D&D 4e + new players = PURE WIN!!!

[Rechan]

So, how did yesterday's session go?

 

[Gothmog]

So, how did yesterday's session go?

Really well, thanks for asking. We got a seven hour session in, with about a one hour break in the middle for grilling some burgers and chicken.

We picked up with the group in the chapel, and the elf cleric awakening for morning devotions. While praying, he realized the vanished priest used to keep personal effects between the mattress of his bed and the bedframe. Searching there, he found a short journal (which I typed up in character and printed on parchment paper) recounting the priest's strange experiences and trying to calm to the townsfolk, strange visions he experienced (which he interpreted as messages from Pelor), and his gradual descent into paranoia involving the townspeople trying to hurt him. He also foresaw the PC cleric coming to check on him, and wrote a personal message for him, which kind of unnerved the player. In reality, the priest is slowly being influenced by an embryonic creature from the Far Realm trying to escape confinement. The players spent about 45 minutes reading over the journal and deciding on their next course of action.

The backstory for this adventure is something along these lines: About 500 years ago, a meteorite fell to earth a short distance from where the town (Flint Hollow) would eventually be. Something had descended from the night sky- a nameless horror encapsulated in an amber-like resin, a seed of evil from the Far Realm. An eladrin warlock named Corander found it and was corrupted by the seed, which he named the Dreaming Stone due to its abilities to infect the dreams and instill madness in those who were nearby (eventually this will affect the townspeople of Flint Hollow as well). Corander founded a cult dedicated to understanding the dreams from the Stone, and to act as its will made manifest in the world. After corrupting several towns in the vicinity, Corander and his cult were defeated by a group of adventurers lead by a cleric of Ioun named Cytheria. Realizing that allowing information about the Dreaming Stone to spread would be very dangerous, but unable to find a way to destroy it, Cytheria and druids from the north entombed the stone under the henge, using the magic of the site to contain the evil of the stone and mask it from detection. All was fine until about a month ago, when a group of goblins tunneling in the area from the underdark broke into the caverns beneath the henge and broke some of the wards keeping the Stone dormant. Now the tribe of goblins is in thrall to the Stone and have been warped by its power, and another warlock, a human warlock named Jorath, has been made the unwilling apostle of the Dreaming Stone- a high priest of madness tasked with awakening the Stone and spreading its evil to the outside world. As the Dreaming Stone awakens, small rifts allow minor Far Realms creatures into the world (mostly Fell Taints), but a small gibbering mouther (level 3) has also been pulled though to serve the Dreaming Stone/Jorath. Oswin (the missing priest) has been touched by the psychic powers of the Stone and partially corrupted by it. He is struggling to fight off its influence, but if the party doesn't reach him in the next few days and drive the Dreaming Stone back to dormancy, he will be fully corrupted. The area of forest turned crystalline is where the Dreaming Stone originally landed, and when the goblins broke the seals, it triggered a massive eruption of magical power that manifested as storm, and eldritch lightning repeatedly struck the area, transforming the forest.

After reading the journal, the party went to investigate the forest, and while there observed a man wandering about, collecting broken shards from the branches and leaves. They approached and questioned the man, who said he was an apprentice wizard who had heard rumors about the forest and wanted to collect some of the shards for study. Even though he seemed nervous at having been found, the party believed him, but the shadar-kai rogue (a devout follower of the Raven Queen) kept having nagging feelings something was wrong. The man is actually an acolyte of Orcus sent to collect some shards by his cult in hopes that the shards might be used to make more potent undead creatures. He's part of a separate subplot and foreshadowing for an adventure in the future, but the rogue might decide to do something about him before he leaves in about one day if she acts quickly enough.

After this, they group followed up on some other leads, questioning townsfolk Oswin mentioned in his journal. They learned the strange lights seen in the hills were near "those old stones" out north of town, and that a local boy had been having nightly dreams about his brother (who vanished searching for the cause of the lights) wanting him to come to the stones so they could be a family again. The group then went to the ancient henge, and some searching uncovered that some of the stones had toppled recently, leaving a depression in the earth beneath the largest of them. Going down the pit, the group ended up in a cavern complex, and began exploring. They quickly came upon some of the mutated goblins, and a raucus battle ensued that pulled gobins from another encounter into the fight. The group eventually won, but not before being pretty badly wounded. Luckily, the other goblins deeper in the caves weren't alerted, and the group is considering resting in the caves. That is where we left off.

Everybody had a great time, and the party chemistry and inter-PC roleplaying was even better this session. This was the second time we'd done any combat in this campaign, so the first fight was a little bit slower than normal. But by the end of the combined encounters, the group had the basics of combat down, and were already using teamwork, flanking, etc to work together very well. Where this group is really shining though is in their roleplaying and the enjoyment they have with interacting with NPCs and investigating the mystery of what is going on in the town. We're gaming again next Wednesday night, and we're all really anxious to get back to gaming again!

 

[Rechan]

It really surprised me how long things took. That's a long session to finish what little they did.

The players spent about 45 minutes reading over the journal and deciding on their next course of action.

A tip (in case you don't do this): if you have a handout that requires reading, or takes longer than thirty seconds to get after looking at it, then you should make copies for every player. Some people read slower than others, and while one person is reading, the others are sitting on their hands.

 

[Gothmog]

It really surprised me how long things took. That's a long session to finish what little they did.


A tip (in case you don't do this): if you have a handout that requires reading, or takes longer than thirty seconds to get after looking at it, then you should make copies for every player. Some people read slower than others, and while one person is reading, the others are sitting on their hands.

Yeah, they took their time, but thats fine by me. I'd rather spend more time with them discussing how they want to handle things and roleplaying than in combat. A lot of that time was also inter-party RPing, with their characters getting to know more about each other, and they talked to 10 or so townspeople at some length. I didn't list all of that, just the synopsis of what they did learn.

I did make five copies of the journal, one for each player to read so it would cut down on time. The thing that really ate up the time was the larger and more complicated combat. We started the fight with the goblins around 8:30 pm, and then one of the PCs ran into a different area and made a ton of noise (Thunderwave) alerting goblins in the next area to his presence, so by the time they made their way through 20 or so goblins (10 of which were cutter minions), it was almost midnight. IME, the first few fights any new group of players has takes longer than normal, and there is a learning curve for 4e combat and how to effectively use your powers, so I had been prepared for the fight to take a while. I just didn't plan on the encounter spilling over into another area.

Still, they all said they had a great time, so it was time well spent!