I ran Lair Assault (Forge of the Dawn Titan) last weekend for the first time. Some of the players had played it once before, but it didn't help them much. The group as a whole hadn't planned their characters together, and (amazingly) they were lacking a striker.
After they planned together to get out of the initial room as quickly as possible, they got trapped in it for five or six rounds, and then dithered for another couple of rounds as they opened first one door then another to look at what might be the easiest route.
A glorious moment occurred when the warlock teleported halfway across a room, only to trigger a trap and fall to his near death... which became his actual death when the rest of the party realised they weren't close enough to heal him (and the rope he was carrying had been severed). They were all very apologetic later.
So they went back to their original choice of doors, and then wasted another round demolishing a perfectly innocent statue.
Amazingly, they were able to enter the final room after all of this, but with very few rounds left. A couple more rounds left dazed meant that only Rich's Warden was able to close with the Big Bad... and he criticalled it! Unfortunately, this was round 20 and time was over. (A couple of PCs jumped into lava, suiciding, hoping to gain a secret award).
I didn't run it perfectly. A couple of global effects I left out, and (perhaps more importantly) I let the players have too much time to think, which caused the session to drag somewhat.
At present, I'm planning to run it only once a month (there are other DMs who will run extra sessions if needed). I'm quite happy with how my first session went, though. The players at the end decided to each create a few characters and then assemble the best party on the day (as they only really meet during the session).
Cheers!
After they planned together to get out of the initial room as quickly as possible, they got trapped in it for five or six rounds, and then dithered for another couple of rounds as they opened first one door then another to look at what might be the easiest route.
A glorious moment occurred when the warlock teleported halfway across a room, only to trigger a trap and fall to his near death... which became his actual death when the rest of the party realised they weren't close enough to heal him (and the rope he was carrying had been severed). They were all very apologetic later.
So they went back to their original choice of doors, and then wasted another round demolishing a perfectly innocent statue.
Amazingly, they were able to enter the final room after all of this, but with very few rounds left. A couple more rounds left dazed meant that only Rich's Warden was able to close with the Big Bad... and he criticalled it! Unfortunately, this was round 20 and time was over. (A couple of PCs jumped into lava, suiciding, hoping to gain a secret award).
I didn't run it perfectly. A couple of global effects I left out, and (perhaps more importantly) I let the players have too much time to think, which caused the session to drag somewhat.
At present, I'm planning to run it only once a month (there are other DMs who will run extra sessions if needed). I'm quite happy with how my first session went, though. The players at the end decided to each create a few characters and then assemble the best party on the day (as they only really meet during the session).
Cheers!
