Keeping track of combat length (for posterity)

[Hussar]

Well, since we're going to be playing 4e for the foreseeable future, I'll add in this one.

PC's: 3 - Eladrin Warlord, Minotaur Barbarian, Wilden Transmuter (I think that's the right name)

Encounter 1: 1 were rat, two giant rats
Complication: group of children to be protected.

Time: 1 hour.

Note 1. This encounter was run over Maptools using a framework and VoIP.
Note 2. Because of technical difficulties, the GM had to draw the map from scratch and make all enemy minis from scratch. I counted time from when he called for combat - so, the 1 hour includes drawing the battlemap and making a couple of mini tokens.

 

[Jdvn1]

Finally updated!

Hope you don't mind, Jester, I filled in some numbers from DDE.

I'm still keeping track of my numbers, but not always posting them in this thread first.

 

[Than]

I do PBP so time is not the issue really, more number of rounds.
I rekon 6 rounds is about average.


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Play by post gaming: http://www.pbpmap.com

 

[blargney the second]

Session 10: 2 hours total
#1) 80 minutes, 940 XP each, 3 crits, 4 dailies, 1 action point, 8 surges. 6 rounds vs 3x brute 11s, 3x artillery 11s, and 1x controller 13 with ~820 hps.

Wik decided it was time to bust out some dudes from Monster Manual 3, so we fought a pack of meazles tonight. It was pretty rough, especially because we were rusty from a distinct lack of game nights recently.

Story-wise, we're clearing out a tunnel system that leads into a feywild village that's currently under siege by a host of abominations. We want to provide the townsfolk with a safe egress to escape the assault. The balhannoth & company we fought during the last session were the guardians at the entrance of the dungeon, and these meazles were the second set of denizens we vanquished.

This was the first session in which the XP we received was doubled. The amount I listed in the summary is the actual by-the-book value of the things we killed. Wik wants to speed up our progress in order to get to early epic by the time the campaign ends so we can see more of the 4e spectrum, including some higher-level monsters.

 

[blargney the second]

Thanks for updating the spreadsheet, jdvn!

 

[Jdvn1]

No problem! For some reason, I'm not bored of the stats.

I assumed the party was the same--5 PCs, average level 12.

 

[Wik]

No problem! For some reason, I'm not bored of the stats.

I assumed the party was the same--5 PCs, average level 12.

Yyup. though at the rate they're levelling, they'll probably skip a few levels before they get a chance to extended rest.

Also, for all the GMs out there: Meazels are AWESOME. I think they'd work best if you went with three brutes, two controllers, and one artillery. I went with one controller, three artillery, and three brutes, and once the brutes went down, the encounter fell apart - and the controller was never able to use his awesome "garrotte and drag" attack.

 

[the Jester]

Hope you don't mind, Jester, I filled in some numbers from DDE.

Please do, 's why I'm posting them.

 

[blargney the second]

Session 11: 2.5 hours total
#1) 130 minutes, 2000 XP each, 2 crits, 4 dailies, 4 action points, 5 surges. 8 rounds vs 3x brute 15s, 4x controller 16s, 8x minion 8s, and 8x minion 12s with ~1180 hps.

We were still working our way through the dangerously inhabited underground complex to clear a safe path to the besieged village. Our party came to a large chamber full of statues, pillars, a massive door, and mechanical apparatuses. Mystic runes covered everything, even the walls and floors. Not wanting to trigger anything, we gingerly explored an upper platform that housed what appeared to be the control mechanisms.

We couldn't figure out how any of it worked, so we consulted mystic sages to determine if there was a safe way to open the door. A ghostly dwarf formed from the dust and told us that there was no safe way, but we might be able to use the controls to reduce or delay the danger to us.

With most of the party at the control panels, the minotaur went back down to the main floor and moved past a pair of very large statues towards the door. That's when everything flared to action. Runes lit, gears started spinning, and statues rumbled to life.

What followed was a fairly intense fight! There were little metal minions flying out of holes in the walls, big-ass statues of dwarves with mauls trying to pound us into paste, and people-sized dwarf statues with maces causing earthquakes to knock us over. Through it all we were mucking with the controls to delay some of the big guys activating, and also change the colour and ability of the glowing runes covering them. After the second wave of minions we realized that we could prevent more from showing up.

 

[Wik]

Yeah, this encounter was basically two encounters layered on top of each other, with a skill challenge thrown in as well. I was kind of afraid the PCs were going to get hurt, so I made sure to say "Make sure you use your dailies!" ONly a few dailies were used, but the party did okay.

I kind of turned into "grumpy DM" about halfway through this encounter, due to a few factors:

1) I kept screwing up the initiative order, which made everyone (including myself) confused. I resolved then and there that, from now on, someone else is tracking initiative.

2) I had one of the rogues about to go down, and then one of my monsters got stuck in a "web" spell - or so the player told me. Turned out he had misread the power, which meant that my lovely monster lost a whole turn instead of getting a move that would have really given the PCs some trouble. This bugged me to no end, more than it really should have.

3) I had a symbol in the middle of the room that had four settings, and the PC at the control panel could spend a minor action to change the setting. The twist was, any PC in the symbol got that bonus, while ALL of the brutes got it (regardless of where they were on the map). It started off as "AC boost", but the PCs turned it to "inert" as soon as possible, which nullified a really cool effect. What I *should* have done was had four choices, none of which were "inert". Big mistake, on my part, and I realized it from the second round of combat onwards.

4) My pit trap was completely bypassed by the PCs, who were oblivious to its location or even existence.

All in all, though, it was a tough fight, and an enjoyable one. Jokes were had, and the group was pretty tense. It's also a lot of fun because the group has a feeling there's another Balhannoth ahead, and this is making them nervous. Which is making me grin like the evil bastard that I am.