Altamont Ravenard
Explorer
Had a lot of fun last thursday when I DM'ed my first 4E game. The game came to be when my younger sister's boyfriend's younger brother learned that I played D&D and had a truckload of minis. He played AD&D when he was younger and asked me if he could play in one of my games. My sister suggested that I DM'ed for them, and so I agreed and prepared Rescue at Rivenroar for them.
The brothers had played AD&D when they were younger, and all three play a lot of boardgames, so they're used to complex games with rules and tactics.
I suggested that I made the characters, but I asked each of them to send me their character concept and backstory. I was pleasantly surprised when each of them sent me a really good background story with plenty of usable elements. My sister chose to play a frost mage, her boyfriend, a dwarf fighter, and his brother, an elven ranger. I hooked them up with a halfling cleric, and they were ready to go.
I started by going over their character sheet. I sensed that my sister panicked a bit with all the info I was feeding her, but once we were done, she had absorbed it pretty well and was ready to kill some things. The two brothers, with previous D&D experience, were quite surprised to see how much had changed, but were happy about it.
RESCUE AT RIVENROAR SPOILERS AHEAD
I let them arrive in Brindol in the morning and wanted them to wander in town just to get the feel of the game going. They pretty much acted like tourists, asking about the main attractions in Brindol. They went to the Pelor Cathedral and Stone Wyvern tavern, where the Ranger (rogue-multiclassed) pickpocketed a drunk customer. I improv'd a lot of their wanderings, and noticed that they were taking notes like crazy in the journal I provided. Hehe, noobs.
They left the Stone Wyvern tavern and headed up to the Fortress, where they tried to get an audience with the City Council to ask them if they could help in any way (at that point, it was obvious that they were looking for the "quest", which I found hilarious), but the City Council doesn't receive green adventurers without reason. They visited the museum, in which they saw the relics that they'll have to get back from the hobgoblins, and they met the museum curator, Sertanian, that they'll have to save. It gave me a chance to tell them about the history of the Red Hand.
After the museum, it was the evening, and they went to the inn, where they ate and were attacked by the hobgoblins.
You know what's really fun about playing with noobies? The fact that it doesn't take much to impress them.
I gave them their character mini. Then, I pulled the battlemat and laid it on the table. "Holy crap, you mean we're going to get to use these minis to represent where we are and what happens? That's great! OMG You're going to draw where the fight happens? That's fricking AWESOME!"
We then got into their first fight. The fighter got hit a few times right from the start and was bloodied really quick. The ranger took out the nasties from afar and the mage blasted the ones that grouped around the fighter with a good Thunderwave. Bitumen torches started flying, and the fire spread as the patrons were being summarily executed. The group went through their dailies pretty quick. When the fight was done, the ranger took the money from the cards table and they headed out.
They took a breather, and the Ogre came into view, throwing a cask in their general direction. "Holy crap that guy is BIG!" The fighter ran to the ogre while the ranger climbed on a building and the mage hid behind another one. I had 2 militia guards join in because the ogre represented too much damage potential for the fighter to soak up on his own. I rolled poorly with the Ogre, though, and while he hit a few times, he didn't knock anyone unconscious. Everyone used their action point during that encounter, and when it was over, I realised that it was almost midnight, and that the last time I looked at the time, it was 8. Time flies!
We wrapped it up and everyone was really enthusiastic as to how the game started. They can't wait for the next session.
As can't I as well.
4E is proving to be a great game to teach to new players, and a great game to DM.
AR
The brothers had played AD&D when they were younger, and all three play a lot of boardgames, so they're used to complex games with rules and tactics.
I suggested that I made the characters, but I asked each of them to send me their character concept and backstory. I was pleasantly surprised when each of them sent me a really good background story with plenty of usable elements. My sister chose to play a frost mage, her boyfriend, a dwarf fighter, and his brother, an elven ranger. I hooked them up with a halfling cleric, and they were ready to go.
I started by going over their character sheet. I sensed that my sister panicked a bit with all the info I was feeding her, but once we were done, she had absorbed it pretty well and was ready to kill some things. The two brothers, with previous D&D experience, were quite surprised to see how much had changed, but were happy about it.
RESCUE AT RIVENROAR SPOILERS AHEAD
I let them arrive in Brindol in the morning and wanted them to wander in town just to get the feel of the game going. They pretty much acted like tourists, asking about the main attractions in Brindol. They went to the Pelor Cathedral and Stone Wyvern tavern, where the Ranger (rogue-multiclassed) pickpocketed a drunk customer. I improv'd a lot of their wanderings, and noticed that they were taking notes like crazy in the journal I provided. Hehe, noobs.
They left the Stone Wyvern tavern and headed up to the Fortress, where they tried to get an audience with the City Council to ask them if they could help in any way (at that point, it was obvious that they were looking for the "quest", which I found hilarious), but the City Council doesn't receive green adventurers without reason. They visited the museum, in which they saw the relics that they'll have to get back from the hobgoblins, and they met the museum curator, Sertanian, that they'll have to save. It gave me a chance to tell them about the history of the Red Hand.
After the museum, it was the evening, and they went to the inn, where they ate and were attacked by the hobgoblins.
You know what's really fun about playing with noobies? The fact that it doesn't take much to impress them.
I gave them their character mini. Then, I pulled the battlemat and laid it on the table. "Holy crap, you mean we're going to get to use these minis to represent where we are and what happens? That's great! OMG You're going to draw where the fight happens? That's fricking AWESOME!"
We then got into their first fight. The fighter got hit a few times right from the start and was bloodied really quick. The ranger took out the nasties from afar and the mage blasted the ones that grouped around the fighter with a good Thunderwave. Bitumen torches started flying, and the fire spread as the patrons were being summarily executed. The group went through their dailies pretty quick. When the fight was done, the ranger took the money from the cards table and they headed out.
They took a breather, and the Ogre came into view, throwing a cask in their general direction. "Holy crap that guy is BIG!" The fighter ran to the ogre while the ranger climbed on a building and the mage hid behind another one. I had 2 militia guards join in because the ogre represented too much damage potential for the fighter to soak up on his own. I rolled poorly with the Ogre, though, and while he hit a few times, he didn't knock anyone unconscious. Everyone used their action point during that encounter, and when it was over, I realised that it was almost midnight, and that the last time I looked at the time, it was 8. Time flies!
We wrapped it up and everyone was really enthusiastic as to how the game started. They can't wait for the next session.
As can't I as well.
4E is proving to be a great game to teach to new players, and a great game to DM.
AR
