D&D 4E Running player commentary on PCat's 4E Campaign - Heroic tier (finished)

[Plane Sailing]

Great write-up!

I was never able to find a good spot for his better powers, since allies and enemies were pretty intermingled. Scorching Burst and Magic Missile were all I used. I wanted to use Burning Hands, since Encounter powers are a terrible thing to waste, but its indiscriminate large blast made it tactically problematic.

In the campaign which I've started running, the party are finding a 'solution' to that particular tactical problem.

Arguably 'not caring' isn't a particularly sustainable solution

I think last Sunday every member of the party had been burned or frozen at least once by at least one other member of the party (whether it was standing in the wrong place while wearing 'Armour of Agathys' or choosing to accept a certain amount of collateral damage when casting 'burning hands'!

BTW, Kudos to Piratecat for the evocative adventure setting.

Cheers

 

[Rel]

The captured goblin (who we executed after questioning) ...

Oooh! What's the Paladin's stance on that?

 

[Sagiro]

Oooh! What's the Paladin's stance on that?

Aravis (who plays Toiva) can give you the definitive answer on that, but my sense is that her stance* is "didn't care much." For one thing, these creatures had stolen a baby with the intent to eat it. For another, Toiva is not a typical "high falutin' morals" kind of paladin. She is very protective of her friends, though, which we all appreciate!

* as a stance, I think that means her attitude lasts the entire encounter, unless she changes her mind.

 

[Sagiro]

I like how you used the magical bags to make the one character quiet. Who thought up that idea?

That was Cobalt's idea. Piratecat was nice to allow it -- he's let us know that such use is likely to destroy the bags by the end of the encounter, and it reduces the wearer's speed by a square, but it's still totally worth it.

That does remind me of something that occurred to me in the game, regarding group stealth. The way PCat ruled (and which may be suggested in one of the books) is that, to speed things up, only the character with the worst party stealth has to make the check. On the one hand, that clearly helps the party, by assuming that everyone else automatically makes their check. And it speeds up play, which is always a good thing.

On the other hand, it causes the weirdness that a party with Stealths of 2, 5, 5, 5, 5 is, when moving as a group, just as likely to be spotted or heard as a party with Stealths of 2, 10, 10, 10, 10. I'm not sure if that's something to worry about or not, but it struck me as odd.

 

[Rel]

Aravis (who plays Toiva) can give you the definitive answer on that, but my sense is that her stance* is "didn't care much." For one thing, these creatures had stolen a baby with the intent to eat it. For another, Toiva is not a typical "high falutin' morals" kind of paladin. She is very protective of her friends, though, which we all appreciate!

* as a stance, I think that means her attitude lasts the entire encounter, unless she changes her mind.

I'm cool with that. My take on the Paladin has always been more of a "Authorized Slayer of Evil" rather than some goody two shoes who has to bend over backwards (or forwards) to let Evil redeem itself. But given the sheer number of Paladin/Alignment threads that ENW has sported over the years, I just had to ask.

 

[Piratecat]

On the other hand, it causes the weirdness that a party with Stealths of 2, 5, 5, 5, 5 is, when moving as a group, just as likely to be spotted or heard as a party with Stealths of 2, 10, 10, 10, 10. I'm not sure if that's something to worry about or not, but it struck me as odd.

I'm pretty sure that's an actual rule, and that you take an individual's stealth separately if they're 50' or more from the rest of the group. Thus, Logan and Cobalt scouting would use their own individual stealth, and then everyone else approaching would use Stron's or Toiva's. Of course, I could be imagining this.

Cobalt's player (Sagiro) suggested using the bags as boots. My first inclination was to say no, but then I figured what the hell; it would turn a vaguely useful permanent magic item into a very useful one-adventure magic item, it was creative, and it made complete sense in an adventure that requires stealth. Reducing movement by one square made the decision into something that wasn't a no-brainer.

Toiva, incidentally, is an unaligned paladin worshipping the God of Change (and *ahem* doppelgangers. Not that Toiva is a doppelganger. No, sirree.) She has a strong sense of justice that leans towards good in my opinion, and is dedicated to a God who opposes stagnation.

As Sagiro posited, the dog-gobblers use goblins as their base creature. They have a number of additional or swapped out abilities such as swampstomp, which alows them to move in full speed through water waist-high and lower; child's worst nightmare, which allows them to teleport short distances to a closet or the underside of a bed; and howling lullaby, which lets them work together to create a powerful sleep effect against halflings. They look and act quite differently than bog-standard goblins, but using the stats in the MM gave me a convenient place to start.

I enjoyed the battles in this game tremendously. I'm trying to always give relevant environmental aids or hindrances, such as bonfires that someone can be shoved into if necessary. Cool and meaningful battlefields was something that I first picked up from Iron Heroes, and which I love.

 

[Rel]

I enjoyed the battles in this game tremendously. I'm trying to always give relevant environmental aids or hindrances, such as bonfires that someone can be shoved into if necessary. Cool and meaningful battlefields was something that I first picked up from Iron Heroes, and which I love.

Forgive me if it's been mentioned already but are you using a battlemat and figures this time around? I know that's not been your typical style but 4e leans pretty hard in that direction. Just curious as to whether you're doing that and, if so, how you feel about it.

 

[Piratecat]

Forgive me if it's been mentioned already but are you using a battlemat and figures this time around? I know that's not been your typical style but 4e leans pretty hard in that direction. Just curious as to whether you're doing that and, if so, how you feel about it.

I'm gladly using one for the more complex battles. For instance, we didn't bother with the poor dog-gobbler door guard who got sapped by Cobalt for 29 points of damage in one hit. I kind of like battlemaps so long as the game's focus doesn't become purely tactical. I'd make a purist cry, though; my halflings were tiddly-winks, my gobblers were different colored glass beads, and the PCs are represented by a mixture of plastic and metal, painted and unpainted figures.

 

[Rel]

I'm gladly using one for the more complex battles. For instance, we didn't bother with the poor dog-gobbler door guard who got sapped by Cobalt for 29 points of damage in one hit.

Yep, that's how I do things if the roleplaying blends right into a small encounter like that.

I kind of like battlemaps so long as the game's focus doesn't become purely tactical. I'd make a purist cry, though; my halflings were tiddly-winks, my gobblers were different colored glass beads, and the PCs are represented by a mixture of plastic and metal, painted and unpainted figures.

I'm fortunate enough to game at a place where there are a LOT of available minis that I didn't have to paint. We've also amassed quite a collection of terrain over the years. We still often resort to glass beads and poker chips when we need an impromptu monster that we don't have a figure for. But I usually collect up whatever I think I'll need before the session starts.

I think my favorite thing about the battlemat, aside from how much easier it is to show the layout of a complex battle than describe it, is how much of an impact the players get from seeing a big, impressive monster come out in the form of some rather large mini.

 

[vagabundo]

Great write-up!



In the campaign which I've started running, the party are finding a 'solution' to that particular tactical problem.

Arguably 'not caring' isn't a particularly sustainable solution

I think last Sunday every member of the party had been burned or frozen at least once by at least one other member of the party (whether it was standing in the wrong place while wearing 'Armour of Agathys' or choosing to accept a certain amount of collateral damage when casting 'burning hands'!

BTW, Kudos to Piratecat for the evocative adventure setting.

Cheers

In my party, the Tiefling rogue takes the pain of burning hands quite regularly, although he does get asked first and his 5 resist fire helps soothe the burns.


Enjoying this thread a lot.