JeffB
Legend
Been IDK how many months...several packets ago anyway.
SPOILERS FOR HOLLOWS LAST HOPE AND TSC
Ran the group through The Sunless Citadel, tying it into a GH plot I have going for them involving Iuz and their homelands in Bissel. The Citadel is the recent abode of a Priest of Iuz(instead of Belak), gathering forces to take over the local town, the PCs foiled his intial plot to poison the town (hollows last hope- I placed Falcons Hollow and the adventure sites at the northeastern tip of the Barrier Peaks) and is in cahoots with the Hucrele Merchant family (supplying the Lumber Consortium, who has been infiltrated by secret members of Iuz' cult). Playing off the suggested "for hire" hook in TSC, the Hucrele Matriarch hired the PCs to go to the Citadel and find her "missing" son and daughter, and their companions- a paladin of Pelor (who the priest of Iuz particularly wanted tortured and killed), and the 4th member of the party whose name I forget ATM.
Basically the PCs were seen as a big threat by the Priest of Iuz after the events of HLH, and they were set up to go meet their doom at the hand of the Goblinoids and/or the Hucreles/Priest of Iuz. The Kobolds remained as normal, except their dragon was taken by the Goblins and given to the Priest of Iuz to train or sacrifice as needed.
Anyhoo...We had the pregen Eleven Mage, the Halfling rogue, the Human Cleric of Pelor (off to find the missing paladin of his order, as well as help find the Hucreles), and a Human Fighter rolled up.All 1st level (as it was a playtest session, I kept them at level one, instead of going up to 2 as they should have after completing HLH as 3.5 character...IOW..same characters as were run in 3.5, just subbed the NEXT pregens and gave them the same names,)
I used all the stats where I could as in the newest NEXT Bestiary. As well as with DCs for checks.
Some observations about Combat- The PCs hit hard often, and did not get hit too often, but when they did get hit, they got slammed . The Cleric went unconscious and dying in the very first encounter with a Dire Rat, as well as later with the Hobgoblin "king" and his bodyguard. The Fighter was hovering around 1-3 HP a few times as was the Rogue. I did not fudge but kept feeling like there was going to be a TPK or 3 out of 4 anyway. Interestingly enough, the Mage never took any damage, and he was actually pretty potent with his longbow once his spells ran out.
Speaking of spells running out- Having run 4E Essentials mostly as of late, I really appreciate the AEDU format for Spellcasters more now. I know not everyone likes, but I do like the varying power level between AW/E/Ds and the fact that the spellcaster is not totally gimped if they do not rest for the night or have the time to do so (thanks to at wills, and the refreshed Encounter spell after 4Es short rest).
I felt the 1st level Figher and Cleric were pretty boring. The fighter has a second wind, but nothing to really make him stand out on offense other than being able to crank out a few more points of damage on average. The Cleric instead of the Holy Warrior bringing down Pelors Wrath played very much like a low level cleric of OD&D (take your pick..Holmes, Moldvay, BECMI)...a couple healing spells, bless, a fire based cantrip/orison which wasnt too useful. I felt like 3.X, PF, and 4E do a much more exciting job with the low level Cleric & Fighter class.
The Wizards magic missle was a bit more fun with 3 missles per casting, but had he not been an elf with longbow and shortsword proficiency, again I think we would be back to OD&D 1st level MUs for the most part, trying to throw a dagger, dart or hiding
Now keep in mind I cut my teeth on the LBBs and Moldvay/Cook/Marsh is my fave rules set...but as I have gotten older, I just do not care for classes that cannot at least pull their weight for more than a round or two in a fight, so in my OD&D/S&W mashup games I have beefed up the PCs a bit to put them closer in power to a 3.0 1st level character by adding a feat, at will spell, or special ability, but using OD&D "math/numbers".
The Rogue- Not sure where I stand here. With no "skills" laid out on the sheet (whether ranked or percentile) , and just calling for a DEX check with expertise die when doing thiefy stuff was a bit strange, but I do love the Expertise die (and loved the now defunct Martial Dice mechanic). The two weapon fighting was fun, but despite its lower damage, when he connected with both swords, I could tell the Fighters player was a bit pissed. It was more exciting than anything the fighter could do. IMO, that is a problem. Yes as Fighters level up they get cool maneuvers, but he still should be the showboat on the battlefield regardless of level.
I dug the Fields of Lore. Came in handy a few times, and worked well enough.... far simpler than skill systems, but ultimately accomplished the same thing in these cases.
Combats were quick. But as I said, I felt like the PCs overwhelmed the Monsters for the most part, taking down foe after foe with ease, but when they got hit, they got HURT. I personally prefer combats where everyone is capable of making lots of hits and taking lots of hits, like in 4E and the randomness of the dice roll is not quite as influential as it can be in say S&W. Not to say I want everything to be automatic, but there are those days when someone is having a crappy dice day, and it can really drag a game down, IME. I realize not everyone likey , and thats OK too.
Roleplaying wise, the adventure ran great, Meepo and the Kobold Queen, the Goblins and Hobgoblins under Iuz, etc. We had several roleplaying encounters and two or three times I called for Charisma checks when the PCs were bluffing and whatnot. And a few times, they took prisoners and were trying to get info out the Goblins that was interesting too.
Overall they made it through the Kobold areas with the promise of finding the Dragon, then fought and BS'ed their way through Goblin Town (they set off the bell alarm), and just arrived on the lower level when I called time.
I have mixed feelings about the current rules. They felt like a quirky and clunky OD&D variant. I felt like I could have just run my normal OD&D/S&W game, and been able to run the session much smoother and with more excitement. But that may also be unfamiliarity with a few things and having to look up Bestiary monster stats on my NOOK reader.. In OD&D/S&W, I can just wing a set of stats in seconds that accomplish the same thing.
But overall that is what kind of has me still "meh" about NEXT. With a few houserules and additions to S&W, I already have been running this type of D&D game for a few years now.
Sorry for the ramble...I am kind of all over the place just typing this up as things come to mind.
SPOILERS FOR HOLLOWS LAST HOPE AND TSC
Ran the group through The Sunless Citadel, tying it into a GH plot I have going for them involving Iuz and their homelands in Bissel. The Citadel is the recent abode of a Priest of Iuz(instead of Belak), gathering forces to take over the local town, the PCs foiled his intial plot to poison the town (hollows last hope- I placed Falcons Hollow and the adventure sites at the northeastern tip of the Barrier Peaks) and is in cahoots with the Hucrele Merchant family (supplying the Lumber Consortium, who has been infiltrated by secret members of Iuz' cult). Playing off the suggested "for hire" hook in TSC, the Hucrele Matriarch hired the PCs to go to the Citadel and find her "missing" son and daughter, and their companions- a paladin of Pelor (who the priest of Iuz particularly wanted tortured and killed), and the 4th member of the party whose name I forget ATM.
Basically the PCs were seen as a big threat by the Priest of Iuz after the events of HLH, and they were set up to go meet their doom at the hand of the Goblinoids and/or the Hucreles/Priest of Iuz. The Kobolds remained as normal, except their dragon was taken by the Goblins and given to the Priest of Iuz to train or sacrifice as needed.
Anyhoo...We had the pregen Eleven Mage, the Halfling rogue, the Human Cleric of Pelor (off to find the missing paladin of his order, as well as help find the Hucreles), and a Human Fighter rolled up.All 1st level (as it was a playtest session, I kept them at level one, instead of going up to 2 as they should have after completing HLH as 3.5 character...IOW..same characters as were run in 3.5, just subbed the NEXT pregens and gave them the same names,)
I used all the stats where I could as in the newest NEXT Bestiary. As well as with DCs for checks.
Some observations about Combat- The PCs hit hard often, and did not get hit too often, but when they did get hit, they got slammed . The Cleric went unconscious and dying in the very first encounter with a Dire Rat, as well as later with the Hobgoblin "king" and his bodyguard. The Fighter was hovering around 1-3 HP a few times as was the Rogue. I did not fudge but kept feeling like there was going to be a TPK or 3 out of 4 anyway. Interestingly enough, the Mage never took any damage, and he was actually pretty potent with his longbow once his spells ran out.
Speaking of spells running out- Having run 4E Essentials mostly as of late, I really appreciate the AEDU format for Spellcasters more now. I know not everyone likes, but I do like the varying power level between AW/E/Ds and the fact that the spellcaster is not totally gimped if they do not rest for the night or have the time to do so (thanks to at wills, and the refreshed Encounter spell after 4Es short rest).
I felt the 1st level Figher and Cleric were pretty boring. The fighter has a second wind, but nothing to really make him stand out on offense other than being able to crank out a few more points of damage on average. The Cleric instead of the Holy Warrior bringing down Pelors Wrath played very much like a low level cleric of OD&D (take your pick..Holmes, Moldvay, BECMI)...a couple healing spells, bless, a fire based cantrip/orison which wasnt too useful. I felt like 3.X, PF, and 4E do a much more exciting job with the low level Cleric & Fighter class.
The Wizards magic missle was a bit more fun with 3 missles per casting, but had he not been an elf with longbow and shortsword proficiency, again I think we would be back to OD&D 1st level MUs for the most part, trying to throw a dagger, dart or hiding
Now keep in mind I cut my teeth on the LBBs and Moldvay/Cook/Marsh is my fave rules set...but as I have gotten older, I just do not care for classes that cannot at least pull their weight for more than a round or two in a fight, so in my OD&D/S&W mashup games I have beefed up the PCs a bit to put them closer in power to a 3.0 1st level character by adding a feat, at will spell, or special ability, but using OD&D "math/numbers".
The Rogue- Not sure where I stand here. With no "skills" laid out on the sheet (whether ranked or percentile) , and just calling for a DEX check with expertise die when doing thiefy stuff was a bit strange, but I do love the Expertise die (and loved the now defunct Martial Dice mechanic). The two weapon fighting was fun, but despite its lower damage, when he connected with both swords, I could tell the Fighters player was a bit pissed. It was more exciting than anything the fighter could do. IMO, that is a problem. Yes as Fighters level up they get cool maneuvers, but he still should be the showboat on the battlefield regardless of level.
I dug the Fields of Lore. Came in handy a few times, and worked well enough.... far simpler than skill systems, but ultimately accomplished the same thing in these cases.
Combats were quick. But as I said, I felt like the PCs overwhelmed the Monsters for the most part, taking down foe after foe with ease, but when they got hit, they got HURT. I personally prefer combats where everyone is capable of making lots of hits and taking lots of hits, like in 4E and the randomness of the dice roll is not quite as influential as it can be in say S&W. Not to say I want everything to be automatic, but there are those days when someone is having a crappy dice day, and it can really drag a game down, IME. I realize not everyone likey , and thats OK too.
Roleplaying wise, the adventure ran great, Meepo and the Kobold Queen, the Goblins and Hobgoblins under Iuz, etc. We had several roleplaying encounters and two or three times I called for Charisma checks when the PCs were bluffing and whatnot. And a few times, they took prisoners and were trying to get info out the Goblins that was interesting too.
Overall they made it through the Kobold areas with the promise of finding the Dragon, then fought and BS'ed their way through Goblin Town (they set off the bell alarm), and just arrived on the lower level when I called time.
I have mixed feelings about the current rules. They felt like a quirky and clunky OD&D variant. I felt like I could have just run my normal OD&D/S&W game, and been able to run the session much smoother and with more excitement. But that may also be unfamiliarity with a few things and having to look up Bestiary monster stats on my NOOK reader.. In OD&D/S&W, I can just wing a set of stats in seconds that accomplish the same thing.
But overall that is what kind of has me still "meh" about NEXT. With a few houserules and additions to S&W, I already have been running this type of D&D game for a few years now.
Sorry for the ramble...I am kind of all over the place just typing this up as things come to mind.
