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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Is 4E Too Easy Anymore? (Game Day Spoiler Alert)
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<blockquote data-quote="TirionAnthion" data-source="post: 5646787" data-attributes="member: 61048"><p><strong>Game Day Difficulty</strong></p><p></p><p>I ran the Game Day adventure on Saturday. I had a table of 7 players. The party composition was as follows:</p><p></p><p>Dwarven Knight, Encounters veteran</p><p>Human Slayer, Encounters noob</p><p>Eladrin Mage, Encounters noob</p><p>Eladrin Bladesinger, Encounters veteran</p><p>Drow Hunter, Encounters veteran</p><p>Human Thief, Encounters noob, 4e veteran</p><p>Eladrin Bladesinger, Encounters veteran</p><p></p><p>We also had an Eladrin Warpriest but the player had to leave at the start of the first fight.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>WARNING SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I did not allow the players a chance to attack the Wizard. He teleported in and out of the fight so fast that no one could react. This is basically what the module recommends. The fight lasted 5 rounds and the Thief, Knight, and Slayer were all bloodied at one point. </p><p></p><p>I added an extra enemy at the start of the fight and then added several minions on round 2.</p><p></p><p>In the second fight, the battle lasted 8 rounds. All of the players, except one of the Bladesingers, ended up bloodied at some point. The Slayer was down at one point but was revived. The Knight and Thief were down at the end of combat and had to be carried off during the skill challenge. I ran this fight as presented in the book, with the caveat that I gave the wizard more hit points.</p><p></p><p>By the end of the first fight, half of the players had used action points, although no one used a daily. By the end of the second fight, the remaining action points and dailies had been used. </p><p></p><p>I have been running D&D 4e since launch and have developed a style for running games. I have also ran all of the Gamed Days and Encounters seasons. </p><p></p><p>I think that player skill and DM familiarity with the rules plays a large part in how the games run. I rarely tell the players "no", but I often present them with a challenging choice. I will allow them to do some off the wall actions but I always make sure that they have to pay a price for the benefit gained. I am a big fan of the "Rulings take precedent over Rules" philosophy. </p><p></p><p>The players did not always make the most optimized choices from a tactical perspective, and the lack of a leader was telling. Several of the players were unclear on exactly how some of the powers worked and they needed help to use the powers in the most efficient manner possible. </p><p></p><p>In the first encounter, I did not place the archer or the wizard on the map initially. I also placed a selection of random townfolk minis on the docks (including the obligatory Farmer Clutching Pig D&D mini). The players and monsters initiatives were spread evenly across the spectrum. The archer acted halfway through round one which allowed the wizard to do his teleport trick. I did not make the wizard obey the normal action sequence and no PCs were close enough to attack him. I often use set piece moments in encounters that violate the turn and/or action sequence. The wizard fled off the board edge and several minions appeared from the same board edge to discourage pursuit, much to the Thief's dismay.</p><p></p><p>In the second fight, the party placed the bulk of the melee fighters in the front while the rest hung back. Those characters in the back were promptly ambushed. It was a running joke that the monsters and damaging effects seemed to follow the Thief so everyone should avoid him.</p><p></p><p>Ultimately, everyone seemed to enjoy the experience and no one felt that the fight was easy by any means. I also modified the final skill challenge and having two unconscious players for that really escalated the threat.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TirionAnthion, post: 5646787, member: 61048"] [b]Game Day Difficulty[/b] I ran the Game Day adventure on Saturday. I had a table of 7 players. The party composition was as follows: Dwarven Knight, Encounters veteran Human Slayer, Encounters noob Eladrin Mage, Encounters noob Eladrin Bladesinger, Encounters veteran Drow Hunter, Encounters veteran Human Thief, Encounters noob, 4e veteran Eladrin Bladesinger, Encounters veteran We also had an Eladrin Warpriest but the player had to leave at the start of the first fight. WARNING SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!! I did not allow the players a chance to attack the Wizard. He teleported in and out of the fight so fast that no one could react. This is basically what the module recommends. The fight lasted 5 rounds and the Thief, Knight, and Slayer were all bloodied at one point. I added an extra enemy at the start of the fight and then added several minions on round 2. In the second fight, the battle lasted 8 rounds. All of the players, except one of the Bladesingers, ended up bloodied at some point. The Slayer was down at one point but was revived. The Knight and Thief were down at the end of combat and had to be carried off during the skill challenge. I ran this fight as presented in the book, with the caveat that I gave the wizard more hit points. By the end of the first fight, half of the players had used action points, although no one used a daily. By the end of the second fight, the remaining action points and dailies had been used. I have been running D&D 4e since launch and have developed a style for running games. I have also ran all of the Gamed Days and Encounters seasons. I think that player skill and DM familiarity with the rules plays a large part in how the games run. I rarely tell the players "no", but I often present them with a challenging choice. I will allow them to do some off the wall actions but I always make sure that they have to pay a price for the benefit gained. I am a big fan of the "Rulings take precedent over Rules" philosophy. The players did not always make the most optimized choices from a tactical perspective, and the lack of a leader was telling. Several of the players were unclear on exactly how some of the powers worked and they needed help to use the powers in the most efficient manner possible. In the first encounter, I did not place the archer or the wizard on the map initially. I also placed a selection of random townfolk minis on the docks (including the obligatory Farmer Clutching Pig D&D mini). The players and monsters initiatives were spread evenly across the spectrum. The archer acted halfway through round one which allowed the wizard to do his teleport trick. I did not make the wizard obey the normal action sequence and no PCs were close enough to attack him. I often use set piece moments in encounters that violate the turn and/or action sequence. The wizard fled off the board edge and several minions appeared from the same board edge to discourage pursuit, much to the Thief's dismay. In the second fight, the party placed the bulk of the melee fighters in the front while the rest hung back. Those characters in the back were promptly ambushed. It was a running joke that the monsters and damaging effects seemed to follow the Thief so everyone should avoid him. Ultimately, everyone seemed to enjoy the experience and no one felt that the fight was easy by any means. I also modified the final skill challenge and having two unconscious players for that really escalated the threat. [/QUOTE]
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