Thanks for all the suggestions.
The first session of the game went well. The party ended up consisting of four level 4 PCs: eladrin paladin, dwarf warlord, half-orc barbarian, and eladrin ranger.
Scene 1: The party was, of course, enjoying a drink in the Rusty Kettle, when they heard screams and laughing outside. The paladin rushes out, but notices the shadow of someone lurking just beside the door, and thus is not surprised by the waiting gnoll. The group faces off against 5 hyena minions, a gnoll huntmaster, a claw fighter, and a marauder mounted on a slaughterfiend hyena.
Pros: The party quickly got the hang of the rules, used some daily powers, learned the healing and dying rules (as I put down the warlord pretty early).
Cons: The minions didn't do much, I didn't get to use the mount abilities of the gnoll on the hyena, and my one piece of interesting terrain (a flaming cart with kegs of alcohol) never really got involved.
Scene 2: Learning that the gnolls took prisoners, the party tracks them through the night. This was a skill challenge, and the players took to it pretty readily. The paladin and barbarian were content to assist on the ranger's Nature and Perception checks. The warlord tried History, Heal, and other skills to support the party's efforts. The ranger was the lead guy on this part, but managed to throw in a Stealth check at the end of the skill challenge to try and bypass the gnoll rear guard and reach the temple without being seen.
Pros: Actually, an all-around success, and the first I've had with skill challenges, thus far. The players, especially the warlord and ranger, were pretty creative and descriptive with their skills.
Cons: The paladin and barbarian (partly my fault) lacked obvious skills to contribute to the skill challenge.
Scene 3: The party tracks the gnolls to an ancient temple dedicated to demon worship. In the first room, they walk into an area with two obvious gnoll guards (another archer is hiding) and four pillars. The minute they enter the room, they trigger a souped up magic crossbow turret trap, that peppers them with elemental attacks each round. However, they decide to absorb the damage and trade blows with the gnolls, instead of retreating, or actively locating a trap mechanism. Several PCs yo-yo between being up and being unconscious, but they finally win out, but at a serious loss of healing surges.
Pros: The trap was deadly, maybe too deadly, but it punished the PCs for sticking in the fight.
Cons: There was less movement in this fight than I had hoped.
Scene 4: In the next room, after resting, the party encounters a very large area, protected by floating skulls. The ranger discerns that the central part of the chamber is littered with trigger plates, so they basically run through the room along the walls, shutting the door at the other end behind them. Some of the floating skulls are minions that explode when defeated, but instead of switching to ranged attacks, they mow through them with melee attacks. The last three skulls are artillery/controller types, who hit the PCs with damage and status effects, but they ignore them and jam the door closed (and the skull's mage hand-like ability cannot push hard enough to open the doors). Leaving these guys behind proves costly, however.
Pros: The party took a largely non-combat approach to this encounter -- run like heck through the room, avoid the trapped floor areas, and shut the door behind them. It worked!
Scene 5: The party catches up with the gnoll leader and his cacklefiend hyena pet. He is about to sacrifice the last villager, a dwarf maiden, when the PCs charge in. Through readied actions and a couple of dailies, the cacklefiend hyena goes down in 2 rounds. The gnoll demonic scourge is ready to wreak havoc -- but then suddenly tentacles appear from a large sacrificial pit in the center of the room, and drag the gnoll in! One round later, the party is facing off against a level 6 solo version of a balhannoth -- which proves a bit too much for the party (I might have overdone it). But the biggest problem is indecision in the party -- the barbarian and warlord seem prepared to fight this thing, while the ranger and paladin are ready to retreat with the lone surviving villager. It ends with a retreat, the warlord carrying the unconscious barbarian and the paladin at 5 hp. They manage to outfox the stupid balhannoth just enough to get outside of its blindsight range, and it is content to return to feasting on the gnoll and hyena. But then they have to run through the room with the skulls! Somehow they survive.
Pros: The solo encounter was scary. I think their resources were somewhat depleted, and while it did not end as expected, the tension of running out and barely surviving was pretty good.
Cons: Solos are too hard to hit, I think. That, or the PCs needed to coordinate better -- more flanking, more Furious Smash by the warlord to set up the barbarian's Avalanche and Howling Strikes, the paladin waited too long to mark, etc.
The first session of the game went well. The party ended up consisting of four level 4 PCs: eladrin paladin, dwarf warlord, half-orc barbarian, and eladrin ranger.
Scene 1: The party was, of course, enjoying a drink in the Rusty Kettle, when they heard screams and laughing outside. The paladin rushes out, but notices the shadow of someone lurking just beside the door, and thus is not surprised by the waiting gnoll. The group faces off against 5 hyena minions, a gnoll huntmaster, a claw fighter, and a marauder mounted on a slaughterfiend hyena.
Pros: The party quickly got the hang of the rules, used some daily powers, learned the healing and dying rules (as I put down the warlord pretty early).
Cons: The minions didn't do much, I didn't get to use the mount abilities of the gnoll on the hyena, and my one piece of interesting terrain (a flaming cart with kegs of alcohol) never really got involved.
Scene 2: Learning that the gnolls took prisoners, the party tracks them through the night. This was a skill challenge, and the players took to it pretty readily. The paladin and barbarian were content to assist on the ranger's Nature and Perception checks. The warlord tried History, Heal, and other skills to support the party's efforts. The ranger was the lead guy on this part, but managed to throw in a Stealth check at the end of the skill challenge to try and bypass the gnoll rear guard and reach the temple without being seen.
Pros: Actually, an all-around success, and the first I've had with skill challenges, thus far. The players, especially the warlord and ranger, were pretty creative and descriptive with their skills.
Cons: The paladin and barbarian (partly my fault) lacked obvious skills to contribute to the skill challenge.
Scene 3: The party tracks the gnolls to an ancient temple dedicated to demon worship. In the first room, they walk into an area with two obvious gnoll guards (another archer is hiding) and four pillars. The minute they enter the room, they trigger a souped up magic crossbow turret trap, that peppers them with elemental attacks each round. However, they decide to absorb the damage and trade blows with the gnolls, instead of retreating, or actively locating a trap mechanism. Several PCs yo-yo between being up and being unconscious, but they finally win out, but at a serious loss of healing surges.
Pros: The trap was deadly, maybe too deadly, but it punished the PCs for sticking in the fight.
Cons: There was less movement in this fight than I had hoped.
Scene 4: In the next room, after resting, the party encounters a very large area, protected by floating skulls. The ranger discerns that the central part of the chamber is littered with trigger plates, so they basically run through the room along the walls, shutting the door at the other end behind them. Some of the floating skulls are minions that explode when defeated, but instead of switching to ranged attacks, they mow through them with melee attacks. The last three skulls are artillery/controller types, who hit the PCs with damage and status effects, but they ignore them and jam the door closed (and the skull's mage hand-like ability cannot push hard enough to open the doors). Leaving these guys behind proves costly, however.
Pros: The party took a largely non-combat approach to this encounter -- run like heck through the room, avoid the trapped floor areas, and shut the door behind them. It worked!
Scene 5: The party catches up with the gnoll leader and his cacklefiend hyena pet. He is about to sacrifice the last villager, a dwarf maiden, when the PCs charge in. Through readied actions and a couple of dailies, the cacklefiend hyena goes down in 2 rounds. The gnoll demonic scourge is ready to wreak havoc -- but then suddenly tentacles appear from a large sacrificial pit in the center of the room, and drag the gnoll in! One round later, the party is facing off against a level 6 solo version of a balhannoth -- which proves a bit too much for the party (I might have overdone it). But the biggest problem is indecision in the party -- the barbarian and warlord seem prepared to fight this thing, while the ranger and paladin are ready to retreat with the lone surviving villager. It ends with a retreat, the warlord carrying the unconscious barbarian and the paladin at 5 hp. They manage to outfox the stupid balhannoth just enough to get outside of its blindsight range, and it is content to return to feasting on the gnoll and hyena. But then they have to run through the room with the skulls! Somehow they survive.
Pros: The solo encounter was scary. I think their resources were somewhat depleted, and while it did not end as expected, the tension of running out and barely surviving was pretty good.
Cons: Solos are too hard to hit, I think. That, or the PCs needed to coordinate better -- more flanking, more Furious Smash by the warlord to set up the barbarian's Avalanche and Howling Strikes, the paladin waited too long to mark, etc.
