Keep on the Shadowfell preview

[pukunui]

I suspect they playtested the unrestricted version and found it unfun.

This.

Whether something is fun or not appears to be their motivation for changing a lot of things in 4e. Which is fine with me. Having fun is the single most important reason I play any kind of game. If it's not fun, why bother?

 

[thalmin]

To Thalmin and all of the others that are giving us this information, Thank You

Can you please tell us if there is different equipment/weapons/armor to buy as you level up?

and
Can you please give info on the zombie abilities?

In answer to buying equipment, no.

 

[Rechan]

Hey, thalmin, could you describe the following creatures (no need for full stats, just a quick description):

[sblock]
Goblin Cutters
Guard Drakes
Human Rabble
Hobgoblin Torturer
Decrepit Skeletons
Skeleton Knight
Large Blue Slime
Corruption Corpses
Zombie Rotters
Clay Scout
Deathlock wight[/sblock]

I'm going to second this, but I am interested in the monster abilities. Stats aren't necessary.

 

[thalmin]

How many trained skills do the PCs have? I'm not going to ask you to give their skill lists entire, but I'd like to know the number of slots they're getting.

Thanks for all you've posted.

Trained Skills
Fighter: Athletics, Endurance, Intimidate
Rogue: Acrobatics, Bluff, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Thievery
Wizard: (Includes racial Bonus Trained Skill) Arcana, Dungeoneering, History, Nature, Religion
Cleric: Arcana, Heal, History, Religion
Paladin: Endurance, Heal, Intimidate, Religion

 

[thalmin]

Sorry, but for a couple days my time will be limited. I was on the road today for 7 hours so I can attend my niece's college graduation tomorrow (whoops, it's after midnight. Make that today) so I will only handle a few, easily answered questions for now.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Thalmin, there is no need to say sorry, you have already provided a wealth of info. Take your time, ENWorld isn't going anywhere.

 

[thalmin]

Can you tell us some details on the human wizard?

I would like to know

1) how many at-will power it have?
2) which ones?
3) how many trained skills?
4) how many cantrips?
5) which ones?
6) what daily he have and can it chose them?


thank you again!

1) 3, including bonus granted for human
2) Magic Missile, Ray of Frost, Scorching Blast
3) 5, including racial bonus skill
4&5) 2, Light and Ghost Sound (both at-will)
6) Acid Arrow and Sleep (no mention of choosing, maybe he can cast both) with Expeditious Retreat added at 2nd Level

 

[hbarsquared]

thalmin, to reiterate...

THANK YOU!

You mentioned earlier...

The typical encounter has a couple paragraphs in the Setup, including the monsters listed for the encounter. This is followed by the Tactics section, with a couple of paragraphs describing tactics the monsters will use. Then there are the Stat Blocks and map, then a section on Features of the Area, which includes illumination, special terrain features, treasure.

I am in the process of putting together a 4E Dungeon adventure submission, and want to be as ready and prepared as possible as soon as the submissions open up again. What would be the full formating of the encounters for Keep? Would it be possible to give an outline of what adventure encounters look like?

ie...

K2. THE HALL (Header 1)
Read-aloud text
Features, description
Included monsters

TACTICS (Header 2)
Positioning, strategy, goals, morale

Monster/Trap Stat Blocks (Header 3)

Maps (Header 3)

FEATURES (Header 2)
Illumination, terrain

Treasure (Header 3)
Magic item descriptions, etc.

Something like that?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I've had Keep on the Shadowfell since Wednesday night myself. I was going to brag, but I noticed this thread filling up already, and rather than spending my time reading this monster of a thread, I decided I'd read the module first.

So count me in in answering questions when I've got the time. I haven't read all the thread posts yet, so forgive me if this is already being discussed:

Off the top of my head I found a few things surprising (speaking as someone who's been playing 4E solid since DDXP and have been keeping up with ALL the rules spoilers...)

The Half-Elf doesn't appear to have any multiclass powers at all. (Could it be an option?)
The dwarf fighter only has three trained skills. (Could there be bonus skills from int?)
The dragonborn's breath does ONE D6 (presumably it can be increased with a racial feat?)
There really ISN'T a "staggered" condition in the RPG. Just the minis.
Humans appear to have a bonus skill, as well as a bonus at-will.

Overall, the format of the module is really great and the three double-sided grid maps are really useful. I hope all the new modules are done this way. I'm going to start running it on thursday.

Fitz

 

[thalmin]

thalmin, to reiterate...

THANK YOU!

You mentioned earlier...

I am in the process of putting together a 4E Dungeon adventure submission, and want to be as ready and prepared as possible as soon as the submissions open up again. What would be the full formating of the encounters for Keep? Would it be possible to give an outline of what adventure encounters look like?

ie...

Something like that?

Very close

Setup
Includes approach info, who is found and in the area and what they are doing prior to adventurers entrance, list of creatures/npcs, Perception check needed and what will be revealed (color-coded responses to be read to players, like DC 10 "You hear several Orc voices in celebration." or DC 15 "You hear Orcs bragging about winning the Quiditch match".) [obviously these are examples I made up], finally a description to read aloud once players enter area.

Stat Blocks
one for each grouping of monsters

Tactics
A paragraph or three with tactics for each monster type involved, how motivated they are to fight.

Features
Illumination, description of terrain factors
treasures (under a seperate sub-heading) including magic treasures last.

Level Up
If appropriate

A map of the encounter with party and monster starting positions is also located on the 2-page spread.