after work and after mentioning that I knew about the staff pulled it out from beneath the counter. They know me and that store is mostly for comics so I got to sit with the packet for about 20 minutes.

The adventure itself looks to be IMHO exciting.

Spoiler

The adventure details 3-4 wilderness encounters. Mostly kobolds and the like.

The keep has two levels. The actual layout of the keep seems very very similar to Sunless Citadel (from way back in 2000).

The first level is pretty large and contains lots of rooms and encounters, I'd say 10.

The second level is smaller, but the rooms are also a lot bigger. Including the big "main rift" area.

The whole thing seems pretty combat intensive. I did see one room with a trap style encounter. A central statue that swings around a big sword with dragon statues in the corners that breathe fire.

There's two? dialogue/roleplaying spots within the adventure that I could see.

The fights themselves.. well boy they are sure going to take getting used to. Even with the minion rules it's so daunting to see an encounter with 16 enemy models in it. The encounter areas are big and the design seems to be solid.

I didn't read completely in depth.. but I am worried that some of the fights could be a little lack-luster on the enviroment side. i.e. instead of a 30 x 30 room with orcs it's now a 60 x 60 room with 10 kobolds. but maybe I"m just missing something.

The maps look good.. but I'm a little miffed by their uber-D&Dminis-esque nature. They don't have map labels.. but one wilderness map has a sacred circle type thing with the +2 to hit bonus.

That's fine for minis.. not so much for core D&D..

I was really hoping to get something more along the lines of what I got in Red Hand of Doom (that was fantastic!!)

Also too I haven't read through every post. But I know that the one ability the fighter gets at 3rd level is a melee attack that's 3[W]+Str damage, BUT, it's 1/encounter... not daily


Might head back tomorrow to peruse some more!!!

 

[bjorn2bwild]

The Fighter is doing 2d6+3 with the Maul with a +6 to the basic attack. He is STR 16 and is getting a +1 to attack with 2-hnd weapons as a Class Feature. Looks like the big advantage to 2-hnd weapons is simple damage (and likely Power choices).

Awesome. And thanks also to you for providing this and much other crunchy goodness

 

[Primal]

The adventure announces to the DM where some "Safe Havens" are, places the party can take an extended rest. Also, notes where characters may have leveled up at the end of a couple encounters.

There are some encounter areas which are not included on the poster maps, so a Battle Mat or Dungeon Tiles will be helpful (no layouts suggested for the Dungeon Tiles, unfortunately). Perhaps DDI will provide downloadable maps?

edit: The back of the package does say "For use with these ... products:" then lists the core books, D&D Miniatures, and D&D Dungeon Tiles.

Instant Level-Ups? I'm looking at you, MMORPGs/CRPGs. Does the adventure include some nice melodies that the DM can play whenever that happens? Or Quest Cards that you can hand out saying: "LEVEL UP: You heal to your maximum HPs and all your spent powers are restored. Refer to PHB to pick your new abilities." ;P

 

[Primal]

"I punch the Iron Golem, hitting AC 44!"
"You break your hand"
"Huh"
"Seriously, have you every tried punching Iron? Your hand would break well before you did anything to the Iron."

Why should Rogues (or Fighters) be constrained by the Laws of Physics when no-one else is?

I was referring to the fact that you're able to "shift" *any* monster/NPC, regardless of its INT. Why would an iron golem or bulette even *care* about trying to dodge a dagger?

As for punching an Iron Golem, haven't seen that happen, ever (monks are banned in my group).

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm highly disappointed that 4 of the maps are re-prints (w/o the DDM stuff) of maps from the forgotten locations' line. I expect new art. This is very annoying.

Ooh, really? That's bad. Which maps are these? The ones from Fields of Ruin?

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Instant Level-Ups? I'm looking at you, MMORPGs/CRPGs. Does the adventure include some nice melodies that the DM can play whenever that happens? Or Quest Cards that you can hand out saying: "LEVEL UP: You heal to your maximum HPs and all your spent powers are restored. Refer to PHB to pick your new abilities." ;P

Why would you give quest cards for leveling up? Quests grant XP? Do you want to create an XP perpetuum mobile?

I think the DM is required to whistle the melodies. I think I made that up read that in some blog. I suppose they might offer some sounds in the DDI at a later date.

Instant Level Ups are not the same as "places" where the characters might have leveled up. Our group always uses natural pauses (like evening rest) to calculate and hand out XP. But we've given up training rules nearly since day one. (And our sessions are long enough that it's possible to level up twice during a session, if we started already close to the next level)

I was referring to the fact that you're able to "shift" *any* monster/NPC, regardless of its INT. Why would an iron golem or bulette even *care* about trying to dodge a dagger?

They just don't want to get killed. It's not the Iron Golems directive to be destroyed, and the bulette dislikes pain, too.