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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mathew_Freeman" data-source="post: 4929908" data-attributes="member: 1846">Thanks for all the responses, and I'll certainly be playing up the Diplomacy option. One of the PC's, as noted, is playing a Drow Bard who is a family member of Matron Urlvrain, so he's likely to be trying to talk to people rather than going in and slaying them. I hope this'll make the adventure much more interesting.We had the first session last night, and we've ended up with the following:Drow BardHuman AvengerEladrin Paladin (not Goliath)Human WizardHalf-Orc RangerA new player, Ian, joined us for the first time and played the Ranger I'd created for him. I'll give him a few weeks and then see if he wants to change the character to something else, as it was pretty much a case of "Hi, I'm Mathew, nice to meet you, you haven't played 4e before, no problems, here's a 14th level character, Heselbine here will explain how it all works, off we go..." Thankfully he's a D&D veteran and grokked the game very quickly. I introduced the adventure via the all-purpose joy of Valthrun the Prescient, Sage of Winterhaven, tied in a few details from Keep on the Shadowfell (which three of the group had played / DM'd) and sent them on their way to the Miser's Pit.After some local colour (the locked building with the dead bodies inside produced some interesting theories) I dropped them into a combat beside a lake of magma, as three Magma Brutes climbed out to attack, followed a round later by a descending Eye of Flame. Much consternation at first ("Beholder! Argh! Kill it, quick!").Mechanical note: Beholders have a really neat mechanic that makes them very dangerous. The Eye of Flame can make one character a round Vulnerable 10 to fire, and add ongoing 5 damage (save ends) to any hit that deals fire damage. Combine this with a Fire Ray (dealing 2d8+6 fire on a hit) and suddenly there are a few characters running around, on fire, taking 15 points ongoing. Very satisfying. The other two options are a Fear Ray (making the characters move away) and a Telekinesis Ray (slide 4 on a hit). The TK ray came in very useful for throwing the Wizard right between a couple of Magma Brutes on an island on the edge of the lava pool.However, Heselbine spotted that one of the Magma Brutes was prone, lying partly in the lava, and asked for an Acrobatics check to use it as a bridge to get back to land. He took 5 fire damage for his pains, but got back to safety.Other notes from the combat:Everyone was still getting used to 14th level. Lots of comments that they were a little overwhelmed by the number of choices available in terms of powers. I think only a few at-wills were used, as everyone was having fun laying down Encounter powers, and even a few dailies.Several players missed opportunities to use Immediate Interrupts because they couldn't remember which power they wanted to use. To their credit, they all decided to press on regardless rather than holding up the game, for which I thank them.LOTS of pushing, sliding and other effects stacking up on the table. The Magma Brutes were thrown all over the place, which was lots of fun for me. The Wizard has a lot of Thunder powers, so the Brutes kept being flung back from him. Really enjoyed the dynamic nature of the combat as it took place.Drow Bard has taken some one-shot alchemy items. Not sure how they're going to work out - anyone got any experience with alchemical stuff?Ranger did bucket-loads of damage with his Greatbow + Hunter's Quarry, and also got the killing shot on the Eye of Flame, which was nice for him as a first-time player.Avenger made good use of Oath of Emnity, using good powers to ensure that he was targetting the right creature. Didn't help much when he rolled (over three rounds) 1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 3 on his attacks, though. The double-1 was greeted with much laughter.Only one crit in the fight, which was the first shot by the Eye of Flame. Still waiting for our first PC crit, which I'm surprised by, but it'll be worth it when it comes.We're playing again in two weeks time, and I'll be throwing them swiftly into the Fanglord / Ghoul encounter. I suspect some negotiation will take place and it should kick off the rest of the adventure nicely.</blockquote>

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