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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stalker0" data-source="post: 4124446" data-attributes="member: 5889">So my party finally got a chance to grab the pregens and do a 4e playtest. We have all 6 pregens, and I gave everyone one magic item of 3rd level or lower to try out.First of all, lets just get right to the end and talk about the dragon. The party encountered it in a big room with pillars and torches. The dragon was being commanded by a npc villian, who ordered it to kill the party and left. Then the fight got started. Here are the highlights:1) The dragon opened up with a breath weapon followed by its fear aura, which rocked most of the party.2) The cleric was able to get in a cause fear, forcing the dragon to run and allow the party a much needed round to make their saving throws.3) Many dailies were used, only the fighter's actually hit.4) The warlock managed to do the most consistent damage, constantly using eyebite (will was the dragon's weakest save) to stay out of danger.5) The ranger teleported to a high area to get a +1 to attack rolls, and sniped for good damge from distance.6) The wizard was nearly killed by a breath weapon. With his dying breath he used ghost sound to make the dragon believe his master was calling him from outside. I had him roll an intelligence attack vs the dragon's will save, and made it. The dragon left, giving the party a couple of rounds to regroup. The wizard then died from ongoing acid damage (we didn't know your took the damage first at the time).7) The paladin's mark was INSANELY annoying. I started using tailslaps on the fighter, only to take 8 damage. Further the -2 made the difference, and I missed the fighter on several attacks.8) The paladin was a true tank, he kept using total defense to raise his AC, and my dragon just kept missing. The imagery was great, this little halfling was just sticking his tongue at the dragon and kept pissing the dragon off.9) Towards the end, the fighter and paladin stayed with the dragon. The fighter became a yoyo, I would knock him unconscious. Then the cleric used a power to DAMAGE HIMSELF, allowing him to provide some temp hitpoints to the fighter. The fighter kept getting back up, and I would waste attacks from the dragon knocking him back down (and taking 8 more damage from the paladin's mark).The fight lasted over 20 rounds and was truly epic. It was fun watching the energy level in the room skyrocket as the fight went on. At the beginning the party was doing so badly, that everyone just laughed it off knowing that the dragon would finish them. But as the fight continued and they realized they had a chance everyone was on the edge of their seat.As to the rest of the adventure, here are some more highlights.1) The wizard used mage hand for all sorts of things. He took the arrows out of an archers quiver. Further, one time they fought some undead minions (I said they were animated pieces of skeletons). Because they were so light, I ruled the mage could use mage hand on them, and he would slam them into walls to destroy them. He also used ghost sound to make a sniper in a tree think the tree was breaking, forcing him to jump away.2) The ranger used his daily on a cavern choker, who had conveniently grabbed a party member. Lets just say there was shock and awe when their friend took all that damage<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> And of course a later quote, "That ability has to be once per encounter.....uh right?" - The ranger says as he fires again, and yes the choker had recovered the ability3) I ambushed the party with a deathjump spider and a defiant rake, killing the wizard before initiative was even rolled.4) The first fight of the night, everyone was feeling pretty good. Then I critted the fighter with a human berserker, and down he went.5) I loved shifty kobolds, they are so easy to flank with. I used several of the kobold slingers to good effect. Another quote, "ME: Alright you get hit with a glue bomb. Your immobilized, oh you also take 6 damage." Player: "6 damage!! What the **** was that, so kind of crazy acid glue!!??"6) Wizards are definitely still fragile, I killed the wizard 3 times during the adventure.Let me close with some general comments on what I saw:1) So far, 4e is everything I wanted it to be. Its fun, fast, and fierce. The party seemed to have a wonderful time. We got through 9 encounters (including the epic 20 round dragon fight) in 7 hours.2) Dming monsters is fun again. The dragon felt like a dragon, I actually felt arrogant and powerful as I played him. Kobolds and hobgoblins were so unique, the players started actively breaking up hobgoblin formations when they started seeing the bonuses they were getting.3) My party was skeptical about saving throws, but like many once we saw them in action they made a lot of sense.4) I loved the bloody condition, and not just for the mechanical effects. It saves so much time when the players ask "whose hurt". I just look at the board and say, "the ones with the bloody chips underneath them." Further, as a dm its much easier to target players. My monsters look for bloody characters and target them, instead of just randomly figuring out who to attack.All of this said, I did have some negatives:1) Marking was hard for me as a dm. I found it hard to keep track of, and the paladin's mark seemed too powerful (I know its getting errated).2) 4e is a minis game. I can't imagine playing 4e without a battlemap and minis. There are so many conditions and movement that change rapidly, you need the map to keep track of it all. I personally don't mind the map, but for those who hate it I think you'll have to change or give up on 4e.3) Cleric is still in high demand. Everyone healing themselves was great, but the clerics healing played such a CRITICAL role in the adventure I can't see a party without one being nearly as effective. So my final comment, play the game!! For those detractors out there, once you play it, I don't think you will care nearly as much about 50/50 saving throws and 1-1-1-1 movement. They've really done some good work on what I've seen so far...so give it a try!!</blockquote>

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