More AP experiences with D&D 4e?

[jdrakeh]

I was supposed to play in my first session yesterday, though the game was postponed due to a local L5R tourney (we'll be picking up on Sundays, instead). In the meantime, I've seen only three or four D&D 4e actual play threads here. The number of threads dedicated to bashing or exalting D&D 4e based on preconceived notions of how people think play will unfold or how the rules read seem to be dominating the forums lately -- so let's hear some (more) Actual Play reports! You can post 'em here:

 

[Particle_Man]

Well my actual play was an eye-opener.

I thought that I was pretty group-oriented in tactics.

But I was wrong. I have to learn more about how to use my character effectively as part of a group. I think I have been coasting on strong characters and not really thinking about how to use tactics to win.

I hope that I will learn how to do this soon, though. Any good threads out there?

Oh, related to that my bar of success has lowered. Before I would be quite irritated if a monster got away. Now, if we are fighting some monsters and some run away, it is more of a "Well, (gasp), I think we should call it a draw. Live an let live, (wheeze, whimper), that's what I always say". And last session, it was we that "tactically retreated" from a draw.

Certaintly, I don't get bored.

 

[Foundry of Decay]

Six sessions across two campaigns so far. Summer is bad for us to get together on since there are vacations/tournaments/etc. that suddenly spring up.

First campaign featured custom races and a couple traditional races. They fit into their roles nicely however we really had to revise how we approach combat. We were too used to being able to rely on trumped up damage due to stats to rampage through everything.

Most of the first session was RP related, and getting the group together. It also featured a brawl that proved that unarmed fighters can still defend themselves quite well.

Second session surprised me in a good way. The group were investigating a tainted vault where the bones of highly tainted individuals were interred. They found out that raiders had taken up residence and started to raise undead that the could customize as harbingers of terror. It was a four level complex that was cleared out entirely by the party in one go.

I've had to take a look at how I create dungeon crawls a great deal. Characters won't be resting after a one or two room search anymore which really was a hit I'd say.

Third session was more RP, and figuring out just what was going on with the nearby vaults. An NPC's father had headed to a nearby coastal town since contact was lost with them and reports were coming in about raiders hitting them.

Fourth session involved more character based story investigations, meeting up with the final PC, and heading out to find the NPC's father. The group were ambushed by a band of hobgoblins. This is where tactics became much more cohesive. Despite the hobgoblins all being 2 levels higher than the group, and despite it being a tough fight the group made it through.

The second campaign was mostly out of the book races with one custom race tossed in. This was an introduction to 4e for one player so I started things off with a bit of a bang.

After a series of having the elevator they were in fall, and then get slingshotted through the side of a mortuary airship, the group had to fight their way out of the hold past a large pack undead risen by an artifact the group carried. Much mayhem ensued, one npc was cut down for story/logical reasons more than being outgunned.

The wizard character rolled an amazing arcana check and took rudimentary control of the airship, steering it back to a docking area while the rest of the group fought. At one point the cleric leaped into the middle of a pack of undead, and using his turn undead sent a bunch of them flying over the railings of the boat to the depths below.

Second session was dealing with bringing the dead npc back to life (There were pretty good story reasons for this), and indebted the party to a rather eccentric little lunatic the group were successful. At the same time they uncovered that the priests and cardinal at the church they were staying at were actually cultists of some kind and were given their first choice in where they could go.

I admittedly only had a few notes on the three paths they might have been likely to choose, yet I was still very able to keep things together in a cohesive manner and didn't have the panic of making up npc's whole cloth.

The session ended with the group making their way into long dead, though highly arcane lands to seek out the eccentric employer's archeologist brother. I was even able to sneak in a spontaneous crumbling tower in case they wanted to investigate it, however it was late and we decided to call it before going any further.

All in all, we had a good time. The only complaints were the lack of the druid class in the core book. Which I agreed wholeheartedly with.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I've run one session so far, a oneoff called Attack of the Freaks which ended in a TPK. It was set in a Gamma World-y, Cursed Earth-y, Fallout-y, Hills Have Eyes-y post-apocalyptic world.

The PCs home village was being raided by freaks from the Glass Desert who had kidnapped two women. Pursuing the deformed weirdos the PCs avoided battle with a dozen stormclaw scorpions, fought zombies in a ruined city, failed to open a bank vault which contained magic items, and saved the life of one of the kidnap victims (a big breasted dragonborn) wounded and dying of thirst.

Eventually the raiders were tracked to their base, the ruins of Area 51. The PCs died battling 5 goblin blackblades, 2 orc raiders and 1 orc berserker, all reskinned as mutants. If they had succeeded there I had some even tougher fights lined up against the Mekon-like boss freak and his atomic power source and the Knights of Genetic Purity who had come to cleanse the PCs village.

 

[jdrakeh]

I've run one session so far, a oneoff called Attack of the Freaks which ended in a TPK. It was set in a Gamma World-y, Cursed Earth-y, Fallout-y, Hills Have Eyes-y post-apocalyptic world.

The PCs home village was being raided by freaks from the Glass Desert who had kidnapped two women. Pursuing the deformed weirdos the PCs avoided battle with a dozen stormclaw scorpions, fought zombies in a ruined city, failed to open a bank vault which contained magic items, and saved the life of one of the kidnap victims (a big breasted dragonborn) wounded and dying of thirst.

Eventually the raiders were tracked to their base, the ruins of Area 51. The PCs died battling 5 goblin blackblades, 2 orc raiders and 1 orc berserker, all reskinned as mutants. If they had succeeded there I had some even tougher fights lined up against the Mekon-like boss freak and his atomic power source and the Knights of Genetic Purity who had come to cleanse the PCs village.

Ooooo. . . as a Wes Craven fan, Fallout player, and fan of big breasts, I approve!

BTW, thanks for the replies everybody -- the Awesome of other people will help get me through this week yet

 

[the Jester]

My actual 4e campaign (vs. the 4e KotS game that I've been running) starts either this coming Monday or the following one.

At last!!!

 

[MerricB]

Two more sessions due this weekend. I've got a blog entry discussing my preparation for Friday's session.

Cheers!

 

[Baron Opal]

What will probably be my last Arcana Evolved game (using a retooled Forge of Fury and with Scarred Lands elements) keeps getting pushed back because not every player is available for the last big throw-down fight.

Probably in late August sometime for us. My players are already making characters for it, however.

 

[kiznit]

I've been having a fabu time with a brand-new 4e-converted Shackled City campaign. We've played, um, three sessions so far?

You can read all about it on the Circvs Maximvs thread.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

To the OP: Don't forget to start reading the Story Hour forum as more 4e games starting turning up there...

I've run one session of the KotS with seven players, and I'm waiting until this monday's game to pass before starting the story hour properly. We had a blast in the first session, and everyone got to contribute and enjoy themselves!

More details when I have it (and the link will be in my sig).