KotS vs "Raiders..."

[BendBars/LiftGates]

I'm going to be getting together with some friends this week to try out 4th Edition.

I've read "Raiders of Oakhurst" and figure that'd be a good adventure to play through, but for those of you who have read/played both, is it worth it to go out and buy the official preview adventure?

If I want to get an authentic experience of what 4E plays like, does Keep on the Shadowfell give a much better feel for it?

 

[BlackMoria]

I would go with KotS. I picked it up and it is well written and it is designed to showcase the new rules set (It has both player and DM fast play rules)

It is designed to give people a good hard initial look at 4e without investing in the core books to find out if one may like 4e.

 

[drjones]

Raiders is a fine mod but it was made when we had a more limited idea of the rules and a smaller number of monsters. Also some of the monster stats have changed.

kots is also a good deal longer.

I would run raiders if you want a one off couple hour intro to 4e but even then I would pick up kots to get the updated rules and pregen characters that can level up.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Count me in with letting KotS edge out Raiders of Oakhurst by a nose.

RoO is great, but with the maps, rules extras, proper stat-blocks, extra-length, and overall official-ness of KotS I'd really go with it.

Fitz

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Why not do both? It's not like RoO will break the bank

 

[hong]

Actually, now I have a hankering, when 4E comes out, to run RoO as a solo paragon-tier adventure...

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Actually, now I have a hankering, when 4E comes out, to run RoO as a solo paragon-tier adventure...

If you write that up, make sure you post it here.

 

[Jhaelen]

I prefer starting a new campaign with a short adventure. After the first adventure the pcs should be either dead* or level 2. So KotS is not an option for me. Raiders looks very nice, so I might use it as a basis.

*: Whether intended or not, so far, each of my campaigns started with a tpk; it's almost a tradition now

 

[Nahat Anoj]

I'm going to be getting together with some friends this week to try out 4th Edition.

I've read "Raiders of Oakhurst" and figure that'd be a good adventure to play through, but for those of you who have read/played both, is it worth it to go out and buy the official preview adventure?

If I want to get an authentic experience of what 4E plays like, does Keep on the Shadowfell give a much better feel for it?

Raiders of Oakhurst is great, and my group played through the whole thing, but now that KotS is available I'd go with that. IMO KotS has a greater variety of monsters, traps, and challenges.

 

[N0Man]

I prefer starting a new campaign with a short adventure. After the first adventure the pcs should be either dead* or level 2. So KotS is not an option for me. Raiders looks very nice, so I might use it as a basis.

*: Whether intended or not, so far, each of my campaigns started with a tpk; it's almost a tradition now

Possibly, but what you describe sounds more like a typical 3E game, where the DM either rushes player to level 2 so they have a chance to survive or wipes the party, one or the other.

One of 4E's strengths is that Level 1 characters aren't 1 swing from death at all times. Level 1 characters in 4E are more hardy and have more options.