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Let's Play #4 4e Goodman Games DCC54 Forges of the Mountain King PCs End NOW WITH PICS OF PCs
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 6162032" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 18px">Let's Play #4 Goodman Games DCC54 </span></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 18px">Forges of the Mountain King (Level 1)</span></p><p></p><p>The End.</p><p></p><p>As with the previous Goodman Games scenario- we (or rather, I) love their stuff. As I stated last time I particularly like DMing these early offerings, seemingly rushed out at the start of 4e with only a limited understanding of the edition and how it works/plays. The scenario, like the DCC53 offers a number of interesting encounters, mostly lightweight (although some less so), that are parked so close to each other that they’re just bound to overlap- if the DM desires.</p><p></p><p>And I know I said all of the above before in this section of my write up for DCC53, but it bears repeating- these early scenarios, in places, make it next to impossible not to have multi-encounter pile-ups. These pile-up encounters are great because they do one of two things, either weed out the weak (I’m a mean DM), or else they scare the players half-to-death, and on successful completion make them believe they’re “top of the world, ma.” Either way they get a reaction- be it swearing and cursing, or else swearing and cursing in a slightly friendlier tone.</p><p></p><p>The original TPK (or whatever you want to call it- two PCs dead, three captured) just lit a fire under the players- particularly as the encounter (a Level 9 affair), was just almost impossible to escape. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go in to the scenario thinking this is what I would do, I generally don’t have such complex thoughts. The Let’s Play series represents a time when we would just pick up a scenario I had read through, grab a few pregens, and play- I seem to remember turning up with three scenarios- DCC53-55, reading the blurb for each and then asking the players which one they wanted to play. My point, this is 4e on the hoof, I arrive at destination with scenario and dice- maybe a bag of minis, that’s it. This is D&D as a social activity, as fun.</p><p></p><p>That said I actually wish I had taken a little more time with this scenario, particularly at the end when there were seven dwarfs (cue Snow White jokes) in play and I hadn’t made the encounters any harder, I think this was just for the last session.</p><p></p><p>Some of the old skool Goodman Games malarkey, like the Water Trap, or the Portal Trap, or the earwig in the ear set-up; some of it worked, some of it didn’t- or at least I didn’t get it to work. I think this scenario needs a good read before you play it, with a few changes here and there to ensure some of the traps and set pieces work. That said there’s just bags of stuff in here to admire, once again the titanic encounter were a rush- the PCs charging in to the next lot of bad guys to avoid being caught in the Water Trap. The guys fighting their way through wave after wave of bad guys in the Defiled Temple and the Doomgrinder Trap combined with the Deathjumper Spider in the Ruined Bridges chamber- all groovy. </p><p></p><p>The scope and the scale of the scenario make it easy to do epic, or else Heroic Epic (or some such), the players really get it that they’re fighting for their lives at times.</p><p></p><p>I wrote in the following in my review of DCC53-</p><p></p><p>‘I also like the fact that in-game the players had no idea that there was a second level to explore, it wasn’t until the pit trap opened in the Beggar King’s throne room that they had any inclination that there was more.’</p><p></p><p>Well, same again- the guys didn’t know there was a second level, or else they thought they’d found the second level of the dungeon when they removed the seal, the finale again came as a un/pleasant surprise.</p><p></p><p>I’ll end with the same again-</p><p></p><p>I think in some ways this scenario is a blast from the past, or at least my past- it’s not big, bad or overly clever, it has a lot of simple encounters that combine well together, and it has heart- clearly written by a guy who likes to see heroes tested.</p><p></p><p>One caveat, check over a few of the encounters and make sure the traps work. Oh and I’ll just say that playing it with dwarves was just a really smart idea- not a massive leap of the imagination but it worked in-game oh so well.</p><p></p><p>8.1/10</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 6162032, member: 16069"] [CENTER][SIZE="5"]Let's Play #4 Goodman Games DCC54 Forges of the Mountain King (Level 1)[/SIZE][/CENTER] The End. As with the previous Goodman Games scenario- we (or rather, I) love their stuff. As I stated last time I particularly like DMing these early offerings, seemingly rushed out at the start of 4e with only a limited understanding of the edition and how it works/plays. The scenario, like the DCC53 offers a number of interesting encounters, mostly lightweight (although some less so), that are parked so close to each other that they’re just bound to overlap- if the DM desires. And I know I said all of the above before in this section of my write up for DCC53, but it bears repeating- these early scenarios, in places, make it next to impossible not to have multi-encounter pile-ups. These pile-up encounters are great because they do one of two things, either weed out the weak (I’m a mean DM), or else they scare the players half-to-death, and on successful completion make them believe they’re “top of the world, ma.” Either way they get a reaction- be it swearing and cursing, or else swearing and cursing in a slightly friendlier tone. The original TPK (or whatever you want to call it- two PCs dead, three captured) just lit a fire under the players- particularly as the encounter (a Level 9 affair), was just almost impossible to escape. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t go in to the scenario thinking this is what I would do, I generally don’t have such complex thoughts. The Let’s Play series represents a time when we would just pick up a scenario I had read through, grab a few pregens, and play- I seem to remember turning up with three scenarios- DCC53-55, reading the blurb for each and then asking the players which one they wanted to play. My point, this is 4e on the hoof, I arrive at destination with scenario and dice- maybe a bag of minis, that’s it. This is D&D as a social activity, as fun. That said I actually wish I had taken a little more time with this scenario, particularly at the end when there were seven dwarfs (cue Snow White jokes) in play and I hadn’t made the encounters any harder, I think this was just for the last session. Some of the old skool Goodman Games malarkey, like the Water Trap, or the Portal Trap, or the earwig in the ear set-up; some of it worked, some of it didn’t- or at least I didn’t get it to work. I think this scenario needs a good read before you play it, with a few changes here and there to ensure some of the traps and set pieces work. That said there’s just bags of stuff in here to admire, once again the titanic encounter were a rush- the PCs charging in to the next lot of bad guys to avoid being caught in the Water Trap. The guys fighting their way through wave after wave of bad guys in the Defiled Temple and the Doomgrinder Trap combined with the Deathjumper Spider in the Ruined Bridges chamber- all groovy. The scope and the scale of the scenario make it easy to do epic, or else Heroic Epic (or some such), the players really get it that they’re fighting for their lives at times. I wrote in the following in my review of DCC53- ‘I also like the fact that in-game the players had no idea that there was a second level to explore, it wasn’t until the pit trap opened in the Beggar King’s throne room that they had any inclination that there was more.’ Well, same again- the guys didn’t know there was a second level, or else they thought they’d found the second level of the dungeon when they removed the seal, the finale again came as a un/pleasant surprise. I’ll end with the same again- I think in some ways this scenario is a blast from the past, or at least my past- it’s not big, bad or overly clever, it has a lot of simple encounters that combine well together, and it has heart- clearly written by a guy who likes to see heroes tested. One caveat, check over a few of the encounters and make sure the traps work. Oh and I’ll just say that playing it with dwarves was just a really smart idea- not a massive leap of the imagination but it worked in-game oh so well. 8.1/10 [/QUOTE]
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