D&D 4E Running player commentary on PCat's 4E Campaign - Heroic tier (finished)

[Derulbaskul]

That's probably the best advice I have read on using page 42, thanks for that.

Ditto. I love the "impale the charging beastie on the tree"-trick. Thanks for posting, Piratecat. I'm going to show my players your suggestions.

 

[Piratecat]

We play tonight. Will there be a TPK? Heck, will there be a character death? We'll soon find out! I'll ask the group if I can post their email-based deliberations later, because they're a beautiful look at how my group handles tactics.

I, however, have some surprises of my own.

 

[Sagiro]

We play tonight. Will there be a TPK? Heck, will there be a character death? We'll soon find out! I'll ask the group if I can post their email-based deliberations later, because they're a beautiful look at how my group handles tactics.

I, however, have some surprises of my own.

For the record, I believe that even without any "surprises," there's a high likelihood of at least one PC death and about a 33% chance of a TPK, given how little healing we have left and how much damage we've already taken. I'd put the over/under on 2 deaths, 3 if you count Nuntle, whose survival prospects went way down in my head when you revealed he was technically a minion, for crying out loud.

So, maybe the Bloodkiss will "surprise" us by taking off his beholder mask and revealing himself to be a friendly candy salesman!

Either way, I'm very excited to play!

-Sagiro

 

[coyote6]

So, maybe the Bloodkiss will "surprise" us by taking off his beholder mask and revealing himself to be a friendly candy salesman!

Thanks to leaked information gleaned from various blogs (after the iPad announcement, they needed something else to cover), I can confirm that there is indeed something else behind that Bloodkiss mask. But I'm afraid it's nowhere near that easy:

[sblock]

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Good luck.

 

[Rechan]

Did the combat go so long that you had to cut it off for ANOTHER session, or?

 

[Elric]

Did the combat go so long that you had to cut it off for ANOTHER session, or?

Assuming this isn't the case and the combat is over:

PC, I'm curious how you modified the Bloodkiss Beholder. It looks too strong for a level 9 solo as written. It has really high damage per attack, can get a ton of attacks per round, is flying with reach, and if it gets to trigger its awkward immediate interrupt "blood drain" power (since you can't use immediate actions on your own turn, this is rather poorly constructed) it can heal itself a lot as well.

 

[Piratecat]

Apparently my "I have some surprises of my own" was to miss the same PC with 13 out of 14 attacks. Yes, that's right, folks; I needed a 10 to hit, and missed the same PC 13 out of 14 times. Nothing makes a solo monster angrier than that.

There was one death, one of the best deaths I've seen in D&D, but I'll let Sagiro tell you about it.

I modified the bloodkiss beholder as followed (I'm not including full stats, because it's still alive. I don't mind talking about what I removed, though):

Blood Call (minor, recharge 56): Ranged 5; targets a bloodied enemy; +11 vs Will; the target is stunned (save ends). Aftereffect: The target is slowed (save ends) ​

became

Blood Call (minor, recharge 56): Ranged 5; targets a bloodied enemy; +11 vs Will; the target is pulled two squares and is slowed (save ends).​

I'm not a huge fan of stuns; I don't want PCs to feel completely helpless when they get eaten by monsters, especially in this tough a fight. I also completely removed the Bloodkiss power Elric just mentioned. I don't mind solos healing when appropriate, but that wasn't a feel I wanted for this fight, and weakness effects just annoy me.

 

[OakwoodDM]

There was one death, one of the best deaths I've seen in D&D, but I'll let Sagiro tell you about it.

I used to think that you had to work to produce the cliffhangers in your Story Hours, but it now becomes clear it's just a natural talent of yours!

I am loving this thread, though, both for the entertainment of learning what's happening to your player (character)s and for all of the great skill challenge and monster adaptation tips scattered throughout it. If there was a collection of this thread's wisdom regarding good DMing habits, I would happily buy it.

 

[Rechan]

Hey PCat, have you ever considered writing an article about skill challenges for Dragon?

 

[Delgar]

I'll second this.

Hey PCat, have you ever considered writing an article about skill challenges for Dragon?