Klaus
First Post
Just finished a last-minute playtest of 4E. I had two players (after marriage and kids, getting 4 or more people on the table to play is a dreamworld at best): my wife chose the Eladrin ranger and a friend of ours chose the Halfling paladin. She had a little experince with 3.0/3.5 (played a half-elf wizard/rogue/battledancer from 1st to 11th level. He is an experienced player and had already tried 4e before (with the Tiefling wizard).
We played for one hour (4 hours to game? dream on). We started at the mouth of the dungeon (after a very brief explanation: local farmers have been robbed on their way back from the local fair, and the trail led to a cavern). Inside they found a draconic symbol etched on the ground and a set of double doors. The ranger listened in and heard footsteps. They tried for the surprise approach, but only managed to open the doors on the second attempt. The paladin rolled miserably for the entire session.
Inside the temple they faced 4 kobold minions and a kobold wyrmpriest (200 xp, to match two PCs). Initiative was: wyrmpriest, paladin, ranger, minions.
The wyrmpriest opened with a very good energy ball on the paladin, who failed to hit the minion next to him. The ranger used Careful Strike on the wyrmpriest, scoring a glancing hit. A minion hit the paladin, while the other missed. A minion stayed next to the wyrmpriest while another closed in.
The wyrmpriest threw a second energy ball, but missed the paladin. The paladin tried to hit the minion next to him, but missed. He burned an action point but missed. The ranger used Fey Step to move closer to the wyrmpriest (but not too close) and used Careful Strike again, missing at first. She then burned an Action Point, and this time damaged him a good bit. The paladin was now facing two minions, while the ranger was near another two and the wyrmpriest.
The wyrmpriest threw an energy ball at the ranger, but missed. The paladin used his Second Wind, then tried to hit the minion, but missed. Since the wyrmpriest had moved closer in the previous round, he was able to use Divine Challenge to mark him. The ranger used Split the Tree, killing a minion and bloodying the wyrmpriest, and moved to stand between the paladin and the wyrmpriest. Two minions hit the paladin, while the last one moved closer to the ranger.
The wyrmpriest used his breath weapon, missing the ranger. Since the paladin was a square too far to be hit, he took radiant damage (the first damage dealt by the paladin in the fight). The paladin tried to use Bolstering Strike, but missed again. The ranger used Careful Attack and killed the wyrmpriest. She then moved closer to the paladin. A minion hit the paladin while the other missed the ranger.
The paladin managed to score a Bolstering Strike, gaining 3 temp hit points and killing a minion. The ranger then killed another minion and the remaining one decided to run for it.
They looked around the chapel and found the remains of a dead dragon and the tribute hoard the kobolds were amassing for it.
All this took 1 hour, far more than what we anticipated.
The players said the system fealt as easy as 3.5 to use, and the characters had more to do than earlier 1st level ones. All in all it was not unlike a boardgame in the ease to set up on the fly (I had planned for a deathjump spider and a tomb guardian, but we were all tired and had to call it a night).
We played for one hour (4 hours to game? dream on). We started at the mouth of the dungeon (after a very brief explanation: local farmers have been robbed on their way back from the local fair, and the trail led to a cavern). Inside they found a draconic symbol etched on the ground and a set of double doors. The ranger listened in and heard footsteps. They tried for the surprise approach, but only managed to open the doors on the second attempt. The paladin rolled miserably for the entire session.
Inside the temple they faced 4 kobold minions and a kobold wyrmpriest (200 xp, to match two PCs). Initiative was: wyrmpriest, paladin, ranger, minions.
The wyrmpriest opened with a very good energy ball on the paladin, who failed to hit the minion next to him. The ranger used Careful Strike on the wyrmpriest, scoring a glancing hit. A minion hit the paladin, while the other missed. A minion stayed next to the wyrmpriest while another closed in.
The wyrmpriest threw a second energy ball, but missed the paladin. The paladin tried to hit the minion next to him, but missed. He burned an action point but missed. The ranger used Fey Step to move closer to the wyrmpriest (but not too close) and used Careful Strike again, missing at first. She then burned an Action Point, and this time damaged him a good bit. The paladin was now facing two minions, while the ranger was near another two and the wyrmpriest.
The wyrmpriest threw an energy ball at the ranger, but missed. The paladin used his Second Wind, then tried to hit the minion, but missed. Since the wyrmpriest had moved closer in the previous round, he was able to use Divine Challenge to mark him. The ranger used Split the Tree, killing a minion and bloodying the wyrmpriest, and moved to stand between the paladin and the wyrmpriest. Two minions hit the paladin, while the last one moved closer to the ranger.
The wyrmpriest used his breath weapon, missing the ranger. Since the paladin was a square too far to be hit, he took radiant damage (the first damage dealt by the paladin in the fight). The paladin tried to use Bolstering Strike, but missed again. The ranger used Careful Attack and killed the wyrmpriest. She then moved closer to the paladin. A minion hit the paladin while the other missed the ranger.
The paladin managed to score a Bolstering Strike, gaining 3 temp hit points and killing a minion. The ranger then killed another minion and the remaining one decided to run for it.
They looked around the chapel and found the remains of a dead dragon and the tribute hoard the kobolds were amassing for it.
All this took 1 hour, far more than what we anticipated.
The players said the system fealt as easy as 3.5 to use, and the characters had more to do than earlier 1st level ones. All in all it was not unlike a boardgame in the ease to set up on the fly (I had planned for a deathjump spider and a tomb guardian, but we were all tired and had to call it a night).
