How much face-to-face 4e have you played so far?

[MerricB]

Rather a simple question: How much 4e have you played for far?

For the purpose of this question, we will exclude any playtesting or online play. Sorry, but the times don't correllate well.

Cheers!

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Rather a simple question: How much 4e have you played for far?

For the purpose of this question, we will exclude any playtesting or online play. Sorry, but the times don't correllate well.

Cheers!

Too little! The first play-test session was ~6h, the first real campaign (KotS) was ~8 hours.

 

[Blackrat]

We had yesterday our first try at 4e. 8 hours with KotS.

 

[MerricB]

At present I've DMed five almost-4-hour sessions of 4e. Two for my "Castle Greyhawk" campaign, and three for my "Keep on the Shadowfell" campaign, so that brings me at just under 20 hours.

Playing with both sessions being on the same weekend fortnightly is sometimes quite annoying. (The alternate weekends are Star Wars Saga & 8+ hours of boardgaming)

I've discovered that combats are becoming shorter as the players get more used to their abilities. The stealth rules are strange in combination with the concealed warlock, although he's enjoying them. The last two sessions had combats from between 4-8 rounds each, and taking no longer than 45 minutes in the greatest instance. Of course, combat with me is normally quite fast, so this isn't that surprising.

The biggest problem so far has to do with marking - it's possibly the most involved rule in the new system, especially when combined with the various fighter defender powers. I've gotten better at keeping track of all necessary in my head, though (or with scribbled notes for ongoing effects). Still, the PCs are still low level!

Amusing note: the PCs in my Greyhawk campaign currently have 666 XP each after two sessions!

Cheers!

 

[Mr Jack]

I've played in one six hour game, and run one six hour game.

 

[Blackrat]

I've discovered that combats are becoming shorter as the players get more used to their abilities.

I actually noticed this too. The first battle took about 5 minutes for each turn when everyone checked the book to see how did this and that work again. By the end of the fourth battle it took less than minute for everyone to take the actions.

 

[MerricB]

I actually noticed this too. The first battle took about 5 minutes for each turn when everyone checked the book to see how did this and that work again. By the end of the fourth battle it took less than minute for everyone to take the actions.

Not only that - although such is really significant - but the teamwork becomes better, and they take down enemies a lot quicker. Once a foe finds the party focusing on them, two or three rounds (at most!) is all they'll have left to live unless they run very fast or are solo in nature.

Cheers!

 

[Dice4Hire]

I'm on the low end of 11-20, and Ive noticed that things are improving.Our fights are getting better, and as the rules-load drops, the Role playing is coming back. Our first session was 110% mechanics, but the latest one was only 75% or so. I also only open the rulebook every otehr round rather than every round, which is nice, as I winged it pretty heavily in 3.5, many sessions not opening a book at all even with minimal prep.

 

[vagabundo]

4e combats are still taking around an hour, however this is a big step up from 3e for us, we're quite slow.

We usually get a weekly two hour session and we've been playing 4e since DNDxp. My group have just created their first characters and are getting to grips with them. They are already working out better group tactics.

Spoiler

We're halfway through the Irontooth mega encounter in KotS...

 

[wedgeski]

I've DM'd two proper 4-hour sessions of Keep, and played a bunch of test encounters, so somewhere in the 11-20 range.

At the moment the biggest culture shock is the resilience of bad guys at low levels, causing most combats to become, at best, dangerous, and at worse, PK's waiting to happen. I think this is sinking into my players as well though. The larger kobold encounters in Keep are taking around an hour... not bad, but I expect them to become much quicker (and will be disappointed if they don't).

Overall the new systems are very easy to use, a lot of fun to narrate at the table (contrary to a lot of threads on this board), easy to retain in one's head, and an absolute breeze to prep. Only Stealth (shock!) has caused us any headaches, although ad-hoc rulings at the table are starting to coalesce into something approaching consistency now, and I think after anothe couple of sessions both the rogue and I will know what to expect from eachother. I have to confess to being a bit disappointed that they didn't nail those rules this time round.

With 2nd level around the corner, we're all excited to see the PC's develop through the campaign. Overall, I would have to declare 4E an almost unequivocal success... so far!