Wik
First Post
So, I ran my first 4e Game, for a group of two today. Between them, they had three PCs - a Drow Rogue, A Minotaur Fighter, and an Eladrin Warlord. And it went, all in all, fairly well.
First things off, the part I was afraid about (RP) actually went okay. It wasn't indepth, at all, because I had thrown this adventure together in less than two hours. The PCs got a job from a halfling caravaneer to raid a nearby Eladrin ruin for "Lightstones" (If you've ever played Morrorwing, think robbing those white ruins for Welkynd Stones). Then, they hopped onto a halfling catamaran and were delivered to the site.
The first fight, out into the open, was against two human minions (the rabble, whatever they're called), a human bandit, and an orc raider. It was out in the open, and I was amazed at how this encounter went. An area of effect spell took out one minion, and the fighter's cleave took down the other, relatively fast. The orc was tougher to hurt, because it healed itself halfway through. And the bandit, with it's hit and shift attack, was the real pain. It kept moving around tents and boulders in the hopes of getting sneak attacks, and it did. It was a real pain in the butt, and the group was suitably pleased when he died.
They enter the dungeon proper, and pulled off a combat in the "main room", an area that the bandits had filled with ropes and hung furs off, dividing into a warrens.
I made the room too small, which really hindered things for the NPCs, but I guess probably made it easier for the PCs. these fights were a bit tougher, and unfortunately, a minion escaped... bringing in the chief and the monsters from the next two encounters over the course of a few rounds.
Things got pretty hectic, with the PCs blowing every resource they had in the hopes of staying alive. And then they pursued the chief and the remaining orc into a hallway, where things went from bad to worse.
The hallway had a slicing blades trap, meaning one of five paths would be hit by a slicing blade each round. And the bad guys were at the end of this hallway, blocking it.
The fight went with the PCs hoping like hell not to get hit by blades, shifting and delaying actions so that all three PCs would get attacks against the two NPCs blocking the hall. But the PCs kept trying to push the goons back, so they could break out of the trapped hall and surround the enemies.
Bull Rush didn't work, and each time they tried, it was a wasted attack. The Eye of Gruumsh controller kept lowering PC AC's with it's evil eye, and the raider beside it dealt a buttload of damage with attacks that dealt 1d12+3.
Worse, the PCs focused on the raider, so that when it got bloodied, I got to be a rat bastard GM for the first time in a while. The raider made it's encounter attack, hit, and this let it heal hit points. Then, the Eye activated a power that let a nearby orc make an attack roll, and if the orc hit, heal 15 hit points.
So, after many rounds of fighting, the orc that they had finally started dealing damage to had fully healed.
Both the minotaur and Eladrin went down, and things turned into the two orcs hunting a rogue trying to hide for all she was worth. I knew I had screwed up (it was my first time running a 4e game, though, so I wasn't too upset by it), so I went easy, and had the orc doxies from a previous room rise up and keep the orcs busy while the rogue rescued the two PCs who were, unfortunately, both dead (one of those scything blades hit the eladrin a round before he could be rescued).
But, yeah, I took pity, let the Eladrin be healed by a healing potion, and they carted the minotaur away to be revived by a raise dead in a temple dedicated to Galatea, the Passion of healing and music.
So, yeah. I screwed up a bit in placing encounters, mostly because I made the areas too small - I was thinking in 3e terms. But, really, I was pretty happy with how it all turned out. I had no problems calling for checks, and they felt about the same as they always felt in 3e. The combat powers, when the players know how to use them, are perfectly fine, but they can really turn things towards the PCs fast - the rogue used a power that blinded everyone in the area, and dealt a decent amount of damage. She used it to blind 3 human bandits and an orc raider just before the chief showed up and ruined everything.
There are still some rules issues I'm confused about. When the fighter bull rushes, does that count as attacking for purposes of using it's mark? You can use Sneak Attack once per round... is that per your round, or what? If a fighter hit's an opponent with an AoO, does he mark the target? If so, and the marked target moves away immediately after, does the fighter get a second AoO?
That being said, I think my first 4e game turned out to be a success, and I'm liking the rules so far. Game #2 is where I'll start testing out some other features.
First things off, the part I was afraid about (RP) actually went okay. It wasn't indepth, at all, because I had thrown this adventure together in less than two hours. The PCs got a job from a halfling caravaneer to raid a nearby Eladrin ruin for "Lightstones" (If you've ever played Morrorwing, think robbing those white ruins for Welkynd Stones). Then, they hopped onto a halfling catamaran and were delivered to the site.
The first fight, out into the open, was against two human minions (the rabble, whatever they're called), a human bandit, and an orc raider. It was out in the open, and I was amazed at how this encounter went. An area of effect spell took out one minion, and the fighter's cleave took down the other, relatively fast. The orc was tougher to hurt, because it healed itself halfway through. And the bandit, with it's hit and shift attack, was the real pain. It kept moving around tents and boulders in the hopes of getting sneak attacks, and it did. It was a real pain in the butt, and the group was suitably pleased when he died.
They enter the dungeon proper, and pulled off a combat in the "main room", an area that the bandits had filled with ropes and hung furs off, dividing into a warrens.
I made the room too small, which really hindered things for the NPCs, but I guess probably made it easier for the PCs. these fights were a bit tougher, and unfortunately, a minion escaped... bringing in the chief and the monsters from the next two encounters over the course of a few rounds.
Things got pretty hectic, with the PCs blowing every resource they had in the hopes of staying alive. And then they pursued the chief and the remaining orc into a hallway, where things went from bad to worse.
The hallway had a slicing blades trap, meaning one of five paths would be hit by a slicing blade each round. And the bad guys were at the end of this hallway, blocking it.
The fight went with the PCs hoping like hell not to get hit by blades, shifting and delaying actions so that all three PCs would get attacks against the two NPCs blocking the hall. But the PCs kept trying to push the goons back, so they could break out of the trapped hall and surround the enemies.
Bull Rush didn't work, and each time they tried, it was a wasted attack. The Eye of Gruumsh controller kept lowering PC AC's with it's evil eye, and the raider beside it dealt a buttload of damage with attacks that dealt 1d12+3.
Worse, the PCs focused on the raider, so that when it got bloodied, I got to be a rat bastard GM for the first time in a while. The raider made it's encounter attack, hit, and this let it heal hit points. Then, the Eye activated a power that let a nearby orc make an attack roll, and if the orc hit, heal 15 hit points.
So, after many rounds of fighting, the orc that they had finally started dealing damage to had fully healed.
Both the minotaur and Eladrin went down, and things turned into the two orcs hunting a rogue trying to hide for all she was worth. I knew I had screwed up (it was my first time running a 4e game, though, so I wasn't too upset by it), so I went easy, and had the orc doxies from a previous room rise up and keep the orcs busy while the rogue rescued the two PCs who were, unfortunately, both dead (one of those scything blades hit the eladrin a round before he could be rescued).
But, yeah, I took pity, let the Eladrin be healed by a healing potion, and they carted the minotaur away to be revived by a raise dead in a temple dedicated to Galatea, the Passion of healing and music.
So, yeah. I screwed up a bit in placing encounters, mostly because I made the areas too small - I was thinking in 3e terms. But, really, I was pretty happy with how it all turned out. I had no problems calling for checks, and they felt about the same as they always felt in 3e. The combat powers, when the players know how to use them, are perfectly fine, but they can really turn things towards the PCs fast - the rogue used a power that blinded everyone in the area, and dealt a decent amount of damage. She used it to blind 3 human bandits and an orc raider just before the chief showed up and ruined everything.
There are still some rules issues I'm confused about. When the fighter bull rushes, does that count as attacking for purposes of using it's mark? You can use Sneak Attack once per round... is that per your round, or what? If a fighter hit's an opponent with an AoO, does he mark the target? If so, and the marked target moves away immediately after, does the fighter get a second AoO?
That being said, I think my first 4e game turned out to be a success, and I'm liking the rules so far. Game #2 is where I'll start testing out some other features.
