Session report - Victory over Orcus, escape from the Abyss?

[S'mon]

Very much so. Pulp science-ey. I mean, we know that each layer of the Abyss is sort of several siloed dimensional spaces and not a building (therefore subject to load dynamics) or composed of continental crust dynamics. But screw it! Marvel Universe science is much more fun.



Let us hope for the latter. It is many times over more interesting (at least to me)!

+1





I've always had a secret love affair with cool models and miniatures. I think they're incredible. But its a love affair complicated by my minimalist leanings (in all things but my prose...). I don't like having lots of "stuff"...even if it is nifty stuff. So while I can admire how awesome your balor miniature is (and likely a collection of them), my games inevitably are kindred to pemerton's; "The terrifying specter of the 3 * 3 creature wades into your midst, dominating the battlefield with his square edges, leering at you with the horrific "B" on his torso."

I take a variety of approaches - my Classic D&D game is often mini-less or else just Paizo pawns, but the 4e game definitely goes heavy on spectacle. Here's Glyphy flanked by his chums, from the session account at
http://frloudwater.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/session-89-2781484-glyphimors-trap.html



Even with careful shopping that's about £45 of plastic just for the three of them.

 

[Manbearcat]

I take a variety of approaches - my Classic D&D game is often mini-less or else just Paizo pawns, but the 4e game definitely goes heavy on spectacle. Here's Glyphy flanked by his chums, from the session account at
http://frloudwater.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/session-89-2781484-glyphimors-trap.html

Even with careful shopping that's about £45 of plastic just for the three of them.

Yeah, it makes sense that it also becomes a costly investment. But those things look pretty fancy on your table and I'm sure they add some fine theater to the action!

 

[S'mon]

Yeah, it makes sense that it also becomes a costly investment. But those things look pretty fancy on your table and I'm sure they add some fine theater to the action!

One reason it works in 4e is that when you plonk down the giant mini, you know it'll be there awhile. Unlike 3e/Pathfinder where the wizard or summoner may just cast something to end or trivialise the battle.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

One reason it works in 4e is that when you plonk down the giant mini, you know it'll be there awhile. Unlike 3e/Pathfinder where the wizard or summoner may just cast something to end or trivialise the battle.

That's a really good point. I also spent a few dollars on some key minis - such as aspects of Bane, Demogorgon, and Graz'zt - for this reason: at least with 4E they're going to get table time.

 

[S'mon]

That's a really good point. I also spent a few dollars on some key minis - such as aspects of Bane, Demogorgon, and Graz'zt - for this reason: at least with 4E they're going to get table time.

I spent a bunch on my Graz'zt mini purely for nostalgia, he was the main antagonist of my first really big campaign, 1e AD&D, back in high school in the '80s, and I'll always have a soft spot for him.

I'm finding running high level Pathfinder pretty frustrating in that I can put a fair bit of work into setting up a battle (even just grokking what the AP says takes a long time) only for it to be totally nerfed by the Summoner in round 1. Doesn't always happen, but there is no way to know whether a particular BBEG will be a damp squib. This really is not an issue in 4e; if I make sure the monsters are MM3 compliant (avg dmg = Level+8, x1.5 for Elite, x3 for Solo), I'm golden.

 

[Manbearcat]

One reason it works in 4e is that when you plonk down the giant mini, you know it'll be there awhile. Unlike 3e/Pathfinder where the wizard or summoner may just cast something to end or trivialise the battle.

Oh 4e, how I love the way your beautifully consistent encounter budgets never wibble or wobble. The way your monsters always show up, stick around, and do their thing as I expect. The ease by which I can construct a compelling battlefield and have it interact with PC and NPC abilities just as I foresee.

/smitten