Looking to play 4E for more than an hour at Gen Con

[Noumenon]

My friends and I did the RPGA's Delve the last two years, it was a good time, almost broke my brain learning the new character classes. But I think this year I'm looking for something that lasts a little longer, gives you time to learn to work as a team, and incorporates some of the non-combat elements of D&D like exploration and interrogation. Is there anything like that for 4E that I can do with my two friends?

Options I saw in the event list:

• Wizards is doing a Dark Sun arena, but it appears to be bring-your-own-character deathmatches -- very bizarre.
• The RPGA offers pickup games, but it sounds like even the DM is improvising for those -- I'd rather have something prepared.
• I guess there are tournaments, although I didn't see Goodman Games running any of them. Can my friends and I have fun in those? I know we go to Magic tournaments and have fun without being super competitive.
• Didn't see anything at GenCon 2010 Game Scheduling Forum - EN World D&D / RPG News .

Are there events not yet on the schedule to watch out for?

 

[Mark]

I'm not sure that most convention gaming is geared toward that sort of thing. No matter what you do, please keep this thread bookmarked and make a post-convention report on your findings.

 

[JediSoth]

One of the guys over at OK--Your Turn is trying to put together a scheduled, off-grid 4E game. He's still working out the details (especially WHEN to run it), but the game he ran last year was well-received.

 

[Iceman]

Is there anything like that for 4E that I can do with my two friends?

Yeah, most of the rpga's LFR events would qualify, I think. The ones labeled Mini are for 1st level characters, there are three of them that tell a connected story (and probably advance the character to 2nd level along the way).
But you have to bring your own characters.

The RPGA offers pickup games, but it sounds like even the DM is improvising for those -- I'd rather have something prepared.

If I'm thinking of the same thing you are, it's actually an LFR module pickup game. So it's existing material, with a prepped judge, just not a fixed schedule of which ones and when.
Again, byoc.

-VIC

 

[pedr]

It's a long way from 'standard' D&D, and they may have stuck with a loose interpretation of 3.5, but NASCRAG run a fun event. Pre-generated characters, team tournament, lots of puzzles and roleplaying and very little combat. Might prove interesting (or at least a fun way to spend four hours!)

I think there is also a Ravenloft-themed 'Classic' (i.e. pregenerated characters) event run by the RPGA (Edit: It's called 'Curse of the Gray Hag'). RPGA events can be difficult to get pre-registered tickets for as they often sell out, but more get added from time to time and you can quite often get lucky if you turn up at the RPGA are with generics. GenCon are also putting any D&D games in the same room as the RPGA, by default, so non-RPGA D&D games will tend to be in that area too. How that will be organised I don't know, but it may be that RPGA HQ will try to help match floating gamers to spaces in any appropriate games, whether RPGA-organised or not.

 

[Hand of Evil]

NASCRAG can change the way you game, it if fun, crazy and very enjoyable.

 

[Piratecat]

In the next month or so you'll be seeing a great number of off-grid games run by EN Worlders, and listed in the Gen Con scheduling sub-forum up at the top of General. Some of those will be 4e!

 

[Noumenon]

I really didn't do a good job of understanding the game descriptions. The Dark Sun arena is obviously not player versus player when I reread it.

I realized that being able to bring your own character is actually a tremendous plus and something 4E is awesome for allowing. I've only played 3.5 at GenCon and they all had pregens so as not to be broken.

Would all of the RPGA pickup games be for 1st levels? Seems like you'd have to be quite lucky to show up and find four other people with fifth level characters.

How can you possibly tell from the Gray Hag adventure's description that it has pregens? Did you go to the listed website?

The mists roll in at the village of Nightshade Hollows, where fearful residents are falling prey to a wicked denizen with a terrible secret. Can you unravel the mystery of the town’s curse before you succumb to it as well? A heroic-tier adventure.

Right now the MINI thing sounds like my best bet (except for not getting to play my 5th-level wizard). It will have the four-hour time frame and plot, but I'd have to be super lucky to convince my friends to go back for the next two parts. And it looks like they have infinite tickets (59 for one time slot!) so we'll be able to get in. Go RPGA!

None of us are professional roleplayers (one of my friends only plays at GenCon) so I think it makes more sense to do a mass event than an Enworld one. But, I would love to play with people from here so I will keep an eye on doing that by myself.

 

[Herschel]

5th level might be a bit dodgy, but the "pickup" games could have DMs with H2 (level 4-7 games prepared.

Having not played any RPGA before at Gen Con I'm hitting it hard myself with five sessions scheduled (morning Minis and Paragon Pt1/Pt2). I just need to get to the high end of level 14 (just hit level 13) so I can ding after Part 1. I really want to be at 15th for Part 2 as a defender.

 

[pedr]

If you choose to play Living Forgotten Realms adventures, you can only play a character which was created as an LFR character and has only played in LFR adventures. In other words, unless you play before the convention, the only listed/scheduled LFR games you'll be able to play are the three MINI adventures.

As I understand it, RPGA HQ will try to match players to LFR GMs willing to run LFR adventures, so if you point out to a marshal that you only have a 1st (or second, after the MINI adventures) level character they'll try to find you more games for it. Usually I'd suggest you find a local group to start playing LFR with before GenCon, but actually this year the scheduled/planned games are either for characters of levels 1-4 (the MINI adventures) or characters of much higher level, and you'd have to work very hard to get to 11th level with an LFR character between now and GenCon, unless you're playing a lot!

So the RPGA pick-up games are not ones where you can drop in any character you happen to have played locally - you would have to have levelled the character up in the LFR system to play.

I only know that the Ravenloft adventure is characters provided because I'm (just) enough of an RPGA old-timer that I know that 'Classic' means 'provided characters' in RPGA-speak. The GenCon catalogue doesn't do a great job in communicating the details of the RPGA, but the net's full of people who can help navigate its oddities, so do keep asking questions! There's a whole message-board of RPGA people here: RPGA forums who can help with any other questions you've got.

One other note - remember that if you only get to play MINI2-1 at the convention, you will, at some point later in the year, be able to play it elsewhere, or even in a virtual chatroom/tabletop over the Internet, as Living Forgotten Realms is a world-wide persistent campaign. If you need help finding local or online people to play with, or want to set up a group to play RPGA adventures, get in touch here or on the WotC forums.

Have fun! (I'm jealous. I'm stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic!)