Escape from Sembia

[rossik]

i was reading some feedback about this adventure, as it as played here in brazil recently.

almost all players said that the adventure was a little unfair, with stronger monsters as compared to 1st level characters.

whats your thoughts about it?

(sorry if this was already postes, im new to this part of the foruns )

 

[Rechan]

It was intentionally scaled up:

Level 1, then level 3, then level 4, then level 5.

The purpose was to demonstrate threat levels, to demonstrate the Death and Dying rules, and to show that PCs can die.

 

[cdrcjsn]

It was intentionally scaled up:

Level 1, then level 3, then level 4, then level 5.

The purpose was to demonstrate threat levels, to demonstrate the Death and Dying rules, and to show that PCs can die.

I think it's a little...strange...to have an intro that doesn't follow guidelines for what as been announced as "normal" encounters (i.e. five 1st level PCs is supposed to face five 1st level foes as an average encounter). I haven't seen the DMG, but I recall as much being said in designer blogs.

I find it especially strange in a mod that is supposed to be an intro to skill challenges.

In my opinion, all the mod really does is show that PCs can die in over the top encounters...which really doesn't tell us much.

 

[Rechan]

I think it's a little...strange...to have an intro that doesn't follow guidelines for what as been announced as "normal" encounters (i.e. five 1st level PCs is supposed to face five 1st level foes as an average encounter). I haven't seen the DMG, but I recall as much being said in designer blogs.

I find it especially strange in a mod that is supposed to be an intro to skill challenges.

In my opinion, all the mod really does is show that PCs can die in over the top encounters...which really doesn't tell us much.

Actually it does show that PCs can kill encounters higher over their level. It's not in TPK territory, but lethal for about 2 PCs.

I mean, there have been demos people have ran here with pregen PCs vs. 2 level 6 monsters, or 1 level 7 Elite, and the PCs come away with 1-2 deaths.

The power curve is considerably much shallower.

 

[cdrcjsn]

Actually it does show that PCs can kill encounters higher over their level. It's not in TPK territory, but lethal for about 2 PCs.

I mean, there have been demos people have ran here with pregen PCs vs. 2 level 6 monsters, or 1 level 7 Elite, and the PCs come away with 1-2 deaths.

The power curve is considerably much shallower.

I agree with everything you have to say.

I just don't think that this intro mod is the right place to make those statements.

At the very least, those features should be explicitly stated. Otherwise, all people will get from the experiences is "wow, 4e is deadly...I don't think they balanced the encounters correctly."

 

[baberg]

At the very least, those features should be explicitly stated. Otherwise, all people will get from the experiences is "wow, 4e is deadly...I don't think they balanced the encounters correctly."

If they did have all first level encounters that the PCs would normally live through, nobody would have known the new death rules and people would walk away with "Wow, 4e is a cakewalk... I don't think they balanced the encounters correctly."

 

[thalmin]

When I ran it, I explained the levels of monsters after each combat was over. The final combat wasn't too impressive when I couldn't roll above a 12, but I did manage to drop the cleric. He rolled a 20 on his first save. Oh, well. At least we used the mechanic.

 

[pedr]

Our party all died in the penultimate encounter.

Luck played a large part - we couldn't roll for toffee, and how we'd set ourselves up at the start of the encounter didn't help us tactically. It was fun, though - and in a way showed that while TPKs can happen, there's perhaps a longer stretch where you know you're in trouble but think you can possibly pull a victory out of defeat, if things go your way. They didn't, and we all died.

We all died in Scaregloom Hall as well - in the final encounter. That showed us that, with some luck, characters can survive encounters well above their level, but again that we just weren't lucky enough. It was fun, and provided a good demonstration of a range of 'bits' of 4E, including the "Oh no, now what can we do?!" bit!

 

[loseth]

Well, in the first fight, we came very close to losing two characters (one survived only through a few lucky rolls). And that was supposedly the easiest fight. We stopped playing after the second fight, but even in that fight, things seemed to be getting pretty tough (despite the fact that we were getting more comfortable with our PCs' abilities). It could also be seen as unfair to the players in that it's a huge railroad.

Still, loved that skill challenge--best part of the game for me.

 

[OakwoodDM]

It's a con game, and a preview of a rule set as yet unpublished. It's always going to be a railroad.