Keep on the Shadowfell (after two sessions)

[Wolfwood2]

So I have now run two sessions of Keep on the Shadowfell, though between them they probably only amounted to one session for most groups. Due to scheduling issues, we can only play for about 3 hours at a time, and various "life events" meant that there were interruptions during both sessions. (Two players finding out that their bid on a house has been accepted necessitates a half-hour break whilst they phone various family members.)

Anyway, so far they have had the initial ambush on the way into town, done a lot of roleplaying on the way into town and inside Winterhaven, and then fought the second ambush on their way to the kobold cave. I added a lot of personality and background to the NPCs in order to make the plot make a little more sense. Winterhaven has been around a long time, so it makes sense that it's a town with lots of little quirks and secrets, only some of which are plot-related.

Overall it's going pretty well. I think the more tactical nature of 4E combat is taking some getting used to. Near the end of the last battle, I pointed out to them that they really ought not to let the enemy artillery stand back and keep blasting them unmolested the whole time.

I actually killed a PC, the warlord. With the way 4E healing works, I felt somewhat justified in having the bad guys continue to pound on a PC even after she was knocked below 0. I felt that 0 doesn't really equal unconscious anymore; it's more staggered and on their knees (prone), trying to get up. But maybe I should stop doing that and go back to the 3E practice where if a PC drops below 0, the monsters ignore them.

This isn't really a dungeon crawl crowd, so I'm not sure how they're going to take the extended series of fights through the keep later in the module. I'm going to have to work on adding some more flavor and roleplay stuff so they don't get too bored.

 

[Scribble]

This isn't really a dungeon crawl crowd, so I'm not sure how they're going to take the extended series of fights through the keep later in the module. I'm going to have to work on adding some more flavor and roleplay stuff so they don't get too bored.

I've been having a lot of fun in the keep itself... In another thread I was looking for more suggestions, but it's fun to play up the haunted nature.

just adding odd sounds, and shadowy things just out of sight have my players a bit jumpy...

 

[webrunner]

I actually killed a PC, the warlord. With the way 4E healing works, I felt somewhat justified in having the bad guys continue to pound on a PC even after she was knocked below 0. I felt that 0 doesn't really equal unconscious anymore; it's more staggered and on their knees (prone), trying to get up. But maybe I should stop doing that and go back to the 3E practice where if a PC drops below 0, the monsters ignore them.

You will find that "below zero" is just as dangeorus as it used to be, it's just dangerous in a different way. The actual DMG suggests that if you do find a monster (usually a lurker) that would attack things that are down, instead it's best to have them slowly drag the unconsious character away. A character at exactly zero, in fact, is considered the same as -1.. they've removed the "0 means you are injured" idea. 0 is dying.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

I actually killed a PC, the warlord. With the way 4E healing works, I felt somewhat justified in having the bad guys continue to pound on a PC even after she was knocked below 0. I felt that 0 doesn't really equal unconscious anymore; it's more staggered and on their knees (prone), trying to get up. But maybe I should stop doing that and go back to the 3E practice where if a PC drops below 0, the monsters ignore them.

I would not quite go that far. What I would instead do is position monsters near the downed PC and score Opportunity Attacks on anyone attempting to rescue the dropped player. If the situation warrants it I might try having a monster threaten a PC so get the other players to surrender.

END COMMUNICATION